B.F. Goodrich All Terrain T/A Tires
Posted by David A. Wright on August 16, 2001 at 16:15:36:
In Reply to: Re: Motor Trend Mag, SUV Death Valley Artical posted by Mark on August 15, 2001 at 21:45:17:
BFG purchased by Michellin? That is news. I agree with your concern - whenever a company is purchased by a larger one, comprimises do occure. Hopefully BFG will continue to maintain its line and not simply become Michellins with the BFG label. Or worse - go away entirely.
The stock Wranglers on my 1996 Chevy S-10 4x4 pickup were junk by 10,000 miles, having had a total of nine flats and one destroyed tire. The majority of the flats were due to a small pebble getting caught in the tread - normal on any dirt road - and working its way into the tire carcass, inflicting a flat.
I studied the tire market and asked around and found that many four-wheelers in the Ridgecrest area preferred BFG and Bridgestone Desert Duellers. I chose the BFG due to a much lower cost, especially at Sears.
I replaced the junk Wranglers at 10,500 miles with BFGs one size over stock (S-10s don't have frame clearance for any larger size without having to resort to expensive tricks). I replaced them with new BFGs of the same size at 75,000, with approximately 20% tread left. I kept the set of tires and am keeping them for future spare tires. There were no flats of any kind on any tire during this time.
My current set developed a slow leak on a trip in June near Winnemucca, Nevada. I had run dirt roads between Fallon and Unionville on the way. When gassing up in Winnemucca, I noticed a rear tire a bit low and found it had 20 pounds in it. I aired it up and drove to WalMart, behind the station, and paid $6.50 to have the tire removed and repaired. It appeared that a very small, sharp object had punctured the tire and pulled out, the tire semi-sealing itself. The truck has currently 103,500 miles on it.
I can't complain about my experience with BFGs. I put a fair amount of 4x4 driving on the truck, including the Panamints, as well as desert and mountain lands in eastern California and Nevada.