Truck Tires A/T and M/T

[kstill361]

I will need to replace the tires on my truck next year, I am running Firestone Destination M/Ts on my 5.4L 2003 F-150 and will end up getting 40 to 45,000mi out of them.My gas mileage was hit pretty hard when I put these tires on, I lost 2-3 mpg but I have not been stuck with them yet. So I am wondering what experience others have had with other brands of tires. How much gas mileage did you lose and what kind of mileage did you get out of the tire? I will be looking at both A/T and M/T tires

Kevin

 

[captndavie]

In my opinion, I think mud tires are more for show for most people. I have a 3/4 ton Suburban with Michelin AT m/s, they are all terrains. I like the Michelins as they ride great, supposedly increase your full mileage and shorten your braking distance. This vehicle will do some offroad duty but it also has a winch bumper and a winch that I need to get the motor rebuilt. So, if I do get stuck I will have the winch and great on road driving charicteristics. Plus the winch comes in handy for all kinds of other great stuff and if I trade vehicles I can keep it. My other vehicle is a lifted Jeep Cheerokee that has BFG mud tires. It was built for offroading and not commuting. I don't offroad as much as I used to so it will probably get all terrains next time around. Oh, and it has a winch also.

 

[hoyt38]

I have never ran M/T's as I am not off road that much with my truck. I have a 03 Dodge Cummins and the 1st. two sets of tires were BF Goodwrench A/T. I got around 40~45K out of each set. The last two sets have been Mastercraft AT. The 1st. set I got 52K out of them. Just got my 2nd. set put on last week so we will see how they do.
The Mastercrafts are cheaper and wear better. The ride might not be as good but I have not noticed any difference. It is a pick-up so I am not to worried about how it rides.

 

[wvlogger]

To me weigh how much your on the road compared to off the road. Doing what i do (gas well location building in the middle of nowhere) I run mud tires but my offroad compared to on road is like 85% off road and 15% on road so i run bfg mud terrians on a 91 F-250. i have never been stuck and had it in mud to almost the top of my hood. All be it thin mud the bottom was still slick

 

[banshee67]

ive towed my trailer loaded with a cord of wood through snow lots of times in the same truck you have, 2003 5.4 150, it has 4x4 with a limited slip rear, it has BFgoodrich at's on it, and ive never had a problem going through snow close to a foot, with trailer behind,
i would imagine you would need to get into some pretty nasty stuff to notice any advantage with a MT tire. although the bf goodrich are pretty aggressive for an a/t tire.. compared to say a toyo a/t ... still nowhere near as aggressive as the mt's out there.
unless i was using the truck for an offroad truck and driving much more off road than onroad, like wvlogger said, i would stick to a/t's. unless you just like to hear the tires hum going down the road, thats your business
with the 265/75/17 bf goodrich at's and 3.55 rear i am averaging about 16mpg right now, throughout the whole tank of gas, i drive a lot of short distances though, and live in a very hilly area, on the highway its definatley capable of 18 in the summer at 70mph cruising

 

[wvlogger]

I also forgot to add noise as Banshee said. Also bearings and brakes. Big mud tires just eat em up. The front end in my truck needs rebuilt from em. There is so much more mass to get rolling with a m/t because they are built heavier

 

[tjbier]

Don't get Thornbirds! lol,
Used to have BF MTs and they are a great tire but for the more driving I do I ended up getting the Toyo Open Country AT's. I have a Chevy 1/2 ton and get 13.6 mpg's never better. That's with 285-75-16, and I've had them for 3yrs and 3 months with around 30-35k on them and will easily get 10-15k more.

 

[banshee67]

Don't get Thornbirds! lol,
Used to have BF MTs and they are a great tire but for the more driving I do I ended up getting the Toyo Open Country AT's. I have a Chevy 1/2 ton and get 13.6 mpg's never better. That's with 285-75-16, and I've had them for 3yrs and 3 months with around 30-35k on them and will easily get 10-15k more.

had those open country a/t's on my last 150, awesome tires, the tread is decently aggressive, but retains the nice tread pattern to kickout water and handle well on road, much better on the road than a bf goodrich a/t. i got almost 50k out of mine.

ps: there must be somethign wrong with your chevy.. all the chevy guys get 20mpg in their half tons, regardless of which motor it is

 

[SWI Don]

I put the Destination MT's on my old 3/4 ton Chevy with a 5.9 Cummins - 285/70R17's. I have got it stuck last winter in the massive snow we got last year. Of course the snow was 3' deep and the ground was not frozen underneath. Otherwise they have done well.

I have some Cooper discoverer st/c I believe on the back of the old 72 2wd pickup. They have done well and hold up good on gravel if you drive a lot of that. If the truck was loaded it would go pretty good off road.

Neither of these vehicles are my daily driver so I can not comment on tread wear.

Don

 

[anymanusa]

2500 4 wd with 285/75/16's. I got 20 mpg on hwy with low pressure... just switched to kelly safari tsr from toyo open country. Iwanted more aggressive without the noise of mt's. Been stuck on a grade in mud with the toyos and a trailer in tow... but I was in my back yard so I didn't wanna "dig" out of it...lol.

The kellys look great...im sure ill be impressed.

 

[kstill361]

I dont think I need the M/T tires anymore and I really like the looks of the Hankook Dynapro ATM and Toyo Open Country AT's. The noise from the M/Ts is starting to get old and they seem to get louder with every tire rotation!

 

[Marine5068]

Only 30% of trucks or SUVs ever see dirt. 70% only ever see pavement.
That's a pretty good idea on how many people run M/Ts for show. They do hook up great and go anywhere with them, but in reality we don't really need them on our daily drivers.
I have a 6" lifted Jeep Cherokee with 33" Goodyear MTRs on it. They go for around $288 each so cost a small fortune.
My next set will be A/Ts as it makes more sense with gas being as high as it is now.
Good Luck.

 

[kstill361]

My daily driver is what I use to haul my wood so it sees quite a bit of mud this time of year durring mild temps. There is a soft spot that I have to cross everytime I go cut wood, but I think I could get thru it with an aggressive A/T tire. I dont cut wood in the summer, only winter and it seems to always be a sloppy mess getting thru the fields unless its frozen.

 

[mhyme71]

I have had real good luck with Cooper Discoverer ATR's. they dont look all that aggressive they wear nice and they dont hurt the pocketbook on price and gas consumption. I cant ever seem to validate buying super aggressive tires when I am going to spend 90% or so on the road tearing up that rubber. I live in the hills in southern ohio and i am off road a good bit and havent got stuck in my old nissan or my half ton chevy. These tires are also made in america by americans

 

[dingeryote]

Another Cooper tire fan here.

http://www.coopertire.com/html/products/tires_lighttruck.aspx?page=discoverer_st_c


Kinda noisy, but they do great in the loose sand with 6 tons of trailer behind the 2500HD, and aren't too shabby on wear. Have logged 20K on this set with a good 80% hauling heavy trailer loads, and I'll likely see 25k before replacing them. By comparison, the BFG KO's lasted 12k before they were to the nubbins in the same conditions, and sucked in the sand.

We have to get out of the field with the trailer, or I'd run pizza cutters.
Damn tires ain't cheap.

Put 31-10.5's on the Jeep as well, and they are absolutely better suited for sand, mud, and snow/ice than BFG's, and no difference in ride or milage on the road.

I'd get another set in a heartbeat.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[shelbythedog]

I've been running 285/70-17 Goodyear MT/R's on my 1995 4wd 3/4 ton 454 gas Suburban since 2005. Its the backup vehicle that only sees duty when we get a big snow or something needs to be hauled, but in that time I have put around 25,000 miles on it and the tires are around 50% tread. Without question these tires do humm going down the highway, but I do manage to squeeze around 11mpg out of it (not too bad IMHO) keeping my speed reasonable. In comparison I had BFG A/T's on a different truck (daily driver) and they were done in 30,000 miles after being religious about rotating them every 6,000 miles. Every once in awhile I start to think that I run the MT/R's just for show, but then I need to back a trailer through 24" of snow or something similar, and I remember that those tires have a specific purpose and have always come through for me when I have needed them. When it comes time to replace them I will likely put a similar tire on.

Also, my Father has had great luck running BFG Commercial T/A Tractions on his F-350. Depending on size availability this may be a choice worth looking at. As I recall he has gotten around 60,000 miles out of fronts and 80,000 miles out of rears on that truck.

 

[grapplermi]

Take a look at Goodyear Duratrac. I fitted them on my F250, and couldn't be happier. I've tried the ones the others mentioned, but these are easily the best. Heavy load rating, quiet ride, good wear. They will handle anything a mudder will, but are lots friendlier. Good luck,

Matt

 

[adam21584]

I like coopers. I have stt and the st tires on my trucks. My chevy k1500 with the stt's 285/75-16 do great on that truck. My 01 ram 2500 has the st's and has done well in the snow storms lately. The st are a ms or at tire. The stt are a mud tire but not as aggressive as some. As far as noise These are truck tires, the chevy exaust is loud and the dodge is a diesel.

 

[Adam_MA]

Best all around truck tire I have ever owned is the BFGoodrich All Terrain TA. I had the high load rated ones, and they lasted well over 80K and were still serviceable when I got rid of the truck. When I had to buy tires for my current truck, I priced them out, and they were almost $500/tire for the size my current truck needs. Had my truck came with the standard 17" wheels, they would have been well within my price range, but once you go over 17" the price goes WAY up, and FAST! I ended up getting the Cooper Zeon LTZ tires. They have a fairly aggressive tread pattern, they are low on noise, and my gas mileage didn't suffer from the factory GoodYear crap that was on from the factory.

 

[KD57]

I run the BFG A/T's on the 1/2 ton, but it sees about 75% pavement. On the F-350 dually, I have real aggressive M/T's, but it rarely sees pavement. If you go thru much mud, an aggressive lug tire is the only way to go, as they clean out easily. The A/T's just pack up and look like slicks. Rocks and gravel roads eat my tires pretty quick, I rarely get 30K out of a set of any brand tire. My son runs Toyo's and they seem to be holding up well. I may try them on the next set.