Spend five minutes in any Ford Bronco, Bronco Sport, or F-150 owner group, and you’ll see it: tires dominate the conversation. How big can I go without rubbing? Which all-terrain actually delivers? Lately, a new question has taken over. “What’s the cheapest all-terrain tire I can get away with?” With prices up sharply over the past few years, more drivers are rolling the dice on store brands and off-name all-terrains, hoping for premium performance at a bargain price. It’s a tempting gamble. It’s also one that rarely pays off.
Cheap A/T Tires Gone Wrong
Case in point, Jeremiah, a Bronco Sport owner who recently tried a low-cost all-terrain tire. We must say, they look great on the SUV. However, as Jeremiah explained in a post on a popular Bronco Sport Facebook group:
So the cheap AT tires I got for under $400 for the set turned out to be a terrible deal lol. I was under no illusions that these were top-quality tires, but I was hoping that they would be decent. They were not.
What Is the Problem With Cheap Tires?
Jeremiah then listed out a long list of problems with these discount tires, any one of which would be a deal-breaker for most owners. Here is a punch list of the many problems he discovered:
1) They’re all out of round, and I can feel the vehicle bumping back and forth at slow speeds.
2) At high speeds, you can hear the oscillating sound of the tires bouncing like a basketball.
3) They’re very undersized. They measured under 28.5”. Smaller than a 225. These are 235/65/17s, which should be 29.1”, according to the manufacturer.
These are the loudest tires I’ve ever driven on aside from Swampers.
Many fellow Bronco Sport owners chimed in under the post, saying that the temptation is real. One owner, Adam, said, “I was looking at doing the same thing. I’m glad I didn’t pull the trigger on cheap tires for mine now this has been posted up.”
Other owners spit truth bombs about the lure of discount tires. Here are a few we felt best represented that group:
- Randy - “There are many crap tires out there today. I get all my tires from Tire Rack, where I can read real reviews by people using the tires and read the test results they do on the tires.”
- John - “Never skimp on good tires - research research research.”
- Bill - “Buy cheap, get cheap.”
How To Avoid Tire Purchases With Bad Outcomes
The sentiment here is that you get what you pay for. As a tire tester who works with the best installers I can find in Metro Boston, I’ve heard versions of this tale myself. One veteran installer who had trouble mounting a discount tire I was considering testing told me, “Just get the brand-name tires,” is his best advice. He went on to tell me that he often needs five or six new discount tires to try just to get an acceptable balance. He added that the distributors take back the poor-quality and improperly manufactured tires with no questions or hassles because they know it is such a common issue. Jeremiah’s advice for fellow SUV owners is “I wouldn't recommend $100 discount tires unless it’s a vehicle that’s only for the farm or trails.”
How to Find Deals On High-Quality Tires
So what can a budget-minded shopper do if they are looking to buy decent all-terrain tires without paying the full price of a top-tier tire like a Michelin, BFGoodrich, or Goodyear? There are some options. Our first advice would be to ask if the driver actually needs all-terrain tires. On dirt roads and trails leading to kayak launches and boat ramps, an all-season or all-weather tire is fine. In fact, they may even be better on pavement and on snow. Uniroyal, Cooper, and Falken make great tires for SUVs that can handle short, off-pavement drives on surfaces meant for vehicles to travel.
Perhaps the best strategy is to look to a respected brand with value pricing. Falken’s WildPeak series of tires is a great example of such a brand and model matchup. WildPeak A/T Trails, A/T3Ws, and A/T4W tires earn high praise, but often cost about 10% to 20% less than some other similarly-rated tires.
Another option is to look for closeouts of models that are being updated. The switch from the Falken A/T3W to the 4W is one such example. Owners are still posting positive stories about finding leftover 3W tires, and prices are very attractive. Tire manufacturers are constantly evolving their tire lines. The outgoing model may be a great tire at a great price.
To prove our point, we turned to a popular online tire retailer to compare prices for a Bronco Sport Badlands tire in size 235/65/17. Here is a list of tires that earned a four-star or better rating and what they cost:
Benchmark Top-Tier Tire - BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 - 4.5 Stars $228
Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015 - 4.5 Stars $172 Special Deal - Closeout
Falken WildPeak A/T3W - 4.5 Stars $151 - Special Deal - Closeout
Shoppers do sometimes get lucky with a cheap tire. Jeremiah told us, "Not all cheaper tires are bad. I’ve had far more success than bad experiences with cheaper tires." The question is, is it worth the effort if some great deals on high-quality, name-brand tires are an option? With very little searching, I was able to find tires with an equally high rating to the well-respected benchmark tire from BFGoodrich at a substantially lower price. The one downside to buying a closeout tire is that if you need a replacement shortly after you buy, it may be tricky to find one. It’s a chance many shoppers are more than willing to take for a great deal.
Have you had a good or bad El Cheapo tire experience? Tell us about it in the comments below.
John Goreham is a 14-year veteran of Torque News. An accomplished writer and a long-time expert in vehicle testing, Goreham also serves as the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and has a growing social media presence. He’s also a 10-year staff writer and community moderator for Car Talk. Goreham holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an undergraduate Certificate in Marketing. In addition to vehicle and tire content, he offers deep dives into market trends and opinion pieces. You can follow John Goreham on X and TikTok, and connect with him on LinkedIn.
Top of page image courtesy of Jeremiah. Second image by John Goreham.
Set Torque News as Preferred Source on Google
Follow us today...
