I am new to the forum and could not find a thread about replacing OEM tires. I am looking into replacing the same size tire 255/55/18. Possibly Kumho Road Venture APT KL51's or Falken Ziex S/TZ-04. Any recommendations? Cheers.

 

I have the kumho road venture mts and I love them so far. I would assume that the apts are just as good. I chose kumhos because of the price and because I had read good reviews on the new tread pattern. I have no experience with the Falkens. What type of driving do you do? If you are interested in some 16" rims I have some cheap in the classified section!

 

I was told that since our Discos have 4-wheel drive we need to replace 4 tires. Replacing only two could mess up the 4-wheel drive. Is this accurate? Also, do you rotate five tires or just four? Thanks.

 

Yes, kinda.
No, only 4.

The problem with having different sized tires on the front and rear is that you can cause extra wear on the drive line.
Just because all four are the same "size" does NOT mean that they are all the same "size".
As a tire wears it gets smaller, you cant see it, but if you were to take a dressmakers tape measure and measure the diameter of the tires you would find that the used tire was smaller than the new one.
So with smaller tires on the front and bigger ones on the rear the front wheels and driveshaft will be turning faster than the rear wheels.
Not a big deal if only driving 10,000 miles or so, but a huge deal if driving more than that.
If it were a all wheel drive then absolutely NOT, not for any amount of time because you will burn up the viscous coupler.
But the transfer case on our trucks can take up some of the difference just not all of it.

Leave the spare tire where it is, just check the pressure in it every 6 months and it will last as long as the truck.
If you rotate it into service you will be buying 5 tires next time not 4.

Does that answer your questions?

 

I always rotate my spare in to the mix, so if I have a flat the spare is close to the same size as the other 3, particularly important if one tire can't be repaired.

 

Agreed and you'll also get a few more thousand miles out of the life of all 5 tires if you rotate all 5 of them in.

 

i have the exact same falkens you listed on my rig. they were brand new a year ago when i bought it.

if you look at my photos you will see where i have gone with those tires off road. the only limitation i have run into is thick mud, slushy deep snow and steep iced over trails.

awesome on road tires and work well in heavy rain and handle awesome. quiet and run true. i would recommend them to anyone wanting a great road tire that does well in city snow and ice, but is not a off road tire.

i am trying to wrangle together cash for off road tires and will be selling my falkens. they only have 6k miles on them as my rig is not a daily driver.

if your interested maybe we can work something out

 

Thanks guys, wealth of information here. I ordered the Kumho Road Venture APT KL51s. Initially I ordered 5 but after reading the posts I ended up ordering 4. I figured I would use the spare as a spare and just replace it right away plus budget restrictions. I just cannot stand mismatched tires—I'll just keep the tire cover on. ;-)

 

 

Hey CGHowell2,

I had Continentals before the Kumhos. The Kumhos feel softer than the Contis (maybe because the Contis were out of tread) and has better road manners (meaning they don't move around so much when you run over grooves or cracks on the road). They are as quiet as the Contis. I am no expert but the wife and I have no complaints on them and no news is good news. I am well satisfied with them and you cannot beat the price. Hope this helps.