BFG Trail Terrain tires decent enough?

[JAsh1967]

Over the weekend, discovered it's time for some new tires on the Jeep. As we tow a camper in the summer with the Jeep, and between us, gas, tongue weight of the camper, plus stuff tossed in the bed, well, weight matters, so I had to rule out AT tires.

I'm planning to put on a set of the BFG Trail Terrain tires, which are close in weight to the stock Dueller H/Ts, does anyone have any insight on these tires? We do some "light" off roading, mostly either an ORV park near us, or some of the ORV trails up north (Gaylord State Forest area, very, very, very sandy) which the Duellers handled fine, so I expect the Trail Terrains will as well.

I'm also swapping out the stock wheels (5-spoke aluminum) with a set of Method MR705s or 703s, does anyone happen to know what the stock wheels weigh, ballpark?

The last question, should I also plan to swap out the spare tire (never used, thankfully) as well?

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[smlobx]

The only comment I can provide is that if your replacement tires are the same size as the OEM’s than your spare should be fine.

 

[JAsh1967]

The only comment I can provide is that if your replacement tires are the same size as the OEM’s than your spare should be fine.

Good point and something I should've put in my original post, thank you.

Yes, I am sticking to the same size tires as the stock tires.

 

[InvertedLogic]

I'm also swapping out the stock wheels (5-spoke aluminum) with a set of Method MR705s or 703s, does anyone happen to know what the stock wheels weigh, ballpark?

Not sure about the Sport wheels, but the Rubicon 17x7.5 wheels weigh roughly 23lb each. Really hard to beat with an aftermarket wheel, especially any wheel that is 8" wide.

 

[JAsh1967]

Not sure about the Sport wheels, but the Rubicon 17x7.5 wheels weigh roughly 23lb each. Really hard to beat with an aftermarket wheel, especially any wheel that is 8" wide.

Presuming the Sport S are about the same, the Method wheels I'm looking at are only about 20lbs (total for all 4) heavier (about 5lbs each)

 

[Sweetums]

The Trail Terrain is what I'd consider to be a street/highway tire, just like the Bridgestone Dueler. It would be fine for driving maintained dirt roads, but I would step up to an All Terrain tire if you plan to spend more time off pavement. These are tires I'd consider for a crossover or a truck that almost never sees dirt beyond a graded road.

And don't buy another set of Duelers, those are one of the weakest tires on the market that's supposed to be fine for off road use. I've never met anyone who drove on dirt who didn't have a problem with them. On one trip a JK Sahara managed the blow the sidewall out of that tire on a smooth sandstone ramp with nothing nearby that could have caused a puncture. The sidewall just spontaneously failed.

 

[JAsh1967]

@Sweetums I'd love to go to the BFG KO2s, but I can't afford the weight difference, not if I want to stay within spitting distance of the payload / max GVWR of the Jeep when we've got the camper hanging off the back.

Hindsight being 20/20, if I'd known getting the Gladiator would lead to us getting a camper, I'd have looked for one with the max tow package (ours just happened to be the one on the lot with the tow package, I didn't even KNOW we had it until I started looking)

But, it is what it is and I can't change it now. Best we can do is, when we load up for a camping trip, go through what's getting loaded with a fine-tooth comb and be ruthless about what we bring.

 

[audibahn]

I tow heavy and pay attention to all weights.

The stock black wheels on my Gladiator were 22lbs. Mojave wheels are 25lbs.

Stock AT Duelers were 33lbs each. Hard to find another tire that light. In my research, Yokohama Geolandar G015, Toyo Open Country AT3, and Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S were the lightest tires with a less aggressive all terrain profile.

 

[red/green hawk]

Over the weekend, discovered it's time for some new tires on the Jeep. As we tow a camper in the summer with the Jeep, and between us, gas, tongue weight of the camper, plus stuff tossed in the bed, well, weight matters, so I had to rule out AT tires.

I'm planning to put on a set of the BFG Trail Terrain tires, which are close in weight to the stock Dueller H/Ts, does anyone have any insight on these tires? We do some "light" off roading, mostly either an ORV park near us, or some of the ORV trails up north (Gaylord State Forest area, very, very, very sandy) which the Duellers handled fine, so I expect the Trail Terrains will as well.

I'm also swapping out the stock wheels (5-spoke aluminum) with a set of Method MR705s or 703s, does anyone happen to know what the stock wheels weigh, ballpark?

The last question, should I also plan to swap out the spare tire (never used, thankfully) as well?

FWIW, I put trail terrains on our suburban which carries my most important cargo...my wife and kids.

They are great on the highway and are just as good in off-road situations I have driven them on in the suburban. Most notably a pretty hairy loose gravel steep (10%? Or greater) grade that i needed 4 Lo to get up near Orofino, ID.

I considered them when buying a new set for my JT. But they don't come in the size I wanted (285/75/17).

 

[Sweetums]

@Sweetums I'd love to go to the BFG KO2s, but I can't afford the weight difference, not if I want to stay within spitting distance of the payload / max GVWR of the Jeep when we've got the camper hanging off the back.

Hindsight being 20/20, if I'd known getting the Gladiator would lead to us getting a camper, I'd have looked for one with the max tow package (ours just happened to be the one on the lot with the tow package, I didn't even KNOW we had it until I started looking)

But, it is what it is and I can't change it now. Best we can do is, when we load up for a camping trip, go through what's getting loaded with a fine-tooth comb and be ruthless about what we bring.

Unless you are in a place like Australia that actually checks, the tire weight shouldn't matter much. Unsprung roatating mass is going to affect braking and acceleration, but all that weight is unsprung, so it won't affect spring compression and will have little effect on damping settings.

I would look at some of the Maxis tires, they have several real AT tires that are on the lighter side.

 

[JAsh1967]

I want to say I've seen discussions about the whole "sprung weight" vs "unsprung weight" devolve into near religious wars, when it comes to "does it count against payload" LoL

Thank you for the suggestion of the Maxxis tires, as well!

 

[sarguy1941]

We put the trail tire on my mothers renegade and they appear great for normal driving and an occasional dirt road or two. I actually went with the KO2 on my Gladiator but in E rating. Stiffer sidewall was night and day towing my trailer. Sadly they have 75K on them and its about time to replace. Definately plan to the BFG again but may step up in size as we got rid of our camper.

 

[JAsh1967]

So on Tuesday, plans were set in motion...

A set of Method MR705s (WHY did they discontinue the MR706s?) and a set of BFG KO2s.
Now, the waiting for the wheels to arrive at the shop (should be next week)

@sarguy1941 I especially liked reading in your comment about " Stiffer sidewall was night and day towing my trailer." Between that and a video of a guy towing a big 5th wheel camper with a truck with KO2s, alleviates some of my anxiety towards towing our camper with them.

 

[sarguy1941]

There are 2 different KO2. One is E rated and one C rated. My work truck has the LT (C) ones which makes ride nice but always look buldged when loaded.

 

[JAsh1967]

@sarguy1941 I just checked the tires I ordered, they're the E rated tires (whew)

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