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All Season / Winter Tires

Old 02-28-2014, 09:28 AM
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Originally Posted by masi242
Mac, does a leveling kit wear on any of your front end parts faster, Current tire 265/70/17 so would the next size up be 285/70 17.
Depends how much you are raising the front. I've got a 2" level on my 2010 F-150 FX4 so I can run 33's and if I had to do it over again I would go a different route. The upper ball joint angle is too steep for my liking as well as the CV joint angle. The CV's will most likely be fine but I am sure the upper ball joints will need to be replaced 20K - 30K sooner than they normally would,

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Old 02-28-2014, 01:23 PM
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Originally Posted by masi242
Mac, does a leveling kit wear on any of your front end parts faster, Current tire 265/70/17 so would the next size up be 285/70 17.
Not Mac but you can find tons of threads on dieselplace.com if you are asking about GM trucks. From Knot 4 me's response it appears Ford would be similar.

Yes, a larger tire will wear front end parts faster even with everything working properly. Unsprung weight increases substantially. Set a 265 and 285 side by side and pick them up....

Speaking from my decision with a 2008 gmc 3500 to NOT go up in tire size for vanity sake.
If you try to do it half azz with a cheap crank to "level", angles are all jacked which will significantly wear front end parts and ride will be noticeably worse.
If you don't add shock extenders or get a shock with proper travel you will trash the shocks fast which will make the ride even worse.
NorCal Truck's Stage 5 "Standard" level kit which includes UCA, idler/pitman braces and 4 shocks runs $1100.
http://norcaltruck.com/index.php/com...arent,18/pg,1/
Add installation cost or time and the fact larger tires cost more.
I figured the vanity of slightly larger tires would cost me about $2,000 plus decrease mpg 1-1.5.
Kept my stock 265/70/17 and never looked back. Ran my truck on some pretty intense fire trails around Breckenridge and didn't feel a leveled front would have handled anything greater than my stock.

Last edited by ChargeIt; 02-28-2014 at 01:26 PM.
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Old 02-28-2014, 05:29 PM
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Originally Posted by glassdave
Same here, BFG AT guy for life. I just put a set on my 94 Bronco, man those things have a tenacious grip in snow. I have had them on the last five or so Broncos and Explorers and get similar miles out of them (70k ish). Just for kicks i priced other budget tires and even if i went with the cheapest comparable tire in the same size it was only like a hundred forty in savings over the BFG's. Not worth it for me, although i will say this i did have a set of the Mastercraft AXT's on an Explorer and, although not a great off road or snow tire, it wore pretty well and was a pretty good road truck tire.
I hate to disagree with the master, but I may have to here - with some qualifications. I too like the BFG AT's - but only in a narrow width and only in deep snow. On ice, they'll scare the hell out of you. Of course since they wear like iron, they'll do that in every icy condition you run into for many years to come!

Call me crazy, but I have 3 complete sets of tires for both of my vehicles. I have high performance / fat / sticky / wide tires on fancy aftermarket wheels for the summer. I have the OEM / factory All Season wheels & tires for fall and spring. Then I have a full set of skinny / tall Blizzaks for the winter. Yea, it's a lot of tire changing, but man is it worth it!

BTW: We average 100" of snow every winter up here, so my situation might be a little different that the OP's.

Last edited by Too Stroked; 02-28-2014 at 07:28 PM.
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Old 03-01-2014, 05:12 PM
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I have have run the Cooper ATs in the past and loved them. Cooper makes a great tire. I have their 19.5s on my dually, and am running the AT3 linked above on my Dodge 2500.

The BFG AT KO does set the standard, but they are the noisiest in the class. No complaints other than noise and price when I had them on my Tahoe years ago.
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Old 03-01-2014, 08:03 PM
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I’m also a big fan of dedicated winter tires. I’ve always run studded winter tires on my previous vehicles and loved them. At the time, I couldn’t get studs for my Escalade EXT so I went with the Bridgestone Blizzaks based on their reviews. I guess they do OK, but they don’t hold a candle to a good set of studable Coopers, etc… I run the studded Cooper Weather Masters on her SRX and that thing is a tank! It’s a little more money up front to buy wheels, sensors and tires but it sure is nice to be able to swap them back and forth in 15 minutes as needed.
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Old 03-08-2014, 03:15 PM
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I've been running the Cooper AT3's through this horrendous Michigan winter we've been cursed with, and haven't had to put it in 4WD.... which is really good, because I don't have 4WD. After about 8k miles, they show little to no wear, they're reasonably quiet, and I got the $80 rebate Visa several weeks ago. I'll be buying another set when these wear out or I get a different truck with the magic button.
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Old 03-08-2014, 04:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Speedracer29
I've been running the Cooper AT3's through this horrendous Michigan winter we've been cursed with, and haven't had to put it in 4WD.... which is really good, because I don't have 4WD. After about 8k miles, they show little to no wear, they're reasonably quiet, and I got the $80 rebate Visa several weeks ago. I'll be buying another set when these wear out or I get a different truck with the magic button.
I will have to look at these for my 2500 Avalanche as I need new tires soon,

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Old 03-09-2014, 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted by wannabe
I will have to look at these for my 2500 Avalanche as I need new tires soon,
Wannabe

[ATTACH=CONFIG]519972[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]519973[/ATTACH]

Installed on my Dodge errand/beater truck.

I've seen them on a few trucks locally, and I have to say, they rival if not surpass the BFG AT KO in the looks department as well.
Attached Thumbnails All Season / Winter Tires-468660_4397415774279_2112568553_o.jpg   All Season / Winter Tires-537023_10200342243179426_291855788_n.jpg  
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