Greetings all......JUST picked my 2002 SR5 V8 4WD Tundra last night!! I love it.... it has just 172 miles on the clock right now after a little break-in cruise. ANYway, what's the deal on these BFG Rugged Trail tires?? It appears that BFG doesn't market these things. You can't even find a mention of them on their website. I always used BFG All-Terrain T/As on my '92 pickup (traded away for $3200, 170,032 mi) and I really liked those treads. They didn't whine, very predictable, great in the snow. Are the Rugged Trails worth keeping on for 40k miles? Their tread doesn't appear too aggressive, which I guess is to be expected...nice quiet ride and all that. But not knowing anything about them, I'm tempted to dump 'em and get a set All-Terrains. Would I be wasting my money?
Hey Larry,
Welcome to TS.COM!!
You'll probably get alot of responses to your question on Monday, as wknds tend to be a little quiet around here...the site is more active during the week.
I've got 13,400 mi. on my Rugged Trails so far and they've been great. But I live in a warm climate and have 2WD, so this rubber does just fine in this neck of the woods. The Ruggeds aren't noisy, as you've probably already noticed and they do just fine in the rain. We don't get any snow down here in S. Texas, but I'm sure one of the other members who lives in your area will chime in soon.
Anyway, congratulations on an excellent choice for a truck...have you tested that 4WD yet, or are you gonna wait a little before going offroad for some fun? ENJOY!!!
Hey EZ2BME thanks for the quick reply! You're right, the stock Rugged Trails are quiet. Obviously, haven't tried 'em in the rain yet, and no, haven't tried the 4WD yet (except for putzing around in my yard, but that hardly counts). The fact is, the thing is so doggone clean and immaculate, I just can't even think of carreening down some muddy or dusty trail...yet! Woohoo!!
Originally posted by Larry Greetings all......JUST picked my 2002 SR5 V8 4WD Tundra last night!! I love it.... it has just 172 miles on the clock right now after a little break-in cruise. ANYway, what's the deal on these BFG Rugged Trail tires?? It appears that BFG doesn't market these things. You can't even find a mention of them on their website. I always used BFG All-Terrain T/As on my '92 pickup (traded away for $3200, 170,032 mi) and I really liked those treads. They didn't whine, very predictable, great in the snow. Are the Rugged Trails worth keeping on for 40k miles? Their tread doesn't appear too aggressive, which I guess is to be expected...nice quiet ride and all that. But not knowing anything about them, I'm tempted to dump 'em and get a set All-Terrains. Would I be wasting my money?
Larry,
You'll find the Rugged Trails are pretty decent AT type tires. They are great in the rain, and ride pretty well. They're quieter in the summer on hot days and slightly louder in the winter as the rubber hardens. They DON'T last long though.
They are only OK in the snow, but if you get them siped (America's Tires/Discount Tires) does that for $10 a tire and you'll be MUCH, MUCH happier with the tires in the snow. They're actually pretty decent then. In deep snow, they're fine as long as you have decent tread left.
You'll find that they will get noisier as time wears on though. They are a pretty smooth ride.
If you're going to go to a premium all season tire, you might dump them sooner than later. When they start getting noiser, swap them. The Rugged Trails have a smooth ride, but a set of Michelin's would be smoother (well, LTX m&s or Cross Terrains - not LTX ATs).
But if you're going to an AT tire, you might as well get some life out of them. They'll be okay for the next 20,000 miles for sure.
I had them on my truck for about 8k miles and I wasn't very impressed with them. Wet traction was pretty bad - I found it difficult to accelerate in the rain without spinning the passenger rear tire.
The tires also don't handle well at all. If you go to tirerack.com you can locate the tire. Look at the reviews on the tire. It's rated very poorly and I concure with that rating. I went from them to Bridgestone Dueler A/T's and it was a nice improvement in handling. They are a rather smooth riding tire, but as they wear down, they get pretty loud. They also made my truck wallow in turns and it just never felt like it was connected with the pavement while driving, especially while cornering. I wouldn't expect 40k out of them either.
With my new wheels/tires it's a totally different truck now.
This is my personal opinion so take it as nothing more or less.
I greatly disliked the BFG Rugged trail tires. I found that they were crappy in the rain and were terrible if you were in any mud. I changed mine out after 15K miles.
They had fair traction in dry weather. The truck could easily spin the tires if you put your foot into it whether it be in dry or wet conditions.
I just bought a new Tundra 4WD SR5 on Friday and it came with these BFG Rugged Trail tires. I have a 4runner that I'm selling and I just recently put LTX M/S tires on it. I think I'm going to swap tires since they're the same size. That'll help my 4Runner sell too since it comes with brand new tires and I'll get that awesome Michelin ride on the Tundra. I noticed that there's a Toyota dealer in Asheville, NC that sells new Tundras with LTX's on them.
UNIXADM
Unless I misread the info on your Michelin link, I was really surprised to see that we can get a "V" & "W" speed rated tire for our Tundra's. I didn't think you could go past an "H" rated (130mph) tire for a LT. My main reason for wanting a high speed tire is that I average 80-90 on the highways in hot weather, so I will shy away from the lower speed ratings. That Michelin sure is sweet...the price ain't that bad. I had a '94 Cobra with Goodyear GS-C 17's that were $250 EACH. I assume the price you quoted is for your 18"er's. Larry ......you catchin' all this?
My '01 Tundra 4X4 Access Cab came with the BFG's. After 18,xxx miles, the tread was half gone, they were making noises they didn't make when they were new, and they were pulling to the side. I replaced them with Michelin LTX M/S, which are MUCH better tires under all conditions. Interestingly, the new Michelins had 1/8" deeper tread than the BFG's did when they were new.
The BFG Rugged Trails are lighter tires designed for lower un-sprung weight, good gas mileage, smooth quite ride, moderate tread wear, moderately priced. They perform pretty good in these local mountains summer/ winter bad pave, dirt, snow, mud, ice, pot-holes, rain, etc., road environments for an all purpose tire, at least by my driving habits. IMHO, they do require attention to rotation & balance for the tread life.
Took off my OE set at ~44K miles. Only rotated them once @ the 30K mile Toy service & never did a rebalance at any time. The edges were worn more than the center & somewhat scalloped & slight steering vibration, etc. @ 44K miles, and you could still bury Mr. Lincoln's head.
My decision to replace the Rugged Trails with another set was mainly because the TRD Tundra OE Toy-Bilstein shocks are a bit "weak" to my liking, so didn't want a heavier tire to make matters worse, & not yet ready to replace the OE Bils. Will prob. get the Rancho RS 9000 5-way adjustable shocks before these replacement BFG's tires are gone, then mebee a "better" tire next time, God willing & if the Crik don't rise.
My replacement set of BFG Rugged Trails was from Discount Tire & paid the extra dinero for Road Hazard & to have them rotated & balanced on a ~5K schedule. Only have about ~15K miles so far on them & they are smooth & quite, wearing evenly & hardly any perceptible tread wear so far. TWT the mileage, but expect about 60K this time, mebee.
EZ,
our Lexus RX300AWD 45K service, done closer to 50K miles, they pumped all the tires up to 36 PSI & printed it out on the service doc for a record. Hmmm, mebee a loaded down RX in that Texas heat has showed some bad manners with the OE tires? And also note the brakes were 90% good in the front & 60% good in the rears. Assign that Engineer to Tundra as a lot of y'all are having brake problemos. I will find out shortly at 60K what the Hornet's ABS brake conditions are, as skipped the 45K service. So far the Hornet, a 4WD TRD Tundra, will stop on a dime, no vibrations, etc.. Ditto ANY problemos whatsoever, Knock on my Wooden head.
Save them old tires of any brand & condition,
they make great early season tomater planters!
Larry,
From one PA resident to another, I thought my opinion might be interesting to you. I live about 35 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
-as far as ride comfort, they were great. very quiet and smooth
-as to traction, when you have enough tread they did very well all around.. wet, dry, light snow. but after the tread was half gone you have to be bit more careful in general, especially to not peg the accelerator on slippery roads when pulling out from a stop. also, deep snow... not so great(from the beginning).
-as to wear, well with all the hills and turns in PA(not to mention the poor roads and construction), I only got 20K out of the tires. I could have pushed it maybe another 3-5K miles but I prefer not to run 'em till their bald.
My opinion is never again, not because they were poor but because their are many better tires out there to buy.
Wow! Thanks for all the great replies. I believe I'm going to hold onto them for awhile, at least for this winter. I think I'll reconsider next summer and see how they're doing then. What a great site this is for Tundra enthusiasts. Take it easy everybody.
BFG Rugged Trail tires any good??
Linear Mode
