LT265/70/R17 A/T or M/S tires in 2021 ?

[verk]

Hi TDR forum. After being off the road for a year I'm bringing my '04 SRW back on the road and need tires. I've almost exclusively used Michelin since the original tires which went 60k+ and the last 2-3 sets have been Defender LTX M/S. For 8 or so years I've gradually run lower pressures to soften the ride with the associated decrease in lifespan. I'm thinking now about switching to lower load rating (115 vs 121) wondering if reducing the stiffness of tire might also be good for ride, but don't know if this is smart given truck weights 7200lbs light and most of that weight is in the front axle ? I'm also noticing that Michelin is now suggesting the Agilis Crossclimate for this truck. All the specs for this new tire says it lasts longer when loaded, but shorter when unloaded as compared to the Defender LTX M/S. I guess the crux for me is that my truck is always loaded in the front given the engine,etc. and mostly unloaded (300lbs) in the bed. I almost changed suspension to something better when a couple leafs broke ( obviously from underloading ), but the price difference between OE leaf sets and aftermarket softer suspension was too great for me.

Thanks for insights. Sven

 

[AH64ID]

A load index 115 would be near maxed out all the time up front and severely limit your payload ability out back.

How low of pressures have you been running to reduce lifespan? Proper pressure gives the best tire life.

 

[verk]

A load index 115 would be near maxed out all the time up front and severely limit your payload ability out back.

How low of pressures have you been running to reduce lifespan? Proper pressure gives the best tire life.

Hi John. Thanks, that was my concern for front. I rarely have more than 300lbs in bed. From memory, I settled on 55-60 psi front and 35-40 psi rear. I remember checking these pressures against the load index from manufacturer and they were within spec.

 

[AH64ID]

Those pressures sound correct, or close to, without knowing your exact weigh. That should yield the best ride and tire wear.

 

[Ozymandias]

If you run the tire pressures according to the tire manufactures charts you get the smoothest ride with the longest lifespan for the given tire.
A/T Tires are usually harder then standard road tires with the same rating as their sidewall has more plies in them for better puncture resistance.

Softest tires I ever had were Nokian M&S winter tires.

 

[Ozymandias]

By the way, if you want more miles out of your tires - buy bigger (not much wider) sizes, more circumference makes more miles.
For example 265/75 or even 285/75.

 

[verk]

If you run the tire pressures according to the tire manufactures charts you get the smoothest ride with the longest lifespan for the given tire.
A/T Tires are usually harder then standard road tires with the same rating as their sidewall has more plies in them for better puncture resistance.

Softest tires I ever had were Nokian M&S winter tires.[/QUOT

By the way, if you want more miles out of your tires - buy bigger (not much wider) sizes, more circumference makes more miles.
For example 265/75 or even 285/75.

I hadn't thought of going bigger than 265/70R17. In the Michelin Defender LTX M/S or Agilis Crossclimate I see 285/70R17 available. https://tiresize.com/comparison/ is a good visual comparison tool for tire specifications. I suppose it makes sense to get more rubber and larger circumference if only adding a few lbs. Thanks

 

[verk]

A good video of person who has direct experience with lots of tire models for 3/4-1 ton pickups. He's hotshotting so certainly loaded rear axles. He's also got a more recent video on his channel reviewing the Agilis Crossclimate.

 

[AH64ID]

I ran 285/70’s on stock 3rd Gen wheel and I think they were too wide for proper wear with those wheels. 285/75 would be a different story.

My favorite tire on stock 3rd Gen wheels was the 255/80R17, thou there aren’t many options and 1/2 are MT’s. Given the current options I’d probably run the Falken Wildpeak A/T3 if instill had a 3rd Gen on 17’s.

 

[verk]

I ran 285/70’s on stock 3rd Gen wheel and I think they were too wide for proper wear with those wheels. 285/75 would be a different story.

My favorite tire on stock 3rd Gen wheels was the 255/80R17, thou there aren’t many options and 1/2 are MT’s. Given the current options I’d probably run the Falken Wildpeak A/T3 if instill had a 3rd Gen on 17’s.

Thanks for reminding me. I now remember being told that 265/70R17 is the largest that I can run on stock 17" steel wheels.

 

[Ozymandias]

That's why I've run 315/70-17 and later on 35x12.5-17 on the stockers for a 100k miles....

Who told you such a nonsens that there are no other tires fit then stock?

 

[AH64ID]

Thanks for reminding me. I now remember being told that 265/70R17 is the largest that I can run on stock 17" steel wheels.

Thats not true, the 255/80R17 is larger and fits fine. The 285/75R17 is a fair bit larger and fits fine.

I didn’t like how the 285/70 fit the stock rim, but lots of people run them without issues.

So it’s not a blanket statement by any means.

 

[Jim W]

I am using LT285/70R/17 126R Nitto Dura Grappler tires on my truck as a summer towing tire. But These are mounted to a Mickey Thompson wheel a Sidebiter II, which are now out of production. For my winter tires these are the stock size in Michelin LT265/70R/17E on the stock rims.

I could have gone with the stock rim with my Nitto Dura Grappler tire. But I wanted to have summer and winter tires so, being somewhat lazy. It is easier to remove the summer tire and wheel and not worry about remounting them at a tire dealer all of the time.

When towing my summer tires are set to 70PSI which supports a load of 3415 LBS each and when not towing the pressure is lowered to 50PSI which will support a load of 2750. The front is set to 55PSI which will support a load of 2890 each. With my air bags set to 10 PSI when empty my ride is acceptable for a pick-up truck.

 

[AH64ID]

But These are mounted to a Mickey Thompson wheel a Sidebiter II, which are now out of production.

What is the width of that rim?

 

[Jim W]

I think it might be 9" but I can't find the paperwork on the rims to be sure. I do know that the rims have a zero offset, my son and I made sure of that.

 

[AH64ID]

I think it might be 9" but I can't find the paperwork on the rims to be sure. I do know that the rims have a zero offset, my son and I made sure of that.

I was able to find some info on 17x9's online, but since they are discontinued I am not sure if there were other offerings.

17x9's would work much better with 285/70 than the stock 17x8's.

 

[verk]

Thanks for clarifying how big I could go on stock steel wheels, I had no idea. From the answers here it seems that 315/70R17 at least in AT (I'm 95%+ on road and looking for good wet & snow performance ). Using a site like tiresize.com is invaluable once you've figured out size. Appreciatively

 

[verk]

Thanks for clarifying how big I could go on stock steel wheels, I had no idea. From the answers here it seems that 315/70R17 at least in AT (I'm 95%+ on road and looking for good wet & snow performance ). Using a site like tiresize.com is invaluable once you've figured out size. Appreciatively

I hadn't thought to ask when I just posted this, but any considerations when running a 315/70R17 vs 265/70R17 ? For example, does added unsprung weight change driving characteristics ?

 

[verk]

Thanks for clarifying how big I could go on stock steel wheels, I had no idea. From the answers here it seems that 315/70R17 at least in AT (I'm 95%+ on road and looking for good wet & snow performance ). Using a site like tiresize.com is invaluable once you've figured out size. Appreciatively

One clarification. 315/70R17 tires like the WILDPEAK A/T3W, Continental TerrainContact™ A/T and others I'm looking at have rim range of >=8" while my oem steel wheels are 7.5Jx17 ET45. Lots of people seem to have 8Jx17 ET43 wheels, perhaps a trim level difference.

 

[Ozymandias]

All other then the steel rims are 8" wide.
You can geht them fairly cheap as knockoff.
I've just thrown mine away that spring when I upgraded to 9x18" rims.