Factory Bridgestone tires

[windhorse]

Are these good tires for towing & snow? Are they the same as firestone?
Are the michelins considered better?
Questions. Have never owned any of these.
Michael

[JimWilson]

With the consolidation of the tire manufacturers the past few years there aren't really many of them left. IIRC, Bridgestone and Firestone are the same company now, but they still make different tires.

Michelins are generally regarded as good tires, so I doubt you'd go wrong buying anything from them. For light duty (1/2 ton pickups and SUV's) I've had excellent luck with Dunlop

[NutNbutGMC]

^...Michelins...'Nuff said.

[Inspector]

Ditto on the last post.

[Colorado Kid]

I have the B'stones on my truck, and they did better than I expected given the tread pattern in the snow last spring. They've given me no trouble towing, but I'm not all that close to max. (25' 5th Wheel, old, no slides, maybe 7,500#). What they are not good in is sand! The fronts cut right in like plows and the rears wont grab or dig. I wasn't clear stuck but I was really, really close. Having the only 2WD HD for miles around that would have resulted in some crow eating! Good thing I bought the locker.

So the B'stones haven't given me any good reason to hate them, but I still plan to replace them with 265/75R16 Load Range E Michelin LTX M/S when the time comes.

[Raptorrider2001]

My '02 4x4 came with the Bridgestone that looks like a regular street tire. The tread is not aggressive looking at all. I tried to get the dealer to swap out but no luck. The first time I drove it on wet pavement I found out how bad the traction was. My wife almost lost control of the truck her first time on wet streets. I can not understand why the factory would put such a tire on a 4x4. I went to 3 tire dealers trying to trade while they were new and and only one of them would consider trading when they found out they were Bridgestone. That dealer offered to swap for $182 per tire or sell me the new ones for $182 per tire.

[ 08-03-2002: Message edited by: Raptorrider2001 ]</p>

[LA DMAX]

Raptor, with the 245's in the rain and the horsepower this machine is putting out it's no wonder the Mrs. broke traction. I tried to get the jump on this guy from a light where 2 lanes merge into 1 and when the turbo kicked in I went side ways almost clipping the guy. Yeh I got there first cuz I scared the sh!t out of him and out of me for that matter. I think this would happen with any 245 pizza cutters. Gonna switch to 265 when the B-stones wear out. Don't have too much fun.

LA DMAX

[GMC-2002-Dmax]

......Push Button for 4x4 HI and roll ahead a little - clicks on - MASH pedal - GO STRAIGHT - Let off - click off - 4x2 once more - No slip!!!

That's if you have a 4x4!!!

I will agree with you on the factory Bridgestones, they do S*CK in the rain. Add some "JUICE" and you are going no where fast!!

My truck is so bad that I turn off the "JUICE" when it rains, just ain't worth it.

If GM would get their S**T together and update the ALLI for tires I could put some real rubber on my '02!!!

Hopefully some one could develope an ALLISON module ( HINT,HINT,HINT, Aarron are you listening??? )

No top speed limiter - OD lock out - Firmer shifts - Recalibrate for tires. I'll offer to be the test mule!!!

GMC ;)

[colorado2002]

The Bridgestones are terrible when water is present. I could not believe the hydro-planing. They are a real safety hazard and the General should never have put this tire on any vehicle.

[SaltH2OFisherman]

Have B-stone 265's that came on the truck. Have put 36,000 on them without any problems. Wear has been good and no problem in the rain.

[KompressorMan]

I went to my tire dealer, who I usually trust and like, to buy Michelin LTX 265 E load range tires. I wanted to fill up the wheel wheel and generally like Michelins very well anyway. He emphatically suggested buying the 265 series Bridgestones and staying with the 245 size. He said the Bridgestones were a much heavier duty tire and the Michelin's were just SUV tires not really meant for these trucks.
Now 5,000 miles into this set, I would like to go back with Roy D. Mercer and open up an industrial strength, 55 gallon drum of A$$ Whoop. These things ride like train tires, and the road noise is MUCH worse than the original Firestones that came on the truck. The worse part, I'm a cheap skate and feel I have to get my money's worth out of this set. Now, I'm probabally looking at least another 35,000 miles of this torment. Michelins the next time unless these Bridgestones shake the truck apart before I get there.
Herb