Greetings,
After 80,000 miles I am due for a new set of tires before Virginia
vehicle inspection in January on my 2002 Dakota Quad Cab 4x4. I am
currently running the Goodyear Wrangler GSA tires of 265/75 R16 and have
been happy with the on-road ride and longevity of them but offroad they
pack fairly quickly and don't clean well at all with tire speed.
This is my daily driver and tow vehicle. I don't use this truck off-road
much except for the occasional fire road and 'East Coast National forest
trails, (again fire roads). I have a dedicated Trail vehicle, (a Suzuki
Samurai on Toyota axles with 36" tires) to play on the rocks, roll over and
do the hard core stuff.
I need a replacement tire of the same size (265/75 R16) that is a bit
more agressive but don't need a true mud terrain tire. I'm hoping to get
nearly the same amount of miles or at least 60K more on the new set as I'll
the going rate for 16" tirea is probably between $175-200 for a decent
light truck tire.
I don't care about noise, I do care about sidewall strength, performance,
tire wear and longevity.
I have ruled out Any BFG tire product. I help operate a company that puts
on 4wd events on the East coast and we routinely cut 4-5 BFG Mud terrain
tires at each event. In my opinion the sidewalls don't seem to hold up.
While I am not going to be putting the new tires of choice through the
same situations that I put my trail rig I do want to be able to feel
comfortable in running across some rock fields without fear of splitting
sidewalls.
Can anybody offer their recommendations or could offer suggestions for
real world tire comparisions other than Consumer Reports? I don't take
much stock in their views because of their multiple attempts at
disparaging vehicle manufacturers for publicity. (Suzuki over the Samurai,
and Isuzu over the trooper and their skewed and falsified rollover
results). I'd rather not see this thread turn into a C.U. debate.
Any tire recommendations?
Miles D. Oliver
www.mmoliver.org
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