Tire suggestion

I just noticed a nail in my sidewall tire. I just got the Cooper Zeon LTZ tires about a year ago and now have to replace all 4 :'(.
I can't justify spending another $1000 on 4 new tires. Any suggestions on comparable tires? I do light off roading and want something good on the snow. The LTZ were great as I had them on my RRS.

How many miles do they have on? You should be able to get by with just 2 (or even 1 if your spare is usable), unless they are all really worn.

I just did the penny test on all 4 tires. On All 4 tires, very top of Lincoln's nose is touched by the tread.
Less than 10k miles on them.

umbertob said:

How many miles do they have on? You should be able to get by with just 2 (or even 1 if your spare is usable), unless they are all really worn.

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That penny test doesn't really mean anything unless you know what they were when new.

The only tires for 19" wheels that are a mix of street and off-road are the Coopers you have, the Goodyear Duratracs, or the new Continental TerrainContacts. All of these are going to be $1,000 or more for 4. In fact, you'll be hard pressed to find any decent tires for less than $1,000.

I have 19 inch Firestone Destinations on my RRS, as I did on my previous Range Rover and 08 LR3. Works well in snow, ice, rain, and very quiet on dry roads. Had Kumhos on a LR3, also good and less expensive that the Firestones (but noisier).

Maybe not the right tire for consistent off-roading, tho.

Had Coopers on my last Jag: didn't like them.

Get a tire depth guage for $3-$4 at an auto store and get an accurate measurement of tread depth. The original depth can be found online, if it is the stock size tire then it would have been 12/32". The usuable life of most tires is down to about 4/32" (the legal limit here in PA is 2/32"), so you can estimate your remaining life based on where the tires actually are.

You can actually have a new tire "shaved down" to match the other 3 in terms of remaining depth if it makes sense to do so.

I've been using Nokian Rotiiva AT on my LR3 that replaced a set of Silent Armors. I wasn't going off road enough to justify the harsh ride and somewhat increased noise from the SAs, so looked around for other alternatives. It is a year-round tire for me, and living in a cold climate I wanted the severe service rating for snow. I've had them for 2k miles and am very impressed. Extremely quiet and comfortable, good dry and rain performance. Soft-ish tread so will be keep an eye on wear. I wouldn't use them for serious offroading since the side wall is quite soft and likely would hold up well to larger rocks.

I've been a huge fan of Nokians, I've had the Hakka R on an M3 that lasted 5 winters and close to 30k miles before needing to be replaced. In Denver we have tons of dry roads, so I found the wear impressive for a 245 tire on a 400+ hp car. We also have the WGR3 on our LR4 for two years now (also year-round) and love it.

Try the General Grabber UHP. I changed original Contis at 20K. The UHPs have now 26K and seem ready for another 20K. I used the UHPs on my former MB and they lasted 48-50K before meeting the minimum legal thread. Ck Tirerack @ $690 for the set of 4.

You might think about getting your tires at Discount Tire, and getting the tire insurance (or whatever they call it). It has saved me probably close to $1000. When something makes a tire unusable (like a nail in the sidewall), they will pay for that tire completely. If your other tires have too low of tread for a new tire, they will pay for what remains of the other tires, which is then put toward a new set of tires.

I had a stretch of bad luck where I went through 11 tires in a year and a half, and that "tire insurance" saved my bank. It's very likely they won't carry the exact size you need, but they can order it.

I have a set of Michelin Latitude on my Range Rover. The tread is about 50% worn, so I'm doing some succession planning. Here's a suggestion: check your full-size spare. Mine was brand new,i.e., never been fitted. So, rather than buy 4 Michelin Latitudes, I am going to use the spare and purchase 3 new tires, converting one of the current tires to a spare. By doing this, I end up with a new set of tires for $750 rather than $1000.