In this months issue they reevaluated the 2003 Element at 40,000 miles
One issue they had was with front tire wear. The front tires were worn out at 12,000 miles.

Anyone out there have enough miles on their Element to give us another perspective on tire wear? The tires on the reveiwed Element were the Goodyear Wranglers I believe.

[quote:c69c5ed80e=" "]In this months issue they reevaluated the 2003 Element at 40,000 miles
One issue they had was with front tire wear. The front tires were worn out at 12,000 miles.

Anyone out there have enough miles on their Element to give us another perspective on tire wear? The tires on the reveiwed Element were the Goodyear Wranglers I believe.[/quote:c69c5ed80e]

My Element has 15,000 miles on it and I've had it about 9 months now. So far I've only had them rotated once but there is no sign of excessive wear on any of the tires yet... ;)

Was the test car with the wear issue a 2WD or 4WD model? That can make a HUGE difference.

My March '04 issue has nothing at all about the Element. A Saturn Ion is the long term test vehicle..

Sure it's not April? I'm still waiting on that one.. :(

The Element was an EX front wheel drive. Good point, it would have a tendency to wear more. The artical pointed out the median age of the Element owner is 42 years old. 65% of buyers are over 35 and 38% are women according to Car and Driver.

[quote:44510fb7c5=" "]In this months issue they reevaluated the 2003 Element at 40,000 miles
One issue they had was with front tire wear. The front tires were worn out at 12,000 miles.

Anyone out there have enough miles on their Element to give us another perspective on tire wear? The tires on the reveiwed Element were the Goodyear Wranglers I believe.[/quote:44510fb7c5]

Near 30k and OE are shot with front wear the most evident. They were rotated, pressure checked (32/34)

The tires are cheap pieces of crap. Wear 'em out and then get something good. And for the record, fwd vs. AWD won't wear any different, since the AWD is FWD unless slippage occurs anyway.

Just did the second service on the E (15k miles) and rotated the tires for the second time. The tires definitely wear fast, only 3-4mm tread left, no way I'll get more than 15k more on them. My other car (fulltime 4wd Toyota Landcruiser) has about 30k miles on the tires and have 9mm tread left.

Within a few months of picking up my new E, I noticed "scuffing" and increased wear. I took it back to my dealer for an alignment check. They said everything fell within normal limits. Funny thing happened after that visit nearly 6 months ago. The scuffing has completely stopped and upon rotation, the Wranglers look pretty good for close to 28,000 miles. I guestimate based upon the wear, I'll get 40,000 miles out of them. The tire wear has really seemed to slow down. I have no explanation for this beyond that my alignment was really out and the dealer fixed it, but never admitted that there was anything wrong with the alignment in the first place. Bottom line for me, the Wranglers will probably make 40,000 miles based upon my rate of wear.

ok, we all know that the present tires suck that come on the E. When I am ready, I have 21,000 on Boxy, I want to get the biggest ones that you can fit on that rim man! I have the EX rims on her so let's hear some opinions!

What type of Wranglers? I have GoodYear Wranglers on my Explorer, and they are great tires for the money. Got 4 new ones for $350 installed with 70K tread-life. The previous ones went 85K miles, no kidding. :o And yes, this is an Explorer that gets off-roaded and a few races back when I was a young rebel. ;)

Took my E in for an oil change(Amsoil) and to have the tires rotated.
38% of the front tread had been used at 13,500 miles. The rear still has 63% left. Suggested that there is too much lte braking being done, loading the front tires more than I should...he's right. The GoodYear tire guy, who happens to be my brother, said that the oem tires are too soft and will wear extremely fast. His suggestion was to go with a Michelin next time and I'll be lucky to get 30,000 miles from this set.

what size tires would be a good siz e to replace 215,s with....Iwas thinking about 235x70x16 or 225.

After combing the boards just before I took delivery, I identified four tires I like for the "E."

The ones I have now are Michelin Cross Terrain SUVs sized at 225/70/16. This has been an excellent tire, looks very 8) , and the size is a perfect compromise of quiet and performance:

http://www.discounttire.com/product/tires/mmivp9.ang.jpg

Several threads about these Yokohoma Geolander HTS in 225/70/16, or the OEM size of 215/70/16:

http://www.discounttire.com/product/tires/yokvpa.ang.jpg

EOC member Empire put on these Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo tires in size 235/70/16. They don't come any smaller, but this one might be a great tire if you were willing to go with the 235s:

http://www.roadwaywholesaletire.com/images/Dueler_AT_Revo.jpg

Can't remember the thread, but this tire from BF Goodrich, the All-Terrain T/AŽ KO, in size 235/70/16 has been discussed. There is mention of a whine with these tires at medium highway speeds, but they are excellent off/soft road tires:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/images/catalog/tires/all_terrain_large.jpg

In a nutshell, it seems that when you go beyond 225/70/16 you have to look carefully for rubbing problems depending on the tire sidewall design. You have to broaden the search for tires sizes just slightly larger than the OEM. Few quality tires are in the 215/70/16 range. :(

Excellent research epod. I like the bridgestones. I wonder if empire can post how these have been doing with him with his commute?

Empire's March 13th comments about his 235/70/16 Revo Tires:

"I've been riding on a set of the 235/70/16 Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revos for about 13k miles now and they still look, feel, and grip great. No rubbing and I've rotated them twice so far. I think the 235 vs. 225 really depends on the profile of the tread. I had to reasure the Bridgestone installer the 235's would fit with no rub. He kept shaking his head until he actually test fit one of the front ones on and turned the wheel. As I watched him turn the wheel back and forth for over 2 minutes and wedge his hand and flashlight all around the tire he came back into the waiting room with a card in his hand. He told me as long as he could slip the card between anything close to the the tire he was cool with it........but he said he still couldn't believe it fit. When I ordered another Revo tire for the roof mounted full size spare I had to go thru the same thing reassuring the TireRack.com tech that called me 3 minutes after I placed the online order that the 235/70/16 would work. He kept asking me, "Are you SURE you drive a Honda Element?" I laughed but but told him I appreciate the swift customer service. I think if the Revos were any knobbier then there would absolutely be some rubbing.
They are about 1 inch taller than the stock Wranglers and add about a 1/2 inch more ground clearance. The filling of the tire well is what's noticed the most when compared to the stock set."

Here's the entire thread:

http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7396&highlight=revo

Here's a couple pics of his ride with the Revos:

http://shaylorcustomshipyard.com/Empire001.JPG

http://shaylorcustomshipyard.com/Empire002.JPG

I really like what he's done with his ELEMENT.

Thanks Empire! The next set of tires I am going to get is the bridgestones. I have 25,000 on the good years now and they are going for another rotation this weekend. This will be my third rotation I believe. I lose track. I still have a lot of rubber left on them because I keep on top of maintenace on Boxy.

To me, Bridgestone/Firestone is absolute junk. Maybe the Firestone scandal has made me jaded, but I have had nothing but problems with abnormal tread wear on their tires. Goodyear has been a dream to me, but I have heard they are hit/miss quality-wise. I have never had a tire other than Firechickens that go under 50K miles. Tire rotation is key, especially on front-drivers.

Yes I agree. I have had good and bad experience with goodyears. It's funny. My wife's '97 CRV came with bridgestones and when it came to get new tires the dealer didn't have them. They said they come from the factory like that. I knew that. So I went with a fatter and higher tire but the problem is the newer tire wouldn't fit under the hard spare tire cover which still had a unused bridgestone. I learned from another member that I should include the full size spare in the rotation and you will get even more out of the tires because of the extra one. I know it will cost more money in the end but still....The 4 bridgetones lasted about 60,000 miles. Rotation "IS" the key.

This has been a good discussion people!

I don't really have a problem with the Element's OEM tires. They seemed to do fine in the snow, are good in the wet and are a bit noisy, but comfortable. If these tires are lasting 40K-50K miles for some it's gonna be a long, long time before they will need replacing.

Quite a change from my Miata, where I change the tires every
spring. :roll:

I've already had to buy one new Goodyear. At 350 miles my husband ran over something that punctured the sidewall..$113 for a new tire. Ouch! :cry:

[quote:da37785830=" "]The tires are cheap pieces of crap. Wear 'em out and then get something good. And for the record, fwd vs. AWD won't wear any different, since the AWD is FWD unless slippage occurs anyway.[/quote:da37785830]

I don't think this is true. I don't think the fronts have to slip, although that is one of the conditions under which there will be some power to the rear diff. I believe straight-up accelleration is another one of those conditions.

The tread design might also contribute to the impression of fast wear. The side grooves are shallow, so the tread edges start looking bald early on.
paulj

i replaced with 225/70/16 Yokohama Goelander 051 at 28k on our E
the Goelanders look great and feel better (on dry , wet and now tested on snow) then the crappy wranglers.:roll:

I have going through the posts as I am looking to replace my Goodyears. I have 52,000 miles and have a little less than 5/32 tread depth left. I have rotated them and from reading all the posts I wonder if I am a rare case with these factory tires. I have had no problems what so ever and the road noise has not been that bad. Not really noticeable. Just my 2 cents. Luv the E, though I took a lot of smack buying it in 2004 and now they are all over the place. I will say I converted many people once I took someone for a drive!

I have going through the posts as I am looking to replace my Goodyears. I have 52,000 miles and have a little less than 5/32 tread depth left. I have rotated them and from reading all the posts I wonder if I am a rare case with these factory tires. I have had no problems what so ever and the road noise has not been that bad. Not really noticeable. Just my 2 cents. Luv the E, though I took a lot of smack buying it in 2004 and now they are all over the place. I will say I converted many people once I took someone for a drive!

Greetings and welcome. LOTS of tire threads here. Other than bad mouthing the wranglers, folks here seem to be happy with a wide range of tires. Depending on your driving habits.

I have Michelin LTX M/S, a popular tire. Soldierguy has Avon Ranger TSE and is very happy with them, through a range of road conditions. AprillaGuy has Cooper Discoverers I think and is happy with them (his second set of Coopers?).

Some folks buy their tires through online sources like Tire Rack and have had great luck with them. Warranty service is a bit different with an online tire purchase than with your local tire shop but there can be a cost savings to buying online.

Read up and enjoy your search.

Oh, and be sure to say hello to IRV. :wink:

- Ted

I bought my Avons online. I prefer to shop locally whenever I can, but through research I figured that the Avons best suited what I wanted in a tire, and there were no local shops that sold Avons.

The Avons were the second set of tires I've bought online through TireRack. Both times, the tires arrived very quickly and there were no problems with the tires at all.