Firestone Winterforce UV Unstable?

Anyone have experience with Firestone Winterforce UV tires? I got them online in 245/75SR16 mounted on new Toyota black steel wheels and balanced. Below 60 mph, the tires feel normal. Above 60 mph, steering feels "unstable": the steering effort drops significantly and the truck feels darty. With the stock Rugged Trails on stock TRD OR wheels I don't get the same behavior. Just wondering if it's a characteristic of the Winterforce tire or a problem with the wheel/installation.

 

We have them on my wife's car. They feel wierd compared to her normal tires. I just chock it up to the softer rubber of the tire. I also have them at a slightly lower presssure than her normal tires, adding to the add feeling. The sidewall seems to be not as stiff as her summer tires.

 

Snow tires are are generally a softer compound to deal w/ the cold and have a deeper tread to boot. It will have more of a 'marshmellow' feeling esp on warm dry roads. The speed rating is lower than your all-seasons... only a 'Q' 99 mph rating. While I run Blizzaks for winter, we all feel the difference, but really its a small price to pay for the huge gain of safety and traction on snow and ice.

PM hoosiertaco or Simon's Mom, they both run those Winterforce tires.

 

Check with your local vendor if theres anything going on with firestone.I know here in Canada ,the LT type ,we have to put them on hold for now.Til further notice.Customers are complaining about the same thing as you are.the dealer I work for just got a letter from firestone this morning.

 

Hey Ken, how they doin?

 

Looks to be a "simple" case of incorrect balancing. I had the tires rebalanced at the dealer last week and the vibrations are gone. Looking at each rim now, the weights are at vastly different places than before.

 

Glad they're better! You think the rims are going to be ok?

 

The rims are new Toyota black steelies PN 42601-AF010 16x7.0", 15 mm offset, so they are fine. Installed a set of cheap Kuan Tong KT-999 Altima imitation wheel covers. LOL 5-lugger by day, 6-lugger by night...

 

^^

 

Hey Ken, can you post some pics of the truck w/ the steelies on. I'm trying to locate 5 of them myself and love the look.