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 Post subject: Firestone Destination A/T
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:31 pm 
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Location: Midway, Utah
Back in May I purchased five Firestone Destination A/T tires to replace the stock Goodyear SR-A’s that came with my Liberty. I now have over five thousand miles on the new tires including a lot of running around town, driving through severe weather (tornadic winds and flash flooding), three thousand mile road trip to a southern Utah ski resort, and some off-road trail running.

Out with the Old
After almost 61,000 miles, the only good things I have to say about the Goodyear’s are that they were reasonably quiet and they lasted along time. Too long. By the time I got rid of them I hated them. On dry roads and off-road their traction was poor to average. When roads got wet, the tires were downright dangerous. When it rained the Liberty turned into a hydroplaning, fishtailing monster and I needed to use Part-Time 4WD just to keep things under control. Good riddance to them.

Decisions. Decisions, Decisions
Buying new tires is always a challenge and deciding on the Destination A/Ts took some time. This vehicle is primarily a family-hauler. Lifts and monster tires were out of the question because my wife drives our Liberty as much as I do and the current seat height is about at her vertical limit of what she'll tollerate. This is also a commuter vehicle, so I didn’t want to worsen the already poor gas mileage situation. At the same time I wanted a tire that did well in severe weather and had enough bite to confidently do a little off-road. The compromise tires are, of course, the All Terrain category. Early on I eliminated the king of this category, the BF Goodrich A/T TA, because of price and its propensity to hydroplane on wet roads at freeway speeds. I read a number of good reviews of the Destination A/T. It was praised for being quiet, traction, and highway characteristics.

Choosing the Right Size
I chose the slightly larger P245/70R16 tires over the P235/70R16 stock size to get that extra half-inch of diameter. Like every Liberty owner, I’m irritated by the low-hanging engine/oil pan skid plate that seems to hit everything – even a quarter inch gain in clearance has got to help. Contrary to other owner’s experience with this size tire, I have had zero rubbing. However, I also did a half inch clevis lift a couple of years ago that might be the difference.

First Impressions
My first impressions were overwhelmingly positive. These A/Ts look much better than the SR-As with their highway tread and ribbed sidewalls. The A/Ts look like they want to tear into the countryside and the larger size fills the wheel wells more fully. They looked even better after I drove them through a little mud. The tires definitely help de-feminize the look of the Liberty.

Image

I expect the Destination A/Ts to deliver better off-road and severe weather traction. What I didn’t expect was that the ride quality would be improved. It is. Significantly. Every little crack or expansion joint in the pavement used to rattle my fillings. I’ve thought that I would eventually buy squishier springs when the current ones wear out but the ride is so improved that now I don’t think that I need to.

The down side to improved ride is invariably in control, or at least the perception of control loss. There are some new unintended body motions with these new tires but nothing dramatic. The new tires have a fifth ridge compared to the four-ridge treads on the old Goodyear Wrangler SR-As. That extra ridge right in the middle of the tread adds improved tracking and highway control. So while the Liberty feels dynamically a little softer, it actually has improved handling.

Tornado Alley - June 10, 2009
After weeks of impatiently waiting for a big north Texas rainstorm the heavens finally opened and I got the opportunity to test the new tires on wet roads. And did it ever rain - 7" in two days. I was driving home from dinner with my wife when it started raining. The sky was charcoal gray and veined by spikes of lightning. It had just started when I pulled onto the I-35E northbound frontage road from a cloverleaf exiting Corporate Road in Lewisville. It is the slickest stretch of road that I am aware of and I have gotten sideways in half a heartbeat at that same spot with the old tires. The rear end did get a little loose and kicked about 10-degrees off my track before I backed off the throttle and regained traction.

Within minutes the frontage road was flooding as it was raining faster than the water could drain. The wind was blowing the wind horizontally and bushes along the road were violently whipping back and forth like you see in hurricane footage. I didn’t find out until later that I was driving right between two tornados, one in Flower Mound a couple miles to the west and one in Plano a few miles to the east. As I drove up the frontage road I stayed in the right lane where the water was at its deepest. I plowed through with complete confidence and control. At no time did I think I needed to use the four-wheel drive.

Finally I got on the freeway and threaded my way under an overpass that other drivers were using as a shelter. I got up to speed and cruised along at 50-60 mph without a hint of hydroplaning. Before I got home and ran a couple of emergency stops and found the tires had enough bite that I really had to pound on the brakes to provoke the ABS. Again, what a difference. At their best, the Wrangler SR-As never did half as well.

Road Noise
One of the big selling points was how amazingly quiet the Destination A/Ts are, as far as A/T tires go; so said several professional reviews. When the tires were brand new I detected only the slightest hum between 40 and 45 mph on new concrete highways. However, as the tires have broken in, the humming has become louder and noticeable across a broader range of speeds, from 35 to 50 mph, and on every road surface. I actually would have expected the tires to become quieter over time as the sharp factory edges wear off, but the opposite has been true.

Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the increase in road noise is a constant irritant. Driving in traffic to and from work, I spend most of the time listening to the tires buzz. Nonetheless, I’d make the same choice again without hesitation. Life is full of compromises. So I turn up the radio. I wanted a more aggressive tire and I got it. In every other respect they outperform the SR-As by a wide margin on and off the highway, wet or dry. The ride quality and handling improvements of the tire are truly a pleasant surprise.

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 Post subject: Firestone Destination A/Ts
PostPosted: Fri Sep 04, 2009 8:00 pm 
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Destination A/Ts are a good (not great) tire for on-road, wet-weather, and "light" off-road applications. I cannot recommend their use for even moderate off-road use.

I chewed through a set of these in under 10,000 miles and cannot say they are good on rock, in gravel ,or mud. They just cannot hold up to the abuse.

I replaced them with a set of General Grabber AT2s that I have been very happy with.

Don't use Wrangler SR-As or STs as a point of comparison for anything because they are what one expects from cheap OEM tires.

However, based on the fact that, from your description, you will be using them on road most of the time and not trying to do any significant off-roading, the Destination A/Ts should last you in good stead. I found their on-road behavior a vast improvement over the SR-As or STs that most Libertys came with.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:52 pm 
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I've had my Destination A/Ts for almost a month now. They are a vast improvement over the stock Wrangler HPs.

Smoother ride, better cornering, way better grip on gravel roads and they don't spin on wet asphalted roads.

They are going to rock this winter. I can't wait for the first big snow fall. Especially in Full-Time 4WD.

They aren't rated the number 1 A/T tire on tirerack for nothing. Nice job Firestone!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:03 pm 
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They do kick some stupid in the snow.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:59 pm 
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I ran a set in the 245-70-16 size before I lifted and for a short while afterwards, great all around tire, very quiet, did great in snow and even a little off road, of course they are no mud tire.
Had over 25,000 on when I sold them with over half tread left yet! For the money they do great!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:16 pm 
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see people say there "not for mud" but ive seen alot of mud with these and they do Very well IMO

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 Post subject: Re: Firestone Destination A/T
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:39 pm 
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Update
I now have about 15k miles on these tires and have lived with them for about a year. My opinion of these tires has evolved somewhat so I thought it was a good time for an update.

Snow and Ice
The area of north Texas that I live typically sees more ice storms than snow, but this has not been a normal year. We had at least three major snow events with road accumulation. I can now say for a fact that these tires absolutely devour snow. For the most part, I was able to get around on the white stuff without engaging 4WD. I really only needed it when I was horsing around. With the Goodyear SR-As I would have had it in 4WD the entire time and still been sliding around.

As for ice... ice is ice and these tires aren't studded. Nonetheless, I haven't driven a car without studs that performed better.

Mud
I had occasion to do a little wheeling a few weeks ago through some backyard swimming pool-sized mud puddles that were deep enough to swamp a little water over the front of my hood (thankfully not sucked into my air box!). The tires had no problem digging into the thick Texas clay mud and keeping me moving, not bad for tires that aren't mudders.

Road Noise II
By far my biggest complaint with these tires has been the road noise. It got so bad that it was giving my wife headaches if she spent too much time in the Jeep. It got to the point that I had concluded that for all of these tires' virtue, there was no way I would never buy them again.

And then I rotated them. At ~10K miles I did a 5-tire rotation and the infernal buzzing all but went away. I thought it might return once the tires wore in at their new positions on the vehicle, but that has not been the case. I suppose I've now worn deeply enough into the tread that whatever harmonic was causing it to buzz before is now gone.

Conclusion II
So now my opinion of the Firestone Destination A/T has come full circle. Would I buy them again? Absolutely. They are ideal for severe weather and moderate off-roading, and, now that they have stopped humming, they are outstanding highway tires. However, next time around I think I will rotate them earlier to try to squelch the road noise sooner.

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 Post subject: Re: Firestone Destination A/T
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:11 pm 
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I don't understand how your tires are loud. Mine have more noise then stock tires I would say but definitely not noticeable with the windows up and radio, not blaring loud either. Maybe try different PSIs...


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 Post subject: Re: Firestone Destination A/T
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 4:37 pm 
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Yes and rotate sooner
I do mine every 3 to 4000 miles helps a lot

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 Post subject: Re: Firestone Destination A/T
PostPosted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:41 pm 
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yea I would definatly agree about rotating them about every 4K miles

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 Post subject: Re: Firestone Destination A/T
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:56 am 
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I would add a flowmaster exhaust to get rid of the tire noise. :jester:

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 Post subject: Re: Firestone Destination A/T
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 3:31 pm 
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Requiem
In December, after 3 ½ years and 51K miles, I replaced my Firestone Destination A/Ts. I got 10K more miles out of the OME Wrangler SR-As, but I was miserable with those awful tires almost from the beginning. I normally rotate all 5 tires on my vehicles that have a full-size spare. As expected, the tires made less noise as they wore down. The treads were also worn down enough that they didn’t offer much bite off-road, but the rubber compound was soft enough that it continued to offer outstanding on-road traction, even on wet roads. For the price, I’m happy with 51K miles from these Destinations A/Ts.

Other than wear, there isn’t much to add regarding the tire’s performance. I did spend a week running around the dunes and beaches of Galveston Island, Texas, which I have not previously written about. I was as happy with the tire’s performance in the sand as on alpine fire roads in the Rocky Mountains or in snow.

The outermost layer of the sidewalls is very thin, maybe .25mm to .33mm, and appears to be a cosmetic veneer. About mid-way through the life of the tires, some long cracks developed in this sidewall layer on two of the tires. Their appearance was worrisome and I kept a close eye on them, but they never got worse.

Recommendation
These tires greatly improved the traction performance of my KJ on highway, mud, sand, snow and dirt without compromising on-road performance. In fact, the Jeep ride was improved by tire, as was highway tracking. They were somewhat louder, but I learned to manage that by rotating the tires more frequently. In the end I liked them well enough that I bought them again.

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 Post subject: Re: Firestone Destination A/T
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 5:59 pm 
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Yep you need to rotate often,at least every 3k-5k with more aggressive tread then stock type tires(highway tread).


I rotate my MT/R's every 1500 miles and have almost zero noise,kinda pissed about that as I like noisy tires.


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