Having fun being on the forum, nice to see others who enjoy the Ex's.

I'm about ready to get another set of tires for my Ex. Will end up being second set since new. Got 98K out of the factory 16" jobs and sitting on 194K right now on current set and fronts are definitely due. I stayed with the BFG Rugged Trails and think I'll stick with them again getting this kind of mileage out of them on this 4x4 V10.

Anyone experience similar results? How about other brands and those who have gone to larger rim sizes?

 

Honestly I could care less about longevity as I could performance. I would rather have one that is good in the rain and snow than one that will last for 10 years after I die from a wreck that could have been prevented with better performing tires

 

I have no complaints with the Rugged Trail performance through about 80K. At that point the annoying fact is that on slick mud(typical with our Carolina clay) they no longer steer well out of 4WD. On water no issues with hydro though.

I use to work in a tire shop so am familiar with the tipping point between performance vs safety. Currently my fronts are on the edge and that's why I'll likely be replacing them within a month.

I've had plenty of cars with 'performance' tires, they are great for intended use, but not daily drivers when the vehicle is gonna be on the road 25K+/yr. Thats where the BFGs have proved themselves reliable.

 

I have had extremely good luck with General Grabber AT2's in the past. Excellent mileage (lifetime) but an impact on fuel consumption. On my last truck I went with Mastercraft Courser AXT and they had good traction and performance but only had the truck for about 10000 miles after installation, at that point could not tell they had that amount of miles on them. Good luck with your selection.

 

I've always been a BF Goodrich and Michelin fan, which is kinda odd because they've been in bed with each other since 1988.

I'm more of a BF Goodrich fan because they've never let me down and they are some seriously tough tires with on road manners. My tire of choice is the BF Goodrich All-Terrains.

The BFG Rugged terrains are a dialed back version of the All-Terrains, but have more on road manners. Jdadamasjr ran the original rugged terrains on his '05 up to 100K before he went with the LTX M/S2 or bought another set of Rugged Terrains. So they definitely stand the test of time...

However, since you mentioned Carolina clay, I'd suggest considering BFG All-Terrains. As you probably already know, they have more "teeth" to them and bite into whatever you throw at them. Where other tires slip, BFG All-terrains grip; this is why I had Discount Tire swap my perfectly good Michelin LTX M/S 2 tires for BFG All-Terrains. There were too many times where I had to venture off road and the Michelins weren't cutting the mustard. With BFG All-terrains, off road performance is much better and the truck is definitely more sure footed than with the Michelins.

Just keep them properly inflated to what's on the tire and NOT what's on the door and they will last. (60-70 psi)

 

I probably won't go to the more aggressive tread of the All Terrrain as I don't go off-road enough compared to highway mileage. Never been stuck in 4wd with the Ruggeds and don't plan on putting myself intentionally into situations where it might happen.

As I read that last sentence it reminds me of a trip 2 years ago where I was unintentionally on an off-road trip. I was in the mountains of NC and had dropped off a load of model kits to a fellow who sells online. Anyway I wanted the return trip to be more interesting and less winding so I took a road called Wildcat Mtn Rd. By Google Maps it looked like it was a reasonable road.... yeah... ahem... right. Anyway, I get started on this road, nice blacktop going up the mountain. About 3 miles up I notice the houses thinning and most of them having big rigs with dozers and heavy equipment on them... hmm, must be they like the high elevations (4,000 ft). Now the road turns to gravel, but still decent though narrowing and now only houses to the left (up the mtn) and lower right side sloping more and more away. Yeah... hmm, I'm in my Ex, I'm good, yeah, I'm good...

So gravel turn to dirt.... perfect, lets put it in 4wd, the 'road' must only be another few miles long right?! I start seeing piles of dirt interspersed either side, like a dozer making small inroads. I'm still looking at Google maps now any again, making sure none of these are turn-offs... hmmm, Google doesn't indicate anything like this... hmm.... Guess I'll stay straight. No way I'm going downhill, and uphill? nope! I'm now on a dirt path trees left and right, look ahead, trail (ahem.. wasn't this a 'road'?) now is granite outcrops.... 4WD Low time..... Remember to breath as your going over a dropping granite face....

Thankfully that stretch lasted maybe 200-300 ft? (Not going back to check thank you very much!) Trail has been used by mini 4wheeler ATVs as I can see in the mud at the bottom of the granite run. Hmmm, all the trees, 'hope none is down across the trail... I'm screwed if there is!' And then I start seeing these high corn fields, yeah, corn fields.... hmm, bet some moonshinin' goin' on up 'ere! Hehe... yeah, no way they come to that field the way I did! So white knuckling on the path looking for obstructions, ways out, light at the end of the tunnel, etc. Hmm, nice outcrop of granite overhanging road... looks like a fine future bit of roadwork for someone! So finally the path becomes a trail again and then a dirt road and then bam! Pavement? Wait... I'VE RETURNED TO CIVILIZATION! THERE'S PAVED ROAD HERE! Off goes 4WD and I wave my hands to return the blood to my whited knuckles. Ah, am I glad I was in an Ex and not something else!

 

So you got 98,000 miles on a set of tires?

 

Yeah, factory set. the last 8K I noticed they produced more road noise as the edge of the tires became flatter. Getting the same noisyness level now.

I've always run them around factory spec'd 45/55 and never had any front-end issues to cause undo wear. As I said, I put 25K+ a year on them these days so alot of of the hwy mileage.

 

That's pretty awesome... Personally for me, if the fat round guy ain't on the tire...I won't buy it. My last set of LTX's on the factory rims made it to 83k miles. And I probably gave them 4 rotations. They still had tread left, but living in Florida for me it's all about wet road performance. I love the tires for that, but just wasnt comfortable with them anymore at 83k miles. If I were you, not sure I'd change with that type of performance!

 

I couldn't really complain about them could I? LOL.