Tire Question / Thoughts

[ExtremeGuy]

I own a 1997 4Runner SR5 and it is about time to once again put on new tires. This is my daily driver (I have a Jeep CJ-7 for the trails), but I travel a lot in the snow, ice and back roads durring the winter. I am looking to get a tire that is very good in wintery conditions but yet still be a great tire in the summer. I know that I am not going to get the best in both areas.

My tire size is P265/70 R16 and I put on about 20k miles per year.


I currently have BF Goodrich Rugged Trails on right now and they suck! I am all over the road when there is snow & ice (more so than I should be).

I was all set to buy the BFG All-Terrains when the guy at the register (who hapened to be a mechanic from out back just filling in) told me that I might not want those tires b/c he has seen a lot of them "wear funny" on the outside of the top tread causing a "coupping effect" which just makes the tire louder and louder over time. He told me that he has only seen it on Nissan and Toyota trucks. I have never heard of this before and have had many friends run these tires on a number of different truck brands with the siimilar results. I asked him about rotating them and he said that it didn't make a difference. Has anyone else heard of this or have had this issue? Has anyone had bad luck with this tire on a 4Runner that is NOT driven in the woods?

Soooo, for a similar price, he told me to look into getting the Michelin x Radial LT.

I have read a few posts here about different tires, but I am not looking to spend a lot this time around, I am hoping to not pay more than $150 per tire for everything (mounting & balancing) which the BFG A/T and Michelin are.

 

[mike_d]

i've run the BFGs in the past on my runner with no issues. my brother currently has 30k miles on his BFGs on his nissan hardbody and they still look brand new. i don't know what the guy was talking about. in fact, when i was a teenager, i wrecked my brother's nissan and knocked the alignment out, which never got perfectly fixed, and the BFGs wear great even on a crooked truck.

right now i have a set of michelin ltx tries on my runner. they're a nice highway tire, but they shouldn't go off road more than a fireroad. i only ran the michelins in the snow once and they weren't bad, but not as good as the BFGs. i'm using winter dualers now just because we get so much ice in colorado.

 

[02sport]

I'd say take a look at the bridgestone dueler revos too...i had bfg a/t's on my truck, and havent had a prob except that after about 20k on them it wasnt very good for wet traction.
ive had the revos for about 6k now and couldnt be happier! quiet and smooth for an a/t tire, and really sticks to the road. i'd say its the best of both worlds.

 

[Thai]

I have heard some stories about the BFG AT KO tires getting noisier and losing some wet traction in it's latter half of life. For me, i will probably replace mine before it gets bad. So far so good.

HOWEVER, you're right...BFG KO AT tires are a perfect compromise to what you want. It is the ONLY all-terrain tire i know that has the "snowflake" symbol which represent that it has been tested in severe winter.

If you care about wear & tear and wet traction, then consider Bridgestone Dueler AT REVO (like what O2sport said). They are good in all weather/seasons. They probably last longer than BFG AT KO because it's wear rating is better. However, they are not as good in off-roading (sidewall is not as strong; load rating is also lower). (For me, i off-road...thus, i need a strong tire...BFG KO is the one for me.)

Hope this helps.

 

[ExtremeGuy]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Michelin X Radial LT?

 

[peter78]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Michelin X Radial LT?

When I was looking for tires, the question of Michelin X Radial LT came up. First off, they are only sold at Sam's, Costco and BJ's. They are more commerical rated tires.

------------------------------------------------
Thai said this about the tires: "Recreational or commercial use tires tend to be very heavy duty...usually, in LT-ratings (Load Range C (6 plies), D (8 plies), and E (10 plies)), which tend to have more plies than P-ratings (4-plies). Because they are stronger, they are also heavier (thus, increase unsprung weight & braking distance, and decrease fuel economy).

Most off-roaders prefer LT-rated tires for the trails (less chance of punture wounds). For reasons above, non-off-roaders should get P-rated tires."
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For more on the Michelin X and other Michelen tires, i.e. Cross-Terrian and LTX / MS see my thread:

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?threadid=438

 

[peter78]

Just in case you don't go to my thread, here is Michelin's write up of the X radial:

http://michelinman.com/catalog/tires/MichelinXRadialLT.html

 

[Maxman]

For many more opinions, go to Tirerack.com. I found their site to be extremely useful. Here's their survey results page:


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/index.jsp

 

[dcampen]

Bridgestone H/T performance?

Do the Bridgestone H/T tires that came OEM on my 4Runner have as poor wear and gripping performance as these reviews indicate?
http://www.tirerack.com/survey/Surv...ireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+H/T+D689

http://www.1010tires.com/tirereviews.asp?manufacturer=Bridgestone&model=Dueler+H/T+(D689)

 

[02sport]

i'd have to say yes....dueler h/t's came on my truck back in 94 and was pretty bad "grip-wise"..changed em out for bfgs at 20k..and now at 90k back to bridgestones, but the dueler a/t revos
my 4runner has 14k on h/t's but planning to change em out soon....dunno how they "wear", but for wet traction, i'd say they're pretty bad...

 

[ExtremeGuy]

Just in case you don't go to my thread, here is Michelin's write up of the X radial:

http://michelinman.com/catalog/tires/MichelinXRadialLT.html

I just bought the Michelin Cross-Terrians 2 weeks ago and I have to say that they are awesome tires! The road noise has been significantly reduced, the ride is a little smoother and they handle well in the snow and ice.

I purchased them at BJ's for $149/ea. Right now they have a deal where they give you $10 off per tire, so that basically pays for them to install them. The one bad thing about BJ's is that do a lousy job of balancing them. I had to drive on the highway to get home and my truck shook at 50 mph and it only got worse as I sped up, needless to say I was a little discouraged. Luckily for me I had an appointment for a 4-wheel alaignment at the Toyota dealership and so I had them check out the tires and they found that 3 of them were not balanced correctly, so they fixed them and now my rig runs smoooooth!

Thanks for all of the info in helping me decide on a tire, I am very happy with my purchase!

 

[peter78]

I am glad you like them. I had the same experience with the Cross Terrians, they are soooo quiet. I know I have had trouble with Sam's balancing my tires, but Costco did a good job. The problem I have with Costco is getting my free rotation and balancing. I basically have to leave the car over a hour and some times they say come back later. I guess a local dealer is better, but I know the price gets much higher.

I guess we will both see how long the Cross Terrians last.

 

[coolpop]

Peter, I had Cross Terrains on my 2000 Runner, and after 30,000 miles they still looked pretty new...and that is after driving on the unforgiving Florida coquina-paved roads, which are known for eating tires.

But what about this - have any of you noticed a different outside tread pattern on the 03/04 4Runner Cross Terrains??? The outside tread patterns sure look different from my previous Cross Terrains and from the picture on Michelin's website.

Just wondering what's going on with that.