2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Tire Life on 3500 dually. Which tire and how many miles?

[John - K5AWO]

I will be needing new rubber in about 10,000 miles or less. Only have about 3/16ths left to the wear bars. And with 3 different brands on the pavement, I'm not all that happy with them.



My primary concern is tire life, off road traction isn't part of the picture for the next 3-4 years. And I won't be doing any TT pulling until I retire in 2007.



What tires have you used on your dually that gave you exceptional service?



One other item. Did you practice rotation on the rear tires? If so, any particular rotation pattern? How often?



It would seem to me that if the rear duals are not rotated that they will see the highest possible life. Putting a front tire against one already running on the rear would not give equal tread pattern on the ground.



At the same time, a tire left on the front will experience edge scrub when cornering.



Thoughts?

 

[Cowboy Medic]

I have run BFG all terrains for the last three years, I put 43,000 miles on my truck just last year. I got 46,000 roughly out of my last set without rotating at all. I know shame on me, but I was obviously very busy driving plus with aftermarket rims meaning a complete mount dismount and balance I was looking at $50 or more per rotation. I had very even wear and was very pleased. I use the aggressive tread more cause I am off in pastures and the like fairly often but find that the highway use is great as well. Don't know if that helsp ya but that is my experience.



Had the stock michelins and they were ok, but poor traction, not a concern for you from what you said, wear was decent about the same as the BFG's for me. Also had a set of General Grabbers and will never buy them again as they were junk, poor tractiona nd very poor wear.

 

[moparguy]

Hands down, no contest; Michelin Ribs. We've had folks report 80k that worked there trucks hot-shotting 36k on a daily basis.



These tires are a commercial grade tire with 10 ply steel belts and steel sidewalls and not that most would, but they can be re-grooved and re-capped. You can find them on UPS vans, that type application.



Mine have gone almost 40,000 miles in the past 15 months and still look great, I've no doubt they'll see 80,000 miles.



I do rotate every 10k.



And yes they're pricy, I paid $156 and change each, that's mounted and balanced.



RJR

 

[John - K5AWO]

Costco is wanting in the neighborhood of $150/tire no matter the brand. I'm not going to let price dictate the purchase. I want longevity and decent performance.



The rib tires interest me because they run quieter than an aggressive M/S tire. The A/T tires are somewhat quieter but my experience with those was 15 years ago working in the oil patch driving a RamCharger 4x4. I loved that truck, Damn shame they don't make it anymore.



I 2nd the opinion on General Grabbers. I put them in the same category as Firestone passenger tires. Not worth a S. . t

 

[bmoeller]

I have Cooper S/T tires. According to wear so far, I should get about 40-60k out of them. They do have a slight hum that you can hear in town. Barely noticeable, though. You have to have the windows down to hear it. Ride smooth. Work pretty nice off-road if need be.



http://coopertires.com/us/en/ProductDetails.asp?ProdType=LtTruck&id=190

 

[willyslover]

I think that mopar guy is talking about the Mich. XPS ribs



buy them at Costco and get life time rotation and balance also [it's included in the install price]. . easier to have them do it LOl

 

[John - K5AWO]

Oh yeah, much easier to go buy my bacon and hotdogs while the tires are being rotated. I agree with that one. Two birds in one throw of the dice. Mich. XPS, I will check up on that one right now.

 

[John - K5AWO]

Michelin has a neat web site for tire selection. Move the mouse over the screen and you can instantly compare the vaious features and see right off how traction treads sacrifice milage, etc... .



check it out.

http://www.michelinman.com/catalog/index_6.html

 

[Wiredawg]

Michelin!

I have Michelin LTX-M/S with nearly 48K miles. Looking to get about 80K on mine. I rotated them once at 15K miles, but never again. I have lifetime rotation/bal at NTB, but I only have them bal, no rotation. Cost $112 for life of tires



I keep 35psi in rears and 65psi in front. I go 75psi fronts and 80psi rears towing my 17K lb 5th wheel.



I'll definitely get these again.



Wiredawg

 

[bud kohn]

MY 97 HAD GOODYEAR AT'S. THEY HUM, WEAR, FUNNY WERE POOR IN THER WET SO SO IN THE SNOW AND LASTED ONLY 35k THEY CAME WITH IT NEW. I REPLACED THEM WITH MICHELIN MTX M&S ALONG WITH AN ALIGNMENT ON MY "97 TOLD THE "ALIGNMENT GUY" AT THE BIG TRUCK SHOP "I WANT IT TO DRIVE STRAIGHT AND NOT WEAR MY TIRES FUNNY". HE SAID THE STOCK ALIGNMENT SPECS WOULD NOT DO THAT SO HE ALIGNED IT HIS WAY. I RAN HIGHER PRESSURES THAN STOCK AND YES LIKE OTHERS I GOT ABOUT 80K BEFORE I SAW WEAR BARS. NO MORE BALANCES OR ALINNMENTWS. I ONLY TOW ON THE WEEKENDS SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR. BUT RUN 800# OF JUNK IN MY TOOL BOX AT ALL TIMES.

MICHELINS WERE EXPENSIVE BUT THE SAVINGS ON TWICE THE LIFE, NO ROTATION AND BALANCE HASSELS THEY WERE A BARGIN

THEY ALSO HAD 3 OF THE 5 TIRE/WHEEL COMBOS WHICH REQUIRED NO WEIGHT TO BALANCE. GOOD LUCK! NO REGRETS WITH MICHELINS!

 

[pgleavitt]

I also run the Michelin LTX-M/S and have 45,000 miles on them. Due to Alcoa wheels(polished on one side only so you have front and back wheels) I have never rotated them and all look good. I was told to stay away from the A/T. I purchased at Costco for $10 each more than the A/T that they stock. Ask as they can get other tires than what you see at the store. I should be able to get 70,000-75,000 easy.

 

[John - K5AWO]

My work van has the Michelin LTX-M/S tires on it. On our concrete, they make a loud howling noise that I don't like.



Here in the phoenix metro area, most of our freeways are concrete with those stupid rain grooves scored across the roadway. The engineer that thought that one up has been fired from DOT. When is the last time it rained here in the desert??



That road noise is the single loudest complaint around here, in the newspapers and other places. Measures well over 90 dB and in some places surpassed 100 dB.



DOT last year finally started a program to cover the concrete with rubberized asphault, but they have a long ways to go to finish it. At least that stuff is just about silent.

 

[rashwor]

Coopers. It is all I run on my '92 and '99 duallies.



I run the highway tread on the front (both trucks are 2X4) and the gripper tread on the back. On the back I average about 60K on a set. Granted they are wore out when I finish with them. I get about 50K on the front highway tread tires (down to the wear bars). All tires are load range E (10 ply). I drive dirt roads, farm roads, and state highways in Ruarl East Texas (crappy roads) and tow regularly.



Just put a set on the back of the '99 back at the end of April. 4 grippers mounted and balanced for $520.



No rotations ever. Doesn't seem to make a difference.



No noticable noice increase over the OEM tires. Love those Coopers!

 

[CumminsPuller]

I have been running Firstone Steel Tex tires on both my truck and trailer and been getting close to 100K out of them. At $98. 00 a tire you can't go wrong. That is with trying to rotate whenever I can.



My $. 02



Jason

 

[John - K5AWO]

I have been running Firstone Steel Tex tires



CumminsPuller, I used to run SteelTex tires back in the '70s and they kept loosing their tread. I take it you aren't having any problems with current production tires now ?

 

[CumminsPuller]

John,



Not a bit of trouble. I think they are a great tire, especially for $98. 00. Like I said I have been using them for close to 3 years without incident. Hope this helps.



Jason

 

[pwknapp]

After hot shotting for over 700k miles in 3 different trucks the Michelin XPS are the longest wear consistently, 80k with 10k rotations. LTX's were the next best at 70k but not as good on flats and could not compare to the XPS on the feeling of stability at high loads (30-35k gross). Apparently the XPS was a successful big truck tire that was then made for the 16" work truck market. Originally made in England and were tough to get when they first came out in the USA. Two sets ran 80k each and no flats. Well worth the $$$. JMHO

 

[CumminsPuller]

My experience was/is hot shotting aswell. But only for 3 years. Not as long as Pwknapp. But my gross weight was the same as his. I also have not tried the brands he has. When I started I just put the Steel Tex tires on and have stuck with them.



Pwknapp, could you notice a difference in the ride with different tires?



Jason

 

[pwknapp]

I ran BFG AT, BFG Commercial, Michelin LT,LTX,XPS Traction, Coopers,Generals and a couple others I can't remember.



The Michelin XPS road very firm and stable especially with 5000#'s on the flatbed or pulling the gooseneck loaded. I even put 8 LTX's on my 40ft trailer and stopped having to repair and replace during trips.



It is hard to slap down 1200+ for a set of sneakers with training wheels but it sure beats the alternative.

 

[John - K5AWO]

Would not the RIB style tires be better for the trailer?



I would think they would run cooler and with the commercial heavy sidewalls and straight tread pattern the trailer should pull easier with less side to side movement in winds?