Various Sumitomo Encounter AT and HT at Walmart

[User_19876]

I grew weary of the Transforce that came factory on my Ram 3500. They balanced fine and rode well, but wouldn’t pull out of their own tracks. While looking for alternatives, I noticed Walmart.com was trying to liquidate certain Sumitomo HT’s and AT’s as, apparently, newer versions are coming. I ordered a set of Encounter AT’s, and the newer AT2’s showed up. They had oversold the previous version. Price was $781.48 ($177.48 per tire, plus tax) for all four with me picking them up at the local store. Not bad for good 10-plies. A cursory search showed plenty of other sizes and speed ratings I could use at similarly discounted prices.

As a side note, some will claim these are almost Identical to the Wildpeaks, as Sumitomo owns Falken. To me, they are more different than similar, especially the A/T4W. That said, these will do me just fine.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I've been very impressed with Sumitomo tires.

Bought a set of snow tires for my Forester in 2019 or 2020 , then transferred them to the Grand Marquis. Just bought a second set of them for the car.

 

[RooflessVW]

I've always liked Sumitomo tires.

 

[JZiggy]

I had a set of Encounter AT 1's, approx 2019-2024. Put something like 60k on them, including some light offroad, and they were perfect. Balanced out and were smooth the entire time.

 

[fantastic]

Just a word of caution for brands. I went from Coopers to Ironman & the Ironman was quite soft. Irony is I believe they're owned by Cooper. Let us know what you think after you get them mounted & balanced on your SRW Ram.

 

[eljefino]

Good find. One should browse their size at WM occasionally, you never know when these deals pop up.

 

[Passport1]

I've had many sets of Sumitomos on various vehicles. Always strong performers and great value tires.

 

[LWood]

I have the Sumitomo Encounter AT on my 03 Ram 2500 4wd with the Cummins, only about 3k on them so far but what I can say so far is that they are smooth riding, great cornering and great in rain.
Previously had the Falken At3w's and I'd say performance and handling are fairly similar but the At3w were louder.
Larry

 

[nthach]

Just a word of caution for brands. I went from Coopers to Ironman & the Ironman was quite soft. Irony is I believe they're owned by Cooper. Let us know what you think after you get them mounted & balanced on your SRW Ram.

Cooper made tires for Hercules/Ironman. They’re now Chinesium.

 

[14Accent]

Just a word of caution for brands. I went from Coopers to Ironman & the Ironman was quite soft. Irony is I believe they're owned by Cooper. Let us know what you think after you get them mounted & balanced on your SRW Ram.

I'm running a set of Ironman Radial A/P's on our WJ after being impressed by them on my last WJ. For a cheap tire, they work really well up here in WI during the winter. I don't doubt them being soft, they almost have to be to provide the type of winter traction that they do. They're also only rated to 35k... which means they must be incredibly soft. Ours have worn from 11/32 to 7/32 in 2 years, and our Jeep sees maybe 5k a year meaning we'll be lucky to see 25k out of them.

At least they're wearing perfectly even across the tread!

 

[fantastic]

I'm running a set of Ironman Radial A/P's on our WJ after being impressed by them on my last WJ. For a cheap tire, they work really well up here in WI during the winter. I don't doubt them being soft, they almost have to be to provide the type of winter traction that they do. They're also only rated to 35k... which means they must be incredibly soft. Ours have worn from 11/32 to 7/32 in 2 years, and our Jeep sees maybe 5k a year meaning we'll be lucky to see 25k out of them.

At least they're wearing perfectly even across the tread!

I had them on my old 1995 F-250. That thing weighed around 6,400 lbs & 9,300 lbs when the camper was loaded. After running the Coopers that were noticeably stiffer it made it feel a bit like jello tires...lol. Exaggerating a bit but a Cherokee being a lighter vehicle I can see them being just fine & plenty stiff enough for that weight. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[User_19876]

I'm running a set of Ironman Radial A/P's on our WJ after being impressed by them on my last WJ. For a cheap tire, they work really well up here in WI during the winter. I don't doubt them being soft, they almost have to be to provide the type of winter traction that they do. They're also only rated to 35k... which means they must be incredibly soft. Ours have worn from 11/32 to 7/32 in 2 years, and our Jeep sees maybe 5k a year meaning we'll be lucky to see 25k out of them.

At least they're wearing perfectly even across the tread!

That's always the trade-off. Soft compound likes to hold. I'll have to check out the Ironman tires. I've run several sets of Coopers, Kelly, and Mastercraft with good luck.