Who should I blame for these POS tires on my new Bronco? Goodyear Ford or both?

[Lil Red Broncette]

It happened something like this.

It was the fall of 2019 and a very senior and experienced tire tread engineer on the Bronco project had done an analysis of the tread characteristics that most captured rocks to avoid those items for the off road tires he was designing.

Pandemic hits, he decides it just easier retiring and besides work was becoming a pain with having to meet impossible commitments and carry the load when the younger engineers were starting with as much vacation time as it took him 45 years to earn.

Bronco team isn't told he retired and they been thinking he was still working on it till.

Six months goes by, there been two manager changes. Someone finally follows up and discovers engineer is gone. A fresh out college grad is assigned the project and given a senior engineer to see assistance from as needed.

Fresh out grad looks thru the work and discovers the analysis the prior engineer did and thinks there it is, the work is done, cause the tires that capture rocks the best is exactly the best for off road.

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[2020FordRaptor]

The GY on my SAS really suck! I live down on the farm in Iowa and I have 3/4 mile of gravel road I picked new Bronco up and drove home. These pictures are from less than one mile on gravel road; each tire has over 100 rocks stuck in the tread. The tires are terrible this should not happen; this has to be bad engineering in tread design. WHO SHOULD I BLAME FOR THESE POS TIRES ON MY NEW BRONCO? GOODYEAR? FORD? OR BOTH?

I have had many F150 and SUV have used BFG, Falken, NItto, Bridgestone and none of these tires would pickup rocks. Yes maybe 1 or 2 or a few but not hundreds of rocks! Ford did you drive pre production Broncos on gravel with these tires? If you did and approved these tires you better get your heads examined!

Ford please send me a check now so I can replace them. Message me I will give you my address to send check to.

Blame Goodyear.

 

[4runner]

known issue ... means don't complain about it its a Bronco its immune to all issues !

 

[F150rubyred]

Nothing, it's just whining. Gravel comes in different sizes so no matter what the spacing of the lugs are someone will be unhappy.

You have no clue do you! Yes all tires will pick up some rocks some of the time but these are insane I think someone said earlier. I have lived on gravel 35 year and have had many aggressive tires on F150 and SUV and none of them were even close to this. I mentioned other brands of tires I have had and never have I complained about any of them for picking up rocks.
So I will just ignore your ignorance!

 

[Bronco cat]

You have no clue do you! Yes all tires will pick up some rocks some of the time but these are insane I think someone said earlier. I have lived on gravel 35 year and have had many aggressive tires on F150 and SUV and none of them were even close to this. I mentioned other brands of tires I have had and never have I complained about any of them for picking up rocks.
So I will just ignore your ignorance!

The ignorance is not understanding the design specification of the tire. Goodyear set out initially to design a road quiet all terrain tire that was 3 peak rated. They almost got there but missed the certification by a slight margin. The territory is designed to have excellent wet and snow/ice characteristics something no one on here that has KO2’s can say. The downside of the softer tread compound and narrow tread block design is they pick up rocks. Add to that all the sipes cut into the tread (which gives the tire great ice/snow/water grip is there are more places to pick up rock. I’ve got 11k on my SAS, the GY’s are surprisingly quiet, yet have had no problem rock climbing and off roading. They are significantly quieter than any off road tire I have used and are very sure footed in rain and snow/ice. I’ve got a couple rock chips on the side of my truck but I also have had flaps, running boards and the pinch weld armor. I would gladly trade a few rock chips for the added traction and security as well as lower noise. Dogging these tires cracks me up especially for some of the hot garbage people are suggesting as replacement. And when people start spouting off about the load rating…… unless you are some truly off road hard core enthusiasts the C rating of the GY are fine not to mention everyone doesn’t seem to take into account all the 10,000 of thousands of miles these tires ran during development of the bronco. They are no more prone to punctures as the KO2 or most other tires in the class.

 

[privateer35]

Yep, thats them... Many, many posts on how bad they are with throwing rocks. Good thing is the aftermarket heard us and there are several mud (rock) flaps available now but, shop wisely... Many are junk and have a bad fit.

Which have the best fit? Looking for some

 

[Thiskers]

After just 2500 miles I've noticed they pick up substantially fewer rocks than they did when brand new.

I'm just going to hang on to them until they are wore out. Done fine in mud and some other offroading stuff. Haven't had any issues in the rain. Don't live in an area that gets snow.

 

[KPLOBX]

I went with 315/70/17 KO2’s. Do they through rocks? Yes, but not nearly as bad. I also get 22+mpg.

Wow. What MPG DID YOU GET WITH THE GOODYEARS?

 

[prospectfour]

Wow. What MPG DID YOU GET WITH THE GOODYEARS?

It amazes me what people are getting for milage on this forum. My OBX non-sas is getting 18mpg with mixed use. If I absolutely babied the throttle I could squeak out 20. But 22mpg tells me you only drive downhill

 

[PaBronco]

You have no clue do you! Yes all tires will pick up some rocks some of the time but these are insane I think someone said earlier. I have lived on gravel 35 year and have had many aggressive tires on F150 and SUV and none of them were even close to this. I mentioned other brands of tires I have had and never have I complained about any of them for picking up rocks.
So I will just ignore your ignorance!

I call those tap dance tires. Play around with your pressure and see if that helps.

BTW, what PSI are you currently running

 

[Motoxslow]

23 years up and down a gravel road, sometimes thru several feet of water. The 21 Wrangler I sold prior to the Badlands also threw rocks like crazy. Put mudflats on Bronk the first week but already have a few paint chips from a few 40 mph rocks. It’s the ones that release over 60 mph that make the most racket. But when our road floods over the two foot mark, I’m glad I have the fat tire grooves to get through the muddy trail emergency exit.

 

[Last Ride Bronco]

I run them on my Jeep and truck, they are great on and off road and last 60k plus miles ..

Which tires are you referring to?

 

[Brockdog12]

Since most Broncos won’t see dirt, replace them with a nice highway tire. Problem solved.

 

[Mountain Mike]

I also drive on gravel everyday and was in disbelief at how many rocks these tires pick up and throw. I keep a small flat head screw driver in my door mesh and pop the rocks out every now and then. I dealt with the problem by adding mud flaps, wide tube steps and rocker guards. Some people say they don't have this problem and then you realize they live in places that don't have gravel. Oh and the people that say that all off road tires throw rocks the same are just ignorant. Some tires have much better designs and some have rock ejectors that really work. I'm gonna be putting on a set of BFG KO2s or MTs. The KO2s threw 90% less in my experience. My 2 door rubicon got 60K miles on a set of BFG MTs.

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