I had the misfortune of blowing a tire on a weekend trip. My spare was a
Michelin of unknown age, so we changed our travel plans. Had an uneventful
tire change along the Ohio turnpike. Highway patrol arrived just as my wife
and I finished.
Everyone should carry a good 1/2 breaker bar and 7/8 socket (or larger for
the Alcoa nuts) a working jack and chain; a schrader valve or 1/4" air line
repair kit. You can save yourself a big headache if you have the stuff to
get patched up, even if you don't/can't do it yourself. The patrol officer
had already called for a wrecker as she rolled to a stop. Putting a GMC on
the hook is an experience in itself, and one you should try to avoid.
Slowly back tracked to a Wal-Mart tire center in Bryan, OH. Ended up with
two Goodyear 16.5" (D range) tires, one at half price. These were the only
16.5" tires they had, and we couldn't find any other tire store in NW Ohio
open on Saturday afternoon.
The department manager (and I'll stress that this "fact" is from one tire
guy at one store) advised that Wal-Mart was discontinuing all 16.5" tires.
I'm chomping at the bit to put on Alcoa's anyway, (waiting on them to ship).
I'll keep one of these as a known good spare, so I'm not in too bad a shape.
Thought my old tires had one more short trip in them. They had 38K miles,
still plenty of tread and only small weather checks. They were properly
inflated (65#), but only load range "D". They had been excellent tires,
General brand.
No vibration, no indication of a problem till it blew. No body damage, had
all the tools, etc. I now conclude that 5 years is the safe life of any
tire. I also conclude that after some phone calls to other tire stores in
our area yesterday, 16.5" tires are becoming somewhat difficult to find.
I'm closing in on a final decision between the Goodyear G-159 and the
Michelin XPS rib today.
Mark
Michelin of unknown age, so we changed our travel plans. Had an uneventful
tire change along the Ohio turnpike. Highway patrol arrived just as my wife
and I finished.
Everyone should carry a good 1/2 breaker bar and 7/8 socket (or larger for
the Alcoa nuts) a working jack and chain; a schrader valve or 1/4" air line
repair kit. You can save yourself a big headache if you have the stuff to
get patched up, even if you don't/can't do it yourself. The patrol officer
had already called for a wrecker as she rolled to a stop. Putting a GMC on
the hook is an experience in itself, and one you should try to avoid.
Slowly back tracked to a Wal-Mart tire center in Bryan, OH. Ended up with
two Goodyear 16.5" (D range) tires, one at half price. These were the only
16.5" tires they had, and we couldn't find any other tire store in NW Ohio
open on Saturday afternoon.
The department manager (and I'll stress that this "fact" is from one tire
guy at one store) advised that Wal-Mart was discontinuing all 16.5" tires.
I'm chomping at the bit to put on Alcoa's anyway, (waiting on them to ship).
I'll keep one of these as a known good spare, so I'm not in too bad a shape.
Thought my old tires had one more short trip in them. They had 38K miles,
still plenty of tread and only small weather checks. They were properly
inflated (65#), but only load range "D". They had been excellent tires,
General brand.
No vibration, no indication of a problem till it blew. No body damage, had
all the tools, etc. I now conclude that 5 years is the safe life of any
tire. I also conclude that after some phone calls to other tire stores in
our area yesterday, 16.5" tires are becoming somewhat difficult to find.
I'm closing in on a final decision between the Goodyear G-159 and the
Michelin XPS rib today.
Mark
