Costco BFG KDW or Tire Rack UHP's?

[dsclark]

I need 18" tires. I want to go to 245-45-18. The Costco tire manager said he would do it.
Now, Costco wants about $170 per tire, that includes $15 rebate, mount, balance and road hazard.
Tirerack wants $117 per tire for General UHP in the same size and I get to find someone to pu them on.
I have poly steering bushing among the other bushings, so it would be nice to find a place to road force balance (which costco doesn't).I can pick the tires up in person from their warehouse, but that means spending $ on gas, fitting four huge tires in a GTO and getting them mounted.
So, is it worth it to get the UHP tires and find an installer to pu thtem on, or should I just dump the GTO off at Costco and spend my time scrounging food samples?
How does the KDW compare to the UHP?

[OrangeCrushM6]

Costco, isn't that like Walmart? NO, I'm not letting them touch my car.
NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!

[05cyclone]

Costco has done my moms and dads vehicles and no problems so far. I still use Discount Tire.

[dsclark]

Costco, isn't that like Walmart? NO, I'm not letting them touch my car.
NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll have to say that I have had COSTCO put tires on my Impala SS. They did a good job of mounting them, filled them with nitrogen.
I also had them put tires on other cars and they patched a nail for free (road hazard).
The problem with them is that they only carry Mich/BFG and they don't road force balance, though they balanced the tires better than any other installer I used for tires on my Impala SS.

[Lothar]

When I ordered my tires from TireRack, I had them shipped to an alignment shop. It was $40 to ship, and the shop mounted them and balanced them and did my alignment too.

IMO it's easier to just have them shipped to the place that will do the mounting and balancing than to drive to the warehouse and try to stuff 4 tires in the goat (they will fit - but not easily).

[b4z]

You want 245/40-18s not 45-18s.

KDW NTs are a tad noisy but have got to be a better tire than the UHPs.
I have 21K on mine and they should go at least another 10K.

[ashippen]

I work at Costco Tire Center so I am a little bias; nevertheless, I have worked at other shops and in my opinion, Costco is one of the most innovative & proactive companies in the Tire Industry. The managers attend several different courses, i.e. Rod Hall, Michelin training school, & etc. They take TIA classes too. I can go on and on about training. On top of all this, Ingersoll Rand has specially developed forward torque impact guns and use torque wrenches. This way you don't have over tightened lug nuts. Also, the Road Hazard coverage is nearly double Tire Racks (I think 50 months verse 30 months).

I don't know about General, but in my experience members have complained that the KDW gets nosier at the end of its life. Good luck and the mail in rebate ends soon.

[dbzguy]

Yeah I am happy with costco for tires. Just ordered another set of the kdw2s..

[scrmnws6]

+1 for Costco, but I work for them so I will be biased...

[Cabrito]

What is "Road Force" balancing? Is that where they do it with the wheel/tire mounted to the car?

[mistermike]

Be advised that tire manufacturers have different quality grades of the same tires. In Michelin's case the top grade goes to Honda Motors and the bottom grade goes to Sam's Club. I suspect Costco probably puts in similar bids with their tire vendors.