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Last updated 10/24/2024 - Originally published 10/24/2024
Written by SimpleTire
Are you familiar with the highway-terrain category of light truck and SUV tires? IIt’s pretty fair to think of highway-terrain tires along the same lines as all-season passenger tires. For passenger tires, all-season tires take up 84 percent of the market, and there’s a good set of reasons for that. Premium all-season tires are designed for great wear properties, a lengthy limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty, handling that’s predictable and accurate, stable road manners, year-round grip, and a ride that’s quiet and refined. They’re the Swiss Army Knife of the tire world, and their highway-terrain counterparts have a lot in common with passenger all-season tires as far as designs and performance goals. The big difference is that they’re designed with beefed-up construction and tougher tread compounds to easily manage the extra weight and power of a truck. Trucks and SUVs are the most popular vehicles on the roads these days, taking up the family-car roles that used to be filled by sedans and minivans (and station wagons a generation ago), but even many 4WD-equipped trucks spend almost their entire lives on pavement and not doing off-road adventures That makes highway-terrain tires the most versatile, sensible option for many drivers, just like all-season tires are for drivers of sedans and minivans.
Today, in this head-to-head comparison, we’re going to be looking at the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 and Firestone Transforce HT2. In the course of this comparison review, you’ll see us refer to SimpleScore numbers for both tires; if you aren’t familiar with SimpleScore, it’s the rating system that gives a quick, comprehensive idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the tire’s technical information, the specs, manufacturer information, customer reviews, and other data points to come up with 1-10 numerical values for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, along with an overall average SimpleScore. In the case of the Bridgestone and the Firestone, the SimpleScore numbers shake out like this:
Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685:
- Traction: 9.3
- Handling: 9.1
- Longevity: 8.3
- Overall average SimpleScore: 8.8
Firestone Transforce HT 2:
- Traction: 8.2
- Handling: 8.4
- Longevity: 7.5
- Overall average SimpleScore: 8.0
As you can see, these are two premium highway-terrain tires that compare well to each other and get high marks all around, but as handy as SimpleScore is, it’s still the 30,000-foot view that doesn’t really get into the details of each tire. Let’s go in and take a closer look at this Dueler H/T 685 vs. Firestone Transforce HT2 tire comparison review:
Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 tires
Let’s get into what the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 brings to the game. If you need heavy-duty durability and performance in a light-duty truck tire, this Bridgestone has got what you’re looking for. It's designed for toughness with 2-ply polyester construction, two high-tensile steel belts, and a nylon cap ply that gives it dead-solid stability and enhanced load handling capacity. Its tread compound is engineered so it stays pliable at subfreezing temperatures for winter traction as well as for offering good resistance to cuts, punctures, abrasions, and other damage. Foul weather isn’t a challenge, with four circumferential grooves that boost wet-weather grip and fight hydroplaning by diverting water away from the tire’s contact patch. In winter conditions, there’s a dense pattern of sipes that multiplies the tread’s surface area and traction with hundreds of thin biting edges that slice a path through snow, slush, or standing water.
The tread and tread compound of the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 are also designed to help boost fuel economy with reduced rolling resistance. Its contact patch is redesigned to be bigger and flatter, putting more rubber in contact with the road for enhanced handling, braking and traction, and select sizes are available with an outlined white letter sidewall that looks great on a wide variety of trucks.. The Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 is covered by a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty. SimpleTire’s price on the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 starts at $190.96 per tire.
Firestone Transforce HT2 tires
With the Transforce HT2, Firestone has designed a highway-terrain tire with the needs of commercial trucks in mind; that means it’s durable enough for long hours on the highway, stop-and-start driving in town, hauling heavy loads, or towing heavy trailers. The Transforce HT2 rates very well in the SimpleScore category for traction thanks to its combination of circumferential grooves, sawtooth-edge sipes for winter grip, and lateral grooves, all of which work as a system to deliver the grip you need in wet or wintry conditions. Handling is another one of this tire’s strengths, thanks to its tread design and shoulder blocks that are reinforced to resist the stresses of cornering that could otherwise lead to tread deformation and “tread squirm”. The Transforce 2 features an optimized contact patch that puts the most rubber in contact with the road for even wear and great braking and control. Its rugged internal design and tread compound are designed to stand up against cuts, punctures, abrasions, and scuffs. The tread pattern and design of the Transforce HT2 also help save fuel costs over the life of the tire with reduced rolling resistance. The Firestone Transforce HT2 does lose some ground on its SimpleScore for longevity, partly because this tire doesn’t feature a treadwear warranty (many commercial-grade tires don’t). SimpleTire’s price on the Firestone Transforce HT2 starts at $159.96 per tire.
Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 vs Firestone Transforce HT2 tires on traction
When it comes to traction, the Bridgestone has the Firestone outclassed with a very strong SimpleScore of 9.3 vs 8.2 for the Firestone. First off, let’s remember that these aren’t tires that are designed for off-road performance, although you can traverse an unimproved job site with them as long as you don’t end up in deep mud or sand. Similarly, neither tire has the 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake rating for severe winter service, so they’re not really designed for winter performance either. The Dueler H/T 685 features that optimized contact patch that does make a difference in braking performance and grip on wet or dry pavement, and its initial tread depth of 10/32” gives it a real advantage in wet-weather grip as well as helps to provide long mileage and great wear properties. Our call:
ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685
Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 vs Firestone Transforce HT2 tires on handling
How do the Bridgestone and the Firestone stack up against each other when it comes to handling? With a SimpleScore of 9.1 for the Bridgestone and 8.4 for the Firestone, it shakes out about the same as the SimpleScore ratings for traction. That makes sense since traction and handling properties are so closely linked; if your tires aren’t getting a good grip on the pavement, you run the risk of skewing far outside your desired path for a turn (understeer) or having the rear-end kick out and skid (oversteer), either of which could lead to a momentary loss of control. Neither the Bridgestone nor the Firestone are designed for the kind of cornering and steering response you’d expect from a performance tire, but the Bridgestone’s handling is composed and accurate, without getting jittery or over-sensitive on rough or broken pavement. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685
Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 vs Firestone Transforce HT2 tires on longevity
In the longevity category, the Firestone comes to the game with a disadvantage on account of its lack of a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty (vs 50,000 miles of coverage for the Bridgestone). Many very durable tires for light trucks aren’t covered by a mileage warranty, but that’s enough to change the perception in customer reviews, and in most cases, traction SimpleScore is tied straight in with the tread life warranty coverage. The Bridgestone registers a SimpleScore of 8.3 vs 7.5 for the Firestone, which makes this one pretty cut and dried. Our call:
ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685
When to use each
The question here is, what are your real needs and expectations from a set of light truck tires? If you hit a lot of off-road destinations with mud, sand, loose dirt, or rough country with lots of obstacles, then these are probably not the best tires; instead, all-terrain or rugged-terrain tires would probably be a better choice. If you live in a part of the country that has hard winter weather every year and snow that piles up 3 or 4 inches deep and stays on the road for days at a time, then the Bridgestone or the Firestone might not be ideal and you should consider dedicated winter tires or 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake-rated all-terrain tires. On the other hand, if you need a dependable set of tires that’s got the durability for commercial applications such as towing heavy trailers or hauling heavy loads (while still offering great road manners, ride, and handling), then you won’t go wrong with the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 or the Firestone Transforce HT2. These are tires that would be right in their element as replacement tires for vehicles like the Chevy Silverado 1500/2500, RAM 1500/2500, Ford F150/F250, Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Acadia, Nissan Titan, Jeep Wagoneer, and Honda Ridgeline.
Which one should you choose?
When we get to the “which one should you choose” question in these head-to-head matchups, it’s sometimes a tough call since both tires are so closely matched in SimpleScore rankings and both offer great value. Not so in this case, though; the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 clearly has the Firestone Transforce HT2 outclassed. The Bridgestone outperforms in all the SimpleScore categories by a sizable margin, and while the Firestone is designed for extreme durability (as a commercial-grade tire), the Bridgestone simply has it outclassed. Let’s figure price into the equation while we’re at it: SimpleTire’s price on the Bridgestone starts at $190.96 per tire, vs $159.96 per tire for the Firestone. That’s a pretty considerable price spread, but it’s our opinion that the extra money for the Bridgestone is really worth it when you consider the quality and performance this tire offers in return. Our final call here at the SimpleTire team is that the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 685 is the tire that we would go with for one of our vehicles.
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help as our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.