BFG Sidewall Issues

[Jeffrey]

Your tire must have been abused. I have been using BFG's on all my fourby's (Landrovers, Troopers, Landcruisers, SMB) for 25 or more years. Never had a problem.

[Greg In Austin]

We specifically stayed away from the BFG tires because of all the problems reported. The SMB is a different animal because of its weight. I don't think it is an apples to apples comparison to look at BFGs used on other offroad vehicles. Because of the weight it seems a lot of folks are running their tires at or very near the max pressure all the time. This theoretically should not be a problem, but when airing down for off-road work, that tire has an opportunity to heat up and thus age. When you are back at close to Max pressure on the aged tires... possible problem.

We went with a larger tire that is load range E beyond what we might need and will carry that at a lower pressure. We hope this can thus avoid premature aging and other problems.

[NRL]

Second Vote for BFG's..

They are good. Both AllTerrains and MT's. Have them on my FJ80 Landcruiser, buddies Baja Bug and other Van. All have been to in interesting terrain: mud, lava sharp rocks, etc..
The BFG MT's are noisy though on the highway/freeway.

How ever, I would like to try the new Toyo Big Country MT's.. Heard good things..

[Christopher Thwaites]

I've also had excellent service from BFG's. After more than 100+ k miles on 2 sets (I'm 1/2 way through the second set) I like them. BUT, my vehicle only weighs 4500lbs. I am a week away from the purchase of an E350 RB V10 which will be converted by Quadvan. I'll be choosing tires and wheels and I'm leaning toward BFG's. I haven't gathered all that much negative on them. What kind of real world miles should I expect out of a set on a 9000lb. + van? Anybody have some comments. I'm probably going to drive 20k miles per year and 90% will be highway.

[2much8ntenough]

Originally Posted by mbachani

2 rips opposite of each other in the sidewall just below the tread.

I'm with Mike - sounds like impact damage, or a "snake bite."

Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350

Usually when you have sidewalls tears opposite each other it was caused by hitting something (4x4 on road, curb, pothole, etc.) hard enough to pinch the tire between the obstacle and the rim. Low tire pressure makes it much easier to do. The tears can show much later. Maybe even the previous owner did it.

Mike

[BroncoHauler]

Been running BFG's for years on my Bronco, FJ60 (now sold), and for the one year I've owned the SMB. Very long wearing and well performing tires.

That said, I'd rather be running Goodyear MTR's (American owned company). BFG is owned by Michelan which is a French company.


Herb

[myriadmyriad]

Greg has a point. You cannot compare tires unless the vehicle is the same. 10000lbs on the rocks is a whole different deal than 5000lbs. Rocks(5 inch to 10 inch) torture tires compared to gravel roads. I have been going off-road with 10000 to 11000lbs trucks for years. BFGs are not durable enough for heavy vehicles(off-road) I've had multiple failures. BFG does not win Baja with their ATs or MTs(they have their Baja racing tire,which I have used with no failures but it only last for 14000 miles.)

Of course this is my opinion and experience.

Jeff

[scatter]

I've also been using BFG A/Ts on my 4x4s with no problems. I've run them on Jeeps, Bronco's, trucks and on my last 4x van and this SMB too. Only problems have been flats from nails, keys, screwdrivers, etc. which I patched on the wheel with Safety Seal and then go on my merry way. I do a LOT of dirt, gravel and mild rock running with my SMB and a good portion of it is in Baja with pretty nasty roads. I run with tire pressure in the low twenties (see another post) with a pretty good tire bulge and have never sliced a sidewall. But, there ain't a tire out there that can't get a sidewall slice.
Whatever, I run 'em, love 'em and will stay with 'em till I start having problems.
I agree with Herb on French stuff, but I am making an exception in this case.
Did you hear the one about the young Frenchman and the .... No, no - this isn't the place for that.

[mbachani]

If any one is still paying attention to my orginal post, I think I finally figured out what caused my flat tire on my way back from San Diego last month.
Yesterday I was installing wheel locks and and a locking gas cap on my SMB when I saw to my dismay that the left front tire was almost flat.
I was like what the heck is going on here because I hadn't driven the van more than 50 miles since I brought it back to Tucson and hadn't driven it in more than a week. Plus the tire was fine the day before.
I dragged out the compressor and hooked it up and thats when I saw that the valve stem was shot. I checked all the remaining tires and all the stems were shot.
So I'm pretty sure that my first flat was caused by the valve stem leaking on my way back from CA. and the tire slowly went flat.
The holes I mentioned were on the same side of the tire top and bottom so to speak, not on opposite sides of the tire. [inside -outside]

Bob in Tucson