How to choose between them
Brand is the last question, not the first. What decides the tire is the machine, the size, the load and the surface it works on. Once those are settled, the shortlist is usually two or three lines from two or three makers, and the store can tell you what each gives up.
Where brand genuinely matters is availability and consistency. A fleet running one specification across 40 units wants that specification to be gettable in every state it runs in, which is a different question from how a tire performs in a magazine test.
What Purcell adds
The brand makes the tire. What happens next is where the difference shows up:
- Fitting and balancing at the service locations, with tire and wheel balancing at 51 of them.
- Alignment, at 40 locations for cars and light trucks and 40 for heavy trucks, so the new set is not wearing out from the first mile.
- Retreading at seven plants, which applies to the casing rather than the badge on it.
- Fleet accounts at 49 locations, holding one specification across the units you run.