I have been researching AT tires for well over a few months and had it narrowed down to a handful of tires. That handful had me teetering back and forth for a few weeks alone. In the end, I finally decided on the Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ Radial. What precipitated all this was the fact that last year when I tried to pull someone out of a ditch (in the snow), my OEM Pirelli's just spun. Fortunately, an F350 dually drove by. We just connected my tow strap to his hitch and it was over in a just a few minutes.

I was lucky when installing the AS 2" leveling kit since the outside temp that day was in the low 40's. This allowed my garage to stay a balmy 57, so I wasn't cold a bit that day. This was followed up by an alignment. I had called Discount Tire to see if they could order the BAJA ATZ in a 305/55/20. Their first price was pretty steep. They eventually price matched what I saw them for on an internet site (which was VERY reasonable BTW considering what this tire normally goes for). They also gave me a nice credit on my OEM Pirellis since my truck only has 17K on the odometer.

My short term observations :

After living with these tires for just about two weeks now, I have made some legitimate observations about them. Before I start, let me first declare what I was looking for from an all terrain tire.

- Good tread life
- As quiet as possible
- NO rubbing/interference issues
- Good handling/ride characteristics
- Sick looks

I went into this knowing full well that I was going to have to make some compromises if I wanted an AT. My truck is more luxury oriented for me. It's a bonus that it can tow my Mustang to the track and haul practically anything I need when building things. I had a set of BFG AT KO's on my 2000 Lariat Scab , and those were the best tire I ever had! Why didn't I go back to them for my 06? Well, that was over seven years ago, and a lot of new players plus innovations in tire design have cropped up since then.

Are they loud? Well, they are definitely audible vs. the Pirellis. I would say they are no more audible than the BFG's.

All reviews/reports I have read on them have indicated comparable wear to the BFG's, and we all know they wear VERY well.

Looks are obviously a subjective thing, but I think they look much better than my BFG's.

As large as they are (305/55), they do not rub (well, just barely at full lock....b*a*r*e*l*y). This is precisely why I choose NOT to go with the 325. I'm not a fan of tires which protrude from the wheel well/flares. These tires are only 15mm wider on either side than the 275/55 Pirellis which were on there before. I really wanted a 285/65/20. The narrower tire would have worked out better in the snow, but unfortunately, Mickey Thompson does not offer the BAJA ATZ in that size.


Here's a question for all those who have installed a taller than OEM tire on their 04-08 F150 (w/out a programmer or gear change)........

Have you noticed that when driving, the tranny seems to take much longer to upshift than before? I have noticed that the tranny stays in 2nd or 3rd much longer than previously. This equates to reduced MPG's real quick.

Can the typical tuners (Edge, Gryphon...) correct this?

Now for the pics :

 

 

you know RMS...I've never actually seen your truck posted up before.


those tires do look nice. My neighbor has a 2wd lifted with those tires in the 35"


what's up with the KR hub caps?

 

truck looks great!

When it comes time for me to buy tires I'm pretty sure i'm going to go with the Mickey Thompson's

 

I had those tires on my 2004 F150. they were awesome until I rotated them. The fronts wore really funny, probably due to my Autospring, and when I rotated them, they made the worst (loudest) whoomp-whoomp-whoomp sound I have ever heard from tires in my life. My recommendation to you is to make sure you rotate them every 2500-3000 miles. Just my $.02. Here's a picture of mine with those same tires.

Removed because the the picture was too big. I guess everyone can't afford a 30" LCD monitor running 2560x1600. It was nice and small on my screen. Even my laptop runs 1920x1200 and makes that picture seem small.

 

These trucks are just hard on front tires period.

Dang Freeky, re-size please.

 

You're a real piece of work, and always have been.


I bet your crap doesn't stink, eh?



Sorry rms; those tires really look awesome. Price?

 

I think they look better with the color of my truck ("smokestone", sort of a champagne color) than the other OEM hubs since the AB is a little bit darker than the SS.

 

I actually read something from someone else regarding the same thing. Interesting. I was planning on rotating them at 5K intervals, but perhaps every 3K is a better choice?

THX

 

i loved that truck

eh.....

 

Those are some good looking tires.

I almost had myself convinced to hold off pulling the trigger on some 5100's and 305/55's (Until I actually needed new tires), this thread did not help...

 

Great looking tires! I'm interested on seeing how much better they are in the snow than the stock Pirelli's. I think anything would be an improvement over those tires. I know some people like them, but unless it was hot and dry, I didn't really have a good experience with them.

I've been running the ATZ's for almost 10,000 miles now. Getting ready to rotate them again sometime in January. I rotated them at 5,000 and didn't have any problems. I have a cousin that has been running them on his truck for a few years now. He likes them and they've been wearing great for him. So far I'm liking them a lot!

 

I just got my first shot at seeing how well they do in the snow.

We were driving through the subdivision tonight and there was a snow drift covering 3/4 of the street. It was ~ 20-30 feet long and high enough to pack snow into the bottom of my bullbar and fog lights! So yeah, it was a pretty high drift.

I hit it from a roll and then started progressively giving it more gas since I could feel the truck dragging. It made it though just fine. I know that those Pirelli's would have left me stranded in my own neighborhood, in -7 degree weather! Pretty cold here tonight.

 

Okay, so your rotate them every 5K vs 3K. Then again, you have a real lift kit installed too, not a leveling kit. Those 35's look incredible with that 4" lift!!!! AWESOME stance!

 

Nice truck