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Best Passenger Car Tire For Gravel Roads

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Member
It's time to get some new tires for my wife's Civic. I currently have a set of Bridgestone Potenza's on it and although they have worn OK, we've suffered from a number of pin hole leaks and the tread is littered with little "cuts". The Yokohama's on our ram and the Duelers on our Dakota seem just fine, but those are LT tires. My wife only drives about 3 miles on gravel per day, but I want tires that hold up a little better. Any suggestions?
 
no just welcome to the real world or country life or move to hard surface road. If you find that tire let me know as eighty miles of gravel 6 days a week is tuff on them.new rubber usually about every three months
 
I also drive on gravel and a cheep tire will wear out quick. I have Yokohama tires on my car. Decent quality, But...most car tires only last 25,000 miles maximum.
 
I put hundreds of miles on gravel and shale roads every year. My wife drives an old diesel Volkswagen 60 miles a day all on gravel and shale roads. I have not found any difference in tire choices with lighter vehicles other then tread thickness. They all can hit a sharp stone and get pierced, 2 ply up to 8 ply. The killer is often when a rock clips the sidewall.
The difference as I see it is . . . put a hole in a $150 tire and you're out more money then if you put a hole in a $50 tire.

Biggest difference I've had with all my rigs, light cars and heavy trucks is how much tread is on the tires, not the ply-ratings. The thicker the tread, the less apt to get puntured.

If you're buying new tires, I suggest you check each tire's specs on-line and buy according to tread thickness.
 
Goodyear Assurance is a good tire. High mileage rated tires tend to get chewed up by gravel. El cheapo tires don't last period. Mid range mileage rating tires usually last the longest on gravel.
 
I've got to disgree a bit. Some of my "el cheapo" tires have done better then tires priced three times as much. All depends on the tire and not the price. If would be nice if there was a direct connection between price and quality, but it does NOT always work that way.

I'll add that our roads are probably as bad as they can get since we have a lot of sharp shale and not just gravel.
 
We found that Michelins absolutely disintegrate on gravel. Have run Coopers for a few years now, and most of the gravel roads are getting paved.
 
A lot depends on the size of the tire etc and the type of gravel on your roads. If it has 13 inch tires then your very limited as to what you can get because fewer company's are making them. If it is a size you can get at ya I know not a good place but Wal-Mart which I use for the 14 and 15 inch tires I get the road protection plan is very good and you get a hole they repair it for free and if you get more then 3 in a tire they replace the tire and that replacement cost you very very little. A number of years ago we had a neighbor who liked to throw roofing nail out and I got 3 or 4 sets of tires for a car for less then $25
 
Depending on which way I leave the farm, I have to drive 3 or 10 miles of gravel. We never get the last 1/3 tred wear used up on any steel belt tire because of the little rock cuts you mention. The cuts go right down to the steel cords, allowing water and salt into the steel cord. The steel rusts, breaks and it's time for a new tire inspite of 1/3-1/2 tread remaining.

For a gravel road tire that you can run until the tred is gone, look for a kevlar or Aramid chord. Several brands still sell them, there is no metal in the tred to rust / break.
Also look for a high tred wear letter /number to better stand the abrasion of gravel.
 
Not so much the tread pattern, or brand as what is critical. The best tire for gravel is a higher profile, ie a 75-85 series. I run 215/75 on smaller vehicles, and 235/85 on larger.
The main reason the Prius is having brake problems is that the ABS starts to function when the low profile high mileage tires start bouncing on rough or gravel roads. Owners who switched to higher profile "softer" tires said the problem went away.

Gordo
 
12 years ago when my trailer was new I blew a tire. went to canyon city (closes town) Had 30 miles of mountain gravel. Priced new tires for blazer. guy wnated almost 600.00. He had replacm ent tire for trailer but said thats a 20 dollar tire (same size as m trailer). I always bought new tires in late fall for winter tred ran gravel till next fall. tires were rock cut and about i/2 tread. Told guy I wanted to buy 4 and take another replacment for the trailer. He figured and came up with slightly over $600.00. I said no thats 100. for 5 20.00 dollar tires. Well he was out of stock, ok next week will then be in . After 3 weeks he said (many phone calls later) come down and get the ----tires. wife was going down I said he will try new stems extended warrenty and balance. Get only 5 tires pay only $100.00. she came home with 4 on the blazer one mounted for trailer and 4 worn tires I gave to fellow living in a camper on mim disability.
 
On a gravel road, you're not worrying about ride...I'd go as cheap as possible and get a road hazard warranty.

DAVE
 
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