The Hidden Costs of Cheap Truck Tires: What Two Failed Steers Taught Us
Two new steer tires. Under three months. Two roadside calls, a broken headlight, and a claim nobody would stand behind. That’s what a “value” tire cost one of our trucks this summer, and it’s why M2GT no longer runs budget tires. Period.
If you’re an owner-operator or small fleet staring at a cheaper option at the tire counter, here’s what that price tag doesn’t show you.
What Happened to Our Steers
On June 13, 2026, Love’s in Cordes Junction, Arizona, recommended and installed a pair of Ralson RMR51 steer tires on one of our 2024 Kenworth T680s. Ralson is an India-based brand that entered the U.S. commercial truck tire market in 2023, and Love’s added Ralson steer and drive tires to its lineup in early 2026 (Modern Tire Dealer).
That truck runs a dedicated coast-to-coast lane. Neither tire made it three months:
- July 29: the left steer separated on I-40 near Clarendon, Texas. Love’s Roadside replaced it.
- September 4: the right steer separated near Bulls Gap, Tennessee. Ed and I were driving that run ourselves. The tire held air, but the peeling tread beat around under the truck so hard we first thought the transmission was going. It took out a headlight before we got stopped. Love’s Roadside replaced that one too.
Both times, Love’s own technician wrote the cause as tread separation. And on the September call, Love’s charged us a $15 tire disposal fee for a tire their technician left on the side of the road.
A steer failure can cost far more than the tire
We already knew that before the Ralsons went on. In April, a steer blowout on another of our trucks cost us $30,206.72. The truck sat in the shop from April 4 to May 4. That’s a month of a truck earning nothing, with the payment still due.
The Bill Nobody Quotes You at the Counter
Whatever we saved on two tires in June, we gave back the first time one failed, and then again the second time.
| What it cost us | July 29 | Sept 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roadside service fees | $470.97 | $293.98 | $764.95 |
| Replacement tire, parts and other charges | $715.62 | $720.01 | $1,435.63 |
| Tire disposal fee (tire left on the roadside) | $15.00 | $15.00 | |
| Love’s roadside invoices | $1,186.59 | $1,028.99 | $2,215.58 |
| Headlight enclosure (aftermarket) | about $400 | about $400 | |
| Miles the Ralson ran before failing | about 20,100 | about 50,600 | about 70,700 |
| Cost per mile (the Ralson plus everything its failure cost) | 8.0¢ | 3.6¢ | 4.9¢ |
The headlight alone is a lesson. Kenworth quoted us $3,000 for an OEM headlight enclosure. Ed found an aftermarket one for about $400.
And that’s before the costs that never show up on an invoice: a load at risk on a time-sensitive lane, and a steer letting go at highway speed.
Then Came the Runaround
I asked Love’s to credit back the roadside and disposal fees, $779.95 in all. Love’s washed its hands of it. Their position was that the failure “was not a Love’s product or labor,” so the warranty was between us and the manufacturer.
Love’s did offer one thing: if we had replaced the failed tires with more Ralsons, those would have been free. Nobody told us that after the first failure. By the second, we weren’t putting another Ralson on our truck, EVER.
Here’s the part that still gets me. Love’s never told us what a warranty claim would require: not when they sold us the tires, and not at either roadside call. We only found out when Love’s pointed us to Ralson, after both tires had already failed.
That’s when we learned Ralson’s process calls for a claim form plus five documentation photos of each failed tire, taken at the time of the failure. We didn’t have them, because nobody told us we’d need them. We sent the form and every photo we did have on September 21. We haven’t heard back.
And the failed tire itself, the best evidence we had? Love’s told us it was brought back to the shop and disposed of properly. We have a photo of it sitting on the side of the road. Yes, they did charge a tire disposal fee.
When I went back to Love’s with that photo on September 21, this was the final answer from a Love’s Risk Management Specialist:
“This claim will not be escalated. The answer will not change. I’m still your main point of contact. My determination is the same.”
Here’s our problem with that. When a steer lets go, your driver is fighting to get 80,000 pounds safely onto the shoulder, not staging a photo shoot. A warranty that only pays if you documented everything perfectly on the side of the interstate isn’t much of a warranty. That stings more when Ralson launched in the U.S. advertising a seven-year casing warranty (Modern Tire Dealer).
Love’s recommended the tire, sold it and installed it. When it failed twice, nobody stood behind it.
Protect Yourself: What to Document When a Tire Fails
Learn from our mistake. Whatever brand you run, keep this list in the truck so a claim can’t be dismissed for missing paperwork.
- Get safe first. Hazards on, triangles out.
- Photograph the whole tire, the tread, both sidewalls and a close-up of the failure.
- Photograph the DOT code on the sidewall. It shows the maker, plant and week the tire was built.
- Note the tire position (left steer, right steer), truck number and odometer reading.
- Photograph any damage to the truck: headlights, fenders, air lines, wiring.
- Ask the roadside tech to save the casing. Don’t let them scrap it.
- Get an itemized invoice that names the brand and model of the tire they install.
- Keep the original install invoice with the claim, and file it in writing the same day.
Why Cheap Isn’t Cheap
The only number that matters is cost per mile, not price per tire. A cheaper tire that fails in under three months costs far more than a name-brand steer that runs its full life, before you add a single roadside fee.
Here’s what that looks like with Love’s prices from our own 2026 invoices:
| Steer tire at Love’s | Tire | Federal excise tax | Per tire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ralson RMR51 (our June 13 pair) | $382.99 | $29.39 | $412.38 |
| Michelin X Multi Z2 | $571.99 | $34.59 | $606.58 |
Going with Ralson saved us about $194 a tire, or $388.40 on the pair. When they failed, those two Ralsons cost $2,215.58 in Love’s roadside bills plus a $400 headlight. That’s about $2,600 spent to save $388.
Now the number that matters. The left steer Ralson failed after about 20,100 miles and the right one after about 50,600. Counting each tire plus everything its failure cost us, the left one ran about 8¢ a mile and the right one about 3.6¢. Together, the pair cost us $3,440.34 over about 70,700 miles, or about 4.9¢ a mile. At that rate, a $606.58 Michelin would only need to last about 12,500 miles to come out cheaper.
For comparison, the Hankook that Love’s Roadside put on in place of our first failed Ralson has now run more than 69,000 miles and counting. That’s over three times as far as the Ralson it replaced.
So here’s M2GT’s rule now:
- Name-brand tires only. No budget brands, no retreads. It’s just asking for trouble.
- We pick the brand, not the shop. Before anyone mounts a tire on our trucks, we ask what brand it is.
- Steers get the best tire we can buy. No exceptions.
Where We Buy Instead
At the truck stop: TA. TA’s tire lineup is built on major manufacturers: Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, Yokohama, Firestone, BFGoodrich, Marathon, Kelly and Roadmaster, all backed by manufacturer warranties. TA also honors the major national tire account programs (TA Truck Service).
Better yet: go direct. You don’t need 500 trucks to get fleet pricing. The big tire makers run free programs for small fleets and owner-operators, with the same price at home or on the road plus 24/7 roadside service. We’ve started this process ourselves with Continental and Bridgestone.
| Program | Who it’s for | How to join |
|---|---|---|
| Bridgestone Fleet Care | Bridgestone, Firestone and Bandag fleet programs, including service dispatch | Contact Bridgestone through the link, or ask a local Bridgestone commercial dealer |
| Michelin Advantage | Fleets of 1 to 99 trucks, free | Apply online; roadside at 1-800-TIRE-911 |
| BFGoodrich Advantage | Fleets of 1 to 99 trucks, no enrollment or annual fees | Apply online or call 1-888-532-6435, option 3 |
| Goodyear fleetHQ | Fleets of every size, including owner-operators | Call 1-866-FLEETHQ |
| Continental national account / ContiFleet | National accounts; ContiFleet for small fleets and owner-operators | Ask a Continental commercial dealer to connect you with fleet sales |
One more tip: if you’re leased on to a carrier, ask whether it already has a national tire account you can buy under. That’s how we got started with Continental.
FAQ
Are budget truck tires worth it?
In our experience, not on the steer axle. Two budget steers failed within three months, and the Love’s roadside invoices alone came to $2,215.58.
What should I do right after a tire failure to protect a warranty claim?
Get safe, then photograph the whole tire, the failure, the DOT code and any truck damage. Save the casing and get an itemized invoice. See our checklist above.
Can a small fleet or owner-operator get national account tire pricing?
Yes. Bridgestone, Michelin, BFGoodrich, Goodyear and Continental all run programs for small fleets, and several are free for fleets of 1 to 99 trucks.
What tire brands does TA sell?
TA lists Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, Yokohama, Firestone, BFGoodrich, Marathon, Kelly and Roadmaster, all backed by manufacturer warranties.
Coming next: Roadside Strategies That Save Money, covering who to call when you break down and how to keep the bill from doubling.
Want to talk trucks? Schedule a call with M2GT or visit our Owner Operator page. For more stories from the road, browse our Journey’s of a Professional Truck Driver and Trucking 411 categories.
Keep the Shiny Side Up!
Sources
- Love’s Adds Ralson TBR Tires, Modern Tire Dealer
- Ralson Brings New Truck Tire Brands to U.S., Modern Tire Dealer
- TA Truck Service, TravelCenters of America
- BFGoodrich Advantage Program
- Michelin Enhances Small Commercial Fleets Advantage Program, Work Truck
