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Wilderness AT Tires Coming Off, What To Put On?
- Thread starter RandyM
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Your choice of tire should be based on the type of driving and how you use your Explorer. If it sees fequent off-road use, go with the BFG A/T KO's, if it is rarely used offroad you might look into something with a less agressive design. Michiln(sp?) XC series are an excelent tire and highly recomended.
JayR
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If this is who I think it is (AKA MR. Martin) Go with the BFGoodrich Radial All terrains aka AT's. Good idea to take off the firestones, mine are comming off in a month or so.
Dignan
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Even if you don't go off road I still suggest the KOs. It is the best truck tire I have found for on road use. You might get better tread life with a less aggressive tire, but I don't think it is worth it.
TPLYNCH
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Just replaced my Crapstones at Sears Saturday with Michelin XC LT4's. My understanding is these are the LTX M+S rebadged to sell at Sears. Do mostly highway driving, so offroad performance wasn't a high priority. Anyway, I immediately felt the difference in smoothness and reduced noise with these compared to the Crapstones! And even my wife can tell the difference.
mmpc
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Big O!
Not only have my Big O Tires proven excellent for off-road traction (and on-road performance), they include the best warranty in the industry, that I know of. My sister and I have their Big Foot XTs on my '98 Sport and her '00 Sport and have had nothing but good experiences with them.
Regarding the warranty, if anything ever happens to your Big O's - on or off-road - they'll either repair or replace the tire for free, for the life of the tire, no questions asked! My sister unfortunately tested this about 3 months ago when her tire slipped off one rock and into a nice sharp one, gashing the sidewall. :frustrate The tire was pretty much done for but, true to their word, the Big O dealer mounted a brand new one.
As for price, when we checked, the XTs were similarly priced to BF Goodrich, but the Big O's also come with free rotations for the life of the tire.
In summary, it's hard to go wrong with Big O Tires...
Not only have my Big O Tires proven excellent for off-road traction (and on-road performance), they include the best warranty in the industry, that I know of. My sister and I have their Big Foot XTs on my '98 Sport and her '00 Sport and have had nothing but good experiences with them.
Regarding the warranty, if anything ever happens to your Big O's - on or off-road - they'll either repair or replace the tire for free, for the life of the tire, no questions asked! My sister unfortunately tested this about 3 months ago when her tire slipped off one rock and into a nice sharp one, gashing the sidewall. :frustrate The tire was pretty much done for but, true to their word, the Big O dealer mounted a brand new one.
As for price, when we checked, the XTs were similarly priced to BF Goodrich, but the Big O's also come with free rotations for the life of the tire.
In summary, it's hard to go wrong with Big O Tires...
bluescat
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Consumer Reports
Rated the BF Goodrich Long Trail T/A's (80 bucks?) their top pick in 11/99 and in this month's 8/00 update. In order 2nd on are: Bridgestone Dueler H/L, Yokohama Geolander H/T, Michelin LTX M/S, Dunlop Radial Rover A/T, Cooper Discoverer Radial STE, Goodyear Wrangler RF-A. Too bad they didn't rate or test the Firestones.
[Edited by bluescat on 08-11-2000 at 05:00 AM]
Rated the BF Goodrich Long Trail T/A's (80 bucks?) their top pick in 11/99 and in this month's 8/00 update. In order 2nd on are: Bridgestone Dueler H/L, Yokohama Geolander H/T, Michelin LTX M/S, Dunlop Radial Rover A/T, Cooper Discoverer Radial STE, Goodyear Wrangler RF-A. Too bad they didn't rate or test the Firestones.
[Edited by bluescat on 08-11-2000 at 05:00 AM]
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Big "O"
I have to agree with Chris, I have 33's and so far they have been great.
When we bought them the salesperson said they are quiter then other mud tires, but I have never had other muds so can't say. You have to have a little tire sound if you are a four wheeler.
I know they throw the mud!!
I have to agree with Chris, I have 33's and so far they have been great.
When we bought them the salesperson said they are quiter then other mud tires, but I have never had other muds so can't say. You have to have a little tire sound if you are a four wheeler.
I know they throw the mud!!
Ray Hutchinson
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Whatn to put on?
BFG's
They seem to handle the heat of our So. Cal deserts better than any others. The "tri-Guard: (three ply) sidewalls survive the rocks better too! Hi mileage too. I get about 60,000 mi.
BFG's
They seem to handle the heat of our So. Cal deserts better than any others. The "tri-Guard: (three ply) sidewalls survive the rocks better too! Hi mileage too. I get about 60,000 mi.
Ideal Inflation for BFG AT KO tires?
I ended up going with the BFG AT KO tires in the LT235/75/15 and would like to know what the ideal inflation is for on-road use? The tire dealer put 35 psi, but BFG suggested 40-45 psi. Any suggestions? Thanks to everyone for their input and advice to my earlier posting.
I ended up going with the BFG AT KO tires in the LT235/75/15 and would like to know what the ideal inflation is for on-road use? The tire dealer put 35 psi, but BFG suggested 40-45 psi. Any suggestions? Thanks to everyone for their input and advice to my earlier posting.
I just (early July 2000) put 4 Michelin LTX M/S P23575R15 105S (to match the stock Firestone rating) on my 97 AWD V8. I went with the P rated instead of LT because a)I don't go off road b)smoother ride, having had LT tires on my other SUVs c)matches P23575R15 105S rating of Stock Firestone Wilderness AT (which is just a Passenger rated M&S P tire).
Got the tires at Costco with their $40 Michelin coupon (was good till July 4th), so $79 each plus $7 each for mounting, etc. Costco gives you lifetime rotation and balance. Family Safety was a Big factor in the decision to replace ASAP.
I'm very happy with the performance of these Michelins so far. The Firestones had various issues. 3 out of 4 had a shallow crack line around the outer circumference of the tread sidewall, 2 were worn unevenly (previous owner neglected to rotate), 1 had a bad plug (slow leak), and all 4 had the beginnings of old rubber cracking; all with only 48000 miles on them.
I don't know if the shallow cracks around the tire circumference is related to tread separation or not.
My old tires were the same as the spare tire (which is still underneath the Explorer), DOT W2HL, which is not part of the Wilderness AT recall. Since I replaced my Stones with the Michelin LTX M/S over a month ago, before all this official news came out, and before Michelin & Ford recommended LTX AT's, I will be sticking with my M/S tires, till they wear out. I contactd Michelin, and they just repeated, like a recording, the Ford recommendation of LTX AT, not M/S. I've seen plenty of M/S on 97-99 Explorers in parking lots, so I believe these will be fine. Michelin will not say either way.
-KBC
Got the tires at Costco with their $40 Michelin coupon (was good till July 4th), so $79 each plus $7 each for mounting, etc. Costco gives you lifetime rotation and balance. Family Safety was a Big factor in the decision to replace ASAP.
I'm very happy with the performance of these Michelins so far. The Firestones had various issues. 3 out of 4 had a shallow crack line around the outer circumference of the tread sidewall, 2 were worn unevenly (previous owner neglected to rotate), 1 had a bad plug (slow leak), and all 4 had the beginnings of old rubber cracking; all with only 48000 miles on them.
I don't know if the shallow cracks around the tire circumference is related to tread separation or not.
My old tires were the same as the spare tire (which is still underneath the Explorer), DOT W2HL, which is not part of the Wilderness AT recall. Since I replaced my Stones with the Michelin LTX M/S over a month ago, before all this official news came out, and before Michelin & Ford recommended LTX AT's, I will be sticking with my M/S tires, till they wear out. I contactd Michelin, and they just repeated, like a recording, the Ford recommendation of LTX AT, not M/S. I've seen plenty of M/S on 97-99 Explorers in parking lots, so I believe these will be fine. Michelin will not say either way.
-KBC
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