New tires for the old girl, what a difference.

Four and a half years ago I put a set of Goodyear Ultra-Terrains on my Tacoma. I wasn't displeased with them, at first. They had almost 45,000 miles on them with plenty of remaining tread.

https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/goodyear-wrangler-ultraterrain-at/p/44194

But over the last couple of years wet road traction has been pretty bad. About 18 months ago I slid off the road into a grassy area. I was driving on a rural road after a rain. I coasted through an S curve at about 20-25 mph.

As I came out of the last curve and onto a straight away, I gave it some gas, and the rear end passed the front end. I went off the road and was pointed in the opposite direction. No damage, I just pulled back onto the road, found a place to turn around and continued.

My old Tacoma is a 3rd vehicle. I still drive it locally most days, but I have 2 adult kids and 5 grandkids. The oldest is 17 and drives. Anytime anyone has a car in the shop the Tacoma becomes the loaner. I didn't want to replace tires with that much remaining tread, but they were dangerous, and I didn't want my family in the truck on wet pavement.

I went with these last week.

https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/sumitomo-encounter-at/p/117717

I haven't driven on wet pavement yet and it's way too early give them any real evaluation. But I'd forgotten how much of a difference new tires can make. Over the last 4 years the Goodyears had gradually gotten LOUD and the ride was a bit bumpy. It was so gradual that I hadn't really noticed until the new tires were mounted. It's almost like a new truck. The rubber on the old tires was hard as a rock.

Sumitmo is the parent company that makes Falken. They look a lot like the Wildpeaks that get a lot of good press.

 

New tires are the bomb…amazing the difference they make

 

I got rid of my stock tires at 9k miles cause they were a safety hazard in wet weather. Put on some Michelin defenders and it was like a whole different truck, did wonders for my confidence in wet weather.

 

I have Michelin's on my F150. Great tires, but I use the Tacoma for different purposes and didn't want to spend that much. The Ford is used for longer road trips and pulling our travel trailer. The Tacoma is my local hunting, trash and firewood hauling truck. It gets driven off-road more and I wanted a mild AT tire instead of a road tire for it.

 

is there any noticeable road noise with these at freeway speeds of 75mph?

 

My 07 Tacoma has never been "quiet". Not compared to my 2014 F150 or the Explorer my wife drives. There would be some noise with a street tire on it. But yes, I can hear a little noise from the new tires. It's a lot better than the old tires though. I can hear the radio now at lower volume levels.