AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
So the 2002 Xterra needed new tires. When I bought the X in January of 2015 it was to be a trail toy to explore the backroads and offroad in our area. At that time I put on Cooper AT3s in 265/75-16, roughly a 32" tire and the largest you can run without lifting or trimming. Winter driving wasn't a thing as we lived at lower elevation and never got snow. They worked fine but as time went on we did less exploring and it ended up on long term loan to daughter as a 2nd car. No big deal we still had plenty. Well the X came back to us and ended up as our 2nd vehicle after I sold the '14 RAV4 for good money and the '86 Samurai for real good money. With around 30k miles on the tires mostly around town the sharp edges were all gone and I knew they weren't going to be much good on bad roads this winter. I didn't really want to spend a lot on tires as I don't know how much longer we'll own it but wanted A/Ts and after hunting around found Goodyear Wrangler Trailmark AT tires at Walmart on early Black Friday special for $103 apiece. These are a Walmart exclusive tire, USA made, I think they're an older tire design that are being made now just for Walmart. Cooper is doing the same with the old Discover AT.
I've been skeptical of Walmart Auto Centers since in our previous town I had worked briefly with a guy who was bottom of the barrel skill and ambition wise, things got slow, he got laid off and went to work at the Auto Center there and worked there for years. And of course the stories here. Anyway, I gambled and ordered 5 in the stock diameter since the spare was junk and now almost 20 years old. The tires took a couple of days longer than promised to show up at the Walmart (no big deal) and I was there Tuesday at 8am when they opened and was first in line. They said about an hour so I got the items on the list I was handed by my boss and came back in an hour and it was done, almost. I had dropped the spare at home and really didn't look it over and it turns out it was a 15" wheel/tire, tread 3/4 gone so it must have replaced the original spare at some point. Oh well, looked the wheels over, paid up and drove home. No new scratches on the wheels and rode smoothly, more than I can say for my last visits at Discount Tire, the Nissan garage, and a local indie. Went to the local U-pull-it and found a 16" steely and brought it and the new tire back this morning and had it mounted up. All had identical born on dates of 3121, happy with that. Had it to 65 today and no shakes.
For $675 all in I got 5 USA Goodyear 245/75-16s mounted and balanced and a steel wheel. Lug nuts at correct torque, tire pressures varied 3 psi high to low, easy fix. My opinion of Walmart Auto Center has gone up substantially, I was expecting to have to have something corrrected at the least. The service writers were pleasant and they were on time. Well done Prescott Walmart.
I've been skeptical of Walmart Auto Centers since in our previous town I had worked briefly with a guy who was bottom of the barrel skill and ambition wise, things got slow, he got laid off and went to work at the Auto Center there and worked there for years. And of course the stories here. Anyway, I gambled and ordered 5 in the stock diameter since the spare was junk and now almost 20 years old. The tires took a couple of days longer than promised to show up at the Walmart (no big deal) and I was there Tuesday at 8am when they opened and was first in line. They said about an hour so I got the items on the list I was handed by my boss and came back in an hour and it was done, almost. I had dropped the spare at home and really didn't look it over and it turns out it was a 15" wheel/tire, tread 3/4 gone so it must have replaced the original spare at some point. Oh well, looked the wheels over, paid up and drove home. No new scratches on the wheels and rode smoothly, more than I can say for my last visits at Discount Tire, the Nissan garage, and a local indie. Went to the local U-pull-it and found a 16" steely and brought it and the new tire back this morning and had it mounted up. All had identical born on dates of 3121, happy with that. Had it to 65 today and no shakes.
For $675 all in I got 5 USA Goodyear 245/75-16s mounted and balanced and a steel wheel. Lug nuts at correct torque, tire pressures varied 3 psi high to low, easy fix. My opinion of Walmart Auto Center has gone up substantially, I was expecting to have to have something corrrected at the least. The service writers were pleasant and they were on time. Well done Prescott Walmart.
