BFG MT Snow performance + pics

**Titan1080** · 12-30-2005, 01:18 PM

So I was a little bored today and decided to do a little photoshoot of my truck out in the snow, which turned into a photo essay about my tires. The parking lot outside the engineering building at school where I work had a fresh blanket of snow after being plowed early this morning so I moved my truck and put down a fresh set of tire prints. The results and findings turned out pretty good, as you'll see below.

The tires in question are LT285/70R17 BF Goodrich MTs, load range D. I currently have them inflated to 50 psi and have had them siped. To the uninitiated, siping on tires create extra griping edges, which helps a great deal on a mud tire. Due to the large lugs, there aren't as many griping edges per unit of surface area, compare an all terrain tire to a mud terrain and the difference is obvious.

This pic shows the effect of siping on the tread. I'm not sure if the method my local tire shop used is according to some industry standard or if tire shops all have there own way of siping. From what I heard on this forum, the price for this service ranges from $10-20 dollars/tire. Mine were done for $13/tire. Siping also helps extend the tread life of the tire by allowing the tread to flex and give more than it could if it was not siped, thus reducing wear.

The snow depth was ~1.5 inches, camera angle makes it difficult to spot in the pic.

Here is a measurement of contact width for the outermost shoulders that made contact with the snow. This was ~10 inches in width. The print probably would have been more apparent if the snow was deeper.

This measurement is of useful contact with the road surface. The tale of the tape is about 9 inches. Note that a width of 285 mm equals 11.2 inches on a tire calculator. This is the end of part 1.

**Titan1080** · 12-30-2005, 01:39 PM

Here are a couple of pictures that show some more detail of the tire print. If you look closely at the picture below, you can make out impressions that run perpendicular to the path of travel of the tire. These impressions were created by the extra gripping edges of the siping.

In the shot below, I made a somewhat sharp turn in the parking lot. I was going maybe 10-15mph in 2wd and felt slipping during the turn. I got out and had a look at the print and the front tires had only slipped maybe half a tread width from the original path of travel.

Conclusions: After two winters out here on my old Bridgestone 245s, I would have to say that my on road performance in snow has improved very little with the siped BFG MTs. The old 245s were AT tires and nearly 2 inches narrower, creating more pressure for the griping edges to use against slipping. The problem I had with those tires was when the snow got really deep, they tended to sink, in one case, enough to high-center the truck. My new MTs haven't exhibited this problem yet, but when properly aired down, this risk can be minimized. I drove on the tires a great deal before I had them siped and can say that my traction in accelerating and braking situations has definitely improved in wet and slippery conditions. However, siping did not improve traction in situations involving turning. I have yet to see if using 4wd in turns was improved by siping. It seems to me that it would, since the turning wheels are receiving power to help move the front in a different direction than the back. Anyways, hope this information is useful to any and all and I welcome all comments, questions, related experiences, as well as corrections and criticisms. Enjoy!

vector6 · 12-30-2005, 02:02 PM

50 psi..... geesh...

ewxlt · 12-30-2005, 05:44 PM

correct me if i'm wrong, but the 285/70/17 is about a 34" tall tire, correct?

and the 265/70/18 that's stock on the non-OR package is 32.4" tall?

Deepwater · 12-30-2005, 05:58 PM

I have the BFG KO'S on my f150, they have about 10k miles on them and I slide all over the place in the snow with them.

Now they do have better traction then the Goodyear RTS'S that came with the truck but not as good as the REVO'S that my brother has on his F150.

He dose not even have to use 4 wheel drive to keep his truck from sliding around on him.

When they come out with the 285's for the Titans there going on my truck.

This is the best all around traction tire you can buy in my opinion!

Deep.

Batman229 · 12-30-2005, 06:29 PM

Your tires are supposed to dig into the snow to get to the pavement. If they don't your just stuck on top of the snow with your tires spinning in little holes they dig. My last truck had MTs and they kick complete *** in the deep snow. They dig in and throw snow everywhere. I had them on a frontier and there was nothing I couldnt rock myself out of (forward, reverse, cut the wheel, you probally know) in the snow. Last winter I got my titan stuck a whole bunch of times in less snow too! The locker and and limited slip front dont do anything when your tires dont eat into the snow. Thats playing around though. Normal driving the stock tires are fine. Just my .2cents

**Titan1080** · 01-04-2006, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewxlt

correct me if i'm wrong, but the 285/70/17 is about a 34" tall tire, correct?

and the 265/70/18 that's stock on the non-OR package is 32.4" tall?

A tire calculator will tell you that a 285/70/17 is ~32.7". BF Goodrich lists the Mud-Terrain LT285/70/17 as a round 33". See the attached data sheet.