Avoid Cooper Tires Especially Discoverer at3

[Bandit1859]

Do not buy coooper tires this is the second time I have been burnt by this brand in 3 months. First my 2011 jeeps cooper tires with 80% tread 1.5 yrs old went out of round on the inner edges all 4 noticed one day it started to sound like i had mud tires. Today I am driving my truck with 275/60R20 Cooper Discoverer at3 tires again about 2 yrs old 70% tread and I start to get a front end viberation looked it over SURE ENOUGH outer edge of all 4 tires out of round. I paid $1200 for these tires and loved them up until now the traction was great ect but come on... falling apart with little mileage and 70% tread I guess they dont make them like they use to........

Did you rotate every 6-8000 miles

 

[redvetram]

I’ve run the same set of Cooper Discoverer AT3’s for the last 6 years. I got them siped and run them as my snow tires, but of course a lot of that winter time is spent on dry pavement as well. I’m wondering if the manufacturing quality has changed, cause the ones I have are still going strong.

 

[crackerjack1957]

I’ve run the same set of Cooper Discoverer AT3’s for the last 6 years. I got them siped and run them as my snow tires, but of course a lot of that winter time is spent on dry pavement as well. I’m wondering if the manufacturing quality has changed, cause the ones I have are still going strong.

Goodyear Completes Acquisition of Cooper

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (Nasdaq: GT) today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, finalizing the merger agreement made public on February 22....

corporate.goodyear.com

 

[rick phillips]

Now on 3rd set of Coopre Discovery H/T's on my 99 Dodge 1500 4x4 short bed reg. cab and 2nd set of same on my 98 Tacoma 4X4... been very happy with them, No hint of any problems.

 

[huntergreen]

I thought my Cooper AT3 4S were great tires. Great in all weather, fantastic in heavy wet New Jersey snow and quite. Only issue is they were completely worn at 28000 miles. Air pressure maintained at 40 psi and rotated and balanced every 5000 miles. Wore completely even on all 4 tires. Expected more from a tire with a 60000 mile warranty. Rep blamed it on driving style. WTF !

 

[CAGEYAR]

I thought my Cooper AT3 4S were great tires. Great in all weather, fantastic in heavy wet New Jersey snow and quite. Only issue is they were completely worn at 28000 miles. Air pressure maintained at 40 psi and rotated and balanced every 5000 miles. Wore completely even on all 4 tires. Expected more from a tire with a 60000 mile warranty. Rep blamed it on driving style. WTF !

What size did you run?

 

[Jim BB]

Have you contacted Cooper and see what they have to say !? giving them a opportunity to correct the issue ?
lots of times they will send a rep to look at them or your tire store to look and give feed back !

 

[Rlaman]

It seems you can't buy quality anymore. This is with anything you buy. I think the import garbage is everywhere.

 

[Rlaman]

I can't speak for the French. But I think the Italians have done more with Chrysler than Chrysler did. I have been with this brand for a long time and I don't think it has ever looked so good. Your thoughts ?

 

[huntergreen]

What size did you run?

Stock size, 275-60-20.

 

[Jeepwalker]

This is an old review, but kind of an interesting read. Esp for off-roaders:

Where the Rubber Meets the Road - Expedition Portal

Overland Journal performs a comprehensive comparison on seven of the most popular all-terrain tires.

expeditionportal.com

 

[js12278]

Goodyear DOES NOT OWN COOPER!

Ok

Goodyear acquires Cooper in a deal valued at $2.5 billion

Goodyear Tire & Rubber is acquiring Cooper in a deal valued at $2.5 billion that will combine the two century-old Ohio manufacturers.

www.autoblog.com

 

[Bluejoe]

I like Cooper but after being bought by Good Year I won't touch them

Wow didn’t know they got bought out by Goodyear

 

[mcv1]

Was looking at the Coopers but now I think not.
But I will say that I’ve heard negative things about the Transforce tires, yet I have 80k plus miles on the originals with my truck and could go some more I think. I guess I’ll wait till spring. I would go with transforce again but want an all terrain tire.

I may be able to shed some light on the contradicting positive/negative statements about Transforce tires. My truck had OEM tires installed with different date codes. The two tires with the 0620 date code are terrible. The tire with an 0720 date code is performing okay. (The sidewall is so degraded on the fourth tire that the date code is illegible.) I'm only at 25,000 miles, and as you will see from the photo and discussion below, I need to replace the tires soon. Details below; apologize for the long post. But my impression is that the Firestone factory(ies) are erratic - at least the tires I received are not wearing anywhere near similarly.

Background:
Transforce ATs 275/70R18 were the "upgraded snowplow package" OEM tires for my RAM. I've never used them as such; it has solely been a highway vehicle. However, these tires have worn very irregularly, despite 3 times to the dealer and FIRESTONE shops to confirm the factory alignment is and has always been perfect. Tires always properly inflated. Frequent rotations, usually at 5K, but once at 7k miles. The sidewalls have a visible "cut" or seam all the way around the circumference of the tires. Firestone said those are called "mold defects" One tire the outer layer has peeled back, revealing the white material all the way around the tire. Looks like crap.

This is a highway truck - it is NOT caused by hitting a curb, or by using "tire shine" like the Firestone representative suggested.
I recognize there was a recall on certain dates for this exact tire due to poor wear and buggered compounds. But Firestone says mine don't qualify for replacement. Because the tires with the date code 0620 have BOTH sidewall delamination AND poor wear immediately above the whitewalls, I think that is pertinent. The tire with the 0720 date code is performing much better. But Firestone doesn't care.

A local tire shop says they are unsafe to drive, but the nearest Firestone dealer (100 miles away) says it is just a cosmetic issue; that sidewalls peeling like shown below is common with Firestone "mold defects". Firestone Warranty says to take it to a Firestone store. The Firestone store says they don't do anything for OEM tires, and I should instead call Corporate Firestone Customer Service. Customer Service says to contact Warranty. They are driving me crazy.

The local tire shop says the tires are unsafe and DO NOT DRIVE THEM. Very disappointed with the tires, and even more disappointed that Firestone Customer Support and Firestone Warranty just give me the runaround. Crap tire, and lack of resolution! It is a shame to have to drive on a tire that I fear is unsafe, especially on a new truck. I look forward to having enough money to replace the set with something that I am comfortable the sidewalls won't disintegrate.

 

[indept]

Firestone have been crap for decades, wouldn't put those on my truck if they gave them to me for free.

 

[Moose2]

My sons truck has coopers with maybe 15 k on them and he notice a hint of tread separation where it meets sidewall, he had discount tire look at it and contact cooper. Cooper will not warranty the tire claiming road hazard when it clearly is the bond starting to go away. Cooper lost 2 good customers right here. I quit Goodyear 30 years ago over just such an instance.

 

[Jeepwalker]

MCV1: Some of those cracks esp on the corner of the tread look like the zone where a bubble might develop. The "T" on the Firestone looks like curb trauma (even though you say it's never happened...). But still, you make a good point. Looks like your tires are getting down there, and living in WY, it would probably be wise to replace them. Even though the sidewall can look ok, once they start to dry-rot, the sidewall is the thinnest part of the tire.

Of the tires I've had fail from dry-rotting, Michelin has stood out as being the worst. If it's a DD, they should last till they're worn out, but if it's a 3rd or 4th vehicle that doesn't get driven as much, they'll likely dry rot to the point of being unsafe in about 6-7years if left outside (maybe sooner). Maybe a little longer if indoors. That comes from owning a few sets of them, not just one. These days with more people working from home, its something to consider when buying tires. I had some Firestones that were unsafe at ~12 years. But I've had Coopers which looked great ..rubber still supple at 15+ years of sitting outside! And multiple sets of Uniroyals too where the rubber held up great. The Michelins and Firestone's I've had really ran out super smooth, so not knocking the quality of product when purchased. Just the long-term dry rotting cut their lives short.

On a snow plow Jeep, I had 6 exact same Goodyear Wranglers SR-A's (235/75/15) on aluminum Jeep wheels. Great tread, worked great as a snow plow tread. They started dry rotting in a few years and at 7 years or so they were looking not so safe. I put them on the plow Jeep because it doesn't get driven on highway miles. They lasted till about 10 years. But here's the thing, 3 of them the sidewalls tore while plowing snow. I suppose the rubber being colder and more brittle and under torque ...in the cold, it found the weakest spot. They all tore within a fairly short time on the inner sidewall which didn't look bad at all. I had a boss who had an old tire (on a classic car) explode and damaged the rear quarter.

So I've seen, dry-rotting is a real thing and shortens a tire's life. I shy away from tires that advertise "high silicone compound" anymore, but who knows what compound is used in which tires these days? What compound was used years ago is probably not the same today. What compound is used in one tire may not be the same as another tire, made at another plant, in another country. But that said, the Michelin/Firestones/Goodyears I've used were a fantastic product for DD use besides the dry rot issue ...which was mainly an issue because they were on seldom-driven vehicles.

 

[Big Blue Hemi]

I am out on both Goodyear and Firestone. Currently running Cooper AT3’s with zero problems with this set. First set was replaced under warranty because of sidewall cracks. Tires were within 1 month of being out of warranty and Cooper replaced all 4 at a cost of just over $300. Can’t complain so far.

 

[Moose2]

My sons truck has coopers with maybe 15 k on them and he notice a hint of tread separation where it meets sidewall, he had discount tire look at it and contact cooper. Cooper will not warranty the tire claiming road hazard when it clearly is the bond starting to go away. Cooper lost 2 good customers right here. I quit Goodyear 30 years ago over just such an instance.

Update: son took the initiative and contacted cooper directly and got ahold of a district manager(?) told him to take it back in and have discount tire call him directly and they will get it taken care of. Fingers crossed.

 

[Jhr22]

2018 3500 6.7L Cummins Asin tranny set of AT3s barely got 30k mi sporadically towing 13k# 5th wheel regular rotations balancing and religiously checking pressures. One 11k mi trip to Alaska towing the 5er and won't buy them again.