Firestone Destination MTs

[jeepdawg]

I'm giving up on BFG MTs after a sidewall tear and two flats in a little over a year. MTRs have strong sidewalls, but are definitely not mud tires (spoken from experience).

I've heard good things about the Firestone Destination MT. Anyone here have first-hand experience with them?

Thanks in advance!

[paultyler]

I do not know about the Firestones, but I know they are not a "frontline" trail tire.

I have had similar experience with the BFGs. When mine wear out I am considering the Toyo Open Country mud tires. They are supposed to have strong sidewalls. Give them a look and see what you think.

[jeepdawg]

I decided against the Toyo's for three reasons: no 33x12.50 tire in a 15" rim, they weigh alot more than any other tire, except for swampers, and they are very expensive.

The Firestone Destination MTs are fairly new tires, and are the top of the line Bridgestone/Firestone/Dayton offroad tire. Can't really compare them to old-school Firestones.

Anyway, that's what I bought, and except for the loss of ground clearance (I went down in size from a 35 to a 33) I freakin' love these tires! I have taken them out twice in the two weeks I've had them. I've had them on sharp rocks, slickrock, mud, dirt, river crossings and they ROCK. Never had a traction problem and the sidewalls are like steel compared to my old BFGs. The sidewalls are similar to my old MT/Rs, but the tread is more open and does better in the wet stuff. The Destination's are a tiny bit louder, and aren't siped/kerfed so I may need to do that before winter.

The tread is fairly soft and compliant, too. Closer to an MT/R than a BFG. The only downside to those who need taller tires is that they don't have a 35" tire size.

[cjdirtbiker]

Tire ideas

Woodinville, Wa eh?? I grew up in the area, lived in Snohomish for 10 years, went to HS in Edmonds, built a house in Monroe, and worked in Bothell for about 8 years. Yeah, you've got MUD!! Did a lot of dirtbiking all over up there, in fact we used to ride where the Alderwood Mall is now, and where the Boeing 747 plant is now in Everett! Yeah, I'm dating myself.

You know what they say about Seattle, "If you can't see Mount Rainier it's raining. If you can see it, it's going to rain!"

Anyway, you didn't say if you needed a good road tire too. Boggers are good, but crappy on the road. For a combo tire in the smaller size (33") there is a good selection from the various manufacturers. Look at the Bridgestone Geolander, it's highly rated, and yes, it's very similar to the Firestone MT, now owned by Bridgestone. Ever since the Ford/Firestone debacle Firestone has had a tough time gaining market-share back.

Maxxis is very aggressive with gaining market share in the south and southeast, you might look at a source for them up your way, or mail order a set from www.nebraskatire.com Good prices there. They have a new tire out called the MUDZILLA that looks like a MT Bajaclaw.

For a cheap tire that's surpisingly good, look at Dunlop Rovers. At one point you could get them at Costco for well under a hundred bucks. Run the crap out of them and throw them away.

The new Swamper IROK has been highly rated for a combo on-road mudder tire. They are priced back up with the big-boys, but are purported to be an outstanding tire.

I was going to buy the TOYO, but as you mention, they are heavy. They are all load range E tires designed for big trucks. I think they're just way too heavy for a jeep, and combo them with a steel wheel you have a lead-weight combination :thumbs_do If you shop for a dealer that will deal, you can get them for at or below the cost of MT/r's. I think you mentioned they don't have a 33", but I also think they just came out with one. You might check with the factory website if you're still interested in them. They are purported to be an excellent tire with quite a few competition offroaders going to them.

Another popular tire down here is the PROCOMP X-Terrain. They are competitively priced and perform very well. I personally have never liked COOPER TIRES, (that's who makes them) having run one of their truck tires on my F250 for years in the NW. And they are noisy. But guys like them and 4WheelParts sells them like hotcakes.

I'm not sure about Mickey Thompson, personally I think they're over priced. And I wouldn't know which of their styles I'd recommend for mud.

In the Southwest everyone in the know runs the MT/r's for their tough side walls for sharp rocks, and great traction on rocks. And they run 35" or bigger tires because the trails have gotten so dug out for the same reason. And we need the ground clearance and the bigger diameter for rolling over rocks and steps. Those that don't have them want them, those that do want bigger ones. More and more you're seeing 37's and on up. We don't see a too much mud there's no worries with the MT/r. One of our areas down here in the desert is FULL of sharp rocks. The last event out there everyone was warned about BFG's. Sure as hell, there were numerous slashed tires, overwhelmingly BFG MT's.

Hope this helps. I did an exhaustive search when I was building my second jeep and pretty much ran them all down. There have been good articles on the various tire options in the offroad magazines over the last year. You might search for a rundown on brands and styles.

[jeepdawg]

Depends on where you live, as you well know. . . but please keep the rumors of all the rain going! Keep them dang californians down south. hehe
Desert and rain forest all in the same state. . . heck on the penninsula, you've got both within 1/2 hr drive. :thumbs_up

I ran 35s for a year and a half, and some day might go back. I only encountered one or two times where I benefited from having them (vs 33s). And both times, it was because I took the hard line. So, I figured the difference is with the larger tires I was more likely to wheel harder and break more stuff. A large part of the joy of jeeping, to me, is wheeling what you brung, and driving it to work the next day. No doubt my current setup will be a little on the small side for Johnson Valley or The Hammers, but should be perfect for the Rubicon Trail, most Moab trails and it did great at Moon Rocks and Funny Rocks the weekend before last.

There are other benefits of 33s, too. . . fitting in garages, better gas mileage, easier to find spares, no need to regear. . .

I still think 34s would be the perfect size for a SWB Jeep. . . good compromise.

[cjdirtbiker]

WA state

Depends on where you live, as you well know. . . but please keep the rumors of all the rain going! Keep them dang californians down south. hehe
Desert and rain forest all in the same state. . . heck on the penninsula, you've got both within 1/2 hr drive. :thumbs_up

I ran 35s for a year and a half, and some day might go back. I only encountered one or two times where I benefited from having them (vs 33s). And both times, it was because I took the hard line. So, I figured the difference is with the larger tires I was more likely to wheel harder and break more stuff. A large part of the joy of jeeping, to me, is wheeling what you brung, and driving it to work the next day. No doubt my current setup will be a little on the small side for Johnson Valley or The Hammers, but should be perfect for the Rubicon Trail, most Moab trails and it did great at Moon Rocks and Funny Rocks the weekend before last.

There are other benefits of 33s, too. . . fitting in garages, better gas mileage, easier to find spares, no need to regear. . .

I still think 34s would be the perfect size for a SWB Jeep. . . good compromise.

Yep, couldn't agree more. 35's are definitely a pull for the jeep. Once you get them rolling they're fine, but acceleration really takes a hit with them.

From your trail descriptions it sounds like you've spent some time here. And yes, WA state has some real deverse terrain and climates. Eastern wa is a desert much like Mojave, and western wa is forest land. But yeah, in the 80's we hated them damn californicators coming up and running our real estate values up like crazy. In fact, transplants would go get their license plates changed right away because the locals were so rude to them. It was almost embarassing.

I moved here in 92 and we love it. But we don't commute, we live in OC in the suburbs so we don't have crime and gangs, and we don't try to go anywhere when everybody esle is going. Hell, we've made more money on our house appreciating in the last two years than we have working!

Nice talking to you about WA. I still have some family up there. We drove the new motorhome up there over last Christmas holiday. Yep, it rained most of the time. But we had fun, and we had fun with the jeep. Went up to Reiter Road by Gold Bar one afternoon. I hadn't seen it for 20 years. Hell, the road in is paved now!

[avnative]

Depends on where you live, as you well know. . . but please keep the rumors of all the rain going! Keep them dang californians down south. hehe
Desert and rain forest all in the same state. . . heck on the penninsula, you've got both within 1/2 hr drive. :thumbs_up

I ran 35s for a year and a half, and some day might go back. I only encountered one or two times where I benefited from having them (vs 33s). And both times, it was because I took the hard line. So, I figured the difference is with the larger tires I was more likely to wheel harder and break more stuff. A large part of the joy of jeeping, to me, is wheeling what you brung, and driving it to work the next day. No doubt my current setup will be a little on the small side for Johnson Valley or The Hammers, but should be perfect for the Rubicon Trail, most Moab trails and it did great at Moon Rocks and Funny Rocks the weekend before last.

There are other benefits of 33s, too. . . fitting in garages, better gas mileage, easier to find spares, no need to regear. . .

I still think 34s would be the perfect size for a SWB Jeep. . . good compromise.

Hey now!!!!! Dont blame it on the californians, most that moved up there and ruined it are transplants to calif, and moved up there from calif, Some of us (Californians) wouldnt move up there in respect of how washantonians feel. (LA people did to the Antelope valley what people from ca did to wa and ore.)
I just had to throw in some defense from us that are actually californians. Born, raised and bred in ca...

[jeepdawg]

Heheh, no problem, just jiving ya

[scherf68]

i have the firestone destination m/t's and like them so far, 1 month old. they like the rocks and ride pretty ok on the freeway. they were a pain in the a-- for the tire guy to balance though.

Heheh, no problem, just jiving ya

[jeepdawg]

Bummer. . . from my experience and others I've talked to, balancing is typically not a problem with these tires. Mine took less weight than any other tire I've ever had on a Jeep.

[ylwrnglr01]

im running the goodyear mt/r, the guys i wheel with were running bfg mts and like most nkow..tore apart the sidewalls. as for mud, ive had my tj buried up to the grille a number of times and had no problem getting it out of the mud. i ran the dunlop mud rovers in a 31 when i first got my jeep, great cheap tire, also became a great drag radial when they were almost spent, they smoke up real nice!

[jblockhead]

I have have destination's for 2 1/2 years and nothing but good things to say about them. They wear great(50% worn now). I balanced them myself and got them to balance good.