Tire Input

[Fink]

Hey everyone. It is time to get some new tires for my hunting truck which is a 2001 7.3 Excursion. The tire on it now are the tires that were on it when I bought it. They are Michelin LTX/MS 285/75 R16. They have been good tires but more of a Highway tire. I am looking for a tire that would be good on the highway and for off road use. I was looking at the Michelin LTX A/T 2 or the BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO. Any input would be great.

I've had both tires you're looking at, on F-150s. I really liked the BFG T/A KO, it always did real well in the dirt and mud, and pretty good in snow. They got a little slippery in rain. They definitely looked cool (an important characteristic ), but I didn't really like how loud they were. The tires wore well, and I had 60,000 miles on them, when I sold the truck.. They still had a lot of life left.

That said, the Michelin LTX's absolutely blow the BFG's out of the water. When I first put them on, I left the parking lot, and could physically FEEL the tires grabbing the asphalt. They have performed flawlessly off road and on, they are quiet, they handle mud and snow with ease, and seem to bite real well even on the ice. I've got 70,000 miles on mine right now, and when the tires go, the truck their on goes too.. Good thing they've got an easy 10-15,000 miles left on them.

I'll never buy another tire again, All Michelins from here on out. My brother just went from the LTX's to the BFG's, and is really regretting the decision. So much that he's been strongly considering trying to sell the BFG's.

 

[packmule]

How do you go about getting these? Can you just walk in to Les Schwab and ask for em? Thanks!

Call the big truck dealerships and see who they run most of their business through. A lot of folks will have the dealer make that transaction so the difference is attached to their note instead of being out of pocket right then on it.

 

[Musket Man]

I have those coopers on 20's on the wife's Tahoe. She prefers the "feel" of them better than the bfg all terrain that were on it. She says they feel softer. And they may be. The bfgs were 5+ years old.

Her- " babe, I don't need mud terrains on my car, I don't go off-roading like you do"

Me- "but if I do ever get stuck, your first on the speed dial. I need you to have tread".

Mine are 285/75/16's. They are stiffer then the BFG's it had when I got it but the Coopers are load range E and the BFG's were a D. I went with the E because i tow alot and the D's were overloaded alot.

 

[Againstthewind]

I have Cooper Discoverer A/T3's on my powerstroke rightnow that I have been real happy with. I have run BFG A/T's and been happy with them too. My girlfriend has Toyo A/T's and they have been good too. All are good tires. If your towing alot you might want to go with a 10 ply (load range E), otherwise an 8 ply will be fine.

I wish we would go with 10 ply on the work trucks. We are always getting tires repaired. We go on a lot of "scoria" and limestone gravel roads. The "scoria" is hard on tires. Granite rocks on the forest roads are not easy on tires either. I am probably 85 to 90% on the highway with my personal truck, so my tires are just highway tires. I am not sure where I am going with this. I really have no advise on tires other than being frustrated with them at times.

 

[25contender]

I guess I should have mentioned I do tow quite a bit. My tractor,trailer, and other stuff comes in at 9500lbs. The LTXs on it now are E Range tires.

 

[Musket Man]

I guess I should have mentioned I do tow quite a bit. My tractor,trailer, and other stuff comes in at 9500lbs.

I think you would be real happy with either the Coopers I have or Toyo's in a 10 ply. You can always air them down a bit when your not towing. I really like the Coopers and they handle a load very well.

 

[libidilatimmy]

I've found with a diesel, mine being a 1-ton Dodge, the load range E tires tend to hold up better, regardless of brand, for the life of the set due to the weight of the motor on the front end.

 

[woodtick]

I worked at a tire store through high school, Michelins lasted longer on big heavy trucks with lots of torque far better than any other brand. If I run a diesel I'd only use them. Dick Cepek from what I hear has some great diesel truck tires. I'd make sure its a load range E

 

[Matthoek21]

I am on my second set of Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ. Very rugged all terrain tire with limited road noise and extended miles. I got 85,000-90,000 on my first set. I have them on 1/2 ton jacked up chevy z-71 but I do haul a heavy trailer quite a bit. Very very impressed for a beast of a tire. Only down fall they retail for about $369 a piece. Luckily I didn't pay no where near that much.

 

[Musket Man]

Im pretty hard on rear tires because my F350 Powerstroke spends most of its time in front of a gooseneck trailer these days since I got a car to run around in and I use my 65 ford for most local things I dont need a trailer for. I think hunting trips are 1 of the few breaks it gets from the trailer! lol

 

[woodtick]

Im pretty hard on rear tires because my F350 Powerstroke spends most of its time in front of a gooseneck trailer these days since I got a car to run around in and I use my 65 ford for most local things I dont need a trailer for. I think hunting trips are 1 of the few breaks it gets from the trailer! lol

Does rotating them help even the wear across all 4 tires for you?? We've had a pretty heated debate at work about "rotating" tires!

 

[Musket Man]

I rotate them although I probably should more often. It helps alot, I would probably go through rear tires 2 to 1 if I didnt. Coopers are good luck I think. I killed my biggest buck the day after I bought them! lol

 

[wisconsin_guy]

I have Cooper Discoverer A/T3's on my powerstroke rightnow that I have been real happy with. I have run BFG A/T's and been happy with them too. My girlfriend has Toyo A/T's and they have been good too. All are good tires. If your towing alot you might want to go with a 10 ply (load range E), otherwise an 8 ply will be fine.

I also have the cooper A/T3's. Been very impressed with them. Around home here you see a lot of them on trucks and anyone ive talked to had nothing but good to say about them.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

If you have a truck that is a 4WD (my F350 diesel is), you definitely should rotate every 5k miles. I do rotate as close to that as I can and I think I add about 10k more miles to a set of tires.

I live in a pretty rural area and not a lot of selection of tire dealers. I have bought my last 2 sets from my local Ford dealer at really competitive prices. They also rotate them for free because I bought them there. I've been using Goodyear Wranglers and they seem to wear pretty good for me. I usually get between 75 & 80k miles out of a set.

 

[OregonJim]

When I was younger I blew off the tire rotation thing and I never got more than 50K, sometimes less.
Last half dozen sets I have rotated almost every oil change (never more than 10K) and I have got an average of 80K+.
The air pressure recommendations shouldn't be underestimated IMO either.
I had some uneven wear on a set running upper end of pressure range and the pros had me air down 7psi and we coaxed them back even.

 

[jims]

Hardstock, my FX4 is a gas 5.4 liter. It's a 6 speed manual. I had heard some concerns that the 5.4 with an automatic struggled a little in the F250. I had to order the truck in order to get the manual transmission. I've been very happy with the truck, engine and transmission. Got 182,000 miles on it.

 

[woodtick]

If you have a truck that is a 4WD (my F350 diesel is), you definitely should rotate every 5k miles. I do rotate as close to that as I can and I think I add about 10k more miles to a set of tires.

I live in a pretty rural area and not a lot of selection of tire dealers. I have bought my last 2 sets from my local Ford dealer at really competitive prices. They also rotate them for free because I bought them there. I've been using Goodyear Wranglers and they seem to wear pretty good for me. I usually get between 75 & 80k miles out of a set.

I couldn't agree more CC, I'm running almost 60k on a set of Goodyear MT/R's thats a ton for mudders!!!

 

[In God We Trust]

I also rotate every 5 and am running Goodyear MT/R's, they are great tires.

 

[packmule]

I rotate at 5k too with Oil changes.

 

[25contender]

I still have a few thousand left on these tires so It Gives me some time to look into the new tires. I appreciate all the Info. Mark