New tires: Bridgestone Dueler APT4 and ongoing review.

[That1Guy]

Well after some retardation on my part trying to deal with Onlinetires.com and not being able to pick up the tires I really wanted, I headed out on a search. This search landed me at Sears of all places. I was looking around for tires and the associate came up to me and said, "you want the Bridgestones". I questioned him on why, then we started talking about Borrego and I decided his opinion is valid. I went back and fourth for a couple hours calling other places trying to get prices on comparable tires but to no avail, the Bridgestones were starting to sound worth it. Normal price was 202 something not including mounting and balancing, sears is having a sale on tires and with him giving me an extra 30 bucks off the total we got to 717.00 OTD. He then threw in a free 90 day road hazard warranty, no big deal but hey ITS FREE. Got them mounted and balanced and ready to go in a little less than an hour and here is what they look like. Pretty much a sears version of the revo and in person seems a tad more aggressive than its counterpart(revo). And these ar 255/70r16s I could have probably gone up to the 255/75/r16s without much trouble.


I then drove home all tense to get some sodas and water before heading out to test them. The drive home in itself was a million times better than with my bald ass BFG AT's and halfway assured me I made a good choice. So me and my buddy headed out to a couple local trails, still pretty muddy from the rain, and went in. Got all the way in and to a hill. Tryed going up and it was a no go. Started to second guess myself and decided to check the tire pressure. 50 PSI No way I would make it up like that, so I let it down to about 35-6 and decided that hill wasn't ok for a single car trip and went elsewhere in the same area. the sidewalls were starting to flex and break in so now the mud was starting to clear itself like it should. I then proceeded to find some hills that had defeated my BFG's when I played there last in the dry dirt. The Bridgestones got me up it and I startd to feel them spin, then I felt the clunk of the diff locking and kept on truckin all the way up (about a half mile trail that I could back down if need be).

All in all with the little trail time I would say that these tires will end up being better than the BFG's. Cant wait to see what they can do in Borrego when it dries up a bit and the snow this Friday if there is any on the local mountain.

Here is two more cell phone pics of before we finished for the day.
(immediately after I let air out and before they started to flex)

(before I found the big pile of mud)


Will get better pics of the mud all over my car tommorow before work and better shots of the tread.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Not a bad looking tire there. Should last you a long time.

[Trail X]

Should last you a long time.

Could be a blessing or curse.

Are those considered A/Ts?

[HARDTRAILZ]

Curse...Yep. I sometimes wish I had an excuse to buy another new set of tires, but from the looks I will be using these for awhile.

I would venture to say they are a street tire. Not really an at, but decent enough tread they should be ok for minor off pavement adventures.

I tried to get ahold of my dad earlier, he had a similar set of duelers on his z71 and he really liked them until they got under half tread and he hated them. Said they had no traction anymore. Trying to see if they are the same ones.

[That1Guy]

Should last you a long time.

Could be a blessing or curse.

Are those considered A/Ts?

What the guy said is its an all terrain, with more condensed tread, for better street manners. and with the little bit I have done so far thay are better than my BFG's when they were at 35% tread which is when I got them. So they should last a long time. And these are the apt4 and as far as I know, only available at Sears. So we will see how they do, and in the meantine I will use and possibly abuse them while looking for something alot more aggressive and possibly find another set of rims.

[foosh]

Thats probably what I'm gonna do, run my A/T's around town then get another set on a different rim for Wheelin weekends!

[That1Guy]

Thats probably what I'm gonna do, run my A/T's around town then get another set on a different rim for Wheelin weekends!

yeah, it sounds like a good idea, as so far this set seems to be getting decent mileage. But only this weekend in the snow, and a Borrego shakedown will tell me if another set of tires and rims is neccessary.

[Philberto]

Those look look sort of like the Dunlop Radial Rover AT's I had on my old blazer:




They were pretty decent tires, though they didn't fare so well in the thick mud. Good for dirt and stuff though.

Looking forward to see how they'll do in Big Bear in the spring! I'm working on finding some places to go up there if you're game.

[That1Guy]

Those look look sort of like the Dunlop Radial Rover AT's I had on my old blazer:




They were pretty decent tires, though they didn't fare so well in the thick mud. Good for dirt and stuff though.

Looking forward to see how they'll do in Big Bear in the spring! I'm working on finding some places to go up there if you're game.

Well Im asking for a snowboard and pcm tune for xmas, since I dont need wheel spacers right now, so more than likely I will be down!

[Philberto]

That reminds me, I still have to send mine in... bought the tune back during their Labor Day sale and still haven't claimed it!

[MrSmithsTB]

looks like a fine deal. I hope they serve you well. What didn't online tires have, if you don't mind my asking? I would have gone for the Hankooks if I went that size

Thats probably what I'm gonna do, run my A/T's around town then get another set on a different rim for Wheelin weekends!

I really like the street driving of my tires. I'm thinking about picking up Mario's rims and the Federal Couragias for my off road setup. After the new year, of course.

[That1Guy]

That reminds me, I still have to send mine in... bought the tune back during their Labor Day sale and still haven't claimed it!

yeah Im hoping they have a christmas sale, which im sure they will.

looks like a fine deal. I hope they serve you well. What didn't online tires have, if you don't mind my asking? I would have gone for the Hankooks if I went that size.

they didnt have the Coopers that Phil has, they were on back order.

[Trail X]

That reminds me, I still have to send mine in... bought the tune back during their Labor Day sale and still haven't claimed it!

yeah Im hoping they have a christmas sale, which im sure they will.

I still say they are over-rated. People claim great improvements because everyone else does and they don't want to admit they wasted their money. Kinda a placebo effect.

[That1Guy]

yeah Im hoping they have a christmas sale, which im sure they will.[/quote]

I still say they are over-rated. People claim great improvements because everyone else does and they don't want to admit they wasted their money. Kinda a placebo effect.[/quote]
Thats why im gonna get in on a sale. Give it an honest non biased opinion, and see how I like it.

[Philberto]

We'll see how it works. If the problems are dependent on model year, then I should be fine. That, and if it doesn't work, it still won't be the worst thing I've ever spent $100 on.

-edit: My bad, I think I spent $75 or something... don't remember to be honest.

[janesy86]

I still say they are over-rated. People claim great improvements because everyone else does and they don't want to admit they wasted their money. Kinda a placebo effect.

I have to disagree with you on this... i noticed much improvement once it was tuned. It has more pep in it when you step on the gas for sure but, not much difference in mileage.

I also don't know for sure if they fixed the speedo when I sent it in for a re-tune once I got the MT's. And during the time that I had my stock PCM back in while waiting for the tuned one to be returned I hated how it drove. Was happy again once I got the tuned back in.

[HARDTRAILZ]

[quote="JamesDowning....I still say they are over-rated. People claim great improvements because everyone else does and they don't want to admit they wasted their money. Kinda a placebo effect.[/quote]

Not over-rated at all. Shifts are greatly improved. Keeps torque convertor locked up on the interstate where it used to kick out. Over 1 mpg increase. Feels stronger, likely due to improved shifts. Speedo is on up to 40 then is off by a bit, but way less than without. Instant throttle response in comparison to the original hesitation.

For the money it is a great mod. I think you need exhaust and air intake to fully get the advantages, but I had them done already and neither gave the seat of the pants feel the tune did. Well worth 120 bucks.

[That1Guy]

Well went out and had a little more fun, aired down these things are bitchen!! Did a little more offroading and are still better than my oldies. Heres some pics of the tread and some of the dried mud from earliers adventure.

[That1Guy]

So delivering pizza in the rain all day with delivery after delivery not even close to spinning out once. Even went to one place where with my old tires would spin on the pavement unless I did anything other than idle around the uphill turn. I floored it and the tires went maybe two whole rotations and got traction, even in the POURING rain.

[foosh]

Dude you shouldn't be spinning out or really even spinning at all. I have drag slicks on my trans am and have been out in rain a couple times and with nice easy driving nothing happens.