Mastercraft tires

[nunya]

Lookin for some info and feedback from all that have used Mastercraft tires. I have heard some good feedback and no negative so I thought this would be a great place to ask as always. They have a 60K warranty on a tire to fit my 06 dually that should do really well. Thanks in advance for the input.

 

[HBarlow]

Mastercraft is a cheap tire store brand with high profit potential for the retailer. A mileage guarantee on a truck tire is usually just a gimmick. If a tire is molded with hard rubber compound to allow long mileage it will usually provide poor dry pavement traction. Every advantage has a hidden trade off. In many cases tire retailers will find a way to wiggle out of a tire mileage warranty. The easiest and most desirable avoidance method is often to tell you your front end is worn and they'll replace all the front end components so it won't happen again.

Michelins have recently seen large price increases, perhaps all tire have as well. Michelins used to cost me just over $0. 01/mile for a set of six on a dually Ram. They may be up to $0. 15/mile or even $0. 02/mile now. A Michelin is the best all purpose highway road tire money can buy. Some specialized applications such as racing may be better satisfied by other brands.

 

[TCDiesel]

Mastercraft are awesome Tires. . Although I prefer Toyo (USA Made if available) If You need statics our data Base is available Royal Tire has sales of 8 million monthly. . Now is a good time to buy a big tariff is going to be applied to all China Made tires next month, tomorrow a 5% increase (At Royal) I believe just to be the start. I placed the order today for new tires for every Truck and Trailer I and Chris own. . For My 03 LT285/75R17 128s E/10 Pcode 300690 , Possible 60 day B/O. Toyo HT/Tuff Duty . .

 

[Hoefler]

they are made by Cooper, a pretty good tire for the money.

 

[HBarlow]

If it was a good tire wouldn't it be reasonable to expect Cooper to put their own name on the tire?

 

[DCreed]

If it was a good tire wouldn't it be reasonable to expect Cooper to put their own name on the tire?

You mean like lexus, toyota, and scion? Many companies use multiple names to sell a product. I do agree that often the lesser brand is made to lower standards, although I have run mastercraft tires on a grandnational powered monza I had and they performed flawlessly for MANY miles and on a car that spun through 4th gear and chirped 5th, that aint bad! :-laf

 

[HBarlow]

The reason manufacturers use a different name on their product is always to separate it from the manufacturer's public image. In the case of Toyota's Lexus, and the similar Honda and Nissan products it is done for the clear purpose of moving the products upscale to give them a luxury image and justify higher prices.

I don't have the slightest concern about what another member decides to spend his money on or what tire he chooses to put on his truck but common sense would tell you that if "mastercraft" were a premium tire it would be proudly sold with the Cooper name boldly molded on the sidewall.

Has anyone ever seen a Mastercraft tire used as an OEM tire?

 

[steved]

My father and I have been through many sets of Mastercrafts... they are a very good tire for the price. I've ran the LT, and my father ran the winter tire and over six sets of the AP. Expect around 35k out of a set on a 2500 4x4.



FWIW, the AP was one of the best all-purpose tires I've ever seen... anything from pavement to snow they handled well. My father tried a lot of tires during his 5 years of commuting 150 miles/day (from Titusville, PA to DuBois, PA)... anything from Bridgestone to Michelin... he like the MasterCraft AP the best of any. If anyone could see bad road conditions, he did.



I'd be more worried about performance than "name brand"... MasterCrafts are part of Cooper, and perform as well as any name brand tire I've ran. If they were offered locally, I would have bought them instead of the Revos.

 

[steved]

The reason manufacturers use a different name on their product is always to separate it from the manufacturer's public image.



Has anyone ever seen a Mastercraft tire used as an OEM tire?

And you answered your own question...



There are a lot of GARBAGE OE tires installed with brand names too...

 

[mwilson]

I have read many tire posts on here over the years and I am surprised at the fact that many of you do not replace the stock Michelins when they wear out. My OEM set went 75,000 miles with 4 rotations. Why would you not put the same identical tire back on if you are seeking the best value for your dollar?? If you have a 4-wheel drive truck as I do I have had no situation on these slippery ice and snow covered roads up here where I felt that my tires were not up to the job. No hydroplaning either and that is very important as we have many sections of road with ruts that fill up with water at the first sign of rain. The only place I have noticed a problem is in thick sticky mud but a lot of tires in addition to the Michelins will clog and not clean themselves out. Also, if you have too aggressive a tire in mud coupled with the extra weight of the Cummins you drop like a rock as soon as it spins. Been there, done it. I only had to buy 3 tires as the spare was a match so for $600. 00 I am all rubbered up for another 75,000 miles. How can you beat that??? I just don't get it. Just my . 02 worth if you want true return for your dollar.

 

[TCDiesel]

Mwilson, Michelins are awesome tires, They are great mileage and road tire, they are not equal to the ride and weather like other tires, the Toyo AT/HT/HT Tuff Duty will out Perform the LT Michelins except life. Michelins will be the best life tire available in most applications. For LT You can look at the weight the TB has to install to be balance, More weight (allot)= less life if you have weight in/out reject that tire.



On Edit: the OEM LT265 Michelins 44K,Yep I ran them down to bologna skins so no way were they going to Mexico to be resold.

 

[mwilson]

I also should add that my duty cycle for this kind of tire wear is 90% empty and 10% towing a 12,000 lb. 5th wheel camper. No slowplowing either. The truck is used as a pleasure car most of the time. I did notice that the spare took more weight than the 3 new tires, not excessive but I did raise an eyebrow when I mounted and balanced them.

I worked for a fleet that used Cooper Tires on their 3/4 ton Ford Diesels and they were pretty much the only tire that would give any life at all on the floppin' front axle that Ford used at the time. Overloaded all the time, carrying 8 and 9 foot plows around all winter, 100 gallon Diesel tanks in the back for off-road equipment fueling and balance of the body filled with salt sand for hand sanding of the woods roads. They will take the abuse for sure.

 

[gsbrockman]

Lookin for some info and feedback from all that have used Mastercraft tires.

I work at an S&S Tire in Lexington, KY and Mastercraft tires are one of our most popular selling tires... the Courser HTR's are a great all season light truck tire, and the Courser C/T's are a great choice for people who desire more traction than all terrains provide but need less traction than what a mud tire delivers. A friend of mine exceeded 102k miles on his LT35x12. 50R17 Mastercraft Courser C/T's on his 2006 RAM 2500 MegaCab.



#ad




I, too, used the Mastercraft Courser C/T's in LT33x12. 50R17 on my 2003 RAM 2500 and they were great tires. We have a Hunter Road Force Balancer and they always show a low road force and balance up nicely.



Greg

 

[AABEN]

I have ran them from 1977 to 2005 and they was a #1 tire they held the road very good and lasted a lot longer than the Good years that they replaced. I know run Michelims. They came on the car. There is very little diffrent in the tires. GO for them Good luck.

 

[steved]

My OEM set went 75,000 miles with 4 rotations. Why would you not put the same identical tire back on if you are seeking the best value for your dollar??

Just to make a point... I have a set of Pirelli STRa on my "summer" wheels... I have over 100k miles on them, and they have just less than 50% of their life left. I figure I will get easily 150k out of them before they get worn to the point I wouldn't want to do long trips with them.



The STRa handle better than the two sets of Michelins I've owned, and they carry weight better too (they are similar to the LTX A/S I ran on my 99 2500). The only thing they don't work at all in is mud.



There are tires that perform just as well as the name brands, without the name brand prices. I only paid $125/tire for my Pirelli STRa.

 

[Sled Dog]

The reason manufacturers use a different name on their product is always to separate it from the manufacturer's public image. In the case of Toyota's Lexus, and the similar Honda and Nissan products it is done for the clear purpose of moving the products upscale to give them a luxury image and justify higher prices.



I don't have the slightest concern about what another member decides to spend his money on or what tire he chooses to put on his truck but common sense would tell you that if "mastercraft" were a premium tire it would be proudly sold with the Cooper name boldly molded on the sidewall.



Has anyone ever seen a Mastercraft tire used as an OEM tire?

Cooper Tire's are After-Market, Not OEM.

 

[jgillott]

I have had 2 sets of Mastercraft tires in the last couple of years, but not on either of our Rams. I had a set of Mastercraft CT's on our '05 Silverado and currently have a set of Mastercraft AT's on our old Jeep Cherokee. My only complaint is that I can't keep the fronts from cupping on the edges on either vehicle. They got so bad on the Silverado that I ended up throwing them away with lots of tread left just to get rid of the vibration and road noise. The ones on the Jeep are cupping also, not quite as bad, but I end up rotating them constantly to try and keep them as long as possible.

 

[seafish]

I have had 2 sets of Mastercraft tires in the last couple of years, but not on either of our Rams. I had a set of Mastercraft CT's on our '05 Silverado and currently have a set of Mastercraft AT's on our old Jeep Cherokee. My only complaint is that I can't keep the fronts from cupping on the edges on either vehicle. They got so bad on the Silverado that I ended up throwing them away with lots of tread left just to get rid of the vibration and road noise. The ones on the Jeep are cupping also, not quite as bad, but I end up rotating them constantly to try and keep them as long as possible.

I trust that you were running enough air pressure for your vehicles ...



That being said, throwing out tires with good tread left because they vibrate too much does NOT seem to me to be within thr definition of a good tire.

 

[nunya]

lots of info, none bad,yet! Thanks! Still lookin and listenin to feedback. What I really need is a tire that has load capacity and long life, I use truck mostly for towing our 5er, at 14+K. We are full time RVers,move around here n there. Thanks and keep the info comin!

 

[TCDiesel]

What Size and Weight rating, You cannot have both ride and comfort and expect to get over 50k, if you want 50k plus you will need to go E rated, generally that's 80 PSI with 3P side wall, it will ride rougher and will not handle as well in wintry (Wet) conditions.