I have the stock tires on my 04 Screw (255/65/17). I was looking at the BFG Long Trails (265/65/17). Does anyone have any experience with this tire? Will the size difference make any difference in the ride? Seems like a good tire


Any other suggestions? I am looking for a good value tire that rides well with good mileage. I don't take it offroad at all so that isn't an issue, although I do like the rougher look of the AT tires. I do not want to replace the wheels.....

The price quote I got to replace all 4 was $535 installed from Costco..


Thanks for any assistance...

Steve

 

I think Costco is one of the better places to byt tires, look for nitrogen service.

 

I buy most of my tires from Costco, have to order for the coupe and the motorhome, but they will do that.

Have you thought of just buying some nice Michelin take off tires/rims in that size? Save a lot of money, get some spare rims.
I needed a tire lately, road hazard, and the tires were 180 bucks apiece locally, and take offs were 300 for four with rims and caps...
Chris

 

Forgive my ignorance, but what are takeoff tires/rims???

 

When someone wants other than the factory tires and/or rims, they take them off and replace them with aftermarket rims and tires. The "takeoffs" are usually still new.

 

Wouldn't that be more money than just buying tires??

 

More money than just buying one tire. Not two.

If you need four it's almost always a heck of a lot cheaper. Down side is that a lot of factory tires are Hankook, Contrac, type tires. The ones I have bought have been BFG Long trails on 18inch Lariat rims, with caps, brand new.
For 300 bucks that ain't bad for four.

I sold 4 17 Michelins for 300, with the STX mags, including caps and lugnuts.
There are some with 8 k for sale for 200 in this forum. You live to far away for that set, but check your local free sheet, and dealerships and see if you can get a good set for very little money.
Or go Costco if you want. No bad answers on this.
Chris

 

Ahh, ok - I understand now. Thanks.... Where do people post stuff for sale?

One other technical question - I am going from 255/65/17 to 265/65/17. I am going to notice anything different about the drive of the truck? Power? Gas Mileage?

 

Try the classifieds in both the big F-150 forums, post a want to buy (heck, it's free)

Well, in english you want to go from a tire that is
10 inches wide,
by 6.5 inches per side
on a 17 inch rim,
so 30.0 inches tall by ten wide,

to a tire that is 10.4 wide
by 6.75 inches per side
on a 17 inch rim
for 30.5 inches tall by almost 10.5 wide.

So that's about the jump I made going to my 18 Lariats.
It means you can feel it on take off, if you are real sensitive.
If you aren't, you won't.
Sounds like a nice safe size.
The almost half inch wider will make no real difference. Just remember to keep them properly inflated as the wider tire on the standard rim performs better with more air.

You probably won't notice any difference, unless the tires themselves are a lot different. Example, go from Hankooks to Michelin and you will think some swapped trucks with you...
Chris

 

You probably won't notice any difference, unless the tires themselves are a lot different. Example, go from Hankooks to Michelin and you will think some swapped trucks with you...
Chris
I will second that statement, I put 18" Lariats w/BFG Longtrails on my truck, the Michelins I took off were a much better (quality) tire IMO.

 

I looked at both the BFG and the Bridgestone Dueller AT Revos, and went with the Revos based on the comments area at the Tire Rack. What a major difference they have made on my 2005 Screw 4x4. Although I do have to admit that the tires I replaced were the factory General's and going to anything would have been a major step up. Just FYI, but this is my 3rd Super Crew that came with Generals, and these only lasted 250 miles before I dumped them.

Bow Wow

Bowser

 

Say Anaheim what kind of problem do you have with the Long Trail? I have put two sets on my truck.

I corner very aggressively, do a lot of high speed freeway and low speed roads that put a goat track to shame, and I didn't notice any degradation when I went from the Michelins (2000 miles) to the Long trails.

The quality seems good, and the cornering is about the same. Ride got a tiny bit softer, but not enough to make any difference.

Michelin makes both Long Trails and their own tire, but they do use different criteria, so you would expect some differences.
So I am wondering what road conditions, ride? Make you unhappy with them?
Thanks
Chris

 

There are reviews all over the place when it comes to tires - Chris, it seems like you've been happy with the BFG Long Trails? One of my concerns is how they handle in the rain - plus one site I read thought that the tires wore out quickly...

 

swinokur, I'm afraid tires are like oil and filters, etc. A religious experience if you know what I mean...

Every review on tires ends up with one guy that says they disintegrated in 5000 miles, rode terrible etc. The next guy says he has 100,000 miles on the same tires and they are great...

That makes it very hard to research tires.

Best bet is if they hate the tire, or really love the tire, ignore the review.
A guy that gets ten nails in his tires will post about how bad the tire was.
A guy that loves a nice new car will post about how wonderful every part of it is.
It's called the 'halo' effect.


On truck tires the big thing is rotating them. Ford wants it done about every 5-6 k. I think they are right. If you change oil at 5k, schedule both. Or rotate every second oil change if you go 3k on the oil.

Someone that has a front end out of alignment, bad shocks, never checks the air etc. will ALWAYS blame the tires.

I checked 400 reviews on Long Trails before I got the Lariat tires.
After filtering nonsense, both pro and con, I found they reviewed pretty well.

Not as good as the best grade tires, much better than the poor brands/models.

The Long Trail tires are 'optimized' for long life.
That, by the way, is why the name is 'Long'.
BFG naming isn't very original...

To maximize life span you make the rubber harder. Soft rubber handles better in hard cornering. So in theory they don't handle as well as a tire that is not intended to last as long.
This is on the margins.
All the decent tires will last 30,000 miles.
And all of them handle well enough for the major car makers to put them on 30-40 thousand dollar trucks.
Post Firestone debacle that means something.

I like the Michelins, but after I changed to the Long Trails I truly never noticed a decline in handling, and that's in a truck I toss around like a sports car.

One factor, on my truck I went from 17 inch to 18 inch, almost the same diameter, but a little wider.
18 inch rims handle tighter than 17 inch in the same size.
Since I went a half inch wider you would expect the same handling or better.

So perhaps if I had made the jump to 18's but got Michelin tires it would have handled better than the 17 Michelins.
Again, it would only be on the edge, high speed cornering.
And only possibly, I haven’t broken these tires loose yet, and I usually double the speed limit signs on sharp corners.

I was nervous about the rain handling, having seen the same reviews that you saw.
This year we have seen more rain than any time in the last century. I drove it back and forth to LA through heavy rains four times.

The tires were great, and that's in rains that turn the road slippery with oil float.
That's also in very narrow roads and steep hills in Echo Park.

On defective tires, I have had a defective Z rated Michelin, bad from the factory.
They replaced it, after I had a serious problem with it.
Every maker can make a bad tire.

In summary, I like the Long Trails; I think they are a decent all around truck tire.
They are not rugged tires, if you need aggressive tread they are not the ticket.

If you want true high speed corning tires, look at the Dunlop/Pirelli/Michelin soft tires.

If you just want a decent priced good looking tire that will do its job on your truck, the Long Trails are a fine choice.

That all said, I would pay 20 bucks a corner to put on Michelin tires, assuming everything the same.
But then, I admit that I have a ‘religious’ preference for Michelin…

Chris

 

I paid $400 for my 18" Lariat "take offs" with brand new Good Year Wrangler A/Ts, so no, it's not always cheaper to buy just tires. My local dealer does factory installed lifts with aftermarket tires and wheels, so they have alot of take offs. As a matter of fact, when the tires I have get worn, I will try to buy another set of take offs, keep the tires, sell the rims, and recoop some of my money.