Tires: Replace OE Tires on 04 CRV, 2004 honda crv, jeep cj 5

Question
Andrew,
Looking to replace OE Bridgestone 205/70S/R15 Dueler HT D684 on a 2004 Honda CRV EX. These tires need replaces at 25,000 city miles and are very noisey. Northern Ohio weather can and will throw everything at you. I need your thoughts on Michelin passenger and/or light truck tires.Some dealers say don't put passenger tires on this SUV and some say it is OK. looks like Michelin offers LTX M/S tire starting at 205/75SR15, 215/75SR15, OR 225/70SR15. What size can I go up to? Any and all thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
RV.

Answer
Hi Rod!

Lets see if I can help ya. First of all, I would NOT change to a different tire size! You want to stay with the 205/70/15 no matter what reasons and also you want to stay with a truck tire! These small mini SUV's scare me and here is why. Typically they are narrow and have a higher center of gravity, very similar to the old Jeep CJ-5 and 7's, and are more prone to rolling over if involved in anything that upsets them. Think of it like this something pulls in front of you and you have to make an emergency swerve, would you really rather make that swerve in your CRV or the Honda Accord. Answer is the.....Accord of course! So, stay with what you have. Now let's get into exact details of a tire size to help you and others understand a little more about what all those numbers really mean.

Lets use your tire size 205/70/15, 205 is the measurement of the tire at its widest point in millimeters. The second number is 70, which is an aspect ratio, meaning the tire is 70% as tall as it is wide and then of course 15, which is the rim diameter. If you compare your size against the 205/75/15, you will see that the 205/75/15's sidewall is taller than your 205/70/15, which will have a higher center of gravity than your tire. And that is why you do not want that tire on the CRV, a higher sidewall means more flex and more loose handling/stability.

As far as the type of tire, again stay with what the engineers at Honda put on your vehicle a truck tire, they did that for a reason and a good one at that. If you will go to a tire store and ask them to show your the difference between a highway truck tire and a passenger car tire, you'll see what I'm talking about. The sidewall on the truck tire is alot stiffer and will not give "sidewall roll" like a passenger car tire will no matter how good the passenger car tire is. The two things that will be your enemy on a mini suv or any truck, no matter what size, is excessive sidewall roll from having the wrong tire or wrong size or both.

As far as which tire to put on your vehicle, I'm sorry but there just aren't alot of choices to be had here. Bridgestone really has the market covered in this size, my rcommendation is the Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza, which is a much, much better tire than you have on there currently. There are other tires out there, but the quality just isn't close to the Alenza. Here is a link to TireRack.com with the all the tires available in your size and beside each tire is a review section where you can read responses from actual customers, just cut and paste to your browser >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?width=205%2F&ratio=70&diameter=15&sta...     <<<<<<<<<

Now you made mention of the H/T's only lasting 25K and being "noisey". What I strongly recommend and what is probably the cause of your condition is to rotate your tires every 3,000 miles and have the alignment checked at the sametime and every 6,000 check the balance. This is one of the most neglected parts of the car and alot of sevice advisers will say that it is too soon, but I have all 3 of my cars done this way and I just got through getting 68,000 miles and my wife's 50,000 mile tires and I got 61,000 on my 50,000 mile all-terrain tires and I should get 9,000 over on my other car. Anywhere you buy your tires will rotate them for free and a few places like Sear's and Firestone Centers have lifetime alignments( you pay once and never pay again). The reason I do it so often is that number one, its free(yes, we like FREE) and number two the tires never have a chance to get a bad wear pattern set in them.

I hope this helps you and if you have anything else let me know!!!

Andrew ;)