Truck tires

56FordGuy · Oct 3, 2011

Looking at some new tires for my F-350. Load range E, 235/85/16s.

Considering the BFGoodrich AT, the Firestone Transforce AT, and the Mastercraft Courser AT.

I want a tire that will be decent in muddy fields, but better highway characteristics than a mud terrain tire. We don't get much snow here, but do get a fair amount of rain. Heard good things about the BFG and the Firestone, saw the Courser in a tire shop and it looked interesting.

Any opinions? Any other tires I should consider?

whistlepig · Oct 3, 2011

The BF Goodrich tires are the best I have ever used on in the history of owning 7 pick up trucks over the past thirty years. These are the best for mud and snow, wear very well, and aren't noisy. There are some high dollar well known brand name tires that are a waste of money.

Fordman1981 · Oct 3, 2011

Before the firestone went to transforce they were steeltecs they say there the same tire i'm not sure of that but we averaged 80,000 miles on a set and have got as high as 96,000 miles on a set of steeltecs. I now run the bfg at on first set on work truck so we shall see. I also have the bfg at on my personal truck but hard to tell how good they wear only home enough to put 8,000 miles on it in 3 yrs but love the traction they provide.

LeadPoison · Oct 3, 2011

I am getting ready for a new set myself on my Ram 2500. I am looking at the BFG ATs and the Nitto Terra Grapplers.

56FordGuy · Oct 3, 2011

Tire life is a concern, but the truck in question is driven 4-5,000 miles a year so it's not my biggest factor.

I've heard people say the BFGs don't perform well in the mud. Any experience? What about the Mastercrafts? So far, they look like the least expensive and the tread pattern looks like it should be effective. Don't want to spend that much money just hoping they work well, though.

whistlepig · Oct 3, 2011

My '07 Chevy Z71 came with Bridgestone tires. They have 86,000 miles on them and could probably go another 2,000-3,000 miles more. But these Bridgestones are the worst tire I have ever driven in snow. I going back to the Goodrich KO's this time. For the money, ride, and wear, I think the Michelin M/S is the best of all tires. We just put Michelin M/S tires on the wife's '30 Z71 truck. But for mud and snow the Michelin's ain't a patch to the Goodrich KO.

Fordman1981 · Oct 3, 2011

The bfg a/t is the best traction for all terrains I have ever had.

whistlepig · Oct 3, 2011

Fordman1981 said:
The bfg a/t is the best traction for all terrains I have ever had.

In snow they are the best.

Verticaltrx · Oct 3, 2011

I've run all three of those, the BFG AT's are by far the best in most every off-road condition vs the other two. Tread pattern can be deceiving, it doesn't look that aggressive on the BFG's but it cleans really well in the mud (for an AT anyways.) Also they are very good on ice and snow. How they wear depends on the truck and size. I've gotten as much as 80,000mi on a set on my tacoma, but as little as 30,000 on a '99 F-250 PSD.

The Firestone Transforce AT's are really more of a highway tire. They are absolutely worthless in any kind of mud, snow, or slick conditions. There is too much rubber on the tread face without enough tread voids, i.e. not many biting edges. However, they do seem to wear really well, which is about the only good thing I can say about them. My father has a set on his F-250 and despite having about 90% tread he is wanting to get rid of them ASAP, they are worthless on a farm truck.

The Mastercraft courser A/T's are decent. Traction is much better than the Transforce AT's, but not as good as the BFG's. They don't wear very well, I only got about 30k on my last set on my old '88 F-250 and it wears 285/75-16's which are big enough they should give decent mileage. The tires that I did like from Mastercraft were the Courser C/T's. They are kind of an all-terrain pattern, but with much bigger tread blocks and voids. They did quite well in the mud and most off-road conditions. Only got about 30K on them as well, but they did run pretty quiet on the road for such a chunky tread pattern.