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.
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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William C Montgomery
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