New tires for tow vehicle w/ some off-road driving

[rationull]

I'm in the market for some new tires for my girlfriend's 99 Suburban. It's used to tow a horse trailer, mostly on the road but with the occasional drive onto the sand at the beach (sand that's deep and soft enough that 2 wheel drive vehicles can get stuck fairly easily). The vehicle is a 4x4. We went to Costco today and looked at some tires, among them some BFGoodrich "Commercial" all seasons. These are a pretty good deal at ~$150 each (installed, balanced, etc).

I'm not really knowledgeable about tires, especially truck tires. Is there any reason to step up to more expensive ~$200 tires? Are some of the tires with different tread patterns going to be less likely to get stuck when driving on sand? Should we just go with the BFGs?

For reference, the BFGs we were looking at are these.

Some of the other tires available are these, for example.

 

[wantin150]

Just from what I have read at the Tire Rack, the Bridgestone REVO's and the Firestone AT's look really good, both in wet traction and in off road use.

 

[rationull]

The gf (who is buying the tires) wants to get them at Costco because it's convenient and they have a pretty good tire shop here. That limits us to BFGoodrich and Michelin, unfortunately. If there's a good reason then I could probably convince her to go elsewhere but I'm sure the models they have are good enough for our use. I'm mainly just trying to figure out whether going for the cheaper BFGs would have any disadvantages over the more expensive Michelins.

 

[Gregory]

Look into BFG All terrain
Goodyear Wrangler
General Grabber II (a BFG AT knock off).

Never used any of these tires in sand, but work great in snow, light mud, dirt (hard and soft pack).

Vech was a 98 Wrangler

 

[artificialist]

I have never seen much life from Firestone Wilderness AT tires.

However, the Bridgestone Dueler Revo tire does everything well. Long life, good grip on or off road, and low noise.

 

[1sttruck]

A friend likes the BFG AT but he only seems to get 30k miles on a 1 ton diesel pickup, some off road but mainly on the road with some towing. I was at Costco today and noticed that Michelin has a new AT; it's not severe snow rated like the BFG AT but might offer better life. I'm running Goodyear Wrangler 'silent armor' ATs on my 3/4 ton diesel pickup, almost all road with no towing, and like the BFG AT they're severe snow rated. They have a 50k mile treadwear warranty, and they might make it.

Tire Rack has some nice reviews, look for reviews on a similar size vehicle and under similar conditions.

 

[Gregory]

Goodyear Wrangler 'silent armor' ATs I have those on a 05 tacoma.

Size P245/75R16. Looks like I may also get 50,000 miles out of them I have close to 40,000 now. If I do great, but I plan on getting ride of them before this snow season KIC we get hit hard.

 

[mrsilv04]

With Michelin, you'll get what you pay for. I looked at the AT2's when I was buying tires for my Silverado, but instead went for the LTX M/S model. I thought that the AT2's were a little overkill for what I needed them to do. However, they may be just what you need.

I haven't regretted the extra $ for the Michelins.

Also, BFG is owned by Michelin.

 

[rationull]

Well, we went back today and bought some tires. We were ready to go with the LTX M/X tires but they only had one in stock while they had plenty of the BFG Commercials. GF didn't want to wait

so we got the BFGs. The tread pattern isn't all that different and the depth looked the same to me. With 4 wheel drive and the small amount and mild type of sand driving we do I'm pretty sure we'll be fine.

 

[alreadygone]

Not a very "sexy" tire, but for your stated use will do excellently. That closed tread will often do much better in sand than "lugs", as they don't dig a hole to fall into.

Bob

 

[bretfraz]

Let us know how you like the BFG's. I've bought a few sets for service vans and trucks and they're really "commercial" grade tires- stiff ride, good load rating, can take a good bit of abuse but not a smooth, car like tire. One thing I did like about the BFG is its one of the few commercial tires with a treadlife warranty. Hopefully they work well for you.

 

[rationull]

I'll try to remember to post back as they get some use. Realistically it'll be a while before I've got any opinions (unless we get stuck in the sand ). The 50,000 mile treadwear warranty was definitely a factor in this decision although with the small amount this truck gets driven I'm guessing the tires will rot from age before the tread wears down.

The tires seem to ride fine on this 3/4 ton truck. Not really expecting car-like smoothness, and I don't think the old tires were that smooth-riding either.

Bob: Interesting, I hadn't thought of it that way, but I suppose it makes sense!