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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65301
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Ken, you confirm that the BFG's sidewall is really a weakness and with so many buying them because of that 3 ply talk, too! Like you, the only
sidewall failure I saw in Baja was an All Terrain T/A, as well (and it was on a sandy road)!
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Roberto
Banned
Posts: 2162
Registered: 9-5-2003
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Well, maybe - on the other hand, there are lots of people who have been using them for years and swear by them.
So, there you go!
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Mexitron
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3397
Registered: 9-21-2003
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Member Is Offline
Mood: Happy!
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In Aug 05 we were coming home from the sisters--our friend driving her new Nissan Armada got a slow tire leak--no problem, popped in a plug; a few
miles later another tire had a larger leak--after trying three plugs to patch it without success the spare was put on; then, about halfway between the
coast and Catavina the spare was completely shredded! She was out of tires.
We looked at the bolt patterns and it looked like our friend's Toyota wheel would fit it so we took the Toyota's spare and tried to put it on the
front of the Nissan--nothing doing--the new Nissan Armadas have a special shaped rim to facilitate whatever gizmos it has; the back tires looked like
it would work so we switched the front and back...still no go. Our only option now was to try to patch the tire which had failed after trying the
plugs.
After we got the tire off the rim (using my Chevy's weight to break the seal) we could see how bad the tire had torn--you couldn't tell from the
outside--including some broken wires protruding from the tear.
We cut the wires as close as we could but didn't have a way of grinding off the stubs--finally one of us thought of using a lava rock--so we searched
and found one with the right contours and it worked! We then put on a small patch to cover the tear, which was dangerously close to the sidewall, and
then put a larger patch over the first one. Amazingly, it held all the way home!
Moral of Story--don't bring mall shopper SUVs to Baja and if you do especially don't use the original tires. FYI--on her last trip to Baja the whole
tailgate and window fell off after the bolts holding them in sheared off.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65301
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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I am sure that is true Roberto... Baja Angel had them on her CJ-5 and loved them...
The point is, being the most popular Baja tire and selling so many... perhaps they aren't as perfect as everyone thinks? Just because something is the
most expensive doesn't always make it the best.
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Gadget
Senior Nomad
Posts: 851
Registered: 9-10-2006
Location: Point Loma CA
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Mood: Blessed with another day
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Thanks Mexitron, A perfect example of the need for 2 spares when driving way remote, and serious vehicle preparedness. The attractive and slick new
AWD SUVs most of the manufacturers are producing these days are nothing more than a passenger car with a little more traction capabilities.
David, Consider all the press BFGs get regarding flats or punctures is do to the fact that they out number other brands in the dirt 5 to 1. So if our
crew, let say, on a trail ride get 3 flats, all on BFGs, that doesn't make it a lousy tire. It's because there are 24 of em getting abused with no
other brands being represented.
I don't have any paticlular brand loyalty. I have a set of 6 BFG MT TAs and 6 Goodyear MTRs. I like them both for differing reasons. GSB weighs
nearly 6000lbs and the abuse the tires take is tremendous. I expect flats as a result and carry two spares so I don't have to slow down. Buy road
hazard warranty from Discount Tire and replace any of em that don't survive.
IMHO there is no indistructable tire out there for general public use, unless you go to a $350 per BFG Baja KO race tire or similar.
"Mankind will not be judged by their faults, but by the direction of their lives." Leo Giovinetti
See you in Baja
http://www.LocosMocos.com
Gadget |
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Roberto
Banned
Posts: 2162
Registered: 9-5-2003
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Driving style, terrain traveled, vehicle type/weight, pressures used, etc. will all have an effect on the type and frequency of tire damage you will
see.
I have found BFG All-Terrains to be an EXCELLENT all-around tire. They are the quietest pavement tire that is still competent off-road. I have found
BFG Mud-Terrains to be an EXCELLENT off-road tire, but terribly noisy on the pavement and not a very good pavement tire generally.
I drive and F350 diesel. It weighs a little over 8,000 lbs. I now run Toyo Open Country M/Ts and love them. I won't call them indestructible because
the minute I do, I know what will happen. 
It's also apples/oranges to compare BFG long-trail TA's with the more expensive premium tires.
[Edited on 2-6-2008 by Roberto]
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Online
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Gadget
IMHO there is no indistructable tire out there for general public use, unless you go to a $350 per BFG Baja KO race tire or similar.
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Yes there is, it's name is TSL/SX.   
This tire is the BAJA TAMER!
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Gadget
Senior Nomad
Posts: 851
Registered: 9-10-2006
Location: Point Loma CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Blessed with another day
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Cooke
| Quote: | Originally posted by Gadget
IMHO there is no indistructable tire out there for general public use, unless you go to a $350 per BFG Baja KO race tire or similar.
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Yes there is, it's name is TSL/SX.
This tire is the BAJA TAMER!
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Interco Super Swamper TSL? Great mud bogger, rock crawler? Not sure how it would hold up at speed on a pre-runner. Brutal under a rig on the
pavement with VERY open tread pattern.
"Mankind will not be judged by their faults, but by the direction of their lives." Leo Giovinetti
See you in Baja
http://www.LocosMocos.com
Gadget |
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Online
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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Those chevron blocks in the center allow you to turn at speed in the dirt. The heavy lugs dig nicely when cornering in the dirt. This tire works
exceptionally well in the sand when aired down to 8 to 10 p.s.i.
I ran this tire for 2 years, and I loved it. The soft tread wore down within 25K mi., and I went with the BFG AT afterwards. I thought the BFG was a
good tire, but when people would spot me on the trail, they were shocked with how much that tire spun and caused me to lose traction.
This is why I still run the Interco brand, just not as aggressive due to all of the street miles I put on my tires.
Playing around up in Parque Nacional Sierra San Pedro Martir with my good friend Andrew (R.I.P.)..
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BMG
Super Nomad
Posts: 1776
Registered: 6-10-2007
Location: La Paz / Bahia Asunci�n / Away from home
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We had a flat on the trailer moving household goods south last October. We were just coming into the flat land north of Insurgentes. Incredibly lucky
in several ways.
1. We had just passed a slow moving propane truck coming down the hill about 10 minutes before the flat.
2. I heard a funny noisy, looked in the side mirror and saw the tire deflate and smoke.
3. There was a great turnout right there with lots of room. The ground was hard and flat. When I think of all the places where you can't get off the
road safely, this was a real stroke of luck.
Now the bad.
1. Oops. Never checked to see if the lug nuts on the recently purchased trailer were the same size as on the Blazer. Guess what?
2. I knew I had a socket set somewhere, along with tons of other crap. And it was about 95 degrees. Didn't really want to unload the whole trailer. In
the Blazer I had my giant Crescent, a good sized pipe wrench, a hokey 'TV Special - does anything' tool and an undersized lug wrench. Got off 4 lug
nuts after much sweating and a few choice words. 5th lug wouldn't budge. An ambulance stopped and asked if we needed help. They had a socket set so I
was able to change the tire finally.
3. The ambulance guys were thanked profusely and they drove off. That's when I think I could have used them the most as I started going blind. Not
everything dark though. Just the opposite. Everything got really bright with little, if any contrast. Kind of like turning your TV contrast knob to
the highest setting, everything just in whites. Putting on 2 pairs of sunglasses helped a bit and we were almost to Insurgentes. We stopped for lunch
and I felt fine and my sight returned to normal in the restaurant. Once in the car and the bright light again it started going again so we spent the
night in Constitucion. Next day I was much better and we continued on to La Paz. Turned out the culprit was a new blood pressure medicine the doc put
me on just before heading down. No more medicine, no more problems.
Does anyone know how I can patch this tire?
ps - I can't believe I still have the stupid TV tool. It's never worked on anything I've tried to use it for. Oh well, maybe someday it will work on
something.
I think the world is run by C- students.
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Online
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: | | Originally posted by GadgetInterco Super Swamper TSL? Great mud bogger, rock crawler? Not sure how it would hold up at speed on a
pre-runner. Brutal under a rig on the pavement with VERY open tread pattern. |
This tire is bulletproof. It is super heavy though. It grips everything in its path, which might be more of a hinderance than a help when
Pre-Running. This tire is super sticky and durable.
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BAJACAT
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2902
Registered: 11-21-2005
Location: NATIONAL CITY, CA
Member Is Offline
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I fell I have been hijack, by the tire guys,,
I have always run BFG'S in all my trucks,and 0 flats on regular driving in Baja.Most of them were allterrain's.
BAJA IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE, FUN,DANGEROUS,INCREDIBLE, REMOTE, EXOTIC..JUST GO AND HAVE FUN.....
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Online
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BAJACAT
I fell I have been hijack, by the tire guys,,
I have always run BFG'S in all my trucks,and 0 flats on regular driving in Baja.Most of them were allterrain's. |
With a track record like that, I would consider myself lucky.
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BAJACAT
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2902
Registered: 11-21-2005
Location: NATIONAL CITY, CA
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Ken Cooke
| Quote: | Originally posted by BAJACAT
I fell I have been hijack, by the tire guys,,
I have always run BFG'S in all my trucks,and 0 flats on regular driving in Baja.Most of them were allterrain's. |
With a track record like that, I would consider myself lucky. |
| Quote: |
I have so many sidewall cuts, on my tires That Im thinking they might not survive The Matomi trip,it's ok I have 2 spares,
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BAJA IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE, FUN,DANGEROUS,INCREDIBLE, REMOTE, EXOTIC..JUST GO AND HAVE FUN.....
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65301
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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MATOMI 2001
Photo by Amo Pescar taken at the first Matomi group trip...
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Steve&Debby
Nomad
Posts: 335
Registered: 12-18-2007
Location: Colusa,California/ Percebu
Member Is Offline
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I have run the swamper tires for years and have had great luck with them.When I run the rubicon or four dice trail I run 6 psi in the front and 8 psi
in the rear,when in Mexico on the sand I run 8 psi in the front and 10 psi in the rear.
After years of running the same tires this year in Baja I did pickup a sheetrock screw in one tire and an old sidewall cut finally let go.Had a
sidewall patch installed in EL Rosario and a plug in Rosarito.
I run 15.50x38x15 radials.The tires work very well on the road and offroad.Before we head back to baja in december I will be putting a new set of
tires on. I hope Interco sends me my check for this commercial
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Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Online
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
Photo by Amo Pescar taken at the first Matomi group trip...
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And I have the VHS video of the event!!
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Member Is Offline
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Any tire that contains air can go flat either on purpose or by accident. Even silicone filled tires will tear apart. I usually have to replace a
couple of tires every year on my snowcat. They are the small trailer or wheel barrel size tires and filled with silicone. I can drive it with one bad,
but two bad and you take a chance of pitching the tracks on an off camber.
The first BFG flat I had was from a nail in a motel parking lot in LA Bay. They were doing a lot of construction so I assume it was from there. We had
left and was on the hwy headed for the jct with hwy 1 when I heard a louder than usual noise. At first I thought it was the hwy asphalt had changed. I
let go of the steering wheel and the truck continued straight, no pulling. finally I pulled over to check and found the left rear totally flat but not
torned. I was driving a 91 chevy K1500 loaded with a MC and gear etc. and three people in the truck. The work started when we tried to get the spare
from under the truck. I had used a small chain and pad lock to lock the tire. even though I had tape the pad lock water and dirt got into it and I
couldn't unlock it. We finally broke it off. It had been on there for several years. So like Gadget says prep your vehicle before you go and I would
include checking any locking device like this to make sure you can unlock it.
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BFS
Senior Nomad
Posts: 520
Registered: 9-28-2006
Location: Todos Santos
Member Is Offline
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bfg's waaaaaay south
Hi there,
Ive ran with the BFGs way down here in southern Chile and they lasted only about 14,000 miles. Many flats during that time.
No pavement here. Just really good dirt roads with tons of loose rock and lots of river crossings.
Sorry, its not Baja, but I did do a run on these tires to that incredibly not so secret surf spot (7 hermanos???) before shipping the rig to
Patagonia. A piccie:
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15940
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
Member Is Offline
Mood: Everchangin'
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
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FYI--on her last trip to Baja the whole tailgate and window fell off after the bolts holding them in sheared off.
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give that woman a beer!   
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