Those Bridgestone V-Ribs look like a GREAT tire for quality and strength. Before they are installed they feel really sturdy to the hand. You are right they are expensive, but in this case you are gettting something for the money. I am really sorry you had an issue.
At the company where I work we guarantee your satisfaction. You would be able to bring back the Coopers if we had sold them for full credit toward the Bridgestones.
Maybe you could appeal to the customer service department of your tire store. Or ask Cooper for a solution.
If you don't get a credit, I guess it's e-bay or craigslist. Just describe them as incompatible with your other tires, or a mistaken order. Lots of truck people need tires and don't have a touchy tow vehicle situation.
05 F150 FX4 Supercrew, 5.4, 3.73 LS, Jordan Ultima 2020 Brake Controller,
04 TrailCruiser 30QBSS, Battery Disconnect,
Dual Cam HP, Ultra Fab Power Tongue Jack, Bal Lockarm Stabilizers
I have Cooper tires on my car. Maybe it's a brand thing because the sidewalls are so soft that my snow tires handle better. I won't be buying another set of Coopers ...
I just got new tire for my TV, went with Michelin LTX AT2, same size as the tire that came off. I had horrible sway problems, come to find out the Michelins are an 1-1/2" taller then the old tires of the same size. I had to lower the ball height to get it back to towing right.
There are many, many variables to tires and even differences from
brand to brand, from model to model within the same brand, etc.
Even the wheel affects the tire performance.
Even if the two sets were of the same size, load rating, wheels, tread, etc but
different brands....that can make a huge difference.
I switched from Michelin LTX-AT 33/12.5R15LT load range C on 8inch
wide alloy wheels on my 1980 Silverado to Dayton Timberlines of the
same size, type and load rating. Now it over steers at the extreme
limits and the transition is abrupt...very abrupt.
On mine, the main difference is that the sidewalls are not as stiff
and behaves very differently. It also rides more on the center tread
ribs with the same pressures (same wheels too).
To manage this, first try increasing the pressure as others have
recommended. That may help, but the down side will be more wear on the
center tread ribs. Might even try lowering the pressure, but make
sure it will still carry your load safely.
Next is wider rims.
Shocks should not make that much of a difference, unless they are
worn, but assuming they were the same for the last set of tires that
you had no problems with.
Adding an anti-sway (lean) bar will help, but that will then change
the front/rear bias and over/under steering issues might crop up.
Finally, tire compounds age and get harder. Maybe they just need to
age a bit...
-Ben Picture of my rig
1996 GMC SLT Suburban 3/4 ton K3500/7.4L/4:1/+150Kmiles orig owner...
1980 Chevy Silverado C10/long bed/"BUILT" 5.7L/3:73/1 ton helper springs/+329Kmiles, bought it from dad...
1998 Mazda B2500 (1/2 ton) pickup, 2nd owner...
Praise Dyno Brake equiped and all have "nose bleed" braking!
Previous trucks/offroaders: 40's Jeep restored in mid 60's / 69 DuneBuggy (approx +1K lb: VW pan/200hpCorvair: eng, cam, dual carb'w velocity stacks'n 18" runners, 4spd transaxle) made myself from ground up / 1970 Toyota FJ40 / 1973 K5 Blazer (2dr Tahoe, 1 ton axles front/rear, +255K miles when sold it)...
Sold the boat (looking for another): Trophy with twin 150's...
51 cylinders in household, what's yours?...
woodbury wrote: The tires on the rear are Cooper Discoverer ATR LT 245/75R16 Load E and the originals are on the front Bridgestone V Steel Rib 265 LT 245/75R16 Load E.
The tread pattern is different.
I can assure you that your Cooper tires are definitely a less-stiff sidewall tire.
I had the same tires on a similar 1 ton vehicle, pulling a similar trailer, and experienced the same problem.
Griped to the tire shop and Cooper actually bought the tires back from me. Upgraded to Michelin tires. Haven't had a problem since.
2004 Ford F350 PSD 6L 4x4 Crew Cab.
2007 Jayco Eagle 322 FKS.
Camping with DW Terry,
Bobi-Sue and Billy-Joe,
Westhighland White Terriers
tread roll from a AT type tread can cause swaying/fishtailing. Try playing with the tire pressure in the ATRs. Lots of pressure has the tire setting up on the treads centers. Not enough will have to much carcass roll. Your van may also be reacting from different size tires. Usually smaller tires on the rear has the vehicle wondering around the road more than usual. Ben makes a good point on problems from improper tires for a certain width wheel.
JIM
'03 2500 Dodge/Cummins HO 3.73 6 speed manual Jacobs
'97 Park Avanue 28' with two slides
SoCalDesertRider wrote: Put those 33x12.50's on 10" rims and they'll wear flat.
The 1980 Silverado C10 is an all around and family loaner. So when I
take it out to the desert to take pictures and rock hound, it must
have narrow rims to allow the tire sidewall to fold over and protect.
My Suburban's street tires are on 10 inch wide alloys and the off road
set are on the OEM 6.5 inch wide steel rims. The street setup has almost
no sidewall bendback, so the slip angle has been reduced. So has the
T&T characteristics of the tires. Off roading with that setup would
bruise the tire sidewalls in a hurry and maybe mess up the rims.
To the OP, if the different brand tread design has little to no tread
block 'stabilizers', then the tread blocks can move more to give you
this issue. Why Yokohama has patented their tread block tapper design.
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