Bridgestone Dueler UTQG of 180!?!?

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I was calling around on tire prices for my 2002 Toyota Tacoma (265/70R16) and was talking to the guy at Sears about the Bridgestone Dueler H/T. I asked about the UTQG rating and he said it was 180! I just about fell out of my seat. He said that it sounded wrong too so he went out and looked at the tire and sure enough--it was 180. Considering the fact that the other tires I was pricing were in the 400-520 range, this sounded crazy.

Anyway, I went out and looked at my truck and it has Dueler H/T's from the factory and sure enough, THOSE say it has a UTQG rating of 180! I have over 45K miles on them and will probably get 50K--which isn't bad.

So my question is this: why are Bridgestone's UTQG ratings so low compared to other that I am seeing on Discount Tire's website (www.tires.com)? I see some Dunlops and Yokohamas with a 500 rating for around the same price that Sears wants for the Bridgestones.

Any insight will be greatly appreciated. Also, I don't mind any recommendations for a ~$100-110 tire for my truck in this size. THANKS!
 
I've got 30k miles on the 255/70R16s on my Navara, and am about to throw them out...aquaplane city,as some of the grooving between the blocks are gone (still quite deep main grooving).

A mate with 265s has the same mileage and same problem.

I normally get 80,000km out of a tyre, so I'm not that happy with the Bridgestones.
 
They are pretty common on SUV's here,depending on driving conditions,loading,driving habits,they usually last 50,000Km or more.
 
Tire Rack has a good explanation of UTQG ratings and their meanings. Money quote:

The problem with UTQG Treadwear Grades is that they are open to some interpretation on the part of the tire manufacturer because they are assigned after the tire has only experienced a little treadwear as it runs the 7,200 miles. This means that the tire manufacturers need to extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades, and that their grades can to some extent reflect how conservative or optimistic their marketing department is. Typically, comparing the Treadwear Grades of tire lines within a single brand is somewhat helpful, while attempting to compare the grades between different brands is not as helpful.

Link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=48
 
My Tundra came with the same tire (P245/70SR16). Since I only have 4000 miles on them I cant predict expected life. 180 B B looks pretty weak, but that is in line with Toyota OEM tires in general, excluding Lexus and Scion.

The H/T's look very much like the original Desert Dueler design from 20 years ago. Looking at Tirerack's survey ratings, OE Dunlops are even worse. When I replace these, the Dueler A/T, which worked great on my F-150 will be on
my shopping list.
 
Duelers bite. Read the reviews at Tire Rack. My CR-V came with some and I sold those puppies asap. We got Yoko TRZs...awesome tire.
 
Yeah, the Duelers that came on my QX4 were horrible! Even new they were loud, squealed when driving anything less than granny-style, and had poor grip on wet roads. I was so dissatisfied with them I sold them for $25 each to a used tire store with less than 500 miles on them.

I've been running Michelin Cross Terrains for the last 45K miles and have been very, very happy with their performance in all conditions (including deep and hard-packed snow). I recently bought dedicated wheels with Blizzak tires, so I'll probably switch to Michelin Diamaris tires when the Cross Terrains finally wear out.
 
update, I had to drive some hills on Saturday, and one would have thought that I was Fangio in a four wheel drift with the noise that the (40,000km) deulers were making.

So today I had installed Maxxis Bravo's (a mate is a dealer, and I could get them $110 cheaper than the Bridgestones).

took them the same run, and am most impressed.
 
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