I only had my goodyears on for 500miles so my opinion on them my differ from those who had them longer.
Also I drive an s2000 day in and day out so steering response on this truck sucks no matter what tire you put on it.
Ok all joking aside.
Goodyears:
-Steering response seemed to be ok. Actually quite good for a heavy truck.
-Snow traction was ok (what I would expect for an all season tire).
-Noise level was not noticeable at all (windows closed, its cold here).
-Higher speeds on the hwy (80-90mph) was fine. No shake but the truck did want to wander (follow contours in the road).
I'm not sure why this tire received such a bad review. Possibly because I only drove on them for aprox 500 miles.
BGF AT: (285/65-18) about 400miles now
First off these tires look amazing on the truck. So a right out of the box improvement.
-Steering response actually seems a tad less responsive than the goodyears. RED BRAWN SE CC mentioned the sidewall having a 3 ply construction but with such a high sidewall (185mm = 7.28") and 5000lb of truck sitting on them, an extra ply is not really going to make that much of a difference for response. Don't forget the tread on these tires are deeper so tread squirm is also a factor in response. Now a side affect was less tracking on the hwy. The truck likes to point straight now rather than follow the contours of the road which is a great tradeoff.
-Snow traction is a 10x improvement. This was the most noticeable difference with these tires. Braking, accelerating, tracking all 10x better. Select 4W Low, point straight and mash down on the throttle. For the most part this beast will pull fwd just like it would on dry pavement.
-Noise level is slightly increased but again not really noticeable with the windows up. At hwy speeds with the radio off you can hear a slight hum but it's a soothing sound if you ask me. I have caught myself turning the radio down to listen to it
-Higher speeds on the hwy feel more luxurious now. It's hard to explain the feeling but think of it as being more comfortable now. Now I must admit with high winds it does feel like you have a little less control than with the goodyears. I suspect since the tires have a little more room to squirm due to the tread depth.
All in all this was a great purchase. If you live in an area that does see snow I would recommend swapping out the goodyears on delivery if possible. As for you guys in the south. I can't really make any recommendations whether to keep these on or not. I have no idea how they would hold up with more than 500miles on them.