• If you currently own, previously owned or want to own an Avalanche, we welcome you to become a member today. Membership is FREE, register now!

BFG's Or Goodyear MT/R's?

Fail to see why someone would move my topic here.
The Factory tires are not an accessory or a
modification. I have no desire to replace the
goodyears tires they just fine. All was asking was
if people have had trouble getting replacements.

I do not have any interest in which other tires
they are replacing them with or modifications.

Now to see if can remove my topic !!!!
 
Well, I've been watching these tire threads for a while, and I'm ready to purchase some new rubber. Questions, though:

I see several references to the BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain KM's as having lower ratings than the Goodyear MT/Rs. Has anyone tried these tires, or just going off of reviews posted on a website? I really like the looks of the BFG better than the Goodyear - based on the web pictures. I also like the fact that the BFG's say Mud-Terrain on the side. ;-) I don't mind more road noise - I'll just turn up the stereo more! ;-) I guess what I'm trying to say, is someone talk me out of the BFG's...

I saw mention, too, that the spare OD needs to match. Are there any recommendations for something cheap to match up with the two tires above on the stock spare 16" rim?
 
WHVT01: ?No problem getting the Goodyears in Northern California. ?All the sizes that come standard on all AV's are readily available from Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, BFGoodrich, etc. ;D
 
A.J. said:
Well, I've been watching these tire threads for a while, and I'm ready to purchase some new rubber. ?Questions, though:

I see several references to the BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain KM's as having lower ratings than the Goodyear MT/Rs. ?Has anyone tried these tires, or just going off of reviews posted on a website? ?I really like the looks of the BFG better than the Goodyear - based on the web pictures. ?I also like the fact that the BFG's say Mud-Terrain on the side. ?;-) ?I don't mind more road noise - I'll just turn up the stereo more! ?;-) ?I guess what I'm trying to say, is someone talk me out of the BFG's...

I saw mention, too, that the spare OD needs to match. ?Are there any recommendations for something cheap to match up with the two tires above on the stock spare 16" rim?

Pictures are deceiving. You really need to look at them side-by-side to make a comparison. The MTRs (IMO) look much more aggressive than the MTs because of their unique tread design and the sidewall treads are bigger. But, all that aside, it still comes down to personal preference. I've driven on Swampers, Micky Thompsons, and BFGs and since the MTRs were the latest mud tire design out there, I gave them a try. Also, I talked to a lot of off road shops and enthusiasts in my area and got rave reviews on the GoodYears. The people who love BFG stick with BFG, but those who have changed over to GoodYear like them more.
 
TommyTo said:
Pictures are deceiving. ?You really need to look at them side-by-side to make a comparison. ?The MTRs (IMO) look much more aggressive than the MTs because of their unique tread design and the sidewall treads are bigger. ?But, all that aside, it still comes down to personal preference. ?I've driven on Swampers, Micky Thompsons, and BFGs and since the MTRs were the latest mud tire design out there, I gave them a try. ?Also, I talked to a lot of off road shops and enthusiasts in my area and got rave reviews on the GoodYears. ?The people who love BFG stick with BFG, but those who have changed over to GoodYear like them more.

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking to hear. It sounds like you've tried them all!
 
AJ, anytime I can actually give YOU (the mud master) advice it is not to be missed.

I ran three sets of BFG's (All Terrain T/As, not Mud T/As - and that's KO's and KM's in current BFG-speak) on my last ride, and I really did like them (hell I kept on buying them!) but they were lacking in wet-traction, I mean noticeably easier to break away in the wet than the earlier tires I had on there. And I have heard much the same about the Mud Terrain tires, so even though I did not have the Mud Terrians, that comment made perfect sense given my own BFG experience. So on the Av, I was looking to do something different if it made good sense, but you can see from my BFG or MT/R posts a while back I was on the same fence.

LEt me tell ya this - the MT/R's look REALLY CHUNKY in person, if you factor looks into the equation they won't let you down:

wrangmtr.jpg


Plus I can testify to how they work - very well in the soop, very well in the snow too (they seem to clear their tread blocks pretty well). Are they really any better than KMs? Great minds can debate it, I won't try to myself since I do not have experience with the KMs on my Av for true comparo purposes, but the MT/Rs do seem to have more than adequate wet road/trail traction too, which was lacking from the BFGs I went through.
 
TommyTo said:
Pictures are deceiving. ?You really need to look at them side-by-side to make a comparison. ?The MTRs (IMO) look much more aggressive than the MTs because of their unique tread design and the sidewall treads are bigger. ?But, all that aside, it still comes down to personal preference. ?I've driven on Swampers, Micky Thompsons, and BFGs and since the MTRs were the latest mud tire design out there, I gave them a try. ?Also, I talked to a lot of off road shops and enthusiasts in my area and got rave reviews on the GoodYears. ?The people who love BFG stick with BFG, but those who have changed over to GoodYear like them more.

FWIW, the MT/R's are not a 'mud tire' though they do moderately well in mud. I believe the 'MT' part stands for 'Maximum Traction'.
Also ALL mud tires are poor on wet roads and most are poor on snow. The cure for wet road traction is to have them 'siped' (usually about 10 bucks a tire). It's best if you can have only the 'inner blocks' siped, as siping the outer blocks can cause chunking on rocks, offroad. Siping doesn't help much with snow, though.
HTH
 
I want to get bigger thicker tread tires for my AV. I have 265/70R17 Wranglers on my AV right now and I have noticed that the tread is not the best for traction in mud and snow. :mad: So I want to find something that is a bit bigger, and has a thicker tread that is made to handle all weather conditions and light off-roading, but is under $250 a piece.
What are the preferred tires by the big time off-roaders and the guys that know a lot about tires.

Thanks. (y)

-James R. :cool:
 
JUST MY .02 CENTS WORTH AND I'M NO TIRE EXPERT.-I WAS DRIVING MY SUBURBAN TO FLORIDA IN LATE MARCH-THOUGHT I HAD BEEN FEELING A SLIGHT WOBBLE, WHICH GOT WORSE-GOT OUT AND LOOKED AT THE TIRES NEAR ATLANTA, GA AND FOUND 2 OF MY GOODYEARS HAD TREAD SEPARATIONS-NO GOODYEAR STORE OPEN ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN THE AREA, SO NO WAY TO HAVE AN ADJUSTMENT MADE-(ALSO HAD A GOODYEAR TREAD SEPARATION ON MY WORK TRUCK ABOUT 18 MONTHS AGO)-BOUGHT 4 NEW GOODYEARS AT SAMS CLUB-CONTACTED GOODYEAR TO COMPLAIN-THEY SAID THEY WOULD GET BACK TO ME-NEVER HEARD FROM THEM-MY NEXT NEW TIRE PURCHASE WON'T BE GOODYEARS. PS.-I NOTICED CONTINENTAL HAD 80,000 MILE TIRES FOR ABOUT THE SAME MONEY AS THE 50,000 MILE GOODYEARS AT A WALMART LATER
 
What about the spare?

If I'm getting 285/70/R17 MT/R's (which I'm 90% certain I will), do I need to get a new spare tire as well? The MT/R's have an OD of 32.9", and my Firestone spare (which knock on wood) hasn't moved from it's original location, nas an OD of 30" Do I need to replace that as well?
 
differential concerns will be mentioned, since my experience has been that I get a flat when I am furthest way from home, such would mean long trip on the highway with my spare. Since I too upgraded from the stocker tires that came with my 1500 4x4 Av and increased the OD significantly (I dumped my 16" rims for the Z-71 spec 17" and went witha 32.4" OD tire), I thought about it and picked up a single Z-71 17" rim off of ebay and mounted the same rubber on it as I had on all four corners - and that is now my spare, mounted up and under the truck. Other paths to this conclusion exist, main focus is on getting the same OD, I was looking at 16" rubber that would get me there (before I decided to dump the stock spare rim).
 
The tire ( 37" I believe) that comes on the H1 (maybe the H2 as well?) is a good looking specimen. Kind of looks like a mud/all terrain cross. Anybody ever try them? I assume they come smaller
 
jackalanche said:
differential concerns will be mentioned, since my experience has been that I get a flat when I am furthest way from home, such would mean long trip on the highway with my spare. Since I too upgraded from the stocker tires that came with my 1500 4x4 Av and increased the OD significantly (I dumped my 16" rims for the Z-71 spec 17" and went witha 32.4" OD tire), I thought about it and picked up a single Z-71 17" rim off of ebay and mounted the same rubber on it as I had on all four corners - and that is now my spare, mounted up and under the truck. Other paths to this conclusion exist, main focus is on getting the same OD, I was looking at 16" rubber that would get me there (before I decided to dump the stock spare rim).

So, do you only need the same size spare if you are running in 4WD? What if you only drive in 2WD with the spare on? I just can't see spending $200 + on a spare tire...
 
If you are running in 4WD a differently sized spare will have issues in any location. If you have 4WD and are running in 2WD then the front axle would have minor issues if the undersized spare is on there, the rear axle would have more serious issues if the undersized spare is on that axle.
Basically the problem is that, with one wheel on the axle being a different diameter, the differential is 'differentialling' while driving straight. This causes substantially more heat to be generated in the diff. The effect is relatively minor on a non-driven axle, fairly major on a driven axle.
A safe procedure would be to travel no more than 50 miles at no more than 50 mph (with an undersized spare on the driven axle), then park up and allow the diff to cool for at least an hour, before doing the same again.
If you have to drive more than 50 miles on the spare, you should swap a front wheel to the rear, if necessary, and make sure the spare is on the front and use 2WD.
With the spare on the front, you should still stick to under 50mph or less, but you could go a 100 miles before an hour's 'cool off'.
IF YOU HAVE THE REAR LOCKER, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES EXCEED 50 MPH WITH AN UNDERSIZED SPARE ON THE REAR.
HTH.
 
So is the General concensus that the Wrangler MT/Rs are a great tire. I really want to get a better tire than mine right now, the MT/Rs at 285/70R17 seem like the ones for me. ;D
What are everyones views on these tires?
Thanks.
-James R. :cool:
 
Well James, I can report back that I like the MT/R's performance in the mud and dirt an snow, and that on a wet street it seems better than the (admittedly minor) issues I had with BFG's before. As with all my tires, they seem to be wearing faster than I would like with so much $$ invested, but that is a function of my driving habits I believe.

To be sure, you can't go wrong with the BFGs either, in fact there will be folks who swear by them too. One thing that really does set the MT/Rs apart from the BFGs is the super duty sidewall on the MT/Rs - I have never seen something so bulletproof looking, and the Goodyear folks claim that side-cuts (from rocks, etc) are minimized because of it, and I tend to believe it.
 
We just put the 285 70 r 17 bfg radial all terrains on our av and before that we ran 265 70 r 17 and with 45,000 on those tires there was still thread left anyhow i always have run bfg tires and never had any issues. the 285 70 R17 and they rock so far. L8tr
 
I was kind of wondering that my self I have a Avalanche 2500 and I love the Rims but wanted to increase the tire Size. Presently I'm running Stock size Michelins and was wondering what's the max size I can go with the 16" Rims and with out making any modifications? I am not a huge fan of goodyears I find the rubber a little to soft so any other ideas would be appreciated.
 
Ater 40,000 and having to put the spare on the ground twice with while running the stock 17in tires, :8:I switched to the BFGs... To the credit of the stock tires, there was still significant tread left. Just got tired of changing tires at o-dark-thirty while going to my favorite hunting spot!I have never had BFGs go flat. The BFGs do give the Av a little harder ride. No noticable increase in noise on the inside ;D
 
Which tires?
? Reply #68 Today at 11:12am ?
I was kind of wondering that my self I have a Avalanche 2500 and I love the Rims but wanted to increase the tire Size. Presently I'm running Stock size Michelins and was wondering what's the max size I can go with the 16" Rims and with out making any modifications? I am not a huge fan of goodyears I find the rubber a little to soft so any other ideas would be appreciated.


Whitethunder,

Before I had my 2500 lifted I upgraded my tires and rims and was running a BFG AT 265/75/16. No modifications were needed to the wheel wells but I did crank the torsion bars up a touch (the front end was WAAAAYYYYY to soft). Since my rims have a bigger backspacing I'd imagine if you keep your stock rims you could probably get up to a 285/75/16 with out much trouble.

FYI - BFG ATs are a very nice all around tire and very quite on the pavement!

?Eric
 
Well, I just ordered 4 MT/Rs from Tire Rack. Great customer service. 15 minutes after I placed my online order, a rep called to let me know that the tires were bigger than stock, making sure they would fit. He also told me the speedometer would be off. He says they should be delivered in a couple of working days!

BTW, great prices, too. For poops and giggles, I stopped in my local GoodYear store to see how much. The 'list price' was over $300 each, but he said he could give me a bargain at $225 each. Tirerack's price is $179. Plus, I get a bonus $50 Home Depot gift card!

Thanks to whoever recommended Tirerack. I don't have the time now to look back through 8 pages of messages... ;D

Of course, I'll have some before and after pics soon!
 
A.J. I noticed the same thing, I was thinking of getting mine from goodyear, because I usually like to get stuff from the main manufacturer, but when I priced out a set with shipping it was over $1100. Tire rack I believe priced it at $780. (y)
So when I get my new MT/Rs in late June/early July, I will use tirerack.

-James R. :cool:
 
Nothing like the smell of new tires in the garage AJ!

Got my MT/Rs from TireRack too, they were good to me price-wise and service-wise too. Only trick now is to find someone to mount the tires for you . . .

Let us know what you think when you get them on the Av . . .
 
Back
Top