2 years ago my brother gave me a set of BFG ATs for Xmas, they were used and had some interesting wear but they still had a bunch of tread so i was very happy for the tires. After 2 years of use and 20k miles the ATs were DEAD. Even in the lightest rain they were rather scary at this point! So i knew it was time to shop for new tires.
I try to be $ smart when i look for parts. When $ has to be spent to get a quality part i do, but if there a money saver options that are quality i will definitely give it a try. When I was looking for tires i wanted something aggressive and capable of whatever i wanted to throw at it, and handle MN winter. The more i looked the more my wallet was hurting. I had heard of Treadwright Tires on the Liberty Forums so i looked into them. After seeing their prices, searching various Treadwright reviews on the internet, and asking around, i decided to take the plunge and order a set.
I Decided to go with the Guard Dogs in 245/75r16. From what ive read the on road wear was actually really good on these if you rotated them with every oil change. The deciding point was that the Wardens (BFG ATs) were on a very long back order, and I wasnt thrilled with the ATs in bad weather. So i ordered the Guard Dogs.
Once i ordered I wasnt billed for 2 days and i saw on their website that the tire i had ordered was now on back order (it wasnt when i ordered it). So i contacted them and they got back to me immediately, letting me know that i was number 9 in line and my tires would be shipped in a week or 2. I was sad and hoped it didnt snow in the mean time but in the large picture i didnt think a week or 2 was that bad. Only a day or 2 after hearing that news i was billed on my credit card and i got a tracking number for all 4 tires!!!!(guess i didnt have to wait a week or 2 after all). The tires arrived a day ahead of the tracking number.
First impression. These tires Look amazing! The tread pattern looks great and deep. The seem where the retread is attached looked really clean. Unless your were looking really close you would realize its a retread. One mistake i made (but not a big deal) was i didnt ask for matching casings. I received 3 wrangler kevlar casings and 1 wrangler rubber casing. No biggie i plan on ordering 1 more tire in the future and specifying for a kevlar casing.
I have a buddy that works at a Toyota dealership so i brought the tires to him to mount. The tires were pretty heavy and the Kevlar tires werent the easiest to mount, but in the end it all went very smoothly. Using Treadwrights balancing instructions all 4 tires balanced out good, and well under their specified limits.
These tires look amazing! They are pretty heavy but doable. Might need to trim a little bit more but ive been driving around just fine as is. I thought these tires would hum pretty bad on the road. but they really dont. there is some hum but not nearly as bad as i thought, and the radio easily covers it. Im glad i went with 245/75r16 anything larger just wouldnt fit, the Treadwright Tires run a little larger then stated. So far I have about 120miles on them. Ill post up soon with more results on how they perform.