Perfect off-highway tire = LTX? What?

nickw

Adventurer
Yep
The new bfg Trail Terrain is basically the brand new highway poser SUV not a KO2 option. That will be put on my 22’s ???. Better than the soft squishy oems that have me driving dirt like I’m walking bare foot lol.
They don't look that bad, kinda sim to the Geolanders....prob excellent in sand and lighter offroad....
 

Wilbah

Adventurer
I put a set of these in P-metric on my wife’s Suburban and I like them a lot. I’ve got a set of Toyo AT2s LT flavor on my Chevy 2500HD, about 5/32 left and coming up on 50k miles, which is the warranty point. I like the Toyos also, but am wondering if 1) I’ll get a bit better highway mileage out of the Michelins and 2) whether the Michelins are enough tire for a 9200# GVW truck that sees mostly DVNP type offroad use. Toyo AT3s (new style) are 3PS, the Michelins are M+S.
Not sure what size you're running but the LT versions handle decent weight it seems.

 

jbaucom

Well-known member
Yep
The new bfg Trail Terrain is basically the brand new highway poser SUV not a KO2 option. That will be put on my 22’s ???. Better than the soft squishy oems that have me driving dirt like I’m walking bare foot lol.

What I dislike about the BFG Trail Terrain, just from pictures, is that it doesn't look like it will move water well. There are no open channels in the out tread blocks, nor true circumferential channels to move water in moderate to heavy rainfall events, particularly in high speed conditions like on the interstate. No problem with this in more arid regions, probably no issue when new and the tread is near full depth, but halfway through the tread life, they don't look like they'd continue to perform well in the rain. I had the BFG Advantage Sport tires on our Forester, and they moved water very well in heavy rain.

We have the Michelin X LT A/S (Costco version of the Defender LTX M/S) on our Subaru Ascent, and they've been great.
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
What I dislike about the BFG Trail Terrain, just from pictures, is that it doesn't look like it will move water well. There are no open channels in the out tread blocks, nor true circumferential channels to move water in moderate to heavy rainfall events, particularly in high speed conditions like on the interstate. No problem with this in more arid regions, probably no issue when new and the tread is near full depth, but halfway through the tread life, they don't look like they'd continue to perform well in the rain. I had the BFG Advantage Sport tires on our Forester, and they moved water very well in heavy rain.

We have the Michelin X LT A/S (Costco version of the Defender LTX M/S) on our Subaru Ascent, and they've been great.
Yup to retain some level of ok road noise they went with a closed side wall tread design which all modern good highway tires typically have. The solution is having enough open channels front to back to make it s non issue.
They basically took their mild hybrid Advantage A/T and fixed the lack of snow / ice sipping and gave it a more aggressive tread and shoulder.
The Advantage A/T has been really popular I’ve had great results with it on my Subaru and Sequoia. Snow performance is not the greatest hence the superior sipping on the Trail Terrain. Wet road performance on the Advantage A/T’s was actually surprisingly pretty good.

I like that we finally get a tire thats not a full on squishy comfort highway tire and not a full on KO2. I liked my KO2’s but switching back to the hybrid Advantage A/T made long trips far more enjoyable and slightly less abusive at the fuel pump. I think these new Trail Terrains will look decent on my stock 22’s on the Expedition.
 

Blommy

New member
Ok… I finally wore out the stock Wrangler’s on my Tacoma. Went to order some 265/70 LTX M/S Defender tires today and wouldn’t ya know it, I got all wrapped around the axle with a fit of vanity again..,Them Defenders are just soooo tame looking! I eyeballed up the KO2’s again… relented and looked hard at the Michelin AT’s….fortunately my memories of what the Defenders can do prevailed and I puts me cash down for the Defenders… vanity is a very strong spirit!
 

Blommy

New member
Upgraded to 265/75 R16 which are 1” taller. I went with this aspect ratio after reading Scott Brady’s extensive article on tires from years ago.
The ride home on the tarmac was smooth and silent, exactly where 99.5 % of the use will be spent. Yes I would like to spend more time on the dirt, but at best I get five weeks vacation a year, hence coming to grips with the tires true use case. But thanks to Pskhaat and my own experiences with Defenders…I know how these unassuming tires punch way above their looks.
I have did my part by gearing up with air compressor and ARB tire deflation hardware.
Cmon Snow!
 

billiebob

Well-known member
They get top ratings for winter snow and ice, as well as rolling resistance.
That says it all.
MTs absolutely suck in the winter, and they sure don't roll easy.
That said, in soft sand, mud, loose gravel, the LTZ sucks off road. They are a great daily driver tire around town.

Perfect HIGHWAY tire, yes.
 

hemifoot

Observer
if i'm going to outfit an off road rig,why in the world would i stick to 1 set of tires? honestly,the right tire for the right application.i always have at least 2 sets minimum. 3 before i sold the truck camper.it takes less than 10 mins to swap my road tires for my offroads.
 

nickw

Adventurer
Minus mud, not my observation nor consistent with outcome of this post.
Agreed, generally speaking, a tire that is good in the mud is not good on sand....I'd think this LTX (like many tires with sim pattern) would be excellent on sand.
 

Pskhaat

2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
I have posted before and agree that the LTX M/S is a perfect highway tires but is not even close to being a perfect off-road tire.

And where does it fall short for you? In what off highway scenarios did it fall for you?
 

Pskhaat

2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
if i'm going to outfit an off road rig,why in the world would i stick to 1 set of tires? honestly,the right tire for the right application.i always have at least 2 sets minimum. 3 before i sold the truck camper.it takes less than 10 mins to swap my road tires for my offroads.

This is Expedition Portal. Not Pirate. I have several sets too. When I am out touring i don't take an extra set of wheels and tires. Do you?
 

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