I wouldn’t buy the cheapest tire, the one thing between me and road I can determine, that has a huge effect on safety. But it’s up to you.
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Someone who does not change oil for 11 years , drives less than 300 miles a year is worried about 44.00 dollar tires from Wally World , OK fine.
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Well, the Defender LT tires don’t stand up to our fleet use
The BF Goodrich LT tires don’t have that problem
Isn’t BF Goodrich owned by Michelin?
This compared the cheapest to the most expensive. I bet there’s a continuum in quality, that the next-best is a little better…
Why should I change I change it more often considering how little I drive? Why should I drive more? I drive as much as I want to; I hope everybody does.
I’m not worried, I asked. And I pointed out that not every tire is rated at tirerack or CR or anywhere for that matter.
The difference between an expensive tire and a cheap tire could be wear, which wouldn’t matter to someone who drives as little as I did. I bought the longest-lasting tires at CostCo last time. They still have a lot of tread and look great. If I replace them, as everybody on this forum recommends, I’ll have wasted a lot of their life.
It could also be handling . . . 
Very old tires are still hard as a rock and have lousy handling, no matter how much tread they have
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+1 and more to that comment!
The only thing between you and death is 4 little rubber patches on the ground. If your life is only worth $43.29 x 4, then consider the lives of others around you who might get caught up in your slide-of-death…
The only topic that drives more traffic here than tire choice is oil choice! 
I’m not saying go buy the most expensive tire. But the cheapest no-name tire? Nope nope nope. Not like the OP will have ANY idea whether they’re any good or not. Get an established brand that at least has some incentive to keep you from wrapping yourself around a tree the next time it rains.
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Just for amusement I did the Google thing for Sceptor tires . They have a web page and are a WalMart only product . They have a chart showing a 1 to 10 rating for tire characteristics . Such as wear, traction and braking only they spell it ( Breaking ) .
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I think I drive more in a weekend around town than our brother does in a year. I often looked at the tires on farmer’s wagons and were amazed at their bald and cracked condition. They always buy used whatever the tire shop has got handy cheap. They just sit in the field most of the time. My FIL once was talking about tires on the farm and he said he counted something like 140 tires that he had on various devices. So I guess whatever fits your needs. Good used tires would actually make more sense except when you factor in the cost of mounting and balancing and costs more than the tires.
So a couple of days ago, towing the boat to a launch with a 1 mile “trail” as the guy said when we asked where is it? They were doing logging on the 1 lane dirt road to the launch. Stopped at a potential turn around for the logging operation, to see what the rest of the road looked like as it was at the top of a hill. Soft sand ruts 8" deep at least on the hill. I was I am bailing we could get down, maybe get up, probably I could beg a heavy equipment guy to tow us up if needed. So I had a small turn around area, not well groomed all sand, dragged the boat up with 4wd, all four tires spinning and kicking up sand smoke, wife overwatching it is a 2 foot drop for the trailer to the trail, f it I’m going downhill, the trailer and spare mounted underneath were not happy but that is the most extensive use of 4wd under adverse conditions I ever had. Got out of there, may need to go back in sept, want a lakefront property but the only way to see it is if they repair the public launch road. Redo by October maybe, Got to decide soon and cannot even see the lake, carp!
I actually got pretty good at backing up our camper, but once out of desperation, I just unhooked it and moved it where I wanted and hooked it up again. I think it was at a motel in Georgia where the lot dead ended. It’s always a last resort trying to turn around with a trailer and a little embarrassing if anyone is around.
I’m sure it is, but handling has one face, holding the ground when driving and high speeds and turning sharply, as in a race or doing a movie stunt, the other whether it holds as well in normal handling.
One tire leaks. I’m trying to figure out whether it’s the tire or the rim. It’s surprisingly pliable. I go through a lot of bicycle tires so I have a good feel.
I can buy LTs for $130, 3 times the price - are they 3 times better? 3 times safer?
I linked to Sceptor’s website in my original message and mentioned that they are a Walmart-only product.
I just found a new page that says they’re made by Nexen.
This price doesn’t include mounting or insurance, so it doesn’t compare to some other prices. It’s only $20 cheaper than TireRack’s cheapest, which includes 2 years of insurance.
I didn’t mention this tire because I’m considering it but because it isn’t mentioned by anyplace and this thread is about tire advice.
Yes, they are.
No they are not. More than likely, they are 4 times better and 5 times safer 
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In what way are they better? If it’s treadwear, that would not inure to the benefit of someone who drives as rarely as I do. My Goodrich Premiers have a treadwear of 60K miles - I’ve put only 20K on them.
If it’s load index, that no longer matters because I’m not going to move back to the country or renovate my house extensively anymore.
The lowest speed rating, ‘S’, is for 112. I never exceed 75.
Even temperature probably doesn’t matter because I don’t drive fast and I can’t tolerate driving for more than an hour at a stretch anymore. I carry a book and water and snacks if I may be out longer and look for nice places to take a break.
I don’t want to reënact the chase scene from Bullitt, just avoid a pile-up on the Interstate.
The price of a tire is not just treadwear, nor temperature resistance nor load capability. All these performance characteristics are tested when the tires are new. The long term safety part comes in the quality of construction, the materials used and their ability to age well. A cheap tire that passes load, speed and temperature out of the mold will likely degrade far faster than another, more expensive tire. Wear tests are accelerated and don’t include 4, 6 or 10 years aging to the tire. Just meeting DOT specs doesn’t mean the tire will age well, not throw the tread, break the cords or blow out.
And temperature IS an issue with you. Ambient temperature affects tires. An hour’s drive down the highway is plenty to allow the tire to increase its temperature to a stable, but higher level. Rubber is affected by temperature, the weight of the tire puts stress on the cords which are bonded by the rubber. That cheap tire you bought today may just explode 2 or 3 years down the road in the exact same conditions the tire saw when new.
The way you use a tire, it will age out long before it wears out. That cheap tire that meets your performance specs today won’t 3 years from today. A quality (and more costly) tire may still be serviceable at 6 or even 10 years.
Yes. I meant to point out that I don’t want to pay for virtues that are valuable to others but not to me. Load-bearing means a lot to someone who carries a lot of weight. I’ve done that in the past, even overloaded it (with a load of gravel, burst a tire, had to unload the gravel to replace the wheel… grrrrrr!!! 
) but I don’t do that anymore and don’t think I ever will.
People have argued elsewhere that I shouldn’t keep a tire longer than a few years no matter how good the tread is. How well it holds up at 10 years doesn’t matter if I replace them every 5. I bought tires rated for 60K miles 16 years ago. I’ve put 20K on them. If I have to discard them now just because they’re old, how well they age isn’t so valuable.
Elsewhere people have told me not to keep any tire for 10 years. My 16-year-old tires look good, both tread and sidewalls. They hold pressure well. Even the 20-year-old Firestone looks good and holds air. It’s never been a dream ride but it feels the same to me.
Have you thought about just going to your local independent (or chain) tire dealer or auto salvage yard and asking about 4 good used tires for your truck? Seems to me you would be able to get a decent set of tires for not too much money. Keep a good spare in the truck and a working jack, and with the number of miles you drive you should be fine.
I live in the southwest, and there’s no way I would use a set of tires for 10 years, no matter how much tread they had left