Advice on Big Bend tire upgrade

[spittle8]

Hey guys, I'm expecting my Big Bend to get here sometime in February and am curious about upgrading the tires. I've been reading old posts on the forum non-stop trying to get spun up to speed on this vehicle, its capabilities, and upgrades near and far, but I really haven't got a clue on tires and I'm realizing it may be the most impactful upgrade I ever make to the truck.

My use case is as follows. I will be commuting about 14 miles to and from work at an average speed of about 50mph, country roads. We don't get much snow or ice and I don't anticipate moving north anytime soon unfortunately. I plan on splitting commutes 50/50 between the Bronco and the Focus, but will occasionally drive 200-400 miles for camping and backpacking in the Bronco so road manners are consequential. I'll be using the Bronco to get to places I couldn't get to in my Focus during deer season, and with this vehicle I'll be doing way more outdoors stuff than I had been. It'll be driven on the beach (cautiously), in muddy ruts, on wet grass in soft ground, and on dirt trails. I do want to get into some organized off-roading and will be linking up with guys who do that sort of thing, but only to get some 4WD skills in case I need them, I don't anticipate becoming a regular recreational off-roader.

I want solid off-road performance in mud and sand, serviceable performance in snow and ice, with as little impact to fuel efficiency over the stock tires as possible. Don't anticipate serious rock crawling, but I would like to be able to get over some obstacles and traverse dry riverbeds in some cases. I'm willing to lose a couple MPG's, but I would rather not see the fuel efficiency drop by 4+ MPG over the stock tires. I understand they're very light, though.

I was looking at 285/70R17's. The Mickey Thompson Baja Pros sound like the best tire for off-roading that aren't super aggressive, but I have no idea how bad they are on the road or on efficiency. Don't think I mind some extra road noise if it isn't extreme. Open to any and all suggestions, thanks everyone!

edit: I have 4.46 gearing with rear lockers. 2.3l 7MT

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[old goat]

I have 275/70/18 coopers load E . mine is a BigBend with OBX wheels ( I like the wheels ) these tires are a true 33" tall, 4.27 rearend , 2.3 turbo , gas milage is a respectable 18ish plus on hi way . smooth ride , very happy with my choice . have this for 1.5 yrs now
they make these in 17'" too. ( I think )

good luck on your choice

 

[Brian_B]

I have MT Baja Legends on mine and they have been a good all around tire

That said when these are done probably moving to Wildpeaks or Baja Bosses for 3PMSF

 

[RagnarKon]

So you have two options.

If you just want the best all-around tires... you'll want an All-Terrain tire. Lots of options... some of the most popular:

• Toyo Open Country A/T III
• Falken Wildpeak A/T3W
• Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T
• BFGoodrich T/A KO2
  • My personal favorite
  • Stock tire on Badlands (non-Sas)
• General Grabber A/TX
  • Stock tire on Black Diamond (non-Sas)
• Milestar Patagonia A/T Pro
• Nitto Terra Grappler G2

If you want to lean more towards the mud terrain, then you'll want a hybrid All-Terrain/Mud-Terrain tire (commonly called "Rugged Terrain"). Doing so will increase road noise slightly, decrease snow/ice performance a bit, and you'll get slightly worse fuel economy, but it will perform better in mud, sand, etc. Hybrids don't have many options, but below are the more popular options:

• Nitto Ridge Grappler
• Toyo Open Country R/T
• Falken Wildpeak R/T
  • My personal favorite
• Kenda Klever R/T
• Milestar Patagonia A/T R
• Mickey Thompson Baja Legend EXP

---

A third option, is just embrace the road noise and fuel economy hit, and go full Mud-Terrain tire, but based on your description and on-road requirements, you probably will not want to go that route.

 

[Fishwrinkle]

i will say, the baja boss is a trail leaning tire that does good on road. well thought out and designed tire, worth every penny. i don't like nitto compounds as they're too hard and not good in wet in my experience. the general grabber at/x that came stock on my blk diamond are really impressive on and off road. looking at the tread i was very doubtful but they did get me through desert, swampy area's and everywhere in between. 16psi i found for most stuff i was doing is the sweet spot.

 

[spittle8]

I have 275/70/18 coopers load E . mine is a BigBend with OBX wheels ( I like the wheels ) these tires are a true 33" tall, 4.27 rearend , 2.3 turbo , gas milage is a respectable 18ish plus on hi way . smooth ride , very happy with my choice . have this for 1.5 yrs now
they make these in 17'" too. ( I think )

good luck on your choice

Which Coopers? I used to live near a Cooper tire plant and am fond of the company so wouldn't mind picking up a pair.

Thanks for the replies y'all.

 

[RedDawg]

I have a stock Big Bend and have not had any issues with the OEM tires. I am a “moderate” off roader (sketchy FS roads and random easy trails).
When I upgrade, it will be to the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W to 255/80R17 for the little bit of extra clearance and their snow rating

 

[old goat]

Which Coopers? I used to live near a Cooper tire plant and am fond of the company so wouldn't mind picking up a pair.

Thanks for the replies y'all.

Discoveries AT3 XLT

 

[calx]

I have a stock Big Bend and have not had any issues with the OEM tires. I am a “moderate” off roader (sketchy FS roads and random easy trails).
When I upgrade, it will be to the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W to 255/80R17 for the little bit of extra clearance and their snow rating

Same here. I haven't felt the need to upgrade the OEM tires w/ a Big Bend

 

[dgorsett]

I ran the Bridgestones for a year and was quite happy with them, but I can't leave things alone. I got Falken Rubriteks, 265/70x17. Almost the same as a Wildpeak, just a hair milder and slightly cheaper. 285s would be good too.

 

[EruptionBronco]

I have 285/70r17 Falken Wildpeak AT3W in load range C and am happy with them. They fill the wheel wells much better than the stock tires, look great, handle well, and are capable off road. You will need to order the Badlands rubber tailgate tire supports as the 285s are wider than factory.

My Big Bend below in Moab before I upgraded the suspension.

 

[thesocalexplorer]

I went the 285/70/17 KO2 route, and absolutely loving them. I mainly do desert and mountain fire trail type offroading. Not much rock crawling, but the KO2s have served me well. And I really love the way they look. Road noise is not much different, and I can't really tell a difference at all from a gearing perspective. I rarely use 6th gear to begin with, as I'd rather stay in the power band vs. lug the engine.

The big bend looks infinitely better on a set of 33s. I've taken an approx. 2-3 mpg. penalty from the stock tires, but it's well worth it.

 

[Skip176]

Hey guys, I'm expecting my Big Bend to get here sometime in February and am curious about upgrading the tires. I've been reading old posts on the forum non-stop trying to get spun up to speed on this vehicle, its capabilities, and upgrades near and far, but I really haven't got a clue on tires and I'm realizing it may be the most impactful upgrade I ever make to the truck.

My use case is as follows. I will be commuting about 14 miles to and from work at an average speed of about 50mph, country roads. We don't get much snow or ice and I don't anticipate moving north anytime soon unfortunately. I plan on splitting commutes 50/50 between the Bronco and the Focus, but will occasionally drive 200-400 miles for camping and backpacking in the Bronco so road manners are consequential. I'll be using the Bronco to get to places I couldn't get to in my Focus during deer season, and with this vehicle I'll be doing way more outdoors stuff than I had been. It'll be driven on the beach (cautiously), in muddy ruts, on wet grass in soft ground, and on dirt trails. I do want to get into some organized off-roading and will be linking up with guys who do that sort of thing, but only to get some 4WD skills in case I need them, I don't anticipate becoming a regular recreational off-roader.

I want solid off-road performance in mud and sand, serviceable performance in snow and ice, with as little impact to fuel efficiency over the stock tires as possible. Don't anticipate serious rock crawling, but I would like to be able to get over some obstacles and traverse dry riverbeds in some cases. I'm willing to lose a couple MPG's, but I would rather not see the fuel efficiency drop by 4+ MPG over the stock tires. I understand they're very light, though.

I was looking at 285/70R17's. The Mickey Thompson Baja Pros sound like the best tire for off-roading that aren't super aggressive, but I have no idea how bad they are on the road or on efficiency. Don't think I mind some extra road noise if it isn't extreme. Open to any and all suggestions, thanks everyone!

edit: I have 4.46 gearing with rear lockers. 2.3l 7MT

I went the 285/70/17 KO2 route, and absolutely loving them. I mainly do desert and mountain fire trail type offroading. Not much rock crawling, but the KO2s have served me well. And I really love the way they look. Road noise is not much different, and I can't really tell a difference at all from a gearing perspective. I rarely use 6th gear to begin with, as I'd rather stay in the power band vs. lug the engine.

The big bend looks infinitely better on a set of 33s. I've taken an approx. 2-3 mpg. penalty from the stock tires, but it's well worth it.

I have 285/70/17 on the Bronco Rousch wheels BFG ko2 with the 2.3 and do pretty much the same commute and love the ride on road and we get snow and stuff up here and they work great

 

[amurphy9276]

I went with Hercules Terra Trac X-Venture. I live in West Texas not much snow or ice. On the road I can't even tell that they are all terrain. They also come with a 60,000 mile guarantee. I've had them on 3 different vehicles now and absolutely love them.

 

[spittle8]

Sounds like I should be fine with the stock Duelers then.

The Falken Wildpeaks, Mickey Thompson Baja Boss, and the Cooper AT3 all sounds fine. Any input on the difference in off-road performance between stock tires and something like those? Any tires I specifically should avoid? From some of the things I've read, I'm going to stay away from KO2's.

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