I would think the AT's would be much better but really am not off road that much and 4wd has kept us out of trouble so far. Also wanted the higher mileage that others reported when comparing the two styles.

 

i have the michelin tires you are talking about. I have at least 60k on them. they have a long life but they are terrible in the snow. when they get age on them they get really hard and dont get much traction. i have 285 75 16 is my size. im switching to either coopers or bridgestones

 

My 2 cents: LTX MS2 on my wife's Dakota.* LTX MS on my Bronco. LTX MS2 on my E350. I have found them to be great all round tires and great in the snow.

Not as good in the snow as the studded Hercules Trail Digger M/T (they've got premolded holes for studs). (I have an additional Winter set of wheels each for the E350 and the Bronco.) But unlike the Michelin, the Trail Digger M/T are soft, so don't expect a lot of mileage from them. The Michelin wear like iron and are fine in the snow for anything except during a heavy Winter.

http://www.herculestire.com/tire-gal...ail-digger-mt/

BTW, I used to run Toyo Open Country ATs and kept breaking belts on them.

For another perspective on your question take a look at:

Sportsmobileforum.com • View topic - Best tire choice??

Our vans are pushing 10,000 lbs or more when loaded, have a narrower track than the F Series, and can be prone to rollovers when lifted when converted to 4x4, and when a high roof is installed. So good tires are important to us.

*A little over 60K on my wife's Dakota now, and we don't plan on buying new tires for it until just before next Winter. So should get close to 70K out of them.

**We also have had good success with America's Tire. If you travel across the Western States they are pretty much everywhere.

 

Comparing the mileage that one person gets with one brand of tire versus another might be more influenced by driving style of the person rather then by brand or model of tire.

We get over 100,000 miles on our Michelins. But that's meaningless, because we get about 100,000 miles on every type of tire we have. We drive like old people. We're old enough to know that no matter how fast we pull away from this green light, the next light will be red.

WET traction is the most important to me. Hydroplaning on slick surfaces at speed appears to me to be the largest risk of traction loss in a tire. If it is really snowing, so bad that snow traction becomes important, then by that time chains are usually required, slow speeds are mandated, and oftentimes the roads are closed anyway.

But WET traction... that could be needed any time, at any speed. Couple of years ago I had to put new tires on my truck, not due to tread wear, but due to age... they were the OEM tires over 12 years old. The rubber starts breaking down typically in seven years.

I went with Michelin XDS2 for the four (dually) drive tires. With 400 zig zag tread blocks, and over 1,000 factory slit sipes, the tread pattern was very clearly intended to cut through water and grip the road in wet conditions. This particular Michelin was the most optimal wet traction tire I could find for my wheel and tire size.

All of this is to suggest that one man's mile may be another man's meter, so one might be better off comparing features of the tire and tread design instead, to find an optimal tire for your intended use.

 

i swapped all the michelins tires out for coopers. AT3's on the trucks, CS4's on the cars.
the michelins last forever, but i can't see spendin g that kind of money for a tire that dry rots in 3-4 years.
i had 2 sets that were dry rot so bad i could stick a probe 1/4 inch into the sidewall.
they still looked like new, but were unsafe for driving on.
the CS4's on the mercury milan now have 35,000 miles on them and still look like new.
i also had one set replaced under warranty due to dry rot after 11,000 miles and 2 years.
the

 

Thanks guys for the info.

The dry rotting concerns me since I live in a very dry climate.

I can get Cooper at3's for like $660 shipped to my door. That is awfully tempting.

 

i love them.
absolutely the best tires i have ever run, plus they are load range E where most are load range D.
plus they are quieter than the firestone transforce that came off the parts truck

 

Did discount tire ever respond to your warranty email?

That cooper looks good and has a 55k warranty.

 

That's a good price. My guy gets like $225/ea mounted/balanced.

 

Not yet

 

That is just for the tires. I will mount and balance at a buddy's shop myself

 

Well I can't thank you all enoughfor the insite. I contacted discount tire direct who I bought the BFG's from online and they told me to go over to my local discount tire and they will take care of me. Discount tire is awesome!!! They gave me $236 for my bald BFG's or towards another tire so I got the cooper at3. $522 out the door!!!!! And the coopers have a 55k warranty!!! But I did go back down to a 265. Fuel is too expensive . Tire looks good and I hope they last!! Thanks again fellas.

 

Awesome!!

Don't forget they do free rotation and balance. I usually call them and set up an appointment that way I am in and out in about 30 minutes. I have the re balance every other rotation that's usually 10000 miles.

 

I'm getting ready to replace half of my third set of AT2's, and will do so with another pair of AT2's. I run nearly 20K miles per year, all "on road", and about 70% of that is highway miles at about 63 mph on decent back county roads. I always run with nitrogen, keep my suspension parts in great condition, and get completely even wear on all four corners.

I've also run the Bridgeston REVO's, and though they drove wonderfully, they wore fast and started getting a little noisy near the end of their 35K mile life. The roughly 60K miles I get on the AT2's woop the doggy out of the REVO's.

Since I stay on the road, I'm sticking with the AT2's, myself.

 

So I made a mistake I got cooper ATP tires. Not AT3's. All these tire names r hard to keep track of. O well. So far (10miles) I like them a little small but that is how 265's look on these trucks