Tire opinion question

Wudman · October 12, 2005, 06:03:18 PM

It's time for some new rubber on my F-150. The OEM tires are Goodyear Wrangler RT-S and I have about 60,000 on them at the moment. They have been a decent tire. They squared up a bit around 40,000, but I didn't take the best care of them.

I'm thinking about going back with BF Goodrich all terrains. Anybody have any experience with these tires? I've heard a lot of good things about them, but they are a little pricey. I don't think I would be debating at all, but I was given two new Goodyears when a friend changed his. I could buy two to match and be in business, but I kinda wanted a tire with a little more aggressive tread pattern for off road use.

Isn't it bad when you aren't satisfied with something that is free? Thanks for any input.

Wudman

stumpy · October 12, 2005, 06:46:30 PM

I will give you my opinion. I have bought three sets of tires online from Tirerack.com. Even with shipping and paying for mounting, I have save quite a bit with them. As for the tires. I've used Firestones, Goodyears and BF Goodrich. All good tires, but they (in my opinion) don't hold a candle to my Yokohama Geolander 11's. They are quieter than most and I got 70,000 out of my first set (rotated them every 7-10 K miles). And best of all, they were much cheaper.

Dan_Shade · October 12, 2005, 07:31:09 PM

you go offroad much?

if not, i'd just get whatever's cheapest

Rockn H · October 12, 2005, 07:45:54 PM

Cooper

beenthere · October 12, 2005, 08:16:17 PM

As Rockn H, I go with Cooper and have been real pleased with price and performance.

Tom · October 12, 2005, 08:17:42 PM

I've run Cooper tires from time to time since I started driving and don't remember any real problems.

My wife got talked into a set a couple of years ago and says that she won't do it again. One was out of round and they wouldn't replace it. Another slipped its belts. She had them taken off after just a couple thousand miles.

Frickman · October 12, 2005, 08:33:57 PM

I run nothing but BF Goodrich and Goodyear on road vehicles, and both have done well. I use mostly Firestones on skidders and tractors. The Firestone Forestry Special is an excellent skidder tire.

ohsoloco · October 12, 2005, 08:46:43 PM

The last set of tires I had on my F-150 were Cooper Discover(er?) STT. Pretty aggressive tread, but the vibration and noise was pretty harsh :( I only got two years out of those tires before the tread wore past inspection (3/32"?), and I only put around six thousand miles on my truck each year :-\

sprucebunny · October 12, 2005, 08:58:00 PM

I have the Goodrich all terrains on my Dakota. They are very good . Only a little noisy on the highway. My second set. First ones must have been blems and the place I bought them from didn't care. Two wore out in 15,000 miles and two were good :

Good tires and brakes are cheap insurance ;D

Don_Papenburg · October 12, 2005, 08:59:52 PM

I prefer the BFG s but I saw a very agressive tread pattern on a couple of military 6xs yesterday on I39 Had Michelan radials with three rows of large blocky lugs and space as big as the blocks . I want a set of those next

DanG · October 12, 2005, 09:31:19 PM

My dually had Coopers on it when I got it, and there weren't a round one in the bunch. I rode them as long as I could stand it and replaced them with a set of Maxxis Commercial tires. Smooth as silk and nary a problem, since.

Corley5 · October 13, 2005, 12:12:14 AM

We're running Kelly Springfield AWRs on the Dodge and like em. I've had Kellys in the past and they were good. It came with Michelins which ran us 50,000 plus miles. The Kellys were also considerably less than Goodyears, BFGs, Michelins and Daytons. The GMC has Centennials? or Centurys or something like that. Just cheap tires ;D One thing I noticed with Goodyear tires for a while was the rubber seemed soft and they wore out fast. Goodyear has the State contract for tires and for a couple years it seemed like we went through a lot of tires ??? The last couple sets seem to have worn better and we had a set on the GMC that went 60,000 plus a bit.

Minnesota_boy · October 13, 2005, 07:40:17 AM

Our E-350 van came with Michelins. When they started wearing out I replaced the worn ones with Coopers because I didn't plan on as many miles any more. The first Michelin had to be replaced with only 75000 miles on it and the last one is still going with 104,000 miles, but it's showing wear.

DonE911 · October 13, 2005, 08:24:22 AM

Does your F150 have the 16 inch wheels or the optional 17 inchers. Mine has the 17 inch wheels which really limits your tire choices.

I've had just about every brand of tires and most of them the aggressive type... I have a 2000 F150 now with the 17 inch wheels ( yuk ) the second set of tires were the cooper at's .... they are good road tires and not to bad in easy off road use. If you are going to get them in deep mud/sand/snow you will be stuck.... when I say deep I mean anything that will reach the hub's ... which is not very difficult.... they are very good on wet roads .. What you loose offraod between an All Terrain and Mud Terrain type tires is significant.... for me I'll give up 5000 miles on the road for the piece of mind that I'm not going to be digging myself out of a mudhole. Unless you are doing alot of mud running don't bother with any tire wider than 12.50.... IMO

I like the bfg mud tire, but it wears to quickly on the road and are noisy..... same story with the goodyear MT's. If you want really good offroad and can sacrifice a little in wear on road then you aren't gonna find a better tire than swampers... they are loud from the halfway wear point on, but when new they are not bad at all. They will pull offraod until they are almost bald, but you'll loose over 5000 miles on road over a less aggressive AT. I would not buy another set of swamper thornbirds, never any buckshot mudders again, no mud rovers, no more ground hawgs, Mickey Thompsons are okay, but they cost to much and come in very wide sizes for the most part.

I have a set of procomp MT's on our jeep.... they are a great compromise between long road wear and offroad performance.... they are fairly quiet onroad as well. I have had the jeep in the mud up to the bumpers ( 32 inch high tires ) and they will still clean themselves and pull. (rpm's required) My F150 is due for tires soon.... I may go back to the 16 nch wheels so I can get a set of procomp MT's on it.... they don't make the tire in my size for 17 inch wheels.... all 17 inch tires are too much $$$ I will loose some of the tire life because the truck is heavier than the jeep, but I am impressed with them. If I stay with the 17 inch wheels then I will go with the swampers... they make a model for the 17 inch wheels that are not to expensive and I know what I'm getting in the swampers.

Well this has been long enough.....

Disclaimer..... I don't work in the tire industry.... I just use tires every day. ;)

Ed · October 13, 2005, 08:49:00 AM

I'm on my second set of Goodyear Wrangler AT-S's. They are a little noisy but they wear excellent & they are an excellent tire for snow. Also a good off road tire as long as your not getting to carried away in the mud.
Pretty sure I'll be sticking with them for a long time.

Ed

sawguy21 · October 13, 2005, 09:07:23 AM

I looked after a fleet of pickups for a logging company and the Toyo M6 Open Country was the only tire I found that we could get 50000 km (30000 miles) out of. Some of the crews could wear a set of those out in 25000 km. They were a decent highway tire and good on icy or muddy logging roads. The M55 was good too but rode harsh. They are pricey and probably not the best choice for a 1/2 ton We liked the Michelin LTX AT on those. The LTX M&S was useless on snow.

Wudman · October 14, 2005, 09:52:14 AM

Thanks for the input guys. I guess I'm leaning heavily toward the BF Goodriches (285/75 R 17) at this time. That was my plan until I was given the two smaller Goodyears. When I look at the checkbook, I may be back on Goodyears.

As a forester, I log a lot of highway miles. I was looking at taller profile tires to gain a little more ground clearance on those high centered logging roads. The F-150 pulls very well offroad. (But I know when it is time to walk as well). Once again, thanks for the suggestions.

Wudman

Kirk_Allen · October 14, 2005, 10:56:50 AM

My last three sets of tires have been Michelan. First set - 106,000 miles. Second set, 98,000 miles, this set - 90,000 and still good tread left. My truck has 492,000 miles on it and prior to the Michelan tires I was using Goodyears and was only getting 60,000 miles per set.

Qualifier: I run an E rate tire and keep the pressure around 65-7- psi, which offers better mileage and longer lilfe. The year I only got 98,000 I had the pressure down to 50psi.

I had coopers on our Lincoln when I got it used ($1.00 ;D) and they were BAD. WHOP< WHOP< WHOP down the road. Put on a set of Michelans and couldnt be happier.

One other advantage to a E rate tire with more pressure is less flats. I have not had a single flat with my Michelans. I dont know if its because of the tire rating or pressure but I know my old Goodyears I had at least one flat a year.

flip · October 14, 2005, 01:06:29 PM

We sell a bunch of BFGs and have not had the first complaint. My next tire will be either a BFG or Firestone.

DonE911 · October 14, 2005, 02:24:39 PM

those 285's are about an inch taller than your stock tires on 17's.... will work fine without a lift and only minor changes to the speedo.

Don_Papenburg · October 14, 2005, 11:33:44 PM

My dads 89 chevy had factory Michelans on it when I started driveing it with 18,ooo miles . that was five years ago . I have it up to 51,000 now . At 18,o5o miles the first one seperated at 19,000 two more give up the ghost , the forth I made into a spare . Have BFGs now .

Ironwood · October 16, 2005, 08:27:14 PM

I like BFG commercial truck tires. I run them on my heavily loaded F-350 but get only get 25,000 miles per set. Like I said I run heavy and like them in the snow, loads of sipes and being 2 wheel drive that is important as I plow our drive with it. If the going gets really ugly I chain up.

Larry · October 17, 2005, 09:29:38 PM

On the Saturn and Jeep Cherokee tires get replaced because of age...not tread wear. I'm guessing tires would easily go 100,000 miles just because the miles are on the highway and we are easy drivers.

On the pickups I have never been able to get more than 35,000 miles...brand name doesn't seem to make a difference. Gravel roads and trailers loaded to the max might have something to do with it. :

Fourth set of tires on my 97 F350 PSD...the famed Walmart Liberators. Ask me in about a year how they compare with Firestone, BFG, and Goodyear.

Coot · October 17, 2005, 10:15:24 PM

Really it dosent matter what tire you decided to get , the typical question i get at work is whats a good tire , well there all good tires , i work for canadian tire and sell alot of canadian tire / motomaster brand tires which are made by good year and michilen but beyond that. if you are looking for a off road tire , good tread , possible a open tread and something that cleans out good through the mud and snow , if noise is a issue try looking for a on road off road tire that has less open tread but is still will clean out half butt.

as far as premature wear out goes thats not the tires fault thats yours and the vehicles fault , 98 percent of the premature wear i see on tires in my shop is due to improper suspension care such as alignments , ball joints tie rods etc etc .