M/T vs A/T and General Tire Discussion

[v7guy]

That's some proper customer service right there,I like it!

[bartonmd]

Yeah, I'm a fan! Also, if the local Tire Barn doesn't charge me for the M&B, I'm going to order some papa john's for them for lunch one day next week. I know how it is to be the middle man between defective product and an unhappy customer! That was about 1/2 of what I did in Canada all last year.

Mike

[Eredin]

That's very impressive, very hard to find customer service like that these days when it's not a very small business. Glad to see it's working out!

Can always chalk tire sidewall at the valve stem as well, see if it's rotating from there. GM specifically ran into that problem on the Z/28 recently, but for different reasons that you're experiencing.

[Speed]

OK, I'll buy from Goodyear again... I sent a message to their FB page about the lady telling me to drive to Texas if I wanted them balanced faster than 70mph, and they messaged back and asked for my phone number. From my name and number, they found the case file and called the Tire Barn folks. The goodyear guy said it sounds like they're rotating on the wheel, with always being about an ounce out after 50-75 miles when going back on the balancer, and the way they were fine for like 10 miles of interstate after the road force, then the vibration started up again. He gave Tire Barn the OK to send them back and get their money back on them and put a new set of BFG AT back on there for me, in the same size and load rating. I'm kind of taken back by it! Maybe the lady I talked to wasn't great (bottom end call center folks at huge companies rarely REALLY know the product technical aspects. Actually, this lady didn't even know what I meant by them being an ounce out of balance.), but up the chain and probably in general, they seem like good folks.

Mike

Mike,

Just curious but you said Goodyear replaced your Duratracs with a set of BFGs? I ask because I'm about to order a set of new shoes for the beginings of an expo build and had settled on a set of Duratracs. I'm glad Goodyear stepped up but I was kind of hoping to avoid the need for good customer service. Curious what BFGs you went with and if you were buying a set of tires now, if you would buy Duratracs again? I've read good reviews but I'm a bit worried about perhaps a bad batching running around. Appreciate your thoughts!

Thanks
Bryan

[bartonmd]

OK, I'll buy from Goodyear again... I sent a message to their FB page about the lady telling me to drive to Texas if I wanted them balanced faster than 70mph, and they messaged back and asked for my phone number. From my name and number, they found the case file and called the Tire Barn folks. The goodyear guy said it sounds like they're rotating on the wheel, with always being about an ounce out after 50-75 miles when going back on the balancer, and the way they were fine for like 10 miles of interstate after the road force, then the vibration started up again. He gave Tire Barn the OK to send them back and get their money back on them and put a new set of BFG AT back on there for me, in the same size and load rating. I'm kind of taken back by it! Maybe the lady I talked to wasn't great (bottom end call center folks at huge companies rarely REALLY know the product technical aspects. Actually, this lady didn't even know what I meant by them being an ounce out of balance.), but up the chain and probably in general, they seem like good folks.

Mike

Mike,

Just curious but you said Goodyear replaced your Duratracs with a set of BFGs? I ask because I'm about to order a set of new shoes for the beginings of an expo build and had settled on a set of Duratracs. I'm glad Goodyear stepped up but I was kind of hoping to avoid the need for good customer service. Curious what BFGs you went with and if you were buying a set of tires now, if you would buy Duratracs again? I've read good reviews but I'm a bit worried about perhaps a bad batching running around. Appreciate your thoughts!

Thanks
Bryan

I have Duratracs on my truck and love them, especially off road and in the snow, and they're pretty smooth and not very loud. The only down-side is that they wear pretty fast (they're 1/3 used up on my truck with 10k miles on them, although a lot of that has been hauling or towing up to 10k lbs, so it gets used MUCH harder than the TB) and I hear from the Jeep guys that the sidewalls are kind of weak. They feel on my truck like the sidewalls aren't as stiff as the 3-ply sidewall stuff, like the BFG AT, but I have no direct experience with how easy or hard it would be to cut the sidewalls in the rocks and such. The tires on my truck only see pavement, gravel, grass, dirt, and mud, because the off-road I do with them is just around the farm (in Indiana) and getting firewood. I had the same size of BFG AT KO (LT245/70-17E) for 40k on the TB and they were great, and still had 2/3 tread on them. I sold those off and got the Duratracs for the slightly better and "new" tire performance in the snow, because we're about to have a baby this winter, and the TB is my wife's winter vehicle. I really liked the BFG AT KO, and that's what I wanted, so that's what they're buying me (or rather, just giving the tire shop their money back on the Duratracs, and they're buying me a set of the BFG, and maybe I have to pay the $8 difference and maybe I don't.). Since getting into this whole ordeal, I've seen several examples of people with lighter vehicles having problems balancing these tires, which truth be told, are a "commercial traction" tire that are meant to be on vehicles like 3/4-ton and up trucks where you can't feel much. So yeah, I'd definitely buy another set for my K2500HD pickup, but probably wouldn't buy them again for the TB. If you can wait a month, and want a size that they're making this first go-around, the BFG AT KO2 is supposed to be a little more mud-friendly, and still passes the severe snow service tests, as well as being a more durable rubber material than even the the KO, which was an 80k mile tire in and of itself.

Mike

[Trail X]

The release schedule for the KO2s kinda sucks though. Only about half of the sizes are available at first, and they seem to be mainly the small sizes. The larger and odder sizes are planned to become available in March or something.

[bartonmd]

The release schedule for the KO2s kinda sucks though. Only about half of the sizes are available at first, and they seem to be mainly the small sizes. The larger and odder sizes are planned to become available in March or something.

Yeah, I'm sure they're their most popular sizes, though. I imagine it's not on accident.

34102 LT305/70R16/E 124 R $299
10598 LT225/75R16/E 115 S $224
15477 LT245/75R16/E 120 S $224
67179 LT265/75R16/E 123 R $239
05855 LT285/75R16/E 126 R --
50203 LT315/75R16/E 127 R $294
75445 LT235/85R16/E 120 S $222
66255 LT265/70R17/C 112 S $265
76397 LT265/70R17/E 121 S $279
76597 LT275/70R17/E 121 R $256
99728 LT285/70R17/E 121 R $321
05260 LT265/65R18/E 122 R $333
36457 LT275/65R18/E 123 R $304
93857 LT285/65R18/E 125 R $336
01547 LT325/65R18/E 127 R $408
40855 LT265/70R18/E 124 R $336
80867 LT275/70R18/E 125 R $281
12579 LT275/55R20/D 115 S $286
64811 LT275/60R20/D 119 S $321
17764 LT275/65R20/E 126 S $372
49773 LT285/65R20/E 127 S $468
91644 34x10.50R17/D 120 R $367
50022 35x12.50R17/E 121 R $360
12987 37x12.50R17/D 124 R $433
13389 35x12.50R18/E 123 R $402

[The Roadie]

> LT275/55R20

[DirtyBacon04]

Damn it, Bill! I haven't had my coffee, yet. Don't show me shit like that so early.

[Trail X]

The list I saw to be available in November was only 13 or so, and only had one 17" tire listed.

[bartonmd]

The list I saw to be available in November was only 13 or so, and only had one 17" tire listed.

Oh, you're right... There are going to be like 50-some sizes, even a few more than the current KO. I haven't gone through it, but looks like the list I got above from their site is just the first two rounds, in November and in April.

http://social.bfgoodrichtires.com/BFG_K ... bility.pdf

[Trail X]

Well, I really wanted to get those ko2s, but they just won't be avaliable in the size I want.

I finally had some time today to take some measurements, then sit down and really decide. I ended up deciding against the 285/75r17 size for now and instead went mainstream with 285/70r17s. I just couldn't bring myself to pay the big brand prices though, especially if I didn't have to, so I ended up deciding on a set of cooper-mastercraft mxt. I'm pretty stoked. I have even convinced myself that they'll perform better than the bfg or the nittos, mainly due to the siping that is nonexistent on their m/t offerings, but is present on the mxt.

I almost went with the cooper stt, which apparently is a sister tire to the mxt, but in the end I found these for about $150 cheaper out the door.

I'll have them on before tecore 11, and get to test them then.

I appreciated all the input. In the end it was someone here that nudged me towards the more common 285/70r17s.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Congrats!

I think they should do quite well for you. The siping should definitely help. I know the STT are raved about by many local and online and these should treat you just as well.

Looking forward to hearing how you report on them down the line.

[bartonmd]

Cool!

[KE7WOX]

The Toyota Coopertires team (Spain) ran the STTs on their Land Cruisers during the Dakar Rally (back when it was still held in Africa), and last I checked they were still using them. They seem to be good tires, some USFS offices run them on their trucks too.

[bartonmd]

LT265/75-17C BFG AT. Price was a wash with the Duratracs, so didn't cost me anything, thanks to Goodyear Marketing! Used my 1.5" hubcentric spacers. 50 miles so far, most of it at interstate speed, and smooth sailing...

[ErikSS]

It's crazy the difference your bumpers make. I had to look 6-7 times to see that it was really your truck.

[bartonmd]

It's crazy the difference your bumpers make. I had to look 6-7 times to see that it was really your truck.

Yeah, I know! I actually really like the look of the stock bumpers, but it does look really weak!

Mike

[HARDTRAILZ]

Mike, the TB definitely looks good. Tires filled it out well and the stance is just right.

James...you got them bad boys on yet?

[Trail X]

Vacation last week, I'll get them on this week.

Not sure if I'm going to mount them white letters out or not... any opinions?