Thoughts on Tires

[justme]

I know that the subject of tires has been beaten to death but technology changes, as do experiences.



I have been running 285/75R/16 BFG AT KO for the past three years and have gotten approx. 42,000 miles on my current set. They have been difficult to keep balanced and wear evenly so I am thinking of something else. I ran Bridgestone Dueler ATs on my 1991 W250 for about 5,000 miles and had positive thinks to say about them. Unfortunately, I did not get to ride on them for long and develop a full range of impressions of the tires before I sold the truck for a 1995 Dodge.



Any one running Bridgestone Dueler ATs (with the 50,000 warranty) or Cooper Discovery ATs. What are you thoughts on wear, quality of construction, and bang for the buck? Impressions on any either of these two tires in rain, snow, and rock.



Just your thoughts.



Thanks,

Michael

 

[DennyDay]

Bridgestone

I've been running 285 Dualer AT's for 142,000 miles, on my third set, and have ordered new ones for installation day before Thanksgiving. I didn't make 50k miles this time, but didn't rotate them as I have in the past (each oil change) I usually swap with 30% left on tread.



None of the Bridgestones have had to be re-balanced after install, and the ride is great. My 2500 4X4 weighs 8700 pounds as it sits loaded all the time.



Denny

 

[WadePatton]

I'm way happy with the Michelins.



I'm very hard on tires. I like to drift through the corners you know.



Anyway, I pulled the spare out from under my truck and mounted it... it took 1/4 oz to balance. I've never seen that even in smaller tires. Two of the other tires on the truck are obviously original and have 62k on them now.



They're all true and round and better than any truck tires I've seen at any mileage.

 

[Dixie Dawg]

I've run BFG AT on a Wrangler I had in 93, a Chevy Tahoe, and put on 285's the day I bought this truck. Had 30k miles on 'em, and maybe about 25% tread left. My own fault... didn't rotate as often as I should. Debated about switching, but the BFG look too damn good. Bought a new set Wednesday. They clean better than any AT tire I've seen... including Cooper. Cooper woulda been my second choice.



GO DAWGS!

 

[fj40charles]

Anyone run Dayton Timberline AT tires? I'm looking at the 285/75/16 size in load range D. I have a tire dealer friend that

will install 4 tires for 496. 00 including mounting, balancing, stems, and tax.



I heard these tires were rated #1 by consumer reports.



I'm currently running Wild Country RVT tires and they pretty much s**k. Lousy handling and wore out at 30K miles.



Charles

 

[Rob Thomas]

Originally posted by justme





I have been running 285/75R/16 BFG AT KO for the past three years and have gotten approx. 42,000 miles on my current set. They have been difficult to keep balanced and wear evenly so I am thinking of something else.



Just your thoughts.



Thanks,

Michael

I'm curious as to the wear and balance issuses you have with your BFG's, I have run BFG's since I was 16 (now 33), they always did well in both balance and wear, hence the continued use. Have you checked alignment, ball joints, tie-rods? BTW, I rotate EVERY 5,000 miles, seems to work nice.



Later, Rob

 

[Got Smoke?]

Originally posted by fj40charles



I'm currently running Wild Country RVT tires and they pretty much s**k. Lousy handling and wore out at 30K miles.



Charles

Charles, I just got finished with some RVT's..... your right they SUCK!



Bought the truck and it had 2 on it, and I had to put 2 on it to replace the bald mud kings. Anyhow I put about 25K miles on my truck from Aug. to Aug. and the new ones I put on were just as bad as the ones that came on it. I never was happy with how they performed in a muddy field anyhow.



Had planned to put BFG AT/KO's on, but when I went to order tires my tire guy called 3 places and all 3 said BFG was on National Backorder#@$%! #@$%! :-{} :{ ... . would happen to me!



Had to recall those 3 places plus 2 more to find a 33x12. 50xR16. 5 AT in load range D that was aggressive enough for my liking. Settled on Regul Trailblazer AT's for $130 a tire. Haven't had to test their ability in a muddy field yet, but have no doubt these mean looking tires would haul my baby out without trouble.

 

[Challenger-II]

I am currently looking at buying a set of 285 Yokohama Geolander AT-II's. They have received excellent ratings across the board for wear, ride & etc. They are inexpensive too at $104. 00 each at TireRack.com!!



Anyone have these? The old style Geolanders I heard sucked, but the new +II version is suppose to be excellent... ... pretty deep and aggressive tread pattern too.

 

[krabman]

I ran a set of 285/75/16 Cooper Discoverer AT's. and was quite pleased with them. They were quiet, wore well, and had great traction around the boat launch and on the snow. Never really got them into any serious mud so cant speak to how they would perform there. I would have a set on my 17" wheels now if they made em for it.

 

[cwarner]

I also run BF Goodriches (295's) and have on my last 3 trucks . On the half ton trucks they usually last around 70k miles , that is with proper rotation and I usually keep the air pressure at 60psi. I have 23k on this set on the big stinky truck and they seem to be wearing fine.



I don't think I would use another tire. I like the squared of look of them and I read somewhere that they are the best in snow.

 

[6shotz]

tires

IMO GOODYEAR IS THE BEST TIRE OUT THERE, AND YOUR NOT BUYING A TIRE THAT HAS A TREAD DESIGN FROM 1977.



Steve

 

[BigMo]

Check out the 305/70x16 Toyos and Nittos

The Toyos and Nittos have been & are being discussed on several TDR threads. Some of you may be interested in these: reportedly, good wet and snow traction, E load rated, heavy lug tread, good highway manners, 50,000 mile tread wear warranty, and heavy sidewalls. They are the same height as the 285/75s and only about an inch taller than the stock 265/75s. MUCH wider than stock, but fit on a two wheel drive without any difficulty. You WILL need the 8 inch rims to run these.



I just put a set of the Toyos on my truck yesterday. I switched from the factory Michelins (after 68K!). I may post more on a new thread after I've run `em a little.

 

[justme]

Re: Re: Thoughts on Tires

Originally posted by Rob Thomas

I'm curious as to the wear and balance issuses you have with your BFG's, I have run BFG's since I was 16 (now 33), they always did well in both balance and wear, hence the continued use. Have you checked alignment, ball joints, tie-rods? BTW, I rotate EVERY 5,000 miles, seems to work nice.



Later, Rob

Rob,



The initial mounting of my (then) left rear tire took an excessive amount of weight to balance. I forgot how much it did take but I can assure you it was excessive. I rotated and balanced the tires each time I changed my oil (5,000), since it was free and part of the purchase agreement I took advance of it.



All my steering linkage, suspensions components are good. My alignment is good also. The tires are wearing evenly across the entire pattern, no gouges, shoulder wear or anything unusual. They simply did not last the time I assumed they would, 5,000 miles on my 2000 Chevy 2500 4x4 and 36, 000 on my 2001 CTD 4x4.



I am looking at the Cooper tires in 315/75R/16 size. The prices is good and service after the sales is expected to be excellent.



Thanks for inquiring.



Michael

 

[MWilleford]

cooper AT

Ive been running cooper AT's for about 20k. 285/75

I am worried that they will Not make the 40k mark.

However-- the tire (soft rubber) is awsome in wet traction, wear, low noise, and off road reisistance at 25psi on rock and sand. A Good tire.

Yokohama may be my next tire if I can get close to the 40k warranty on the coopers.

Has anybody seen 40k+ on these tires (285-75)?

The truck had worn out Pathfinders (285/75 Discount tire brand) on it when I bought it (I estimated 10K left) but I got 24k out of them-- and could have gone more! (~160/tire compared to coopers @~125/tire)



The question becomes --soft rubber, good traction low life, or harder rubber, longer life. less traction... ?