Tires for my F350 that won't kill me?

[synfinatic]

Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but figured there's enough BARF'ers with trucks who might be able to chime in...

TL;DR: Recommend me some tires which which will see mostly highway miles (going to/from the race track, etc) and occasional off-road (mostly BLM/national parks- often in the winter). I don't tow. I put ~5-8K miles a year on the truck so I don't need something that will last 90K miles. Would like to keep it the stock LT265/75R16 so my nice Rudd chains will fit. Must be E load rated.

background:

When I bought my 02 F350 4x4 used a few years back, it had some Yokahama's. Had a blow out on 5 going to Thill. Read the date codes and saw they were 10 years old so put on 4 new BFG Rugged Terrains.

Since then, I've had 2 more blow outs (both on hwy 5) and just noticed today a big chunk missing from my right rear (down to the wires). So far, two blow outs on the front left, one on the rear left.

Before I go on trips, I check my tire pressures. I've had alignment recently done and if anything rotate my tires more often the recommended interval. Trying to keep the tires in balance has been a real PITA though because they throw wheel weights like an 8 year old with a bag of rocks.

So anyone have any recommendations for tires which won't try to kill me? Having 3 blow outs on the highway when doing 75 isn't fun and something I'd like to avoid experiencing the future.

 

[lgyee4]

These: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Defender+LTX+M%2FS
I've got 200k on my Taco and these have been the best for everything.

 

[synfinatic]

That's a highway tire. Looking for something that can do off road. Obviously I'm not doing anything crazy in a F350 crew cab long bed, but would prefer something a bit more aggressive.

 

[byke]

I don't have that much time on them, but when I was shopping for a all-around/winter tire for the 'burb with good reviews at an affordable price point, I settled on Kumho AT51's. We live at 4k' and get plenty of snow and ice and they've been the best winter tire I've used thus far. They don't have that obnoxious whirring sound on the freeway, but they do have a ton of sipes. No noticeable change in mileage from the Wranglers that were on there before.

 

[synfinatic]

Yeah, was just talking to my neighbor across the street and he's got the GY Wranglers and seems really happy with them- but spendy. I'll definitely checkout the AT51's!

 

[Jalopyshoppe]

My go to has always been BF Goodrich all terrains. Usually the best compromise of mileage and off road traction. Your chunking/blowouts are unusual, and you may have some worn suspension components. Bad shocks can cause pogoing, which cups tires. Also check the ball joints in the front. My 99 wore them out at 200k. I am currently 25,000 miles into my 2nd set of Cooper Discoverer AT/3 on my 99 F250. First set went 40k. Never any failures on them.

 

[synfinatic]

Thanks for the advice Jalopyshoppe. I've actually been there, done that. My shocks were replaced in late 2015 and suspension is in good repair. Actually, one of the first things I did after buying the truck was replacing some old/worn ball joints. After the 2nd blow out I took it to a shop and had them check it out to make sure nothing was wrong with the truck that might be causing it.

Also, I should mention that my truck does not seem to exhibit the "death wobble" that some 4x4's have. That said, I have seen some cupping of the tires, but that's pretty typical for this kind of truck based on what everyone tells me which is why I rotate regularly.

 

[afm199]

Yeah, was just talking to my neighbor across the street and he's got the GY Wranglers and seems really happy with them- but spendy. I'll definitely checkout the AT51's!

Wranglers are good tires.

 

[buellistic]

So you have a 1 ton non dually?
And your running E range BFGs?less than 5 years old.
No camper?
If this is true....
You have bad Luck....

 

[synfinatic]

Yes to all the above. Only kind of luck I have!

Been reading all the reviews on TireRack... The Wrangler Trailrunner AT's must be really new because there's only 2 reviews... neither are very positive. I think my neighbor has the Wrangler AT/S, but they don't come in my size.

 

[splat]

I'm also voting for either the Wranglers or BFG All-Terrain TA K/O.

Besides a sidewall bubble in one of my wranglers, I never had issues. I also used 35" Wrangler MT/R's which I loved, but they were horrible on road noise as any MTR would be.

Unfortunately with only 5K miles a year, you might be creating flat spots in your tire causing uneven wear, too.

 

[davidji]

SBefore I go on trips, I check my tire pressures. like to avoid experiencing the future.

How confident are you in your tire pressure gauge? Heat kills tires. Operating at lower pressure increases heat. As does higher speed.

Even if you are confident in your pressure gauge, do you think more pressure would solve this?

 

[Paulo666]

Have new BFG AT KO2 on my F-150. This is there new 2nd generation tire. Rated up to 50,000 miles and has the snowflake logo for winter driving. I really like this tire. Been to Tahoe a few times and excellent in snowy conditions. 285/70r/17

Last tires were Toyo Open Country and those were great too. When wheel Works took them off the service guy said-wow there not even out of balance and your truck is aligned perfectly. I never had a flat or a blow out on the Toyos.

 

[synfinatic]

Yeah, tire pressures/heat/load/speed I'm sure are all a contributing factor. Just never imagined things might be so uh... temperamental? I checked with BFG and there wasn't a recall for my tires or anything like that. Honestly, other then the chunking/blow outs the wear with the BFG's has been pretty good. No excessive cupping and wear has been even. Would like something with more wet traction though (although no tire is going to give good traction when you've got no weight in the back).

Even loaded for the track, it's more front heavy then rear from the looks of the tires so I usually run 10psi higher in front then what Ford says to do (Ford says 55F/70R psi). Maybe I need to go up even more? Not a bad idea to get another gauge and compare things. Won't pretend I'm doing 55 on Hwy 5 going up to Thill or when driving down to Barstow when things went boom.

Other then last year after my big crash at Thill when I broke 7 ribs racing, I've always been good about driving it often enough to keep the flat spots away. Work is just 10mi away so taking it there and back doesn't eat up the miles. Definitely have problems with keeping them balanced though.

The TA K/O's were on my short list last time, but they're pricy and that kept me away. Maybe that was a mistake? Right now a bit hesitant to give BFG another go after all this even though the TA K/O's generally get great reviews.

Going to talk to the manager at Wheel Works later this week and see if I can work out a deal of some kind, but I highly suspect I'll probably end up having to work with BFG and that's going to take more time I bet. Probably will be easier to get them to give me a nice discount on a new set of BFG's then $$$ to go and buy something else.

 

[stangmx13]

are all your blowouts when fully loaded? if so, maybe u need to try 80/80. u could go to a truck scale when loaded and get your axle weights. a lot of E-rated tires have charts with the required pressure for axle weight, so ud really know. then add a little more pressure for not driving 55mph.

if you are tossing weights consistently, the tire tech is doing a shitty job installing them.

a good tire shop might be willing to pro-rate your tires for u, ie give u credit for the remaining tread u have left to put towards the purchase of any new tires.

 

[KrustyKruser]

I have been running the Goodyear Duratrac tires and have been pretty pleased with them. Sidewalls aren't as tough as a Super swamper tire but for light offroad they have worked great. Definitely come in 10 ply tires too.

 

[Sharxfan]

I don't have a F350 but on my deer lease/dump run Chevy 4x4 I am running Cooper tires not sure what model I can check when I get home. They are awesome I can run 2wd in some modest gunk but the other day in some super heavy clay where I was a good 6 inches in the muck I threw it in 4L turned the wheels and she pulled out with no issue while towing a 8x16ft trailer (got stuck at the local dump and damned if I was going to ask for help to get out).

 

[buellistic]

I did not know Rugged Terrains came in a E. Range?

 

[synfinatic]

So went to Wheel Works in Campbell this morning and met with the manager there. We looked up the records and they're 4.5 years old and 25K miles (well 2 of the tires, two of them are nearly new replacements and the 3rd is my spare). Together we called Michelin/BFG to see what they'd do for me.

TL;DR: 64% off any 5 new Michelin/BFG/Uniroyal. Pretty happy with that since the Rugged Terrains like most all-terrain tires don't have a warranty. I have 14 days to decide on which tires I want to apply the discount to.

Based on that, think I'm going to go with the T/A KO2's. The only other interesting tire would be the Michelin LTX A/T2, but tirerack reviews seem a bit hit or miss and it's not a snowflake rated tire.

Robert: If I had to guess (never been on a scale to confirm), the blow outs were when loaded with 800-1000lbs distributed between the bed and crew cab. So hardly fully loaded since this is a 1ton.

 

[Jalopyshoppe]

I recently lost a no-name E rated tire while in Washington on my 97 F250. Only tire shop in range was Wal-Mart. I bought the Goodyear Wrangler Trailmark. I'm fairly pleased with them 10,000 miles in. Good snow/wet tire (I "commute" between Nevada and CA in this truck over hwy 50). I like the traction way better than the coopers, but I still prefer the BF G's. Your blowout issue definitely seems like bad luck at this point. If you've played the suspension game, and you're on top of the pressures, then you may just have some shit luck. You could also have an environmental issue. If your tires are in the sunlight and subjected to lots of heat, they could be outgassing and aging quickly. May be worth getting some of those RV tire covers used to protect RV tires from the elements while stored.