BFG A/T's kinda disappointing?

[Overland Hadley]

I'm going to have to do some research on this...as my truck tires are worn.

I'd been debating this fall whether they have enough tread for this snow season or whether I can get through until spring. They're not worn-out, but tread-depth isn't optimum for deep/soft-snow traction. Why wait? Because I'm thrifty.

I learned last week that they may not have enough tread for mud-ice traction

(although, as The Rancher commented, "For what they want for 'em these days you gotta get all the mileage you can out of 'em" -- yep, that's my philosophy, too...so I guess I have more in common with that guy than I thought. )

I'm most-interested in a tire that provides long mileage/longevity and average (not exceptional) traction in soft surfaces. To be precise, what I'm looking for is long mileage for the money, i.e., I'd pay twice as much if they lasted twice as long. And Load Range E, of course.

There must be other "Tires" threads here, too...I'll search.


If you are looking for a long wearing tire that is good on dirt roads the BFG AT is the ticket.

Look over the survey results on tirerack.com, I have found it a good tool for research.


I was going over the same thing with my current tires feeling a little worn for the long winter season we have here. But then I decided to buy a set of snow tires, so I bought a used set of rims on ebay. And next summer I will put back on my trusty AT's and get many more miles out of them.

 

[MarkBC]

If you are looking for a long wearing tire that is good on dirt roads the BFG AT is the ticket.

Thanks, OH.
So, even though they're not "amazing" on snow...I take it you're not "disappointed" (ala this thread title) in general?
I'd assume that if these tires were even barely tolerable for winter where you live that they'd be fine where I live -- for my purposes, anyway.

I only drive my truck for two purposes: 1) Going camping (95% of it's use), though that includes winter, and 2) Negotiating deep snow in town (especially my driveway) that's too deep for my car. My car has studded snow tires in winter (great on ice), so I drive it around town and on highway non-camping trips except when the roads haven't been plowed.

I'd love to get 50,000 miles out of a set of tires!

 

[Overland Hadley]

Thanks, OH.
So, even though they're not "amazing" on snow...I take it you're not "disappointed" (ala this thread title) in general?
I'd assume that if these tires were even barely tolerable for winter where you live that they'd be fine where I live -- for my purposes, anyway.

I only drive my truck for two purposes: 1) Going camping (95% of it's use), though that includes winter, and 2) Negotiating deep snow in town (especially my driveway) that's too deep for my car. My car has studded snow tires in winter (great on ice), so I drive it around town and on highway non-camping trips except when the roads haven't been plowed.

I'd love to get 50,000 miles out of a set of tires!

Not disappointed in them at all, in fact I have another set of 4 in storage for when these finally wear out. They have seen hundreds of miles of ice, crossed the country many times, gotten me into and then out of some crazy mud in Escalante. Their road manors are good and they do not have a major effect on MPG. And I think it is common to get 40-60k out of them.

They are good in snow, but they are not a snow tire.

(It was looking like I was going to be commuting 14,000 miles this winter on a road that is all packed snow and ice, and that is when I bought the snow tires.)

 

[2wiresDave]

I have a pair of BFG AT that I now have over 50k on, and I really like them. That being said, they are not amazing in snow and they are somewhat poor on glare ice. And we have snow and ice on the roads about 6 months of the year. But mine do have the snowflake emblem.



And this is I believe the main issue with my tires. I don't think you can throw ALL BFG AT's under the bus. But if you live in Wisconsin etc, and see lots of snow/ice/sleet etc you are going to want the winter rated tire. So far everyone that loves there BFG AT's it seems has the winter rating or maybe lives where this isn't much snow.

I would hate to see someone buy these tires without the winter rating (it is only a few sizes) because they are rated so highly - which is how I ended up with a set. Felt I pretty much couldn't go wrong - $1000 mistake. I think the tires are probably everything they are cracked up to for most people, most of the time - but no snowflake = bad news for us in snow country.

 

[MarkBC]

I would hate to see someone buy these tires without the winter rating (it is only a few sizes) because they are rated so highly - which is how I ended up with a set. ... I think the tires are probably everything they are cracked up to for most people, most of the time - but no snowflake = bad news for us in snow country.

I'll make sure I see the flake before I buy.

 

[MarkBC]

After digging a little it turns out my size tires are not rated for "severe snow" (275/65-18's)...?? They are one of the few sizes that it is noted don't carry that designation.

So...I was looking at these tires on tirerack.com, and looking at the same size as my current Goodyear Wranglers, 265/75/16. What I found is pretty surprising/confusing.
It seems that the white-letter version is rated for severe snow but the blackwall version is not. Huh?

The speed rating is also different.





If it was my tire company I'd give a different name or sub-name to tires that are the same size but that different.

I don't like the white-letter bs showing...so I usually have them mounted inside out anyway.

 

[PHXtaco]

No, I am pretty sure that is an omission on Tirerack.com's website. Neither tire is rated for "severe snow"

On BFG's website is states all E load rated tires are not rated "severe snow"

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-selector/name/all-terrain-t-a-ko-tires
Well dang, BFG changed their website and while they have a notation at the bottom of the page, none of the tire sizes have an astrix to identify them... But I swear all E rated tires were not severe snow rated when I looked into buying the same tire size you have.

Ah, go to:

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tires/bf_goodrich/size/viewProductDetail.do?pc=38012

and it has:
"This tire bears the Severe Service Emblem denoting that it is suitable for use in severe winter conditions (excluding E-load range sizes). Tires bearing this symbol will provide better winter performance than tires only bearing the M+S rating."

 

[MarkBC]

No, I am pretty sure that is an omission on Tirerack.com's website. Neither tire is rated for "severe snow"

On BFG's website is states all E load rated tires are not rated "severe snow"

Yeah, I saw that same thing...which is odd, since E range is what most anyone gets on a full-size truck..at least, if it has a camper....don't they?

So the guys on this thread who have the snowflake on their BFG AT's don't have E tires then? Or has BFG changed their rating since their tires were purchased?

Overland Hadley, Dirty Dog, what's the story with yours?

 

[camelracer]

I purchased 2 BFG ATs from Costco this summer and was confused when their website showed 2 choices for 265/75R16Es. They seemed identical except for the speed rating - Q vs S. The prices were also slightly different. I went for the cheaper S rated tire.

As a result of this thread I went out today and checked the sidewalls. My old Q rated tires are M&S while the new S rated tires have the snowflake. You learn something new every day. I still don't know why the S rated snowflake tires were cheaper.

 

[MarkBC]

Thanks for the new info, Camelracer.
Well...I planned to look at the sidewalls on these tires myself before I give them the go-ahead to have them installed...
But it's weird that the website so explicitly says that E range isn't for "severe snow".

 

[Overland Hadley]

Overland Hadley, Dirty Dog, what's the story with yours?



The set of ATs I purchased this fall are E rated and they are snow (mtn/snowflake) rated.

Must be a new thing.

My current set of ATs are D rated, because a few years ago the E was not snow rated, so I went with the D to get the snow rated ones.

 

[highz]

I fired off an email to BFG's customer service asking why the load range E tires were not snow rated. Here is the reply I got:

"Most of the LRE sizes of the All-Terrain T/A KO are rated for severe snow. The sizes that are not were designed for original equipment on new vehicles. The tread rubber compounds in these sizes have been modified to meet the vehicle manufacturer's specifications."

Hmmm. What vehicles use load range E tires as original equipment?

 

[K7MDL]

Hmmm. What vehicles use load range E tires as original equipment?


All or most 3/4 ton and up trucks come with E tires and rims to match the capacity. Now the question is which trucks come with these particular BFG tires OEM. My last couple Dodges used Michelin.

 

[MarkBC]

I fired off an email to BFG's customer service asking why the load range E tires were not snow rated. Here is the reply I got:

"Most of the LRE sizes of the All-Terrain T/A KO are rated for severe snow. The sizes that are not were designed for original equipment on new vehicles. The tread rubber compounds in these sizes have been modified to meet the vehicle manufacturer's specifications."

Excellent! Thanks much for looking into this, highz!
(it does seem that BFG and/or their retailers have a disconnect about this tire's rating as advertised)

I think I'll get a set before I head off on my post-Xmas (or maybe it'll be post-New Years) trip to central Nevada -- probably Monitor Valley.
Although...it's tempting to keep my old mostly-worn tires on (the tires that helped me into Battle Creek) so I could get stuck again and learn to use the new getting-unstuck equipment I've acquired...but maybe I'll wait until spring for that.

 

[Overland Hadley]

(the tires that helped me into Battle Creek)


Yes, they helped you into Battle Creek, but not out.

 

[MarkBC]

Yes, they helped you into Battle Creek, but not out.

But if they had performed better I never would have met that friendly rancher.
Now, I'm not sure if we'll be exchanging Christmas cards from now on...but maybe.
Lemons --> Lemonade

 

[craig333]

The michelin atx's that came with my truck weren't snow rated. It showed. I hated those tires. My Bridgestone Revo's (with symbol) were awesome in snow and ice. Poor mileage but I was having front end issues at the time so hard to say how they'd hold up now. Currently have Toyo MT's on. No symbol but hey, they're mud terrains, not snow terrains. Wonder if these would get me through that bad spot without a six mile hike. I'll guess I'll just have to go find out

 

[MarkBC]

The michelin atx's that came with my truck weren't snow rated. It showed. I hated those tires. My Bridgestone Revo's (with symbol) were awesome in snow and ice. Poor mileage but I was having front end issues at the time so hard to say how they'd hold up now. Currently have Toyo MT's on. No symbol but hey, they're mud terrains, not snow terrains. Wonder if these would get me through that bad spot without a six mile hike. I'll guess I'll just have to go find out

Yeah, I definitely need/want good performance in snow.
I go camping in the winter in cold-n-snowy lands. And when the snow in town is too deep for my small-wheeled car I drive my truck.
I have a friend in town who's a contractor, and he puts studded full-on-snow tires on his work-truck in winter (as I have on my car in winter) since he pulls a work-trailer and doesn't have the option of not going to his jobsite sometimes. But I've never needed/wanted to go that far in my truck. 1) I don't want to buy two $et$ of tires for the truck, and 2) I have a set of tire chains if I get in a killer-snow situation.

 

[PHXtaco]

Excellent! Thanks much for looking into this, highz!

(it does seem that BFG and/or their retailers have a disconnect about this tire's rating as advertised)

I think I'll get a set before I head off on my post-Xmas (or maybe it'll be post-New Years) trip to central Nevada -- probably Monitor Valley.
Although...it's tempting to keep my old mostly-worn tires on (the tires that helped me into Battle Creek) so I could get stuck again and learn to use the new getting-unstuck equipment I've acquired...but maybe I'll wait until spring for that.

Well that is good to know. I can more than live with white lettering if it means I can get back the snow & ice handling characteristics back that I am used to the BFG AT having.

Anyone want a good deal on a slightly used set of blackwall BFG 265 ATs with BAD snow and ice characteristics?

Mark, I will be interested to hear your review after the central NV trip if you get them on before then-- I am betting you will hit some snow on that trip!

 

[Kokopelli]

It's all about having the best tire for the job. I love my AT's for the toughness, traction, and stiffness they give to the camper and truck. They do this well because they are stiff and with hard rubber. That does not make them a good snow tire. I don't use my camper in the winter, so I take if off and put on my snow tires. If I do use these tires in snow, I am very careful. I use the Blizzak snow tires which are soft rubber, sipped and grip amazing. Even when I had C rated mud and snow tires I would have problems on slick surfaces compared to the bilzzaks.

The truck with camper on feels rather unstable with the blizzaks on because of their softness. Living in snow country, I figure I am going to wear out tires anyway, so why not have the safest tire and switch them out seasonally.