Patrick,
Thanks for the info. on the Bridgestones.
" 2) The Dueler APT is a tire manufactured by Bridgestone for the
Sears automotive group (which
includes NTB) and they were manufactured to Sear's specs to reach a
certain price point also. "
So Sears owns NTB?? Man, I never knew that! Its pretty eye-opening when you
start looking around at the 'parent' companies and all their subsidiaries
(ie: Philip-Morris owns Kraft... hmmm, "hey Kid, how 'bout a cigarette with
that dinosaur Mac-N-Cheese?")
Anyway... Like I said, I was pretty surprised with the Bridgestones lack of
performance as well. I'd never heard a bad thing about their tires from
anyone. Like you said, maybe it has to do with the Sears specs. (not as good
a compound? -- they seem to be wearing pretty fast). Guess I'll give NTB a
chance to see what they can do for a deal. With hunting/snow season
approaching I need to know i can get out of whatever I get myself into!
Thanks again...
Duff
'95 SLT 4x4 CC 318 4spd/OD - 3.55 LSD
MSD 6AL - MSD Blaster Coil
MSD 8.5 wires - K&N FIPK - F&B Stage I TBI
-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick and Kelly Engram [mailto:shetland@erols.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 1999 8:59 PM
To: DML
Subject: DML: bad set of Bridgestones?
"Patrick,
I don't recall if you are the Firestone/Bridgestone dealer (or is that
Boog?) anyway... have you tried out those Bridgestones yet? I've got the
Dualer APT's (something like that) on my DAK 4x4 and these have to be
some
of THE worst tires I've ever used (yes, even worse than the stock
Goodyears).
These things will break loose on wet pavement EASY, even with light
throttle. Driving in snow last winter, they were not confidence
inspiring
tires. In 4x4 the truck was still very squirrelly down the road. This
isn't
radical, typical crazed 4x4 driver stuff we're talking about. Just 40
mph
in about 2 inches fresh snow on the highway.
Please don't anyone take this as me trying to bust on Bridgestone. I'd
always heard good things about their tires, so when my local NTB didn't
have the Goodrich Radial A/T's in stock, I took the Bridgstones...."
-Hmmm. Very interesting...I rarely ever get a complaint on a
Bridgestone (other than that
they cost almost as much as a Michelin!) I have 6 sets of Bridgestones
on my vehicles,
every one I own including my motorcycle has Bridgesones.
I have driven on 4 sets of Dueler H/T's, 1 set of Dueler A/T's, and
I'm about to try out
the new Dueler H/L. I've never had a second thought about traction,
especially wet
weather traction. My 4X4 had the H/T, not the A/T on it and it plowed
through a foot of
snow without a second thought.
I can only think of 2 things-
1) what are the chances that you are running the air pressure at
max inflation, and not at the recommended air pressure for your
vehicle? If the tires are too high, it can affect traction.
2) The Dueler APT is a tire manufactured by Bridgestone for the
Sears automotive group (which
includes NTB) and they were manufactured to Sear's specs to reach a
certain price point also. They
do not offer the Uni-T technology that the FTSC center tires sell, which
affects wet weather traction.
But still...this shouldn't change things that much.
If I were you, I'd go back to NTB and express your dissatisfaction and
see if they'd be willing to make a deal and put something else on. At
least give them a chance and maybe they'll surprise you.
BTW-if you buy Duelers from the Firestone Tire and Service Centers
(FTSC) you get a 30 day test drive that guarantees your complete
satisfaction (sorry, couldn't avoid the sales pitch!!!)
Patrick
guess I oughta set up a signature file one day
Firestone
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