Wal-Mart tires?

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I have Bridgestone Turanza LE tires on my 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. I read somewhere on the internet that these were not very good for snow and ice. The Turanza LS model was pretty highly rated in consumer reports.

I usually buy my tires at Wal-Mart because of the warranty and service. I have had pretty good luck with the wear on the last set. If I replace my Turanza's, I will probably get the Douglas Touring from Wal-Mart. Just how well do these tires compare to name brand?
 
Ha. I was scared for a second of a tire that actually read WAL MART on the sidewall.
tongue.gif
 
don't get the Douglas Tourings. The sipes are only partial depth and your winter traction will be gone partically into the life of the tire.

Buy the Viva 2s if your looking for a good all around tire with excellent winter traction. The Viva Tourings give up a little winter traction for better handling and longer life.
 
I think you mean the Turanza EL, not LE. AFAIK, they are designed to be very quiet and smooth-riding tires.

The Douglas brand of tires are made for WalMart by Kelly-Springfield, a subsidiary of Goodyear.

At WalMart you can special order virtually any tire made by stocking mfrs. Their should be catalogs in the tire dept you can browse thru.

IIRC, the Viva Touring is somewhat comparable to the Regatta 2, which was rated pretty well for snow traction in a past Consumer Reports tire test.
 
Wal-Mart should mount and balance your carry-in tires for $44 so you can buy anywhere including online. I would go with a dedicated winter. They are so much better on ice.
 
No "Wal-Mart" on the sides of those tires, Jonny. I'm guessing if Wal-Mart ever gets their own brand of tire they will be called "Super-Tech Tires".
I used to have a mobil tool route. I once found a wrench stamped Wal-Mart (?).
 
>>No "Wal-Mart" on the sides of those tires, >>Jonny. I'm guessing if Wal-Mart ever gets >>their own brand of tire they will be >>called "Super-Tech Tires".

They do, in a way. They have a line of Goodyear tires called "American Eagle," a high performance tire. They are labeled Goodyear, but the Goodyear website tells that the American Eagles are mfg'd exclusively for and sold and warranted only by Walmart.

They also have the large "HR" label on them, so I suspect they are Goodyear Eagle HR, but $10 cheaper, at least in my size.
 
some of the people who post reviews for tires seem like space monkeys. they don't seem to understand the reason for rating tires. they just beat around the bush for a bit and then complain about their old tires.

I use the turanza ls-V tires and while they perform VERY well, they are noisy and shake until the rubber warms up, which is crappy in colder weather.
 
Go to Tirerack.com and read the opinions on tires for your vehicle. I selected replacement tires for my Explorer this way. Buy them from Tirerack and have them installed at your local Walmart.
I bought Viva 2's from Walmart for my Voyager van and are very satisfied with them and the experience at Walmart.
 
Apparently you guys who have Walmart mount your tires haven't heard the numerous horror stories about the shoddy work their auto shops do and the problems they cause. The people working in them are poorly trained and low paid. I've read threads on other forums filled with such horror stories. Walmart will never touch one of my vehicles.
 
Reply jmacmaster: I don't believe that the tire changers at other tire shops have any certification, either, or are any better paid. At least W-M has a new policy requiring that a manager torque the lug nuts before they return your car so you don't have to worry about the wheels coming off.
 
people working at most tyre shops are poorly trained and low paid. do you imagine that other brands misacously pay their employees top dollar and send them away for 6 months of training before letting them lose with an impact wrench?

they dont.
 
As much as I hate supporting the "evil empire" of WM, I have been pleasantly surprised at the quality tire service we have received at several of their locations around here in upstate SC. I always watch closely if anyone is working on my vehicle and did notice that each lug was clicked off by another associate after the original guy clicked them off as well. I did try to support the small shop near home for tires on the wife's car, but their warranty is nearly non-existent, no free rebalance or rotate, tires were more expensive and of cheaper quality, and they don't even have a click wrench, I believe. Everything gets the IR impact treatment! I still use the local guy for my farm stuff or smaller riding mower tire work/repairs, however. They are nice guys, close to home, and owner lives down the road and waves when he drives by and I'm out there on the mower.
 
I hate Wal-Mart as much as anyone, especially their tire and lube department. The last experience I had there was very nice.

I discovered a piece of wire sticking out of the sidewall of one of my tires one afternoon. It was late on Friday afternoon which meant Wal-Mart was the only thing open. It took a while for them to get to my car, but that was no biggie. I figured the tire was toast with the wire in the sidewall. They told me I could buy a new tire or try Slime. I was about to buy the Slime and fix it myself, but they did it for me. They opened up a new bottle of the Slime even, but I only got charged 6 bucks. They balanced the tire for me also.

The tire is still holding air and the balance job was good too.
 
my wife has the douglas tires on her malibu and has no prob on the snow and ice. I should know becuse our driveway is a hill and its all ice. becuase the sun dont shine on it that much. I will take pic of it tomorrow and show. but again no probs in the snow the tires wont spin unless you make them spin. so I think they have good traction. only downfall is a lil stiffer ride over her other set but I think thats becsue they are some what low profile tires.

but I would reccomend the douglas tires and they wear better than GOOD(4 a)YEAR tires. funny they are made by good year lol.

if your getting tires from wally world thats fine. jsut dont get your oil changed. they have had prob all over the country. with not putting on the oil cap and so on.
 
it all depends on which wal-mart one is at. my wife has been employed at one for over 10 years not in TLE. i could list a lot of "mistakes" just that one has made. i.e. draining oil then putting 4.5 qts motor oil in transmission filler hole ='d new motor and trans rebuild. car didn't make it out of the parking lot. i know these to be fact not just rumor or urban myth. another one was one side lugs none were even put on. car barely made it out of bay. so they never touch my vehicles but the wal-mart south of me are good ole boys that were raised in the "country" and not "concrete kids". they actually know what they are doing. but to get a rotate and balance i go to a family owned place and it takes all of about 5 minutes. its like watching a NASCAR pit crew and its only 12 dollars. at wally its always like 3-5 hours !
 
My wife had to order a tire in from wall mart for her Envoy. They were a bit cheaper than discount tire. When the tire came in we went over there to have it mounted. When we got there they said "im sorry we are too busy today to mount that tire." They hadn't charged her yet for the tire so we said F it and went down to Discount. Told them what wally said and showed them the price that wally wanted. Discount beat their price by 10 bucks.
 
if you are gonna buy a tire from walmart at least do yourself a favor and take them somewhere else to be mounted/balanced.

i've seen some of the jobs that they do and man, often they dont' use the right wheel weights/use an excessive amount, and they don't even care if the right size tire is going on the vehicle.

i've had good luck with the goodyear supersport HT's that i've bought there, but i had them mounted/balanced somewhere else.
 
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