Almost all our camping, fishing and hiking adventures begin and end with the KempBus, our Nissan NV 3500 Passenger van. In just over 3 years we have driven 70,000 miles, a lot of them pulling our boat. Since it was time for new tires, we thought we’d take a look at the tires the van came with, the Firestone Transforce HT.
We were very impressed with these tires. I have bought new vehicles before where I couldn’t wait to get rid of the stock tires. But the more we drove our Nissan NV 3500 Passenger, the more I appreciated these tires.
On pavement performance is superb. I never suffered a lack of traction, even in the monsoons Florida gets in the summer. I also found the tire performed well on gravel. Where I was most concerned though, was the boat ramp. Without 4 wheel drive, traction at the boat ramp is critical. Even on slippery ramps, this tire performed great pulling Pontoon-A-Fish out of the water!
Sadly, the only place I find this tire is lacking is off-road performance, especially in the wet. If the grass driveway was wet at our lake cabin in Minnesota, we weren’t going to make it up the hill.
Bottom line, if you are planning to use this tire on your van or light truck and never need to leave the pavement, this tire is excellent. In all of our camping trips and road trips to state and national parks all over the United States, this tire never failed to perform. If you need a tire you can rely on at the boat ramp, you can rely on the Firestone Transforce HT. But if you need off-road traction, especially in the wet, you may want to explore other options.
If you think a set of Firestone Transforce HT tires is right for you, here’s where to get them!
