BFG AT,s or MT,s

[X-10]

Just planning ahead for new truck and would like to know if anybody has had both kinds and their thoughts of them. I have the 285 AT,s now and really like them. Was thinking of maybe going to the 255/85s but are only made in the MT,s. Anybody got any pics of non-lifted trucks with this size on? How about 295/75s? Ihave pretty much got it narrowed down to these choices but don't know about noise, tread life, or all around traction on the MTs.
Thanks for any input, Doug

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red 96 x-cab 2500 lbox v-10 5-speed w/4. 10s. ON ORDER - red 01 q-cab 2500 SLT 4x HO 6sp lbox w/3. 55s & most the goodies

 

[Morphious]

I have the 285's MT from BFG and love them. They have gottem me out of more mud holes. I have run the BFG MT for the past 10 years from stock size up to 35's on my blazer. I will try and get a pic and post it tonight.

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99 2500 4x4 QC Std transmission, Purple, 10 Disc Sony Changer, 285x75Rx16 BFG Mudders, Gooseneck hitch, 275lb King Klaw front bumper, Towing/Camper setup.

DDIII's, Exhaust, TTPM, Clutch, Guages are now installed an it rocks (fastest farm truck around).

1965 Chevy 1/2 ton Pickup, 350-350hp/2spd powerglide, PS, PB, Disc Brakes on the front, Tilt, Fuel Cell, 3. 73 posi.

26ft Gooseneck Flatbed Trailer.

1960 Farmal 340 Diesel Tractor

 

[Morphious]

Here is my dog, this is about as clean as it ever gets. I have probably washed 100lbs of mud off of it in the last week. Hopefully these pics will help.

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99 2500 4x4 QC Std transmission, Purple, 10 Disc Sony Changer, 285x75Rx16 BFG Mudders, Gooseneck hitch, 275lb King Klaw front bumper, Towing/Camper setup.

DDIII's, Exhaust, TTPM, Clutch, Guages are now installed an it rocks (fastest farm truck around).

1965 Chevy 1/2 ton Pickup, 350-350hp/2spd powerglide, PS, PB, Disc Brakes on the front, Tilt, Fuel Cell, 3. 73 posi.

26ft Gooseneck Flatbed Trailer.

1960 Farmal 340 Diesel Tractor

 

[csutton7]

haven't run the AT's but love my MT's-chris

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chris sutton
1999 2500 24v qcab longbed 4x4 red sport w/ all the options 'cept plow pkg, 4:10 detroit locker in rear & front ARB,
5" skyjacker lift w/ 35" BFG MT's on 16. 5x9. 75 Weld rims, black smittybilt step bars, black 3 pc. bug persuader,
black lumber rack, camel leather int. w/ mb quartz spkrs and JL Audio twin 10"sub stealth box under rear seat , PE EZ, DTT vb & tc, mag hy-tec transmission pan,
red magview diff covers front & back, SPA pyro/boost&fuel pres/oil temp on "A" pillar & coming soon: big injectors, HX 40 massaged, red L&L ladder bars, turbo temp monitor ,
4" Jardine exhaust, Holley fuel pump, upgraded fuel lines and PE box tweaked--the above is a big fat lie I really own a totally stock RAM

 

[icarus33]

I'm also planning a BFG purchase, most likely 285 AT's. Going from 245 to 285 is a bit of a jump and with 3. 54 rear, not sure how much low end grunt to expect to lose and mileage. Any comments with anyone's experience would be helpful.

icarus


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'98. 5, 2500, 4x4, LB, QC, AUTO, 3. 54 rear, Snugtop, Rhinoliner, ISB, non Cummins enhanced ECM, DDIIIa injectors, Transgo Diesel shift kit, KJones TC, Autometer boost, transmission temp, digital pyro, Mag-Hytec diff/transmission cvrs. , Redline lubed.

 

[BLACKRAM]

Going from 245's to 285's will change your 3. 54 to an effective gear ratio of 3. 21. It will also make your speedo read 10% less than you are actually traveling. The benefit is your odometer will read 10% less than the actual miles you have traveled. You get approx 39,000 actual miles of use before your warranty runs out #ad


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1999 2500 4x4, auto, 3. 54, HD241, Quad cab SLT, Blk Sport Pkg, 285 Bridgestone AT, Amsoil.
1992 SC400
1978 Mooney 201 IFR

 

[LSMITH]

icarus, I am running 285 BFG AT KO's on my 99 auto with 3. 54 gears. I did not run 245's long enough to know what the mileage was like, but you are going to lose some bottom end power. The place where you will notice it the most is climbing hills at 60 or less. At 60 I am turning roughly 1500 RPM, that is well below peak torque. I am getting 17. 5-19 MPG now, and get around 22 in the summer, but I am in the flat land. With your injectors the power shouldn't be an issue either. If I was going to buy new tires today I would get the narrowest tires I could find around 33 inches tall. The 285's are fairly wide so they follow the ruts pretty bad. I am happy with the BFG's, but it is not a size I would pick again. Hope this helps.

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99 2500 QC 4X4 AUTO SB 24V LARAMIE SLT 3. 5 LSD 285-75-16'S SPA Boost/EGT Everything but leather NRA Member Great Lakes TDR Member

 

[John]

I have had strictly BFG Mud-Terrain T/As on every 4x I've owned for the last twenty years, from 27/9. 50/14 through 35/12. 50/15 and other sizes in between. After I purchased my Ram I decided to go with a set of 285/75/16 All-Terrains instead. One thing was immediately apparent, the All-Terrains have much better road manners, make less noise on pavement, and work substantially better in the rain. In addition, the A/Ts are superior on ice... unless the M/Ts have been siped. The M/Ts shine in deep snow and mud. The one thing I can tell you for sure is you will go through two sets of M/Ts for every set of A/Ts regardless of size. The best mileage I have ever gotten out of a set of M/Ts is 30k, usually it was more like 25k (disclaimer: I never ran the tread down to the absolute minimum... and won't do it on my A/Ts either). If the M/Ts are used primarily on pavement they WILL become cupped to the point they seem like the are out of round... like they are 30-40 sided (if you can envision that). I have over 40k on my A/Ts and they still have around 40-50% tread left.

The bottom line is this: what do you want to do with your tires?

 

[X-10]

This is the kind of stuff I was wondering about. I would like a little better performance in the snow, thus my thinking of the narrower size, but I hate to give up anything on the highway. As far as the life of the tire, I only get about 30-35K out of my ATs. I also don't run mine all the way down to minimum. How about the noise difference? Real noticable, or just crank the radio a tad more? John, did you get the cupping on the narrower sizes also? Has anybody had their MTs siped and what difference did that make? Sorry about all the questions but thanks for the replys.
Doug

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red 96 x-cab 2500 lbox v-10 5-speed w/4. 10s. ON ORDER - red 01 q-cab 2500 SLT 4x HO 6sp lbox w/3. 55s & most the goodies

 

[Morphious]

I have around 25 to 30k on my bfg mt, and don't really notice any road noise (what with the diesel and now the 4" exhaust system). Mine have a little bit of cupping going on, but I have attributed that to the crappy front end on my dodge. I just put my 4th trackbar on it, new ball joints, and getting ready to replace my steering box with one from AGR.

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99 2500 4x4 QC Std transmission, Purple, 10 Disc Sony Changer, 285x75Rx16 BFG Mudders, Gooseneck hitch, 275lb King Klaw front bumper, Towing/Camper setup.

DDIII's, Exhaust, TTPM, Clutch, Guages are now installed an it rocks (fastest farm truck around).

1965 Chevy 1/2 ton Pickup, 350-350hp/2spd powerglide, PS, PB, Disc Brakes on the front, Tilt, Fuel Cell, 3. 73 posi.

26ft Gooseneck Flatbed Trailer.

1960 Farmal 340 Diesel Tractor

 

[JRG]

I agree 100% with John. Some people may even believe you could gain mpg by changing to 4. 10's with the bigger tire.

2000ney, what would be the ratio with the 4. 10 and 285(32. 8" tall)? My guess is closer to 3. 73's. Or would you have to go taller?

B F G s
tallxwide
285 75R 16D = 32. 8x9. 2
235 85R 16E = 32. 2x7. 1

JRG

 

[Cooker]

JRG,
In order to complete the calculations you need to specify the original tire size. The will allow a comparison to the original so a new "effective" gear ratio can be determined. Assumming you are running a 245 (about 30. 5" tall) the 285's you listedf would effectively change your gearing to 3. 81. If you are running a 265 (say 31. 5" tall) you would have effectively changed your gearing to 3. 94

I hope this helps and I didn't mean to step on toes answering the question.

Ryan

 

[John]

X-10, I experienced the cupping on EVERY set (and size) of BFG M/Ts I owned... even the little 27/9. 50/14s that saw at least 30% off-road travel. Most of the other, larger sets of M/Ts I had saw a higher percentage of on-road travel. You don't really notice the cupping of the tires until you rotate them (assuming you roll them from location to location). They can get downright nasty on the last rotation prior to replacement.

As for the sound difference Morphious, I can just barely hear my A/Ts (with the radio off... and 4" exhaust) at say, 45 mph. BFG M/Ts WILL produce more tire noise however, they are substantially quieter than most (if not all) mud tires.

Both are awesome tires, just purchase the correct tire based on your honest needs (keeping in mind you will need about two sets of M/Ts to every set of A/Ts).

 

[TXRam]

I have the 285/75 BFG AT's. Great for highway or dry trail, but not for mud. I'll get about 45-50k miles out of them easily. No noticeable highway noise.

I'm thinking about trying Cooper's M/T - I can get the 285/75 Load Range D's for $125 mounted and balanced. Has anyone tried these? The BFG's were about $170. Based on the price difference, if I can get 30-35k miles out of them, I'll be happy.

Also, I did go from about 14. 3mpg with 245's to 15. 7mpg with the 285's (that's using a 7. 7% difference in the odometer reading based on difference in actual diameters of the two tires). The effective ratio changed from 4. 10 to 3. 81. I'd like to go to a 295 or 305, but very few tires available.

 

[John]

TXRam, with the 4. 10 axle ratio you may want to consider going to the newer 315/75R16 tires. Several different companies produce them including BFG (All-Terrain). HOWEVER, you will need at least a front leveling kit for adequate tire clearance.

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

used M/t's on EVERY truck I have Had they wear long unbeleivable in the white stuff and the slick brown too. don't howl that bad (35's on the Chebby a little but not bad) and with six 33's on the dually ahhh music.

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Y2K+1 3500 4X4 Quad Cab Powerpacked , Jakit's Front End Leveling Kit with 255/85R16 BFG M/T's Custom Rhino (as seen on website under tool man's truck feature) http://www.rhinoliningsnlc.com DeeZee Goodies, Hadley air systems 150 psi comp and air storage.
Keeping the rubber side down 'n' shiny side up Will Bring a smile at the end of each day (hopefully) #ad


[This message has been edited by ToolManTimTaylor1 (edited 03-15-2001). ]