I guess I should first start off by saying I've got an '03 F250 4x4 with a 6.0L that's been kept in storage for the better part of its life. For the past 14 years I drove a company supplied vehicle so mine just sat.
Lately I've been getting my F250 back into shape and ready for use again. Its got only 7100 miles on it, but the original BF Goodrich Rugged Trail tires are showing some pretty concerning cracks, which I'm sure is to be expected after 14 years. The truck basically got driven the first few months after I bought it and then it was put up in the garage and stored since then.

I was originally just planning on buying four new Rugged Trail 10 ply tires for it but they are no longer made in the LT sizes.
I drive 99% of the time on the highway, but my driveway is about 3 miles of winding gravel up and down over a few rolling hills before I get back to the house. This is not a big concern unless we have snow or a lot of rain, where as a few areas get pretty slick.
I also have a few areas around the back of the one barn that get a bit muddy. I've had no real issues with the stock tires, they handle everything I need to deal with here but any less of a tire and I think I'd be getting stuck at times. I should also add that I only use this truck for towing, it rarely ever leaves the yard without an equipment trailer attached.
The biggest traction issue I've had so far was on wet grass.

I've looked at various tires and suppose I'm looking for either a good All Season tire or a mild A/T rated tire.
A neighbor has a similar truck and is running Ironman A/T tires but he complains about road noise and they don't seem to be lasting very long.
My company truck was similar to mine only newer, I ran both Michelin LTX M&S tires for a while and later a set of Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires. The Michelin tires were great for the most part but felt a bit loose under load and would get stuck on wet grass. The AT3 tires were great when they were new but they got really loud after only a few thousand miles. They also didn't last very long, the rear tires were nearly smooth after only 17,000 miles.

My biggest concern is that I don't want to dump a grand on a set of new tires only to find out they're noisy or don't last.
The Rugged Trail tires are ok but not super quiet, but the AT3 tires are just plain loud. (I road in my neighbors F250 with the Ironman All Country AT tires and that wasn't as loud as the Cooper tires but still not acceptable.

When I use this truck, it only goes longer distances towing a trailer that can weigh up to 5 tons loaded. The only place I need any sort of off road traction is in my own driveway and around the barn. Backing the trailer into the barn loaded means backing up a steep hill into the barn on loose gravel and sometimes mud or wet grass. Putting the truck into 4x4 usually solves the problem with the current tires but there's a 40 foot drop off next to that driveway, so there's not much room for error if the truck starts to slip.
I live in rather hilly country and a ways off the road so that has to be a concern when choosing a tire.

I've been looking at the Firestone Destination AT, and Goodyear Wrangler Armortracs in LT265/75R16.
Since no local tire dealers carry them, I'd be mail ordering them and getting them mounted at the dealer I suppose. (The dealer is pushing Hankook Dynapro AT-M, or General Grabber AT2 tires).
The Hankook tires are made in China, and I've read nothing good about the General tires.
Another concern of mine is fuel economy, the truck consistently gets over 20 mpg even when towing, empty its gotten over 24 mpg with the original tires. I know from past experience that the wrong tire can really hurt mpg.
Years ago I switched tires on my E350 van going from Michelin to Cooper Discoverer HT tires and I lost 4 mpg. The difference was so noticeable that I only ran the Cooper tires for a few months before tossing them in favor of another set of Michelin tires. I was quickly eating up any savings on the tires in fuel.

I'd be interested in hearing some other opinions on what to buy.
I did read through a handful of older posts here but most are for more aggressive off road tires, which I don't need and don't care to deal with the road noise such a tire would give me.

 

I like the Michelin Defender MS2 (on paper) and the Bridgestone Revo2 (personal experience).

I have had the Revo2s on logging trails, Sierra snow, and I thought they towed great on the highway. But I am eyeing the Michelins as potentially better.

Did not have much experience with the Revo2s on wet grass, do recall a few times and not having a problem.

But backing up the hill to your barn may be too much of a challenge. I'm sure I would be using 4WD for it too.

 

The Firestone Destination AT is a perfectly adequate tire. Nothing fancy and performs reasonably well. I'm surprised you've had issues with the Cooper Discoverer A/T3, as I had the exact opposite experience that you described. It's hard to go wrong with the Michelin Defender MS2. The Hercules Terra Trac ATII might also be worth looking at.

 

I was originally leaning towards the Michelins but every pair of Michelins I've owned in the past started showing dryrot cracks after only a couple of years. I had to replace the X radials that came on my Mercury Grand Marquis after only 3 years due to severe dry rot, and then again two years later with the second set. I had the same issues with a set of tires a few years back on my work truck.

I have had good luck with Bridgestone in the past but there are no local dealers and the model I've always run was the Desert Dueler but I see they discontinued that.
I've still got a set on my Ranger that I put on in 2008 which have 12k on them and they look like new yet. They are a quiet tire with good tread wear and a soft ride but they discontinued them or don't make them in an 10 ply version.
From past experience though I find that tires with a solid center rib seem to handle better on the highway. Which is what made me consider the Firestone Destination AT.
I also looked at the Bridgestone Dueler H/T but I couldn't find any reviews on how it works in the snow.
I'm not expecting to plow snow with this truck but I do need to get where I'm going in any weather condition.
Like I said before the BF Goodrich Rugged Trails do just find and they don't really look very aggressive to me. Tires like the Bridgestone Revo2 and Cooper AT3 are twice as aggressive looking. I've also read a few complaints on various forums about short tread life on the Revo2
I think the bottom line is that if the truck is going to get stuck, its likely to get stuck just as bad with either an all season or A/T tire, I just can't have a tire that gets stuck on wet grass.
It does seem that just about all tires have changed for the worse in the past few years.

 

I looked at the Hercules Terra Trac ATII tires, the dealer here told me he's got them on his truck but if I'm concerned about tire noise they're not the tire for me. He was the one that recommended the Ironman All Country AT tires but when I rode in a truck with them I thought they were super loud compared to what I've got now. I drive mostly on the highway with this truck so a loud tire would drive me crazy.
I did consider their HT tires but I read too many reviews about them not lasting very long and having issues getting them balanced.
A buddy of mine has a set of Cooper Discover M&S tires on his older truck, they're not too bad noise wise but that truck will jar the teeth out of your head on rough roads. He said that started when he switched to those tires. The original Rugged Trails ride a bit harsh but are only moderately noisy on the highway. They're noisier on concrete pavement than on asphalt but never so much I can't hear the radio.

My cousin has an 02 F250 on Toyo tires, and he swore up and down they were nearly silent, but after driving his truck I realized just how big a difference two peoples opinions can be of a tire. The Toyo Open Country AT tires were so loud I couldn't hear the radio at 55 mph and they got worse at higher speeds.
I also looked at the new Timberland tires but the few reviews I heard weren't good and those, like Hercules, Ironman, and Sunrise are all Cooper made tires. It seems to me that most people buying an AT tire aren't very concerned about mpg or road noise. I like my truck just like it came from the dealer, I don't want to change that with a bad set of tires.

I think what I'm really after is a cross between a highway tire and an all season tire vs. a full on all terrain tire.

 

I have cooper discoverer a/t3 on my truck (about 2k miles on them) and I did not notice the tire noise over anything else (Engine).

Richard

EDT: on a side note I had a set of Rugged trail tires on my 97 7.3 and one came apart (tread de-lamination) and destroyed the bedside... first real body damage that truck ever had... I was pissed. sent the tire in and they said the warranty was void because it had one patch (center tread, properly done per their guidelines). I argued that it was done by their authorized shop and per their instructions (discount/america's tire) and they said nope, too bad. Just sold that truck and took a big hit due to the damage.

I will likely never own another BFG/Michelin tire again.

 

A buddy of mine had the same thing happen to his van a while back with a set of BFG's.
Something changed in the BFG tires, they used to be good tires. I can't complain about the original tires on my truck, even though they don't have any wear, they are 14 years old and for now still in service.

 

Ran the Firestone Transforce HT on a Chevy dually work truck and didn't notice any unusual noise and tread life seemed alright.

 

I had Transforce HTs on my one van when I got it, I thought the rear had a hum or whine in it till I changed the tires out for winter tires the first winter I had it. When spring came I went back to the Transforce HTs and the whine came back. It was so loud I couldn't here the radio. The used car lot where I bought the van installed the tires as part of the deal, so they weren't on it when I first drove it.
I replaced them with a set of Wrangler HTs in the spring and those are almost silent, but they're not that great on wet grass or light snow in a van. More than once I thought I was going to need a push or tow to get moving after backing down a hill on grass and trying to get back to the pavement with a near empty van. A couple guys standing in the back usually does the trick though to get it going. They do well in snow as long as its not just a light dusting. Driving in an inch or so of snow is nearly impossible without a lot of weight in that truck.
I thought about those for the F250 but figured they'd clog up and get stuck backing up to the barn.

 

I don't know where your information came from, but the BFG Rugged Trail is still made in some LT sizes, per the BFG web site.

LT265/70R17E
LT245/17R17E

Otherwise, the BFG Rugged Terrain is a great replacement.

 

You must either have super-human level hearing, or all of my life experiences are catching up to my ear drums. Unless it's the difference between an AT and an MT, I can't hear it.

 

My truck uses LT265/75R16 tires, the dealer told me BFG stopped making them last year. Their website doesn't show that size available and the local dealer told me they dropped the LT sizes all together. They were able to locate four to fit my truck but they were already 3 years old. For nearly $900 I want new tires not old stock.


The Transforce HT was probably the noisiest tire I've owned. In the van, it sounded like a chainsaw running at about 40 mph or more.
At least the Cooper AT3's didn't make noise till they wore in a bit.

 

I just went through the same thing your dealing with a few months ago.
I had to replace my Rugged Trail T/A's with fresh rubber and really haven't found an equal replacement. A buddy let me have a set of almost brand new Cooper Discoverer AT3's on his stock rims after he bought aftermarket wheels and went to a larger tire.
They had less than 3,000 miles on them when I got them, they have about 8,000 on them now and the rear tires are down about half way already. My truck is a garage kept 20,000 mile rig in mint condition, it only comes out when I need to two a larger trailer. My mileage also dropped from 20 to 22 towing my car trailer to 16 mpg at best.
Switching back to my original cracked BFG's gets my mileage back.

Don't waste your time on the Chinese junk, its a crap shoot whether you get a decent tire or an accident waiting to happen. My 80 year old neighbor put a set of Ironman tires on his Excursion and they're almost bald after only 17K and I don't think he's towed anything since getting those tires. They also got real noisy after they started to wear.
I'm noticing the same thing with the Cooper AT3's, they almost as quiet as the BFG Rugged Trails when new, now they have a very noticeable growl which gets super loud on concrete parts of the interstate.
I was seriously considering buying a set of new Michelin LTX M&S tires but after having to help push a contractor off the lawn across the street after he couldn't make it back to the pavement in a loaded 3/4 ton van, I figured they wouldn't be much better on my pickup.
There's not much out there these days, nearly every tire is made offshore, I think Cooper is the only one making anything in the USA these days, I looked at Goodyear and was told "They're an international company and they manufacture tires at various plants around the globe". I saw one set that read Indonesia on the sidewall.
I've had good luck with Firestone in the past, but they don't appear to make tires here either.
If you happen to find something that works well, let everyone here know as well. I for one am interested as it seems after only a few months I'll be back in the market for new tires again too.

 

I've been driving an 02 F250 at work now for a year with a set of Uniroyal Laredo HD/T tires on it. They look pretty aggressive but they're quiet on the road. They've been running these for a few years now and a few trucks have over 90K on these even though they're only a 50k warranty tire.
They look more like an old school snow tire but without all the noise. I'd say they're on par with the Rugged Trail tires on my F150 noise wise.
They tried a few sets of BFG Commercial T/A tires on a couple trucks last fall but had a few fail after only a few months due to tread separation and sidewall bubbles. The Uniroyal tires seem a lot tougher overall. These are all 2 wheel drive trucks but they run these front and rear so the tires can be rotated every 4K. I've never gotten stuck, even with a near empty truck, even on wet grass and muddy roads.
I'm not sure where they're made, its not USA, but they do seem to work.
The downside seems to be keeping them balanced, the truck I drive is fine up to about 65mph, but over that I get a pretty noticeable tire vibration that no one has yet to be able to fix. It started when these tires were put on. At 85 mph its pretty bad. They've balanced these several ways but all they seem to do is change at what mph the vibration starts to occur. The one thing I did notice is that these tires needed some pretty big wheel weights from day one. The trucks with steel rims don't seem to have this issue, its only those with aluminum wheels that have the vibration, I'm not sure why though.

 

Just wondering if any updates on tires yet. I am looking at getting the Michelin Defenders in a 265/75 16 for my truck. My truck is mostly local and highway driving. Only tow a few times a year. I am commuting 50 miles a day and need something before the snow gets to bad.