Tire Musings- BFG AT 235/85R16 ($400.00!)

[Redline]

Let me set the stage... I'm an admitted tire junkie After the term was coined by a friend, in print I have referred to myself as “The Imelda Marcos of tires” ☺

I have a couple sets of 16-in. tires, all of which fit my '06 4Runner, '06 Chaser, and '96 F350. I pay for most of them but have also received some for my journalism work. I'm a hard core 255/85R16 fan as you may have read in many of the other tire threads here on the Portal I occasionally start to slip toward the dark side, thinking I may want to try another set of 285/75R16s, which are wide in my opinion, though narrow for many who like 12.50s. I like narrow tires, and though the F350 came with 235/85 back in 1996, it has been on 255/85 almost exclusively since 1998.

I don't NEED any tires, but today I visited a local independent tire shop to inspect and get a price on some Cooper STs in 285/75R16 (they are much wider than the same tire in 255/85). They had a set of new BFG AT in 235/85R16 stacked on the showroom floor. I asked about them and the owner told me he could make me a hell of a deal. I said, "how much". He said, "Out the door carry-out price $400.00 for the set". I’m wavering. I will have to pay to have these mounted and balanced, but I have one shop that I prefer to do all my mounting & balancing.

Even though I like 33s on all my rigs, the recent sets of 265/75s I've tested on my F350 has me leaning back toward the 235/85 if I am going to run a tire that is only 31.5-32" tall. One thing I don't like about the 235/85 size is that they are firm/stiff E-range tires, and I prefer my D-range 255s for their more compliant ride with the same weight carrying capacity.

I have never owned a set of BFG ATs, but they are so popular that buying these would let me evaluate them and form my own opinion. (I recently had a mini garage-sale and have some money burning a hole in my pocket).

I have a few decisions to make:

1) To Buy Or Not To Buy, That Is The Question.

2) Which 4x4 to mount/try them on first, the 4Runner or the F350. I prefer to drive the newer 4Runner much more and regardless of which truck I use them on the tires would be mounted on stock 16x7” wheels.

3) If I will have aftermarket sipes cut into them for added winter traction?

Yours Truly,

Imelda
(I mean Redline)

 

[bigreen505]

I have a few decisions to make:

1) To Buy Or Not To Buy, That Is The Question.

2) Which 4x4 to mount/try them on first, the 4Runner or the F350. I prefer to drive the newer 4Runner much more and regardless of which truck I use them on the tires would be mounted on stock 16x7” wheels.

3) If I will have aftermarket sipes cut into them for added winter traction?

Let me preface this by saying I my answers are purely selfish.
1) Buy
2) 4Runner
3) Sipe them and see if they chunk off road. On a less selfish note, I have run sets of Michelin AT's back to back, one set siped the other not and there was a big difference in traction in snow.

 

[slooowr6]

My selfish thought is you should get them, put them on the 4 runner and see how E rate tire works on a modern/smooth/refine SUV.

I usually over research things and I have gone through 255/85/16, 265/75/16 and 235/85/16 many many times.

235 worries me with E rate, 255 worries me cause it's 8% larger the lost of power is too great. I'm sure I'm just being stupid.......

 

[Fishenough]

Wow, good price! Western Canada's best price for one 31"x10x15 BFG AT is $230 Canadian dollars.

You shouldn't need to sipe the BFG all-terrains, they are fantastic on the snow as is. My last set of Michelin X-ices were only better on ice and slush covered ice.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Let me set the stage... I'm an admitted tire junkie After the term was coined by a friend, in print I have referred to myself as “The Imelda Marcos of tires”

Hey, that's exactly how my truck got it's name. Owned it now about 8 years, but in its first 5 years it got 5 different sets of tires or wheels. Stock 235/75R15 on stock plain steels to 30x9.50 ATs on stock 7" triangle style steels to 30x9.50 MTs on same factory steels to same 30x9.50 MTs on alloys to 33x9.50 ATs on same alloys. And it's looking like new tires I hope this spring, 33x10.50 on factory alloys. My wife named the truck around about the 30x9.50 MTs time frame, so 2003/04.

 

[madizell]

1. Great price.

2. 4Runner.

3. Don't sipe unless you drive them and don't like the performance. I, for one, think they are a good winter tire as manufactured and I don't think there is enough already un-siped meat on the tread to bother with after market siping.

 

[98roamer]

1. Buy
2A. F350, they'll need the truck weight to make the ride smooth. My dad couldn't take the E load with his 99 F350 2wd even with the 7.3 under the hood.
2B. Resell them for more $$$$
3. They don't need any siping.

 

[Redline]

Dave:

You definitely had 'the name' before me, as my tire buying/testing frenzy didn't start until after Antelope hunting season (after a sidewall puncture on some TXRs) in 2005 with some Toyo M55s (255/85) for my F350. And my friend didn't call me The Imelda Marco Of Tires until well after that.

And there is another difference too, you call your rig ‘Imelda’, and my one friend simply calls me "The Imelda Marco Of Tires". The 4Runner has it’s own name. Around my house we usually refer to the 4Runner as "The Mall Crawler", though after Jonathan's picture of Brad and I getting a little 'air' on the 07 ExPo Trophy sand course Jereme/24HOURSOFNEVADA calls it the Mall Hauler :wings:

It does sound like we are cut from the same cloth, as in the 13-months I’ve owned my 4Runner I have had...

Wheels:

-Stock 16x7" Aluminum SR5 wheels
-Ultra Type 50 16x8" (didn't fit well, didn't like them, sold)
-FJ Cruiser TDR 16x7.5 Toyota Wheels (have many of these, like them lots!)

Tires:

-Stock Michelin Cross-Terrains, 265/70R16 (were good in snow/ice for the short time they were on, traded in for partial credit on Toyo AT below)
-Toyo AT 265/75R16 (before my lift & when I thought I was only going to run 32s)
-Toyo MT 265/75R16 (barely used left overs from prior '05 Rubicon build, recently sold to a friend to buy Cooper ST 255/85)
-Maxxis Bighorn MT 255/85
-Maxxis Bravo 761 AT
-BFG MT 255/85 (really tires for the Chaser and spares, were on the F350 for a bit, the 4Runner last week for 60-miles, and are going back to Chaser/spare duty)
-Cooper ST 255/85

The beauty (or curse) of what I have been able to do is that my (sold) 05 Rubicon, the 4Runner, my old F350, and the Chaser are all capable of running 32-33” tires. I had been able to trade-in or sell a couple sets, and have also used a couple slightly used sets of 255/85 (TXRs & M55s) to barter for backhoe work and rolling basket-case 1945 Willys MB. There were a couple other sets that were on the Rubicon & F350 that didn’t make it onto the 4Runner before they were sold and are not mentioned above.

And even though there has been some excess, the Chaser needs a set (the BFG MT), and the 4Runner and F350 will likely have two sets when I settle on what I like best, one mostly highway set and then the big dog muds for mostly off-highway.

James

Hey, that's exactly how my truck got it's name. Owned it now about 8 years, but in its first 5 years it got 5 different sets of tires or wheels. Stock 235/75R15 on stock plain steels to 30x9.50 ATs on stock 7" triangle style steels to 30x9.50 MTs on same factory steels to same 30x9.50 MTs on alloys to 33x9.50 ATs on same alloys. And it's looking like new tires I hope this spring, 33x10.50 on factory alloys. My wife named the truck around about the 30x9.50 MTs time frame, so 2003/04.

 

[Funrover]

BUY THEM!!

I ran the BFG at's 235 85 16 for about 2 years before I upgraded to a larger size! The tire really impressed me and it did AWSOME in the snow! The traction off road was really impressive! I recomend that size to everyone who doesn't want to go big! No here is the downside I had with that size.. They wear out faster! With it being a narrow tire the more weight per inch does wear them out faster! I never had trouble with the BFG at's (but I am not much for thick mud where I guess they don't do so well)! The tire seems to be just the right size for an all around great choice!!

and BTW 235 85 16 BFG at's here would be closer to $700 balanced and all!

 

[Redline]

Nice input and encouragement guys ☺

Firstly, they are so inexpensive that I'm finding it hard to resist. If I don’t want to run them for long on either rig I think I already have a friend lined up that will buy them from me to use on his 07 Tacoma.

Funrover

Yep, they are smaller than I like and that is one of the things I don’t like about them, and why I might prefer to put them on the F350.

98roomer

Yep, the e-range are firm but my F350 is a Power Stroke 4x4 w/ Reunel bumper on the front. The heavy front bumper and D-range 255s make the front of this truck ride nice on its stock springs (had a lift for a minute years ago, didn’t like the ride). The rear is just stiff unladen with all the GAWR, but it’s a truck and I use it as such.

Madizell

Good point about there not being enough un-siped meat on the tread to add aftermarket sipes. Adding sipes might just cut up the tread too much. For a similar reason I didn’t sipe my Cooper STs when I got them a couple weeks ago (still might later). I also like your comments about these being a good winter tire. I have read many other similar reports from owners of these ever popular treads and this is one of the reasons I’m considering them, in addition to the amazing price. I really wish they were a softer D-range, or the super low glass tire (295/75) that Scott and company used to explore the Arctic.

Slooower6

You are not being stupid, valid concerns regarding the different sizes. I think 265s are probably the most popular for a reason. The gearing issues with tall 255s are real; I think my V8 is just barely okay with 255s & 3.73 gears with all my weight/trailer. I would like lower gears, probably 4.56, but gear availability and the money to dig into the diffs for gears and lockers is an issue.

I forgot that I did put a few miles on the 4Runner back toward the beginning of my build with E-range Toyo 265/75 Open Country MT. The Toyo MT is firm (okay stiff!) and whether on the 4Runner, F350, or LJ, they needed to be around 9-10 PSI to really flex off-highway, losing much ground clearance going that low. I manhandled the 235 BFG ATs today, and the sidewalls are certainly pretty stiff. If I buy these and put them on the F350, there is nothing stopping me from putting them on the 4Runner later. Although I try to chose function over form, I admit that the Mall Crawler looks much better with 255/85 under it than shorter 32" treads.

 

[Mobryan]

I've got the 235/85/E16 BFG's on my T'all, love them, but there is a quite a bit of weight holding them down...

Matt

 

[Redline]

I love Internationals! I bet they are good for that rig, just like they might be for the Power Stroke Diesel.

I've got the 235/85/E16 BFG's on my T'all, love them, but there is a quite a bit of weight holding them down...

Matt

 

[DaveInDenver]

It does sound like we are cut from the same cloth, as in the 13-months I’ve owned my 4Runner I have had...

It's nothing that I'd bet just about every 4wd enthusiast hasn't done, lots of tires and wheels. Just that we made the connection with pop culture. When someone asks why I call it Imelda and say like Imelda Marcos, the lightbulb goes on. Funny.

 

[Redline]

I was so very close to buying these tires over the past two days. Very tempted. In a rare exercise of prudence I have decided that since they are not my favorite size (255/85) and I don't 'need' another set of tires, I'm gong to save my money. Learning how great BFG AT tires are will have to wait a bit.

James

P.S. This could all change next week ☺