I m going to get new tires for my Benz. Probably am going to stick with Winter tires as I have them on my 86 VW and have been happy. We live on a 5 mile long gravel/clay/mud/ice and snow road. We like it as it keeps the trash out.

I have Firestone winterforce on my vw. I think they are great. After 2 years they still roll smooth and are worn to about 60% tread with the maximum pressure (44 psi) in them. I thought they would melt off in the heat of last summer but was surprised they did fine. My mileage has been good with them too. I get about 53 mpg in the summer.

The tire rack has these and some dunlap graspic tires both available. I know the winterforce as a known quantity. I resorted to going to the tire rack as my local dealer only sold all weather tires. I have been stuck on all weather tires on my road in bad weather. He and I went around so my next tires I brought them in to him.

Has anyone run the Dunlap graspic DS3 tires.?

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

There is a section on there web sight where you can have your inquiries answered by one of there experts, I have found that they do answer your questions and not try to lead you to a specific brand (like the one with the best margin for them). Every time i used it it took a minute or so for someone to take your questions and get back to you as if you had them on the phone. . On another topic given your road conditions how do your rear axel boots hold up to the gravel road debris,as last September on my commute there was a detour due to road closing that took me down a gravel road for 1.5 miles and by spring this year one boot was shot could have been regular wear or the gravel. Just wondering if i should add 10 miles to avoid this detour to stay on a paved road.

Thanks for the reply. I may contact them.


I doubt if your torn boot was sound before your off road experience. My FWD cars tolerate the road when the weather is bad and the road is rutted. They have identical boots to the Merc.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

A few tips when purchasing winter tires are you should consider buying separate rims. This will save time and money when it comes to switching them out. When to install them depends on where you live, a good gauge is to change them out once the temperature hits 10 degrees Celsius or lower.

When you are done with winter weather, store them in a dry and cool location, a basement or garage is ideal. Lay them flat and stacked on top of each other. Ask for storage bags when you buy them to protect them from ozone in the air which can cause them to crack and rot. Wrap each tire and stack them away from welders and electric motors as they can produce ozone as well which will damage the rubber.

I run my winterforce all year,I live in the country.My 3rd year on tires

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

My moto is to prepare for the worst (weather). I usually just mount them and leave them on the car. Can usually get 2 or 3 years on them.

If I found a set of wheels cheap it would be a plan but then I would have to change the wheels out twice a year.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

Silber, Tirerack also has a great resource in their ratings. Pick a tire, then look for their ratings and test results *as well as* the surveys by their customers. It's a great data resource, I use it all the time to look up wet traction, noise, etc.

I took a screen grab just to make it easier to show you. Once you select a tire/size and pick surveys, tests or reviews the screen will refresh to that and you can then click any of the tabs to scroll through them.

Good luck.

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Hi CantKnow
There are two winter tires that tire rack sells that fit my car. The Dunlap Graspic and the Firestone Winterforce. My local tire dealer may have others. I have bought 2 or 3 sets of tires from Tire rack over the last 20 years, so not many but they have been fine.

Should be great to get new tires. They always make a car feel great.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

When I lived in Colorado, I put on some Blizzaks and loved them; it was a rear-wheel drive car (Z-28) and it made the car useable in the winter. They're the only snow tires I ever had to buy and I was a huge fan of those. I think the greatest factor of leaving snow tires on year-round is that the extra heat in the summer (when driving on pavement, particularly at freeway speeds) causes them to stiffen and become more rigid in subsequent winters, which reduces their effectiveness some.

But you're so right about new tires; I put new ones on my car about 15 months ago and am loving them. Most expensive ones I ever bought, but well worth the extra dough, I was looking for a really quiet tire and tire rack's surveys and reviews are what led me to them. Side benefit: they are really good for treadwear, too, I've put on nearly 20,000 miles and you can hardly see much wear.

Good luck with it.


PS: Thinking of your long and crummy road keeping out the riffraff reminds me of George Carlin's old saw: "The best thing about living at the water's edge is that you only have a**holes on three sides of you...and if they come this way, you can hear them splash."

I finally got the winter tires installed.
I went with 4 Hercules Avalanche Xtreme tires. Driving on ice and snow covered road was pretty un-exciting. Just point the car and it went there, no sliding unless I made the boost gauge do it.

They are stamped Made in USA.. With typical construction of steel nylon, and polyester tread reinforcement with polyester side walls.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

Our snow has given way to mud. We had 6" deep clay ruts over the weekend. Tires have kept me rolling.

I have moved the tire pressure up with each week and am at 50 psi. They still drive smooth. and handle well.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

We've gotten blasted with another 8" of snow in the past week. Sure glad that I am running snow tires. Hopefully this will be the last for the year but probably not. There is another one supposedly coming in next week.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

my motto is if the tires sing,there good for anything

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

I have a set of Blizzaks from Tire Rack on spare rims that I can put on either car, depending on which one we decide to drive on our occasional winter trips to snow country. The Blizzaks did great last winter in Salt Lake City. During the rest of the year the Blizzaks live in plastic garbage bags in the garage.

I bought the Blizzaks in August 2012 as soon as TR received their new stock; by the date codes they were made in June 2012, which is close enough to "brand new" for me.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

I am keeping my snow tires on. We have gone from winter to rain. So far have had 5" of rain, with maybe 2" predicted. our local road is a gravel and clay quagmire.

__________________
85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.