I talked to someone on the phone who acted like I was interrupting her lunch. I'll just drive down there and speak to someone in person.
Tire shopping
- Thread starter thejon
- Start date
Man, thanks so much for your help. I got the $25 membership and I got the deal! Scheduled for Wednesday. Considering the reviews, treat life warranty, and lifetime balance/rotation from Sam's, I feel pretty good about it. They're advertised as low rolling resistance so hopefully my mpg improves or, at the very least, stays the same.
Quick question: are they directional or non directional? I don't know a lot about this stuff but is there a specific way they should be mounted and rotated?
They are non-directional tread patterns on the P4 Persist, so they can be rotated onto any side and position. I have them on a 2001 & a 2010 Honda Accord and prefer their overall all-season performance characteristics over the Michelin Primacy they replaced.
The only caveat with buying tires at Sam's Club is the road-hazard warranty. If you ever have to claim a tire replacement because of a road hazard, Sam's Club makes you pay the $20 mount/balance/road hazard fee again on the new replacement tire. After they are mounted, please re-check the tire pressures yourself before leaving the parking lot. Years ago, I had one new tire overinflated at Sam's because they use 60 psi to seat the bead on the rim, then reduce the pressure to the door sticker value. Apparently, the tire technician got in a hurry and left one tire at 60 psi!
p.s., Unless you want to sustain the Sam's Club Membership at full price after a year, be sure to log into your online account and un-check the auto-renew option.
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Good to know, thanks again!
You were right about double checking their work. They over inflated one of my tires to 43 psi. Not a big deal. But what was worse was the face they broke off two of my TPMS sensors when installing the tires! I could hear it rolling around on the inside of the tires. I took it back and they made it right. So heads up to anyone who gets tires replaced and afterwards hears a cling/clang/pop sound at slow speeds... Check to make sure your TPMS is still intact lol.
I'm very happy with the Pirelli tires. Still waiting for my mpg to go back up... I read it can take a while with new tires.
I'm very happy with the Pirelli tires. Still waiting for my mpg to go back up... I read it can take a while with new tires.
Given Walmarts extremely egregiously expensive balancing charge is Sams now price competitive on mounting and balancing tires? (They never used to be)
Any time you go from a worn tire of ANY brand to a new tire of ANY brand, you should expect a slight decrease in gas mileage. This is mostly due to the old tire having less grip/friction coefficient as a result of the worn tread/grooves (i.e., new tires have more grip than old tires). In addition, the inner core rubber compound on the old tire will be harder due to aging/compound design than the softer new outer tread rubber.
Ah ..... Mmmm..... That's not the way it works.
Tire rolling resistance is NOT the result of friction with the road surface. Nor is it a function of tire hardness.
A tire's rolling resistance is controlled by the amount of deflection (which is closely tied to inflation pressure/load), the amount of rubber (a worn tire has less that a new tire) AND a rubber property called Hysteresis. You can think of hysteresis as internal friction, but it is not friction with the road surface.
Also, there is a technological triangle involving treadwear, traction, and rolling resistance. If you want to improve one, you have to sacrifice one or both of the others. And differences between rubber compounds can be HUGE!! - certainly much larger than between new and worn. So it's possible for a car's fuel economy to improve by changing out worn out tires, although that's not what usually happens.
I go into more detail here: Barry's Tire Tech: Rolling Resistance and Fuel Economy
And here: Barry's Tire Tech: Followup on Rolling Resistance and Fuel Economy (Revised May, 2023)
I would say that Sam's Club's price is competitive with all major tire chains. They charge $20 per tire for the installation package which includes the following as long as you maintain an active membership. For certain brands, you also get the $100 instant discount at the time of purchase if you buy a set of four tires, which more than offsets the $80 (total) installation fee.
