tubashaman2 wrote:Michelin tires are the best for what you want to do. They are made by the same company that makes BFG, but they are higher quality.
The OP said he does most of his driving on roads. From my experience and customer reviews, BFG All Terrain T/O work best for off terrain and dirt roads, and not so good on normal roads.
When I had to change out a Michelin on a rocky jeep trail in the Henry Mountains, where it was a 50-mile hike to the nearest town (Hanksville), I was wishing for those All-Terrain T/A's. It doesn't matter if it's better on the highway if it's unacceptable off-road, even if off-roading is only a small part of the usage scenario. Don't take this personally, but I bet that I have logged more highway miles on these tires than you have driven in your life, James. They are not particularly noisy, nor do they reduce fuel consumption. They are not like mud tires that sing, and they get reasonable traction on wet pavements compared even with highway tires. And they are affordable. I think they are the best mixed-use tire ever made.
As to Michelin being higher quality than BFG, that may be true for some models, and it may not. It is not in this case, based on long personal experience--these are BFG's best premium seller and they still make them in their U.S. factory. And I certainly don't base what I know on what I have heard from others, especially distributor sales dudes or tire shop owners. I will say this: The profit margin for Michelin is higher on their mixed-use tires, and none of that have the snowflake rating for a price less than 50% more than what the All-Terrain T/A's cost.
Okay, let's talk load rating. An LT225R16 tire with a load range D is rated at a little more than 2300 pounds when inflated to its maximum rated 65 psi. That's 4600 pounds on the front axle. On a dually rear axle, four of those tires would carry 8600 pounds, even with the derating required for dually applications. I don't think even 1-ton pickups have a GVWR anywhere near 13,000 pounds. The GVWR of a 3/4-ton pickup is about 7500-8000 pounds, I would guess, with at most 3300 pounds on the front axle. Many of them will work fine with Load Range C (capacity of 3880 on the front at 50 psi), rather than D. None need the extra weight and stiffness of an E-rated tire. My motorhome has a GVWR of 11,700 pounds on six tires, including a 4000-pound GAWR on the front, and the factory spec is for D-rated tires.
But you are right that the All-Terrain T/A's are not available in all sizes. I bet, though, that they are in the sizes most commonly used by full-size trucks. I have them on my Toyota T100, my '90 Toyota pickup, and have used them on an '84 F150, a '74 GMC 1500, a '90 Jeep Cherokee, and a '94 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I expect I have at least half a million miles of total experience on these tires, without ever having a failure, even when driving in extremely rugged high-difficulty jeep trails in the Utah desert.
The guy at Costco tried to upsell me to Michelins when I asked for All-Terrain T/A's on my T100, too. $200 a tire instead of a $130 for a tire that is not as good? Uh, thanks, but no.
Rick "who has had to explain tire truth to tire-store technicians before now" Denney
