Best Tires for Ford Explorer

Put a set on my 2017 Ford Explorer Limited up sized slightly 255/55/20 . Had for 2 weeks and have been very pleased with the performance. We have had heavy rain, Snow and ice and they have been very predictable.

I currently have Firestone LE3's on my 14 Explorer. They have a little over 26k miles on them. 255/50/20's for $930 mounted/balanced back in 2021. Overall pretty good tires, especially for the money. Smooth, good traction in the dry/wet and pretty good in the snow. They did seem to get louder fairly quickly, but I don't think they've really gotten any worse over the last 15k miles. Wet roads seem to exacerbate the noise. Last time I looked at them (few k miles ago), they were wearing really well. I can't say I'd buy them again yet, but if they get us another 26k miles without getting significantly louder, they (or their successor) would be on the list. In the past I had OE Hankooks (good dry/wet, excellent life, absolutely terrible in the snow) and Michelin Premier LTX (good in all conditions, short life, overpriced for what they were).

My first set (255 55 R20) lasted for 4 years. Same size on the 2nd set I had installed in late October of 2023. Superior wet traction in the heaviest of downpours. 80 mph on the parkway with no hiccups! Superb snow traction as well, as I was able to negotiate steep snowy roads with my 2020 Ford Explorer Limited Trim without losing traction.

Little late to this thread. But my wife had Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires on her Ford Explorer when she bought it new. They are a high mileage compound tire. And she got every bit of 75,000 miles out of them over 5 years. No major or noticeable loss of grip, did fairly well in the rain, even at the end.

I ran the Michelin Defender LTX on our 2017 Explorer and they were great, long wearing, good in the rain and quiet. Not a sporty tire at all though.

2018 explorer tire upgrade 265/50/20 Nitto Ridge Grapplers

I had a set on my Explorer last winter and was seriously impressed. They actually ended up being just about perfect - more compliant than my 21" Pirellis, but far firmer, quieter, and enjoyable than I could have ever hoped for. Performance in the snow was incredible

I'll be running the same Continental Winter Contact SI on the explorer. They did fine last year for me.

It's wild to me that Firestone has been so invisible and irrelevant in the consumer market ever since the Ford Explorer fiasco, yet still so active in Indycar.

Hankook makes some of the cheapest crappiest tires. There was an issue with premature wear on the Explorers. Michelin is better but not hugely better. I'd use Continental DWS06 any day of the week.