Looking for some input on Bridgestone tires.

In his recent thread Franko72 mentioned having some tires (Dunlops I believe) that caused his truck to wander all over the road. I am wondering if I might have the same issue with the Bridgestone A/T EVO-2's that I am running on my truck. I have been chasing the classic Ford wandering problem since I bought the truck, but the tires were one of the first things replaced. Virtually the entire front suspension has been replaced, ball joints, shocks, steering box, trac-bar bushings, tie rods and drag links. Wheel bearings checked OK when ball joints done and some others that I may have forgotten. The steering box may still be suspect as it was a "rebuild" from the dealer after the shop bench tested about a dozen of them before accepting this one.
The main reason I ask about the tires is that I have a similar style of "snow tread" Bridgestones on my 4Runner that have had the same issues since they were new, but now that they are about 50% worn now, not so much. The factory stock tires did not do this.

 

I ran a set of the Bridestone Revo's several years back. They stuck to the road like glue, rode smoother than any tire I've ever had, but wore out very quickly... like 45K miles of highway driving.

The Revo's cost nearly as much as the Michelin AT2's I now run, but I get 60% more mileage out of the AT2's and they are nearly as grippy and smooth as the Revo's. I won;t run the Revo's again, myself, and as long as I can save the coin, I'm sticking with the AT2's for my DD/highway tripper.

 

Pete,

Minor hi-jack......I'm considering the Michelin AT2, but I've heard that they sidewall flex when loaded up. I have about 3k pin weight when I have my horse trailer on.

 

I don't really tow or haul (except for my own large carcass), so I can't really address that issue. I know that when the tires are not loaded, you can't really see sidewall flex in the rear until they drop below 40 psi (maybe a little higher on the fronts).

 

3 years ago I put two new BFG ATKO on the rear of an e-150. That thing felt like it was going all over the place like a hog on skates. I started out at 80 psi and gradually decreased to about 55 where it was better but definitely not where it should have been. Fast forward 20,000 miles, all of a sudden one of them has 3 sidewall bubbles even though pressure is still 55psi. I had originally bought a 4 tire set and had the other 2 stored. I installed one expecting the swaying to get worse with a new tire not worn in at all. To my surprise the van now feels rock solid!

I would recommend that you rotate your spare, replacing each tire for a few miles in order to find the one that may be compromised.

 

When I put the four new Michelin LTX AT2s (load range E) on my van (and yes a new spare as well) the tires were inflated to 80 psi. The van felt like it was riding on ball bearings with very little directional stability. Was told by the tire guy to reduce the pressure to what was on the door pillar and the problem went away.

 

On my inital AT2 runs, I ran about 52 psi in the rear and 55 psi in front. On my latest pair, though, I'm running 50 psi in the rear on the brand new tires and still do not have full tread width contact on the road, but I hesitate to drop any lower. The fronts are now running at 60 psi for full width contact, but that is because they are slightly more worn in the middle from having been slightly over-pressured while riding on the rear.