Better Tires

[BigEd]

Hi Guys!



I have a question about tires. I have the stock Michelin 245's with about 40,000 miles on them. Still have about a third of the tread left. I now live in rural Virginia and I'm having a problem in the snow. These things are awful. Can someone recommend some real good on & off road snow tires, by the way I want to upgrade to 265's. It's a '99 5speed 3. 54 LSD.

 

[gsbrockman]

Try some LT265/75R16 Bridgestone Dueler A/T REVO's. They're available in load range "E" and they are fantastically smooth, quiet, have great snow and wet traction, plus Bridgestone / Firestone has a "30 Day Test Drive" on all of their tires. To my knowledge, no other tire manufacturer offers any type of "test drive". I have them on my personal truck and love them. I work at an S&S Tire in Lexington, KY. and we sell LOTS of these tires, and everyone is very pleased with them when they come back for their 5,000 mile free rotation.

 

[Dennis Garrett]

For my 3rd set of tires, I moved up to 265's on my 97. I went with Firestone SteelTex R4s's (The less agressive "street" tread). They ride very nice compared to the Wranglers I had on it before, a lot softer. They are wearing nicely at 25k, and they do well with the snow & icy back roads we've had lately. (I do carry a couple of 80lb. tubes of sand over the axle most of the time, & have a Limited slip rearend). When I got these, Firestone was still trying to recover from the "Wilderness" mess, and they were hungry, willing to deal. I got these in load range "E" with white letters for about $100. 00 ea.

 

[rmrc]

245's to 265's

I'm in a similar situation as BigEd. I'll be moving to central Virginia soon and also have the original 245's on my truck. I was considering going up one size to the 265's.



Is there any benefit to the 265 over the 245 size regarding mpg or other factors?



I'll also check into those Bridgestones!

 

[kevincook]

We do get lots of snow in Michigan, I bought a set of Nitto Grappler AT's 265/75-16E installed out the door for $524. 00 at discount tire! THey have been great tires. I don't have any weight in the back of my truck and have not had any problem at all, ice or snow!



KC

 

[KL]

Big Ed, do you have the Michelin LTX A/S or LTX M/S tires? I previously lived in snow country and had LTX A/S on a previous Dodge and they were not good in snow. I ended up getting some Wild Country RVT tires (I think these are mainly sold in the North West by Les Schwab Tires). If performance in snow is a top priority the narrower the tire the better. A narrow tire digs in and bites better, while a wider tire floats on top. I know that a lot of people went with LT 235-85-16. They would still be narrow but gave you a larger diameter (close to 265, but that could vary by brand). Good luck. KL

 

[monkfarm]

which michelins, and which firestones?

I had thought my michelins where pretty good in the snow (I know they are good on ice) but maybe I wonder if I have something different than you, (Big Ed) I know they get around great on hard pack and the freezing rain ice we sometimes get around here. Maybe I should try something different this time. I had a set of firestones on my 95 powerstroker and those were not good (good wear- though, wore like iron) on snow and ice, you would slip slide all over .

 

[KL]

monkfarm, Michelins have full depth sipes (which few brands have), this helps out on hard packed snow and ice. When I lived in Idaho I had quite a few tires siped. This made a big difference on hard packed snow & ice. KL

 

[pgellerstedt]

BigED,

I was having problems in the snow with my previous set of tires (mostly worn out Kelly Safari AWR 265s that came on the truck when I bought it) and purchased a set of Cooper Discoverer LT in 255/85R16 D. I haven't had the tires long but it has snowed a couple times since and they seem to do quite well. If you don't mind a tall, skinny tire (I prefer them) then you might want to check them out. They make 265/75and a bunch of other sizes too. I don't expect them to last as long as Michelins but they were $501 total out the door so the price was not bad. Good luck!

Paul

 

[monkfarm]

siping

KL, I know you're right about the siping, I didn't realize the Michelins had the full siping.

 

[athompson]

Just put on 315 MT/Rs...

you'll love them. The stock Michelins I had where terrible on anything other than dry pavement. They were barely acceptable on dry pavement. The MT/Rs are wonderful on any surface I've driven on.

 

[Chief USA]

I am very happy with my Walmart Liberator (made by Michelin for Walmart) 285-75R 16's. Got a set of 4 for $443. 91 including mounting, balance, and life time road hazard warranty. They are load range D (8 ply, 3305 lbs. @ 65 psi). I have driven them in 8 inches of snow, off road in muc, and highway. Hauled about 1800lbs. of firewood too! Great tire for the money.



Randy

 

[gsbrockman]

Dennis Garrett :

The LT265/75R16 "E" Firestone Steeltex R4S's and Steeltex A/T's are good tires, too. I work at an S&S Tire in Lexington, KY. and I have had several customers with both of these tires OE on the Ford F-Super Duty's and 3 or 4 customers I recall had around 50-55K miles on their OE tires. They actually were so pleased with them that they never inquired about anything else, not even Michelins.