I have 34-K + miles on the F-250, the stock BF Goodrich Rugged Trail's are wearing down. If it's a light winter, I probably can get through it with these tires, but not likely. There is around just below 1/2 the tread left, but I'm experiencing low traction when the road is wet from rain. I had a set of the BF Goodrich All Terrain's on Ranger, and experienced that same slipping when wet, and they had 90% or better tread. I do believe for the annual inspection the tires will need to be replaced, that's due I think in March or April.

I've been kind of shopping online and came up with 3 likely replacements. General Grabber AT2 / Good~Year Silent Armor / Michelin LTX AT2

Of those 3 the Michelin's have a better tread life (per the Tire Rack), all have better snow/deep snow/rain traction.

I know some don't like Good Year's, but I had good luck with them, I never had Michelin's or General's. I know I do need a load rating of "E", so that narrows my choices down to a few of the many.

I thought of ordering Maxxis, as there's no dealers around here that carry them, plus I haven't a clue as to if they're any good or not. And no sense in going after an aggressive tread, as 95-98% of my driving is the hwy's, other 2-5% is gravel roads. So it'd be foolish to get a mpg robber of a mud tire.

Any thought's??? I had Kelly's on my '99 F-250 after getting 50 plus thousand on Firestone Steeltex AT's. I had good luck with those, others didn't, plus Firestone don't make them anymore.

I just put the Goodyear Silent Armor Pro grades on my F350. I had the BFG AT's before these and they were not the tire for this truck. So far I am liking the Goodyears, nice ride, quiet, and no problems when loaded down with the truck camper. I haven't given the tires a real workout offroad yet, but what little we did in Ouray, they were fine. You might check out Pro Comps AT's, I have always wanted to try those.

I'd stay away from the Generals. I work in a Ford dealership and we have bad luck with all of the General and Continental brands. While the Goodyear is a great tire, if you plan on keeping the truck a long time, the Michelins would be a fine choice. Remember, you get what you pay for.

We have used Michelin tires on our trucks and cars for over 25 years - GREAT PRODUCT! We wouldn't buy anything else.

05 Honda Rincons - BigHorns

The Michelins are a great tire as long as you keep them in their element. I just replaced the Michelins on my Bronco with a set of the Silent Armors today, and we took them out for a pretty good offroad test. So far I'm happy, as I just needed something a bit more aggressive than the Michelins. They are a great tire and if I drove 95% on road I would have bought another set. I can't wait to see how they do in the snow.

I'm on my 2nd set of Silent Armor (Expedition). The first set was Fortera (very light tread pattern). This time I went with the Wranglers. Like said above, they give a NICE ride, and quiet. I take long trips in my Expy so that was the most important to me. I'm glad I moved up to the deeper lug of the Wrangler this time. If you do any kind of off road or snow driving you'll be glad you had them. The tread life is a little less and they cost a bit more but when you are spending that much on tires whats the difference. I also use my expy to tow a 20' enclosed trailer (~10k lbs) and they handle it just fine.

Thanks all that replied. I'll check with the local tire shop and see what there price is on both the Michelin and Good Years, tossing the General's.

If the cost ain't too bad a difference on the Michelin's will probably go that route. I rotate every 7500-8000 miles to keep 'em even.

The roads were damp on the way to work today. Driving as I always do, the fronts were losing traction in turns where they never did before. It's a shame as there's around 3/16-1/4" of good tread left. Back end has been kicking out making turns at street corners, still driving the way I always have.

The Diesel puts out some ponies, and has some torque to it, but it never did this as much as it's doing it now. I might get some wheel spin from a standstill when it was wet, that was it.

Maybe Cooper tires may be an option. Their Discover line of Truck tires are smooth riding and wear reasonably well. JMO


NH

I just put a set of Perelli ATRs on my 2500 but they haven't been enough miles for me to offer an opinion about them. One of the reasons I chose them WAS to get an "E" rated tire, I am curious why you don't want that on your 250?

Bruce

I am replacing with the "E" Load Rating.

I am using the Micheln LTX MS E rated on my GMC 2500 HD. I have over 23000 miles on them and they have done great.

Do you have the 17" wheels? Assuming you want to stay with the 265/70/17 I would look at the Michelin LTX AT2. It has a lot of biting edges but enough linked tread not to walk around. I liked my OE Rugged Trails I got 54K miles out of them. BFG's are overpriced and floppy under hard side loads. They are also heavy and will cost you MPG. You could also look at a 285/17 for a bigger tire. You may find a set of 18" factory takeoffs online for a good deal. Those will be a nice 33" tall tire.

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny:
I am replacing with the "E" Load Rating.

Sorry, I apparently can't read too well anymore (Oh well, add that to my list). Each truck mfg. seems to do something that limits choices, chevy uses narrow wheels (can't go above the stock 245s), my buddy had a hard time finding anything afordable for the 17s (?) on his F 350.
I believe he ended up finding some Goodyears at http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/home.do?utm_source=Goo...pc&utm_campaign=2008. He spent about $140 each and got free shipping, did his own mount and balance.

Bruce

I'm going to go with the Michelin LTX A/T 2's. I priced the place I usually deal with and didn't care for the price. I shopped around and found them cheaper at other local places.

Let us know how you like them and if you get off road at all. Michelin's are pricey but usually quality. My buddy has them on his Tundra and after a weekend at his deer lease he said he never spun a tire. They also gained 1.5mpg over his BFG TA's.

Here it is a year and 62,000 miles on the truck now. I was going to replace 2 tires before the CO trip this summer, but held out. Just ordered 4 tires today from the local tire shop. I went with Firestone Transforce HT's. They don't make the Steeltex no more, I had gotten 50K plus out of those on my '99 F-250.

Should be easier on the pocket, better economy verses getting an aggressive AT tread. Thinking about switching to a highway verses AT tire, took a lot considering. Main reason for going HT on a 4x4, is 99% of my driving is on the road. They are rated for light snow, and a helper is the 4x4.

I do know I'll likely never buy Michelin's ever again. Some don't like Firestone, but I had good luck with them in the past, at least the Steeltex.

I'm going to go with no rotating. When either wear out, replace just the 2, verses having 4 tires needing replacement at the same time. Then I can decide if I need a traction tire for the rear verses highway(all season type) tread all around.

check out the bridgestone revo i'm on my 2'nd set in 5 years they last well and are the best snow and ice tire i ever had

quote:

Originally posted by Kenny:
I do know I'll likely never buy Michelin's ever again.

I'll second that!

Maybe I missed it, but is it because of the price you won't consider Michelins?? Just wunderin'.

Less then 30K on them, and worn out, reason enough for me. Pay top dollar for this #1 rated tire that wear out faster then the cheaper ones.

Load Range E is not your joe consumer tire. It's Heavy Duty commercial grade. Should get more then 30K out of them. Brother was cross country trucker, use to get 500K out of his steering tires. Still had enough tread left to use as trailer tires. 300-400K on his drives.

Should get at least 100K out of HD pick-up tires, but will take as close to that as I can get. Firestones got me closer then the cream puff tires did, why I went to them.