Primewell Valera AT Tires

[tresimaximus]

I am new to Ih8mud even though I have been reading it for years. I was a Range Rover Classic owner, but my heart was always set on an FJ80. I just was blessed enough to find a 40th Anniversary 97' & I cannot be happier with her! I wanted to put ATs on her, but price really was my limiting factor more than anything. I did as much homework on here as possible, but really didn't find much about the Primewell Valera AT tires. I got them at my Local Firestone Tire in Wichita Falls, Texas. I got a great discount on them, and I ended up getting 5 for cheaper than 4 of most every other model.

Since I couldn't find much on them in the way of reviews, I have decided to post this thread. I will updated it as much as I can as I get a better feel for the tires.

I went whitewalls out (hopefully not to offend anyone ) But I felt that the look was good. Curb appeal is great! They stand great, look clean, and there is a great pattern on the sidewall that was cooler than the KO's or the Terra Grapplers to me. The ride was quiet, even, balanced, and from the tires on the truck when I purchased...a HUGE upgrade in ride quality!

I will let yall know more as they wear and as I use them in more capacities. As for now...
They were great for a 120 mile drive at 75mph!

I hope this helps someone looking to save some money for a good looking tire!

Thanks, and thank you to all the members for the great posts on this tire forum...it helped me tremendously when searching for tires!

Ps. I went with 285/75/16 on stock suspension--- no worries... fits like a charm and looks awesome!

Lift to come

Thanks,
Tres

 

[tresimaximus]

 

[MattThompson]

I did the same on Friday. Got a bolt in my rear tire on the way to work and it couldn't be repaired so to keep all the tires the same I replaced them with 5 285/75-16's as I figured for the cost, what the hell. Good looking tires without any issues so far other than a faint road noise as you would expect moving to an AT. Scared myself reading the reviews online by googling the brand,(after already purchasing them) but we run Primwell tires on my fiances beater 285k mile 2001 Accord and they have been just fine for what we use that car for. (highway commuting) They have been on her car for almost two years with no issues, so I thought id try them. Now to test them off road!

 

[tresimaximus]

Thank you Matt! Your truck looks bigtime! I think that these tires are just fine. I am obviously still early in my time with them, but I feel like they will be great. I think that they're like most things...if you buy the most expensive/most researched/best materials then you can have very high expectations for them. If you buy an off-brand, then you can expect them to perform...just not at the same length of time that the most expensive products will. I get the feel that these are just a "generic" brand version of a Firestone tire. I wish I would have had the cash for BFG KO's, but then again...I am a "generic" brand shopper in most other places too.

 

[MattThompson]

Thank you Matt! Your truck looks bigtime! I think that these tires are just fine. I am obviously still early in my time with them, but I feel like they will be great. I think that they're like most things...if you buy the most expensive/most researched/best materials then you can have very high expectations for them. If you buy an off-brand, then you can expect them to perform...just not at the same length of time that the most expensive products will. I get the feel that these are just a "generic" brand version of a Firestone tire. I wish I would have had the cash for BFG KO's, but then again...I am a "generic" brand shopper in most other places too.

I agree on the expectation side and time will tell on performance and longevity, but I have had expensive " big name" sets of tires on other vehicles end up being less than impressive as well. I figure with the 5 tire rotation method recommended on Cruisers, they should last at least 2 years on my truck. I've got a trip to Colorado planned for Febuary and hope to do some local exploring until then so I will try and update how they hold up.

 

[MattThompson]

View attachment 1123485

Looks like you found a clean 80 series!

 

[ken_79-fj40]

That does look like a clean 80 you found. I don't have experience with this exact tire but my Mustang had primewells on it when I bought it. Date code said they were six years old. Tread depth was great, almost like new. But I have never seen a tire dry rot so badly. So bad in fact I wouldn't even drive the car with them on it. The dealer delivered it and I took the wheels off and put new tires on it the next day at work. You could see the casing of the tire through the cracks in between the tread blocks. I hope you guys have far better luck than that. But I think I'll stick with Generals as my lower priced tire of choice.

 

[Crusin]

View attachment 1123485

Nice looking LC. Any update on the tire? I'm looking to get a set before the sale ends.

 

[MattThompson]

Nice looking LC. Any update on the tire? I'm looking to get a set before the sale ends.

I haven't had any issues with mine except the A/T whine on smooth roads. I had them out in some pretty sharp ceder stump ridden land recently and they held up fine. These are the first A/Ts I've had on the truck so I don't have anything to compare them to but for "store brand" tires they are holding up well. I check my tire pressure regularly and use the 5 tire rotation method so we will see how long they last.

 

[stinkyfj60]

I'd be interested to see how they do long term... just out of curiosity. I worked for Firestone for a little bit and honestly, I wouldn't recommend Primewell tires at all. The ones that went out the door just didnt hold up like the Firestone or Bridgestone tires (yes, they come from different factories and have different technologies).

Have you had to use them on wet or icy roads? Our work truck had them on it and they were horrible in rain...

 

[MattThompson]

I'd be interested to see how they do long term... just out of curiosity. I worked for Firestone for a little bit and honestly, I wouldn't recommend Primewell tires at all. The ones that went out the door just didnt hold up like the Firestone or Bridgestone tires (yes, they come from different factories and have different technologies).

Have you had to use them on wet or icy roads? Our work truck had them on it and they were horrible in rain...

I drove to Missouri in what seemed like a monsoon after Christmas and had no issue. Haven't had any ice or snow in my area yet but will keep this updated. I figured if they last anywhere close to what they claim I'll be happy. I had planned on going with either Toyo or Bridgestones but the price I got them for they were worth a try.

 

[fcjeep]

I drove to Missouri in what seemed like a monsoon after Christmas and had no issue. Haven't had any ice or snow in my area yet but will keep this updated. I figured if they last anywhere close to what they claim I'll be happy. I had planned on going with either Toyo or Bridgestones but the price I got them for they were worth a try.

To MattThompson and tresimaximus :
My son is considering a set of the Primewell Valera ATs for his 2008 Xterra. He doesn't do any off-roading with the truck but needs tires that can deal with some heavy snow. Now that you guys have had a few months with them do you still like and recommend them? Have you had a chance to use them in snow? Are they very noisy on dry roads?
He's on a budget right now and Firestone has a good deal on them until the end of April.

I thank you both in advance for your answers!

 

[MattThompson]

To MattThompson and tresimaximus :
My son is considering a set of the Primewell Valera ATs for his 2008 Xterra. He doesn't do any off-roading with the truck but needs tires that can deal with some heavy snow. Now that you guys have had a few months with them do you still like and recommend them? Have you had a chance to use them in snow? Are they very noisy on dry roads?
He's on a budget right now and Firestone has a good deal on them until the end of April.

I thank you both in advance for your answers!

They are a bit noisy, but mine are holding up well. No cracks or early aging signs yet, and I rotate the spare every time and get that done about every 5k. I cant speak for ice/snow as we had none this year and ended up changing my Colorado trip to Nashville so didn't get a chance there either.

 

[fcjeep]

They are a bit noisy, but mine are holding up well. No cracks or early aging signs yet, and I rotate the spare every time and get that done about every 5k. I cant speak for ice/snow as we had none this year and ended up changing my Colorado trip to Nashville so didn't get a chance there either.

Thank you for that information Matt Thompson.

My son found a deal on the new Yokohama Geolandar AT G015 with a $70 rebate. It will cost him only $45 more over the Primewells after the rebate so I think that's what he'll end up buying.

 

[Josecito67]

Hello. Is there any update how the Primewell AT performed after a longer time? Thanks

 

[stinkyfj60]

Hello. Is there any update how the Primewell AT performed after a longer time? Thanks

Considering how bad they are when new, I'm pretty sure they don't get better as they wear....

 

[tresimaximus]

Hey guys...wanted to update this thread 5-years later from my post on the Primewell Valera AT Tire

I am actually about to grab some new tires soon this month. They have been awesome to me. No problems at all...and I am only replacing them due to the depth of tread left on them. I am bad about remembering how many miles exactly that they lasted me, but looking back at the date on my forum post on here they've survived a solid 5 year run with this truck being my only daily driver. I have used them lightly off-road a few times, and they've always held up and performed well. I would say they're a great value in my experience with them. I always loved the look of them, and I never missed not spending the extra cash on KO2s or more expensive all terrains. I am searching around in my area now for another set to put on my truck again.
Thanks for the question! I hope this helps,
Tres

 

[MattThompson]

I just saw this and since I was on the original thread, I thought I would update as well. I had them a couple years and they never punctured or cracked. I'm in Oklahoma so no "real" snow experience with them. I ended up replacing them after some wear due to a worn steering rack. I went with Falken Wildpeaks which have been fantastic!