What brand of tires are working best for you?

[fortunate1]

Just tossing this out onto the table. I think that it would be informative to see what's working the best (milage, handling, load capacity, wear patterns, cost, etc. ) For as many folks as we have reading these posts, there should be an abundance of information out there if some would just pass along their experience. Maybe not everyone needs to buy new tires right now, but they will have to eventually. Sorry if this starts out in the wrong forum; I've got a 12, and was reading the 12-V forum.



Phil

 

[Elk]

I have had the best luck with michelens and the worst with goodyear. I have also tried firestone. The michelens I was able to get 35k, 18k goodyear and 22k with firestone. I ussully never get over 30k since a good portion of my driving is on back montain roads with a heavy load and a heavy foot. Whats most amazing is the back tires wear out before the front.

 

[C Schomer]

I got 40k out of the stock 245 GYs - not bad! I put on Firestone Steeltex R4S 245s(load rangeC) this summer. I wanted to try lower load range cause I don't carry much weight. The Es called for 80psi max and I ran them around 60psi and got nice even wear. I thought with the Cs at 50psi(max) would improve the ride and not have to worry about under inflation with them. That was a mistake! They don't ride much better and they don't roll as easy. With the GY Es at 60psi, the truck used to roll out of the garage by itself as soon as I released the brake and hit the clutch. The FS Cs won't even do that at their max inflation point and they don't handle as solid as the GYs did at 60psi. So I tried inflating the FSs to 60 to get an apples to apples comparison(as far as pressure)and they still won't roll quite as easy as the under inflated GY Es but handle way better. I can see a slight drop in mpg with the FS Cs too. I kinda hope I don't get a lot of miles out of the FSs. A buddys' PSD came with these FSs and he only got 20K. I,'ve heard the Pirelli Scorpians REALLY handle good. I may check into them next time! So many tires and too little time! Craig

 

[Gray 5.9]

RE: Tire choice

I've been running Brigestone Dueler A/T 285/75-16 with 60PSI (max pressure) since Feb of 01' and have around 35,000 on them with 50% tread left. They are good for 3000LBS, but I don't haul a load like a lot of others do. I had mine Trued and Balanced on the Truck, I also had the front end aligned at the time, which wasn't out much... almost 1 degree. After they got throuwhen I hit the road, I thought I was driving a new truck off the lot... Man what a diffrence it made. Thats the key too haveing tires last.

 

[pwknapp]

Can't beat Michelin XPS traction for wear. Got 75k out of my last set, and I run loaded about half the time. BFG commercials 35k, Michelin LTX 60k, BFG AT KO 37k and a bunch of flats. Run all with 65psi front and 75 psi rear , rotate every 10k , front to outside, outside to inside and inside rears to front.

 

[Evan A. Beck]

My OEM Michelins have been great. Got 67K on them now, probably have 25-30K left in them. I run 65 psi in all four, seems to give nice even wear.

 

[Blakers]

I've been running Brigestone Dueler A/T 285/75-16 with 60PSI (max pressure) since Feb of 01' and have around 35,000 on them with 50% tread left.

Emerald, how did you like those Duelers overall? Were they any good in mud or snow (not that you see snow down there). Just thinking of getting a set for my wife's Blazer. Thanks.



Blake

 

[Cooker]

C Schomer,

Be careful of the Scorpions. A friend had them on a 1/2 ton Chevy 4x4 and after 25,000 miles they looked they were already giving up the ghost.



I think Michelins are hard to beat for the best overall tire for our truck. Too bad they don't make them in a 285/75/16 or a 255/85/16



-Ryan

 

[Pit Bull]

Michelins makes the highest quality tires. If you ask almost any independant tire guy or talk to people who have them the majority will vote for Michelin. The XPS is a step up for highway use on our trucks (they are a commerical grade tire) but the LTX/MS are also great. The Michelin LTX/AT are also good if you need that additional traction. If you need a good off road tire with good on road traction I would go with the BFG AT/KO's. I have the BFG's on a Landcruiser and have 40K miles on them and they are still 80% of original. The BFG's will pickup debris from the road so you can get more flats with them. I have only had one flat in the 40K miles on the LC (pain in the ***). Also when you compare the pricing and the quality and wear difference between the Michelins and other brands it only costs a few more dollars to run the best.

 

[Lynn_Schwartz]

My BFG dealer suggests 235/85R/16 tires

I had some bad tire ware on a front tire (Bill Kondolay pointed it out to me a couple of weeks ago) so I took it to an independent BFG dealer I have confidence in and had the truck checked out. Had some bad ball joints so replaced them all - upper and lower. Truck will be needing new tires before we begin our summer travels. Dealer recommends the BFG 235/85R/16 tires cause they are taller and narrower than the 245's. He suggests that the ride is better because of the higher sidewall and the traction is better in wet, mud and snow because the footprint is smaller. Just wondering if any of you guys have experience with these tires. Regards, Lynn Schwartz

 

[RJOL]

I usually replace the stock tires with Toyos, from Les Schwab, when the stocks wear out. Don't like GoodYear, as that was the stock brand on on my first truck. Didn't last 30,000. I really like the Michelin LTX A/S 265/75/16's that came with my Dodge. They come with some siping on the tread, which makes them gripe better and run cooler. I've got 19,000 miles on them and they look like they will go at least double that. I'll still take a look at the Toyos, but may just replace the Michelins with another set...

 

[BigBadDodge]

Parnelli Jones

I am runing the Parnelli Jones Dirt Grip Radials load rating "E" (10Ply) and love them, they look and handle great, and aren't loud either, but pricey. They got good review in the Jan issue of Four Wheeler as well.



www.dirtgriptires.com



scott,

 

[illflem]

I used to use Michelins but tried out some Toyo ATs last time and am going to stick with them. 60k on mine and they look good for 60 more. They are a bit noisy but no louder than the Cummins. I have all my tires siped now and if Michelins can't be siped that's all the reason I need not to buy them. I will never run unsiped tires again. BFGs are no good in my book, most I ever got from a set is 25k.

 

[SOOT]

I have the Good Year Work Horse 235/85/16 on the 99 with only about 4000# on them. I keep 60psi front and 70psi rear they ride nice and hookup in the mud and snow.

 

[C Schomer]

Thanks Ryan, that's the first I've heard about the Scorpian wear! Craig

 

[LSMITH]

I am running the BFG A/T KO in 285/75/16 and having awesome luck with them. They are D-rated and I run 60 PSI front and 50 rear. They wear flat as can be. Snow and rain traction is very good, mud is so-so. I got 50K out of the last set and they looked to have at least another 10K in them.



illflem, about 10 years ago I had BFG's that were not real good either, less than 25K out of a set of AT's and less than 20K out of the MT's. There was nothing I could do to keep the BFG tires from cupping back then either, they were junk really. These that I have on my truck is my first experience with BFG's since and they are a world better.



I would probably buy Michelins if they made a more aggressive AT type of tire in 285 or 255. With all the good reports on Toyo's recently I will look into them next time. The BFG is a great tire for me, but they are getting more spendy all the time.



I have had bad experiences with goodyear wranglers, bridgestone duelers, dunlop rovers and cooper discoverers in the past. They either wore out with little mileage or handled poorly or both, the duelers were the best of the bad tires.

 

[JJW_ND]

I have ran two sets of Toyo M55's getting 73K on the last set, 65K on the first. This compares to 32K out of the Factory GY AT's and 33K out of Dunlop ATs'. All use is highway with lots of heavy pulling. All tires siped and resipped in neccessary.



Illflem... You should look at the M55's next time. A few bucks more the the AT's but maybe quieter. I could not here them over the engine. They are awesome siped in the snow. Almost like have chains.



BTW... . the other guy that pulled trailer with me (ran a Ford) sweared by the Michellin XPS. He never got over 50K out of his. Rotated, siped and lots less power with his rig. I never ran the XPS on my truck but these M55's can't be far behind.



jjw

ND

 

[John_P]

fortunate1:



Like "LSMITH" I have been running the "BFG A. T. K/O's"

(P285/75R/16) on my truck for a long time. I get around

35,000-40,000 miles to a set with VERY GOOD wear.

I agree with him that the older model BFG's (non-KO's)

didn't wear as good as these newer ones. My truck

came new with Goodyear's and to be honest with

you I really didn't like the ride or the wear.



Hope this has helped you.



----------

John_P

 

[pwknapp]

OK whats "siped" mean? Does anyone know where you can get the 9. 00/16's Michelins they sell in Europe? Suposed to be 34-35" tall and will fit on the duallies.

 

[Tardog]

If I am correct the siping is the little slits in the actual blocks of the treads, almost all tires (except muds) come with them when new, but a lot of them only go partially down ie: 1/2 the depth of the rest of the tread. I do now that some manufactures have this siping down all the way which lets you run the tire longer before you must replace. It sounds like some of the other guys are getting this siping done after the tire has been worn, I am unfamilar with this but very interested. Siping helps with keeping the tires cool, better flex of the rubber and allowing it to grip better. The draw back is that you loose strength of the tread and it can lead to "chunking out" if over used in aggresive material like broken rock.

As for tire's I can not speak for my dodge But I worked in an open pit mine for 9 years and by far the best tire was the Toyo Hyper-radial (I think it's the M55). It took abuse, had a bullet proof sidewall, could pack a load and wore better than any other brand in this situation( and we tried many). On my own p/u I've had stock crap bfg's, duelers- that cracked at the rim edge @ 30k miles, Toyo open countries worked well but noisy 40k miles, and michelin Ltx's that have been the best highway tire (not the greatest in gravel/slop) I've owned.

If you go with Toyo or Michelin you'll be satisfied. Never cheap out on tires, they are the only things holding you on the road. My 2 or 3 cents worth.