Federal Couragia 37x12.50R17

[HankScorpio]

These tires suck. Get Nittos or Toyos like @obijuan said.

Well sure, if price was no concern we would all just buy the most expensive and figure it was the best.

I am not particularly brand loyal anymore, (NO FORDS) Names don't mean much like they used to. Just figured I would check out all the options in tires this time. 2 trucks with $1500 sets of tires gives a lot of room to experiment.

I run BFG on 1 truck and Swampers on the other, both radials. Its only 20 miles to the mountains for me so wear isn't much of a concern. Neither truck is a daily driver. I was just curious about the tread wear and construction of the federals. I would have been interested in them if they had a low tread wear but decent carcass. Sounds like they are the opposite which doesn't interest me. Soft tires can perform quite well if longevity isn't much of an issue. If a $200 tire will last 20,000 miles and a $400 tire will last 40,000 miles then it is really all the same to me if they work well. Honestly the overall price isn't the concern, I just like to get a good value for my money. I think over the years my favorite tire for the money has been Swampers in a radial. Sounds like the federal has construction issues so I won't bother giving it a try.

 

[83ChevyK5Blazer]

I was looking at them but the reviews online scared me away, way to many stories of side walls blowing out.
I honestly cant risk my family for cheaper tires when one may or may not blow out.

 

[HankScorpio]

I was looking at them but the reviews online scared me away, way to many stories of side walls blowing out.
I honestly cant risk my family for cheaper tires when one may or may not blow out.

Agreed. Structure of the tire is the most important. If it was just poor tread wear I would say " yay, cheap stickies!"

 

[Truckman4life]

I prefer cooper tires and have run a ton of them on the company utility trucks with good results. Hercules makes some decent cheap tires also. My old tire guy in Moab told me that those Ironman mt tires worked good for a hunting guide he knows that runs around mostly off road in the Moab area. They lasted longer than any of the other name brand tires he had been trying. I've caught my last few sets of tires on 4 wheel parts when they have holiday sales. Two sets of BFG ats for $1000 each set and my current set of Mickey Thompson Baja mtz p3 mudders was also about $1000 with the road hazard and all my local tires shops we use for work were quoting me at least $1300 for the same. One set of the bfgs is even for a 20" wheel on the wife's Yukon. Of course it was an extra $80 or so to get them mounted at my local tire shop then.

 

[TreeFarm]

I prefer cooper tires and have run a ton of them on the company utility trucks with good results. Hercules makes some decent cheap tires also. My old tire guy in Moab told me that those Ironman mt tires worked good for a hunting guide he knows that runs around mostly off road in the Moab area. They lasted longer than any of the other name brand tires he had been trying. I've caught my last few sets of tires on 4 wheel parts when they have holiday sales. Two sets of BFG ats for $1000 each set and my current set of Mickey Thompson Baja mtz p3 mudders was also about $1000 with the road hazard and all my local tires shops we use for work were quoting me at least $1300 for the same. One set of the bfgs is even for a 20" wheel on the wife's Yukon. Of course it was an extra $80 or so to get them mounted at my local tire shop then.

Cooper owns Hercules. Hercules is/makes Ironman.

 

[Blue85]

If a $200 tire will last 20,000 miles and a $400 tire will last 40,000 miles then it is really all the same to me if they work well.

You have to figure in the cost of mounting and balancing, plus the time you spend on it, including shopping, and that shifts the value of cheaper tires. Clamp-on weights take a toll on your wheels, too.

 

[TreeFarm]

You have to figure in the cost of mounting and balancing, plus the time you spend on it, including shopping, and that shifts the value of cheaper tires. Clamp-on weights take a toll on your wheels, too.

Few ounces of airsoft BBs and two tire levers will mount them up in a few min

 

[Truckman4life]

Cooper owns Hercules. Hercules is/makes Ironman.

Must be why I like them all aparently. They also own Mickey Thompson tires.

 

[swettysblazer]

Well sure, if price was no concern we would all just buy the most expensive and figure it was the best.

I am not particularly brand loyal anymore, (NO FORDS) Names don't mean much like they used to. Just figured I would check out all the options in tires this time. 2 trucks with $1500 sets of tires gives a lot of room to experiment.
.

Not quite. I sell tires for a living, and I've seen each brand have their bad sets and their good sets. However, I have taken off more cheap brand tires and put them in higher quality (yes. more expensive) tires and the issues have gone away.

 

[HankScorpio]

Cooper owns Hercules. Hercules is/makes Ironman.

Must be why I like them all aparently. They also own Mickey Thompson tires.

Didn't know they had Mickey T too. I ran some generic cooper in the mid 90's. Trail breakers. They worked fine, bias and loud as hell but the construction was tough. Still have 1 under the bench as a backup spare.

I bet a lot of the off names are coming from larger manufacturers. It takes a ton of capital to open a tire factory.

 

[obijuank5]

That is exactly correct. There are only a handful of tire manufacturers much like what we have with ring and pinion manufacturers. Just damn expensive to get into.

 

[rob h]

I looked at all kinds of reviews before buying new 37s for my hd, i had a few sets in the 16 years i own it and its a toss up on what to buy. I had toyo open country mt and they wore real bad but they were the wrong load range, i'm sure that had alot to do with it. Also had bfg km2's and they wore great, lasted almost 30k, only sold em because they were cracking. Procomp extreme all terrains lasted 40k and were great tires, the price tho has gone up too steep tho. Most of the big brand name tires i have had i can't really complain about. We has cooper stt's on our jeep and they wore great so i bought them this time for my hd. They only have 3k miles on them in the last year so i can't say much. I will say tho buying tires from discount tire has to be the cheapest i could find. I bought the stt pro in 37-12.50-20 for 1200.00 shipped and 100.00 to mount and put balancing bags in. That's pretty good in my mind, i search for ebay every time i need em.