New Tires - Firestone Destination ATs - 265/70 installed w/ level kit

[hammersc]

Went from 265/65 Mich Cross Terrains to 265/70 Firestone Destination ATs. I also have a 1 1/4" front end cornfed leveling spacer lift.

First off - Cross Terrains were good. 45k trouble free, stress free, flat tire free and even-wearing miles. Handled well, very hydroplane resistant, and great mpg. Probably the best street tire out there but who knows. I really liked them. I just really wanted the 70 ratio all terrains and decided to hit up a great deal on the ATs.

So far the 265/70 Dest AT is a great tire. Mpg is down as expected. She went from (hand calculated) 17.5 city 21 hwy to (hand calculated and larger-circumference adjusted) 15.5+ city 18.5+ hwy. I'll update those figures when a larger sample is available. Ride is about the same if maybe a touch stiffer (not a bad thing). Noise is unbelieveably quiet. To my discerning ears they are as quiet as the Cross Terrains at all speeds (gone <80mph so far). Good wet, good dry, and looks 3 times tougher for what that's worth. Plenty more to add in a few months. So far I really like them (3.5 weeks) with the level lift (1.5 years). Just aggressive enough for my taste.

MPG UPDATE:
*Got 20.2 mpg going 72 mph yesterday on a 320 mile trip. So not as bad as the first half dozen fill ups.
*Again, on a highway trip last weekend going about 73 mph I got 20 mpg. Not bad at all. City is still 15.5 or 16.

 

[Maz]

Your new tires get excellent reviews from tirerack.com responders. In the survey there it's the 2nd highest rated AT. Good luck with them.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

 

[hammersc]

Tirerack was helpful in my decision - definitely.

 

[8086bruce]

Looks great! Thats a big MPG drop! That has me ?'ing the 70's

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Looks great! Thats a big MPG drop! That has me ?'ing the 70's

I had a smilar drop in mpg with 265/70/17 and 2.5 lift. It is a combinatiion of lift and tires. Tires probably 1/2 and lift 1/2 of the mpg drop. AT tires are much heavier than stock and 70 series are taller.

 

[hammersc]

The mpg drop was about what I expected. For what it's worth my computer dash read out says that after a fill up I have about 345 miles to go where it used to say about 405 before the 70 tires.

I love love love the look, though. It's much closer to level, as desired, the nose is now "off the ground" and I'll pay ~$150 more a year in gas to have it. Others may not, but I will. I parked it beside a stock '08 rwd runner the other day and mine was noticeably higher in the front. Even asked my g/f first and she noticed it was higher and better. Don't let the 70s mpgs scare you off. This truck belongs with 70s on it.

 

[hammersc]

Update

Wanted to give a much deserved at-a-boy to these tires. Went to the WNC mountains a few weekends ago, stayed in a mountain lake house with a really steep driveway (25% grade give or take) that led to another really steep road up to the highway(20%). Snowed 4 inches or so overnight and made for an interesting exit. Not because of my ride, but because of my buddy's expedition. We worked for 2 hours scraping and salting this driveway so his pirelli's strs could climb this slick, ice and snow covered driveway I mean he was seriously close to sliding back down into the house so it was quite stressful. Got him to the top after much hard work (shoving rocks, wood, etc under his slipping tires each and every time he got stuck) and patience.

Hiked back down and fired up my ride (rwd) - aired down to 23psi, engaged the limited slip button and climbed slowly up and out of this place like a champ. There were multiple places that turned sharp and were so slick and severely inclined that I thought I had no shot just like his truck. These tires plus this power transfer system dominated this hill and I was seriously impressed. You could hear the computer working to swap power to the non-slipping wheel. It was badass. Exceeded my expectations in those steep, slick conditions. Then they got me home driving on nasty, windy, snow and ice covered roads heading down and out of the mountains.

I always had confidence in these ATs but now I truly vouch for these things. G/F was like - "wow you just got out of that easily and he couldn't go 5 feet without sliding/stopping." It was cool - I have to admit. Yes I realize an expedition and 4runner are different animals and yes I know the strs are a highway tire. And, yes, the work done to the drive probably helped a tad when it was my turn, but it was still nasty slick and steep. Just letting yall know these things dominated that icey hill. Pic below doesn't really show the steep half of the drive but it's the only one I took before or after the snow.

 

[DexTech]

congrats on the new tires.

I recently purchased the very same ones. I bought mine based on reviews and a friends testimonial, he has them on his Tundra and can't say enough good things about them. I was in his truck driving in a nasty arroyo with no traction issues at all.

For what it's worth I've experienced very similar reductions in gas mileage. Also had Mich X Terrains before these. Mileage has gone down a bit, just not sure how much is due to "winter blend" fuel. The Michs are great tires, but I wanted an AT tire for trips on Forest Roads, etc. Saved a few dollars by buying the Destinations as well. Right now I've got them set at 32PSI. If I do any long hauls on the highway I'll probably pump them up to 35 and see if I can squeeze a few more mpg out.

 

[JAC]

Got the same ones 2 weeks ago to replace the stock. I am very happy with them.

 

[wake_rider]

Did you guys go with the P or the LTR version (which are $50 more per tire)?