Regrets switching to 285 tires?

[NIsaacs]

"Best all around combo is 4. 10/265", based on tire sales of 8 million dollars per month. Just curious, but how many gas versus diesel vehicles would you say this was based on? I have three older Ford pickups w/gas motors and I would have to agree, the lower gears are important. One has 3. 73, one 4. 10 and one 4. 88, however on my two Dodge Cummins powered pickups I like the 3. 54's w/standard trannys. The 91 has factory 235x85's and the 01 has the 285's, they seem to work well.





"NICK"

 

[TCDiesel]

Nick I would Not Know,One of the Big complaints on the 285/17 is the cost,the 265s/17 are about $30/ 50$ less than the 285. At the shop Royal Will only recommend factory size. (If customer wants different than Factory size must sign wavier that the tires are not Factory Size) Many factors contribute to this,(Commercial,Personal,Off-road,etc),Some GM dealers around here won't even do transmission diagnostic unless equip with factory size,and really pickier on the Allison.

 

[JDubien]

Matt-

I'm running the BFG's AT 285's and I'm approaching 43k miles with at least an 1/8" above the tread bars. I put 30k on them on my 04' and almost 13k on my 06' (04' was totaled). Awesome tires IMHO. I rotate them about every 8-10k. I would guestimate another 10k of life left on them. Discount Tire told me I'd be lucky to see 40k when I bought them. I have to say the centramatics are great and maybe the reason for extended tire life. Good luck to you

 

[Matt400]

the centramatics are great and maybe the reason for extended tire life.

That could very well be, a friend of mine runs that BFG on his 03 and hates em, poor wear he says. Thanks for pointing out the centramatics.

 

[cannongeorge]

Tired of Tires. Want more info

Interesting thread, here.

I'm running stock Michelins, about 55K miles so I can't complain. I do not tow heavy loads, sometimes load a pop-up camper, drive off-road frequently. But I do not like these tires on wet/icy pavement.



Let's face it, any combination on/off road tire is a compromise. I have had good experience with BFG TAs, especially in handling transistions from wet pavement to desert sand, and looked into this. I also wanted to get some Robby Gordon rims. I was interested in the 315/70 R17. But I found out at least one local dealer refuses to mount these tires, due to the load range "D" being less than the stock "E". A "D" range is 8 ply, the "E" range is 10 ply. Goodrich claimed that the 8 ply could cause handling problems, but I suspect this may be driven more by deep-pocket motives rather than actual experience. The only "E" range tire they make is a 245/70-R17, "Rugged trail" design. I do not have experience with this particular tire.



Others have reccomended Toyo 295/70-R17, again, I have no experience with this tire and comments welcome.



If anyone can comment on the Toyos, or point me in another direction, comments welcome.

 

[SStiss]

I've gotten 49,950 on my stock 265 BFG's with a surprising amount of tread left, but am getting new tires today. I'm getting 285 Cooper Discoverer STT's load range D. Will this cause problems? I don't tow a lot, but I do go offroad a couple of times a week.

 

[PRush]

I have the stock BFG Rugged Trail 265's on my 03 HO, 75,000 miles to date. I could get another 10,000 out of them. Rotated every 10,000 miles. They are terrible off road, terible in snow, ok highway and light rain. After much research and comparison I have now ordered the new Goodyear Wrangler 285 MTR's as we are moving to a heavy snow region. D rated, 3400 lbs, 20/32 rubber, 65 psi. , dura walled for aired down situations, @ 244. 00 per tire mounted and balanced at Sam's Club.

 

[FLynes]

I'm with MLimpert (Matt). I put the same BFG's on and had the dealer recalibrate the speedo. I haven't noticed a difference yet, and I love the fact that I have more grip off-road.

 

[HPetrat]

I run BFG AT 315's on eagle rims with 5" lift and 3. 5 gears and tow 8-11,000lbs an above average amount with out any problems at all. Truck was much nicer to drive after I changed to the taller tires (RPM and shift points better on in-town driving and on highway)

The tires are now 3 years old and have about 108,000miles (175,000KMS) on them with 60-65% tread left on them.



98 QCAB, 12V 5spd with a few modifications .



HP

 

[JDubien]

The tires are now 3 years old and have about 108,000miles (175,000KMS) on them with 60-65% tread left on them.

Are you serious? :--) You have over 100,000k miles on one set of tires and they're not even half worn out yet?

 

[Matt400]

I run BFG AT 315's, with 5" lift, and tow 8-11,000lbs. The tires are now 3 years old and have about 108,000miles (175,000KMS) on them with 60-65% tread left on them.

BS meter is pegged :-laf

 

[FLynes]

Maybe those are Canadian inches, lbs and miles :-laf

 

[HPetrat]

Tires, rims and lift kit completed August 2003 and have not purchased any replacements as of yet. The milage is accurate and I put a tread gauge onto the tires and I find that I am out some what on my estimate of remaining tread. Lowest tire: 57% remaining, best tire 58. 5% remaining.



I do pay particular attention to tire pressures at every fuelling, tires are rotated (front to back only) every 5-6000miles and the balance checked as well - free of charge from the tire dealer.

Driving habits, I use my exhaust brake more than the trucks service brakes and I always check over all of the suspension at every oil change (have Snap-on hoist) and deal with any issues as needed.

The biggest factor that I have observed is the road condition. I always try to choose routes that I know not to have pot-holes, pavement re-work or jointing ( difficult on I-5 out of Blaine,Washington). These things kill tread life and the internal structure of the tire.



Those are my facts, as I cannot comprehend why anyone would post anything other.



BS Meter... hmm... better hold on to that one there precious, never heard of anyone needing one up here .



HP

 

[ropinfool2]

Wow, I have 70k on my truck and my second set of Michelins are in serious need of replacement, already running on the wear bars. I found a great deal on some Nitto's and the shop has an awesome reputation so I'll be going there. JR

 

[barleysoda]

Thanks for the quick responses. You guys gave me alot of good points to ponder before buying another set of tires. I like the looks of the over size tires, but was not sure about the towing issues, sounds like the Michelins really suck during the winter. Looks like its going to be Toyo 285's for the hunting trip.

Thanks TDR guys! You rock

I love mine and they work GREAT for hunting. Toyo makes the best tire hands down. My borther has a 98 CTD that he has put a few different tires on over the years and told me to never buy anything but Toyo if I could afford it. I did and he was right!

He currently has BFG's on his and cusses everytime he looks at them. He had toyo's in the past but after they finally wore out he decided to save some money. First thing we did on the second morning of elk season was change a flat in the dark.

I have only had my toyos for about 7 months but they have been through alot of hunting trips and alot of rocks and bad roads. I have never had a flat.

 

[elandon1201]

I noticed a good 2MPG drop with 285's maybe I am not figuring in the correction for bigger tires correctly, although my overhead claims 34MPG I am only getting about 16MPG with the new tires as it was 19MPG before the tire swap