BFG All Terrain Radials

[jsharp]

Bumping an old thread instead of starting a new one -

We put a set of 30.5/9.50 X 15 AT KO's on our Pathfinder week before last. . We've run them on the road, in deep mud, rain, and off road on hard ground. So far I couldn't be happier. I've had two previous sets of BFG AT's, the non-KO variety, and got good mileage out of them. 70+K on one set, almost 80K on another. The only complaints I had were that traction dropped off noticeably when they got about 1/2 worn, and the initial cost.

The new KO's have a little more open tread pattern so they should be better in bad conditions as they wear. In spite of the changes they don't seem to be more noisy. I'm hoping they last as long as the old ones.

 

[dkcase]

quote:

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... Cherokee's are good in the snow even with bald tires ...

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The ones who really believe that are the ones you see in the ditches..

Saw it in Colorado when I cruised slowly past the abandoned $30,000 SUVs in my $700 Willys Wagon with good tires -- in 2WD.

 

[Alan Smithee]

BFG A/T K/O's are "supposed to last" 15% longer than the previous A/T's according to the company propoganda.

That being said, I am on my second set of A/T's in my older 1984 Toyota pickup. It has the leaf-spring solid-axle offroaders go gaa-gaa over...whatever! These tires are great for my light offroading forays. These are NOT hard-core TSL tires with really thick sidewalls. These tires when aired down are good at sand, water, dry-to-damp snow, stream crossings. I doubt ANY regular tire is good on ice with my kind of truck.

All that being said, these tires are great for the trail, and the heavier LT construction allows confidence that a P-tire cannot give. If you do not know the difference, go to a tire shop, and ask the fella behind the counter to show you TWO tires of THE SAME SIZE. The "LT" (Light Truck tire) will be much heavier than the "P" (Passenger vehicle tire)!

The only disadvantage of these tires is the propensity to pick up AND SHOOT dime/nickel sized pieces of gravel into the wheel wells and behind the truck...following vehicles, beware! This tendency after a trail ride does drop off over the first year or so. also, I have noticed the lugs of the tires can chunk-off a bit...but never in the direction of exposing tire cord.

BFG A/T KO's will be my tire until me, or my truck is dead!

 

[mdocod]

quote:

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The ones who really believe that are the ones you see in the ditches..

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so true--

I live in colorado springs, born and lived here all my life..

An enourmous number of folks here are not *from* here... some are used to flatland with snow/ice, and others just arn't used to now and ice at all (west coast/south)...

It's incredably common to see folks driving at obviously unsafe speeds, on solid ice- only to see them a mile or 2 further down the road, in a ditch, or in a telephone pole/ etc.


problem with colorado springs, is that- about 98% of the year, sees no ice/snow on the roads. the 2% catches everyone by suprise- throw hilly roads into the mix- messy. Most folks aren't well practised, and just assume that since they have 4wd- they are safe.

4wd goes a long way in helping you get moving, and even plays a small part in improving stopping power, but people over-estimate this. Once you loose control of a vehicle that is locked in 4wd, it's MUCH harder to regain than a regular 2wd vehicle.

 

[Jim 5]

I have the BFG A/T KO's on my '98 Chev K1500 Z71 in 285 75R16's and I'm very pleased with them. They see all my winter miles and they do really well in snow and ice. I seldom use 4WD. 2WD is enough with these tires.

I have the BFG Mud Terrain KM's on my '66 Bronco trail vehicle in 33x12.5R15's, and these are competent mud tires. No, they're not super swampers, but they're a very capable mud tire, even if they are a little old school. They do have the tread on the side as a bit of an update, but other than that, they appear to be pretty similar to the old ones.

Anyhow, I'm a big fan of the BFG "xTerrain" tires, but BFG's don't do much for me in the performance (car) tire arena.

 

[SKUNKY]

Try this....
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=HAS

 

[tdi-rick]

Funny, Bridgestones' 693 Dueller AT 265/75/R16 were OE on our Nissan Patrol and they were horrible. Stuff all traction on most surfaces, wore out in 40 000km on our (addmittedly crap) roads, useless on the farm in anything greasy, staked easily (they ended up with quite a few plugs in them)......
The later production/aftermarket 693's seem quite a bit better, with the local Telstra Patrols getting much better service life out their (contracted) fittment.
The 694 Dueller has now superceded them, with a few local vehicles running them. The big players like Michelin/BFG and Bridgestone are usually pretty good at fixing 'stuff ups', so we'll see.
The early production BFG M/T KM's tore up badly on local roads, so Michelin/BFG re-formulated the compound (softer ??) and they don't chip or chunk anymore. Some I saw were attrocious, you could barely see any tread pattern, they were that badly torn up.

Our current A/T's are up to nearly 30 000km and they are barely worn, with much better traction on gravel than the Bridgeys. Mud they aren't anywhere near as good as the Cooper ST's we used in between, but it doesn't really rain that often around here.....

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Gotta say I was not enthused with the BFG A/T KO's at all - we got maybe 15-20K miles out of LT245/75 16's E-rated 10-ply on a 3/4 Dodge truck. For the money spent, they were horrible, tread-wear wise as well as traction.

Have the Yokohama Geolander A/T II's on there now and they are like night/day difference in traction - MUCH better grip on the road surface.

Running Bridgestone Dueler A/T's and Dueler Revo A/T's on 2 other trucks and I love em both. GREAT tires.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Yeah, I've heard the OEM Bridgestone's are horrible.

I've always had good luck with the aftermarket Bridgestone Dueler A/T's - this makes the fifth set total, but not all on the same truck.

Have used them for hunting, boat hauling, highway, off-road, mud, snow, you name it - have faired good.

Hope you have better luck with yours then you have in the past.

 

[JHZR2]

quote:

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Originally posted by Ramblin Fever:
Gotta say I was not enthused with the BFG A/T KO's at all - we got maybe 15-20K miles out of LT245/75 16's E-rated 10-ply on a 3/4 Dodge truck. For the money spent, they were horrible, tread-wear wise as well as traction.

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gee, you must have bad rough roads or haul lots of heavy loads...

My GF's father has these on his truck in the VI... and life has been good but not great.

I have easily hit 50k on these with lots of tread to spare, even with lots of off-roading.

JMH