I put a set of these tires on my 1998 TRD in early 2003. Now 7 years and 25,000 (yes, 25,000) miles later they appear to have maybe another 5k miles left on the tread.


They wore evenly and were balanced and rotated annually, and I (being an old fart) don't drive aggressively.

The tread is pretty chewed up and I doubt that I have more than 500 miles of actual off-highway use on them.

From everything I've been able to read in the various forums these tires wore pretty quickly. BTW they are great tires!

Any ideas why I got so few miles out of them?

 

They're soft, and honestly I think they're pretty crappy. For the money those cost, you can do way better. I've never liked those, or really most any bridgestone for that matter. I'm not saying this because my XXXXXX brand of tires is way better than yours kind of attitude, I'm saying this because I work for Toyota, I see cars/trucks/tires every day and can tell you from a factual standpoint that they suck.

I don't like michelin's for myself, but they ride good, balance well, and will usually dry-rot before you wear them out.
Goodyear's tend to ride very nicely, balance out very nicely, but wear out before the michelins will.
Toyo's will last nearly forever much like the michelins, but cost a fortune too.
I've personally always liked Kumho's... They ride good, last a good while (My last set I sold to a buddy with about 60% tread and about 25k on them) and they cost half of what a michelin or bridgestone will.


Your tread was pretty chewed up because you "balanced and rotated annually". Toyota recommends their oil changes and tire rotations every 5k miles, which I believe is way too long. You can go 5k on an oil change, but EVERY car brings in feathered or chewed up tires. They really need to be rotated every 2500 miles maximum, especially if you have an all terrain or mud tire. I rarely let it go to 2500 miles before I rotate them on my truck.

 

I appreciate your candor. I do like the performance and ride of the Bridgestones, I don't much care for the price, and I certainly don't like the wear rate. The combination of those two effectively double the cost of the tire!

The tires that came with my 1998 TRD that I bought new from the dealer produced a condition almost identical to unbalanced front tires. Before I took delivery, I requested a different set of tires, and the dealer complied. Still had the problem. Dealer said the wheels were checked for balance prior to putting them on the truck.

I asked to test-drive another 1998 Tacoma. No vibration, but that truck had a different brand of tires. I bought the TRD (it was a special order and afew weeks later I took it to two different tire shops to check the balance. Neither shop could find any problem.

Since rotating the wheels didn't change the condition, I just lived with it, figuring it was the combination of that particular type of tire and my particular TRD suspension.

I finally bought the Revo tires after 25k on the factory tires and I immediately noticed a huge difference: The steering wheel was vibration-free at all speeds.

I had bad luck with the BFGs on my 1987 4WD truck. One was shaped like a football, and two more (out of a total of eight tires) had to be balanced on the truck. Even then I had some vibration.

I thought my tires were chewed up because most of my off-road driving is in extremely rocky areas high in the mountains. You know, those little rocks about the size of a basketball and that have razor-sharp edges and lotsa pointy corners...

So I don't know. Truth be told, I think I'd rather have a root-canal than buy another set of tires of any brand. It would be cheaper and much less painful, and after a few days I wouldn't even know I had it done!

Thanks again for your reply.

 

Supposedly the goodyear MTR Kevlar tires are supposed to be really good, especially at dealing with those jagged rocks... However for me personally, I'd stick with a set of TSL's or Irok's that have been proven time and time again

 

At 7 years the tires are gettign a bit old and need replacing anyway but like was stated before maybe earlier rotations might make a diff. I rotate my A/Ts every 4000 miles and I got almost 45k out of my Nittos and I off roaded quite a bit with them. Also maintain your tire pressure which should be checked at least once a month.