$800 to $1,000 in tires for an Explorer? ??? Does it use some odd ball size to make the price so high?
I figured the Explorer would be similar to my Olds Bravada which uses a 235/70-15. I've been shopping around and something like the Long Trail is less than $450 from Tire Rack. If I want to go with an all season or mild performance tire, there are several choices in the $350 range. I mainly use it as a winter vehicle and it's unstoppable during even the worst blizzards with the existing Radial T/As so I may go with another set of performance/all season tires. It's also a more luxury oriented vehicle and I do like the smooth quiet ride.
Last set of tires I bought for one of my cars came from Tire Rack and I wouldn't shop anywhere else from now on. They sent them directly to my local NTB who installed them for about $60 bucks (mount, balance and new valve stems). I don't think they were too happy about losing commission; however, I did give them first shot and they offered one street tire in my size from some company I never heard of and the rest were non DOT race track tires.