So I think the Michelin Defender is the perfect all-terrain tire... (For most of us) (20 Viewers)

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It seems like a bad idea to me to install a tire that not every location of that vendor will warranty.
I would imagine that once you have purchased a set of tires [edit for clarification] from Costco, any Costco would replace with like tire since it was the original store that took on the responsibility.
 
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I would imagine that once you have purchased a set of tires, any Costco would replace with like tire since it was the original store that took on the responsibility.
My local Costco wouldn't on mine.
 
They wouldn't replace a tire that you purchased at Costco?
You got it. Nope, they wouldn't. I bought the tires at the Kalispell store. The Costco in San Bernardino would not replace them with the same size. I showed the receipt from the Costco in Kalispell and the jerk behind the counter all but call me a liar. He said that the sale was illegal. Then, gave me a lecture about the speedometer, gearing and the "yellow" warnings in the owner's manual. He emphatically stated they can ONLY sell tires specifically specified in the Owner's manual. The specified tire was a 275/65R18. What I had was a 285/65R18. That was going from a 32 inch tire to a 32.5 inch tire and 1/2 inch wider tread. BFG did not make an AT KO2 in the stock size at the time. I explained to him exactly what I thought about him and the BS he tried to feed me and left. The Kalispell Costco had no problem with replacing the tires. They were glad to get the repeated business. Nice thing in Kalispell, no sales tax!
 
You got it. Nope, they wouldn't. I bought the tires at the Kalispell store. The Costco in San Bernardino would not replace them with the same size. I showed the receipt from the Costco in Kalispell and the jerk behind the counter all but call me a liar. He said that the sale was illegal. Then, gave me a lecture about the speedometer, gearing and the "yellow" warnings in the owner's manual. He emphatically stated they can ONLY sell tires specifically specified in the Owner's manual. The specified tire was a 275/65R18. What I had was a 285/65R18. That was going from a 32 inch tire to a 32.5 inch tire and 1/2 inch wider tread. BFG did not make an AT KO2 in the stock size at the time. I explained to him exactly what I thought about him and the BS he tried to feed me and left. The Kalispell Costco had no problem with replacing the tires. They were glad to get the repeated business. Nice thing in Kalispell, no sales tax!
If they did insist on 275/65 they were mistaken in the first place.

Plus my local Costco wouldn’t install stock-sized 285/60r18 defenders because they wouldn’t meet the original speed rating, which the vehicle can’t even do going downhill with a tailwind.
 
If they did insist on 275/65 they were mistaken in the first place.

Plus my local Costco wouldn’t install stock-sized 285/60r18 defenders because they wouldn’t meet the original speed rating, which the vehicle can’t even do going downhill with a tailwind.
I forgot to say this was on my 2008 Tundra, not my LC. Sorry. :shame:
 
You got it. Nope, they wouldn't. I bought the tires at the Kalispell store. The Costco in San Bernardino would not replace them with the same size. I showed the receipt from the Costco in Kalispell and the jerk behind the counter all but call me a liar. He said that the sale was illegal. Then, gave me a lecture about the speedometer, gearing and the "yellow" warnings in the owner's manual. He emphatically stated they can ONLY sell tires specifically specified in the Owner's manual. The specified tire was a 275/65R18. What I had was a 285/65R18. That was going from a 32 inch tire to a 32.5 inch tire and 1/2 inch wider tread. BFG did not make an AT KO2 in the stock size at the time. I explained to him exactly what I thought about him and the BS he tried to feed me and left. The Kalispell Costco had no problem with replacing the tires. They were glad to get the repeated business. Nice thing in Kalispell, no sales tax!

If they did insist on 275/65 they were mistaken in the first place.

Plus my local Costco wouldn’t install stock-sized 285/60r18 defenders because they wouldn’t meet the original speed rating, which the vehicle can’t even do going downhill with a tailwind.

Sounds like some of the stores take the policy a little too strictly. The Kalispell store had an app that showed what tires crossed over with stock size. Mine came with 22s as the original owner upgraded with Lexus wheels before it left the dealer. Wonder how that would have worked.
Hopefully if I have an issue it is here in Montana and not in Cali.
 
You got it. Nope, they wouldn't. I bought the tires at the Kalispell store. The Costco in San Bernardino would not replace them with the same size. I showed the receipt from the Costco in Kalispell and the jerk behind the counter all but call me a liar. He said that the sale was illegal. Then, gave me a lecture about the speedometer, gearing and the "yellow" warnings in the owner's manual. He emphatically stated they can ONLY sell tires specifically specified in the Owner's manual. The specified tire was a 275/65R18. What I had was a 285/65R18. That was going from a 32 inch tire to a 32.5 inch tire and 1/2 inch wider tread. BFG did not make an AT KO2 in the stock size at the time. I explained to him exactly what I thought about him and the BS he tried to feed me and left. The Kalispell Costco had no problem with replacing the tires. They were glad to get the repeated business. Nice thing in Kalispell, no sales tax!
Yup Los Angeles and Phoenix Costco, wouldn't install 275/65/18 as OEM is 285/60/18.

Oh well, Tirerack + mom and pop tire stores for the win.
 
I would recommend Discount Tire but they are adamant about taking the paint off my brand new brake rotors when cleaning the hub.. pretty frustrating.
 
I would recommend Discount Tire but they are adamant about taking the paint off my brand new brake rotors when cleaning the hub.. pretty frustrating.
It's called America's Tires here in CA, same company though. They put the BFG KO2s in 285/65R18 on my LC with no issues at all. Left my rotors alone! I originally went to Les Schwab to get the tires but they quoted me a hundred bucks more per tire. I told them that I could get them much cheaper elsewhere and the counter guy said that they had only one supplier for BFG and the supplier would not price match. I went to the America's Tire at the other end of the block and they had them in stock and put them on right then. No muss, no fuss, though they did give me crap a month before about patching the flat Toyo I had plugged out in the desert, saying that they could not patch a tire previously repaired by someone else due to legal issues where Les Schwab did it for free. Go figure...
 
Paging @gaijin for proper pressure setting on my 2013 LC with fresh Nitto Recon Grappler LT285/70/17s (E 126). Basically stock but with oem front strut spacer and on icon vector 5s only fyi. Muchas Gracias.
 
Paging @gaijin for proper pressure setting on my 2013 LC with fresh Nitto Recon Grappler LT285/70/17s (E 126). Basically stock but with oem front strut spacer and on icon vector 5s only fyi. Muchas Gracias.

The RCTIP (Recommended Cold Tire Inflation Pressure) for LT285/70R17 tires on your LC200 is 40psi Front/Rear.

HTH
 
One other alternative if Costco says no to installing non OEM Tire size on your vehicle is to ask them to refund you $18.99 per tire for the mounting and balancing. Then take it elsewhere. It says that is an option on their site if you choose to not have the tires installed. Granted this is a huge hassle, but you may still be able to keep the road hazard warranty and get that $100 instant off.
 
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One other alternative if Costco says no to installing non OEM Tire size on your vehicle is to ask them to refund you $18.99 per tire for the mounting and balancing. Then take it elsewhere. It says that is an option on their site if you choose to not have the tires installed. Granted this is a huge hassle, but you may still be able to keep the road hazard warranty and get that $100 instant off.

How would you actually use the roadhazard though? Bring them the flat to show evidence, maybe they remove it.. then take the new tire elsewhere to have it mounted?

For lots of cars Costco is a good option.. but for the tire this thread is about, it's just not. Maybe you can get it to work at a given location, but their company policy is that they won't work with you.
 
How would you actually use the roadhazard though? Bring them the flat to show evidence, maybe they remove it.. then take the new tire elsewhere to have it mounted?

For lots of cars Costco is a good option.. but for the tire this thread is about, it's just not. Maybe you can get it to work at a given location, but their company policy is that they won't work with you.
Yeah your mileage will vary on the road hazard coverage. For example purposes, we can assume it is forfeited then when you drive away with the tires unmounted.
Total Costco Price if you decide to buy from Costco but NOT have them installed by Costco: $100 Promotion Discount + $75.96 ($18.99 Per Tire Refund * 4) = $175.96

The Defender LTX M/S2 tire I'm considering is $262.99 per tire. Subtracting the Costco promo discount of $25/tire plus $18.99/tire refund brings total to $219/tire. Works out to about 16.7% discount from the list price though, so not terrible either. Tirerack has $70 Mail in Rebate at the moment and offers 2-Year Road Hazard warranty, so that's another option to consider.
Otherwise just go to Discount Tire/America Tire and try and get them to Match Costco pricing and be done with it...
Costco in my experience is very slow compared to most other tire shops, so I generally lean towards using different shop or installer.
 
One other alternative if Costco says no to installing non OEM Tire size on your vehicle is to ask them to refund you $18.99 per tire for the mounting and balancing. Then take it elsewhere. It says that is an option on their site if you choose to not have the tires installed. Granted this is a huge hassle, but you may still be able to keep the road hazard warranty and get that $100 instant off.
Just from experience since I use Costco often, including this past month. They changed their pricing and they don’t charge an installation anymore. They used to do like $180 off a set off Michelins, but this time it was only $100 off. When I asked why such a small discount this time, the guy working the counter told me that installation here used to be $19.99/tire but is free now. Not sure if this is permanent or a local SoCal thing though.
 
Just from experience since I use Costco often, including this past month. They changed their pricing and they don’t charge an installation anymore. They used to do like $180 off a set off Michelins, but this time it was only $100 off. When I asked why such a small discount this time, the guy working the counter told me that installation here used to be $19.99/tire but is free now. Not sure if this is permanent or a local SoCal thing though.
It's not local. I was told the same thing as I assumed I would have to pay for mounting and balancing on the tire swap, but they are doing it all for free. They said it was all included in the tire price now.
 
Yeah your mileage will vary on the road hazard coverage. For example purposes, we can assume it is forfeited then when you drive away with the tires unmounted.
Total Costco Price if you decide to buy from Costco but NOT have them installed by Costco: $100 Promotion Discount + $75.96 ($18.99 Per Tire Refund * 4) = $175.96

The Defender LTX M/S2 tire I'm considering is $262.99 per tire. Subtracting the Costco promo discount of $25/tire plus $18.99/tire refund brings total to $219/tire. Works out to about 16.7% discount from the list price though, so not terrible either. Tirerack has $70 Mail in Rebate at the moment and offers 2-Year Road Hazard warranty, so that's another option to consider.
Otherwise just go to Discount Tire/America Tire and try and get them to Match Costco pricing and be done with it...
Costco in my experience is very slow compared to most other tire shops, so I generally lean towards using different shop or installer.
Dang. Nice price on those Def2s. Where you at? It’s $340 here plus install.
 
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The RCTIP (Recommended Cold Tire Inflation Pressure) for LT285/70R17 tires on your LC200 is 40psi Front/Rear.

HTH
I am doing 35 psi on my SL ATX General 275/65/18. I think you had recommended 33 psi.

What is funny is I met up with 4 LC people last week and they all made fun of my “low pressure” saying its bulging too much. That i MUST run 40 psi

I told them to eff off. I run what Gaijin tells me
 

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