I just got them installed today.
My original intent had been Hankook Dynapro AT in 265/60-18T.

But I needed tires FAST.. my current set of no name tires on this used car was falling apart internally (I could tell).
And locally no one could deliver the Hankooks, or anything in stock size for that matter w/o a lead time of at least a couple of days.

I felt I couldnt wait that long.

So I got a hold of the closest Firestone store.
I had acceptable to good experiences with the Firestone chain in years past and even tho they were 1 hr away I rather suspected they had lots of stock.

Even Firestone, it turned out, couldn't provide me with 265/60-18s on short notice, at least not in an AT rated tire.

What I wanted was a tire that will still fully competent on roads and hiways but give me an emergency off road performance significantly superior to an all season.
And I do sometimes drive on gravel roads in all kinds of weather.

Remembering our conversations on this board I told Firestone that 265/65-18s are ok with me also.
And they told me they could get the Yokohama Geolandar AT for me (yes it really is spelled Geolandar not Geolander)

So off I went this morning.
Got up early and gingerly drove to the Firestone an hour away.

Had never even heard of Geolandars before so I had some apprehension at first about installing a tire that was a 2nd choice brand/model to me, in a 2nd choice size.

But now that they are on the car this slightly taller size seems perfect.
Like it should have come like this from the factory.
Also they are "H" rated as opposed to 'T" rated .
To me this speaks of a robust internal construction.
They carry the 3peak mountain snowflake just like the Hankooks.

And all the reviews I read about this tire are positive to outright glowing (but then again there is that psychological mechanism in people to reaffirm their own choices, so a great many tires reviews of personal tires on the internet are glowing)

..honestly I have not been able to put it to any kind of test at all yet, except some light and wet snow today and an apparent off ramp lane under said snow that turned into dirt shoulder and I found myself suddenly driving on a dirt shoulder at 55 mph, to no appearant ill effect.

Here is a link to a Tirerack comparo:
(Edit, Tirerack links just dont seem to work on here. Do a search on there for "Testing On-/Off-Road All-Terrain Tires. An Exercise in Contrast."

I'll update the board after 5,000 miles.

The Geolandar's are a good tire and they've been around for a while. Checking my Consumer Reports 2021 Buyer's Guide, the Geolandar G015 is "recommended" and ranks 4th in the category of "All-terrain truck" tires. They show it with a "T" speed rating and 60K. treadwear rating. It shows below average for rolling resistance and wet braking. Average for dry braking, handling and ride. Above average for snow traction, ice braking and noise. Excellent rating for hydroplaning resistance. The Hankook Dynapro AT-M, by comparison, is not among those that are "recommended" by CR and sits in the 9th position in the category. Those that rank above the Geolandar, in order from first to third, include the Continental TerrainContact A/T, Michelin LTX A/T2 and the Goodyear Wrangler TrailRunner AT. Bottom line, it looks like you bought a very good tire!

Thanks for the encouragement!

It does say H rated on my invoice BTW: "GEOLANDAR AT G015 RB BLACK 265/65R18 114H"

They might be; I'm just going by what CR lists. "T" rated is up to 118 MPH and "H" rated is up to 130 MPH. I think your good in either case! If not, don't try going that fast in Farmville; they arrested my former boss because he argued with them after they pulled him over for the front window tint on his Maxima!

3500 (mostly highway) mile update.
They still cannot be easily told from new.
Work fine on the hiway and great in the (mild) offroad I have exposed them to.

But...
Got an odd vibration that turns on like a switch at 84mph.
Never noticed it before but hadn't driven the SUV at that speed with these tires before.
I only noticed this when I drove through Atlanta and the flow of traffic increased in speed putting me into the mid 80s mph and higher.
(Actually there was a convoy of V8 SUVs that I decided to join, Roll Royce Cullinan(!), BMW something, MB G500, Jeep Trackhawk, As they zoomed past I felt my VK56de egging me on to run this company but thats when I discovered the vibration)

Its not real a strong vibration but noticeable to me, so I figured low hanging fruit might be a tire balancing.

I had it Roadforce balanced on by an excellent local shop.
https://www.expressoil.com/stores/crest ... ntent=1611

They told me the tires failed the roadforce test.
They did a traditional balance them (most were off by about an ounce) but they had bad roadforce numbers and the roadforce machine told them even moving them on the rim would do little good for this.
They also tested the spare.

4 out of 5 (yes spare was checked too) of these still quite new tires failed roadforce and could not be made to pass roadforce.
I suspect they were like from the beginning and this is not something that has recently happened.
They also still cannot be easily told from new.

We will see if the the regular balancing helped (which the shop said they DO balance fine just not in roadforce).. Otherwise next step alignment check but given they all failed roadforce this may be in vain.

I wonder if this could be a warranty claim to Yokohama (but am otherwise quite happy with them)...

Update:

yesterday had a chance to run them up to speed.
The vibrations are gone.

The "regular" balancing proved sufficient.

I was wrong the vibrations are not gone.
Moved from 84 mph to 86 mph.
Not as bad as before but still there.

Thanks for all your updates. Maybe try going to Discount Tires to see if you can swap those tires for a set of good ones that can pass a road force balance? I think they have some sort of prorate service? Not sure how that works as I've personally never used it myself.

silverarrow27 wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:38 am

Thanks for all your updates. Maybe try going to Discount Tires to see if you can swap those tires for a set of good ones that can pass a road force balance? I think they have some sort of prorate service? Not sure how that works as I've personally never used it myself.

I bought them form a Firestone complete auto service.
The closest one is an hour drive away.
Even so I may try to approach them.

I wonder if Firestone even has a roadforce machine?

Other forums seem to confirm that they've bought tires from other places and have taken it to Discount Tires and still had their tires prorated for a new set due to defects or whatever. Maybe each Discount Tires store does it at their discretion perhaps? Not sure if they're franchises or if they're all centrally managed by corporate HQ.

As for Firestone, doesn't hurt to ask about it. Although you can use the vibrations as a speed limiter I'd be afraid to drive with those tires just because what if they can shred at any time?

silverarrow27 wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:21 am

Other forums seem to confirm that they've bought tires from other places and have taken it to Discount Tires and still had their tires prorated for a new set due to defects or whatever. Maybe each Discount Tires store does it at their discretion perhaps? Not sure if they're franchises or if they're all centrally managed by corporate HQ.

As for Firestone, doesn't hurt to ask about it. Although you can use the vibrations as a speed limiter I'd be afraid to drive with those tires just because what if they can shred at any time?

So you mean DT will perform warranty returns for tires sold by other stores?

Yes, as far as I know, DT will inspect your tires and they'll work with you on what the best course of action is.

silverarrow27 wrote: ↑

Sat May 01, 2021 11:47 am

Yes, as far as I know, DT will inspect your tires and they'll work with you on what the best course of action is.

Wow thats amazing!

So the saga continues....

Yokohama wanted to have the tires road force tested for any warranty claim by a certified Yoko dealer.
Went to the local Chevy store and they documented it every tire fails Roadforce.
best tire was 16 lbs off, worst tire 42 lbs.
Standard is 12 lbs max

They always passed the regular balancing fine.

I also at the same time had the Chevy dealer switch the tires onto a new set of used stock wheels I had bought (the ones that came on the ruck had too much road rash).

So.... now even though the Chevy dealer agreed with Tire engineers, i have these tires mounted on the new wheels the excess vibration appears gone.

Took it up to 90mph and almost 100 a couple times and I dont feel it.
Is everything perfectly smooth?
No, but neither are these roads here and I simply dont feel that excess vibration show up at exactly 85 mph anymore.

What now?
Hassle with Yoko some for some kind of partial warranty coverage or a coupon for half off a new set? (I have 14000 miles on these now)

Or just leave it be; since even though they cannot pass road force spec I now do not have any more symptoms that I can notice and otherwise I think these tires fit the bill for me real well?

If the problem appears gone, I'd move on. I would avoid those tires in the future.

Curious though, did you try a road force balance with the new used set of factory wheels and what were the results compared to your old factory rims?