Discussion with BFGoodrich regarding Rugged Trail T/A

Just wanted to pass this along. I went about testing the Rugged Trails with an open mind and being non judgmental even after reading all the displeasure here in the forum. Was disappointed when I brought my concerns to BFGoodrich and my issues were subsequently dismissed.
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03/31/2014 

Hello Randy

Thank you for taking the time to rate and provide a review for the tires on your vehicle. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

In regard to the review you posted stating: We are sorry that you feel the issue was not addressed. An all season tire, is a tire that was designed for conditions above 45 degrees. because we are a leader in the tire industry is the reason we recommend a winter traction tire in extreme conditions.

We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing BFGoodrich.

It is our goal to ensure that your issue has been resolved or your question answered to your satisfaction. If we can assist you further, please respond to this email or call us at 1-877-788-8899 (toll free) between 8:00AM and 8:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday or between 8:30AM and 4:30PM Eastern Time on Saturday.



Sincerely,

Evelyn
Consumer Care Department
Certified BFGoodrich Product Expert



PS: It's important that you get all the safety-related materials that come with the purchase of new BFGoodrich passenger and light truck tires. If you did not receive a warranty book, you can download one at www.bfgoodrichtires.com/warranty/. If you did not register your tires, please take a moment to do so at www.bfgoodrichtires.com. Registering your tires is easy and takes just a minute.

(Please include the line below in your reply to this email.)
Case number: 5393295

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Greetings,
This is regarding case number: 5393295 and I’d appreciate if someone other than Ms. Sherry “X” could address my concerns/issues regarding my BFGoodrich tires. Please forgive me, but for a “Certified BFGoodrich Product Expert” to suggest I purchase an additional $1K worth of winter equipment for my $34K Toyota Tacoma equipped with Rugged Trail T/A tires was quite frankly stupid. After reading that, I came to the obvious conclusion that BFGoodrich doesn’t stand behind the Rugged Trail T/A’s performance as an All-Season tire. Additionally, I didn’t “choose” BFGoodrich, it comes standard on the Tacoma TRD Off Road, something a “Certified BFGoodrich Product Expert” should know.

Had I known ahead of time that the Rugged Trail T/A tires would perform so erratically in winter conditions, I’d have worked with Toyota to find a solution before I took delivery. As it stands now, I have $800 worth of tires that will NOT be getting me through the next New England winter, something I find very frustrating and disappointing.

Regards,
Randy

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On Monday, March 24, 2014 7:58 PM, Randy wrote:
Sherry,
Appreciate the response, but it doesn't address the issue. "This is an All-Season tire and is not manufactured to perform in adverse condition as well as a winter tire. It is probably a good idea to have true "winter tires" during the winter months considering your location."

What exactly is an All-Season tire designed to do if not perform in adverse conditions? Isn't winter one of "All-Season's"?

Additionally, the recommendation to purchase dedicated winter tires further deflects the issue. To think after spending $30K on a new Toyota Tacoma, the official recommendation from BFGoodrich is to purchase four more rims along with four winter tires for anyone living where adverse conditions occur? That's half the States in the Country!

I would have expected more solutions vs deflections from a leader in the retail tire business.

Regards,
Randy

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On Wednesday, March 19, 2014 11:15 AM, Ratings and Reviews <reply-en@crdhna.com> wrote:
03/19/2014

Hello Randy,

Thank you for taking the time to rate and provide a review for the tires on your vehicle. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

In regard to the review you posted stating:

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I have 1500 miles on my 2014 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road equipped with Rugged Trail T/A tires and wanted to pass along my experiences. In the short 1500 miles I've had the opportunity to drive on dry pavement, gravel roads, in the pouring rain, through mud and in two New England snowstorms. I'm an average driver driving mostly on-road vs off. While I understand the Rugged Trail T/A was designed primarily as an all season tire, it fails to measure up as such.
The Rugged Trail T/A's performed very well on dry pavement and in the rain, I felt comfortable and confident driving in both. There's moderate feedback (road noise) coming from the rear tires but overall they are as quiet as I would expect from a moderately aggressive looking truck tire. I'm not sure if that's the Tacoma or if the rear tires are somehow different than the front. They corner well and hold their line with minimal roll when entering or exiting the Interstate. The rear wheels do slip significantly while driving up dry gravel roads/hills.
However, I was very disappointed with the Rugged Trail T/A's performance in mud and snow. The similarities of conditions were nearly identical. When turning while accelerating in mud or on snow packed roads, there's a tendency for the front tire to slip resulting in my Tacoma moving straight ahead and not the direction I'm steering. If I don't accelerate and turn the wheel, the front wheels track better. Additionally when pulling out from a standing stop on snow, there's zero grip on the rear tires and lots of wheel spin. In other words, pulling out into traffic on snow is a dicey proposition, quite unsettling actually. After a day of skiing I found my Tacoma in nearly two feet of snow. Instead of accelerating into the drift, I allowed the truck at idle speed to go through the snow, which it did very well with responsive steering. However while descending down a snow packed hill and applying the brakes I slid significantly, only gaining traction when the front tires hit wet sanded pavement. At highway speed on snow packed surfaces the tires tracked well, but braking was once again a dicey proposition with lots of slipping and sliding with the anti-lock brakes engaging constantly.
Oddly I felt more confident driving on snow in my Honda Civic equipped with H. Optimo H-727's than I did driving my Tacoma equipped with the Rugged Trail T/A's. I will probably keep the Rugged Trail T/A's on the Tacoma for this summer, but there's no question I'll replace them before next winter. I'm considering the F. Destination A/T's or the N. Terra Grappler's.
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Randy, we are sorry to hear you are not happy with the winter traction on the BFGoodrich Rugged Trail T/A tires. This is an All-Season tire and is not manufactured to perform in adverse condition as well as a winter tire. It is probably a good idea to have true "winter tires" during the winter months considering your location.

We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing BFGoodrich.

If we can assist you further, please call us at 1-877-788-8899 (toll free) between 8:00AM and 8:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday or between 8:30AM and 4:30PM Eastern Time on Saturday.

Sincerely,

Sherry
Consumer Care Department
Certified BFGoodrich Product Expert