What make of tire to buy.

[BigMike]

I'm getting close to needing to buy new tires for my Ram. I definitely want to buy a quality tire. The ones on it now are stock. Towing my 5er, I want to ensure I have the maximum load capability and safety. I've always been a Les Schwab fan out here in the west. They provide great service, but I'm not sure they can provide the quality I want. Would appreciate input or recommendations or what I should be looking for in terms of quality, tread and price.

 

[Justbeamn]

I like Cooper. Good in all weather last long and are durable.

 

[telong]

I'm very partial to the BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A's myself. They have an aggressive tread and they will take a beating and keep on truckin'.

 

[CPH]

I'm on my second set of Cooper SRMII's. These are a commercial grade tire w/steel belts. First set lasted over 65K miles! Good tread pattern for the highway and load range E. I got a set of four mounted, balanced and new valve stems for $440. 00. Check out Cooper's web site.





Charlie

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Check out Michellins, a little more money but a MUCH better tire then Cooper, Goodyear, BFG, etc. They are the only tires i will ever use, just my 2c

 

[Archive]

I have the stock michelins on my 3500. With 37,000 miles, they still look like they could go another 20 or 30 thousand!



I haul and tow a lot, and about a month ago, I noticed that one of them had a bulge in the sidewall. Replaced it immediately. (I may have caused the bulge while in the mountains)



Les Schwab service is tough to beat. I have seen them in most towns between Seattle and Butte, across to Portland. My next set will be from them.



I lost a tire on my flatbed last summer... it was half gone (literally). Since they couldn't measure the tread wear, they replaced it free of charge.

 

[Cooker]

I hate Cooper tires, but I won't get into that. Anyway my vote for longest lasting quality tire goes to Michelin.



What size are you looking for? If you want a 285 you'll have to have to shop for a different tire than Michelin.



-Ryan

 

[rono]

The michelin's (stock) that came on my truck are wearing quite well and are performing well. However, I have had nothing but excellent service from all the Coopers I have ever owned. On all my previous cars and trucks, when the OEM tires wear out, I replace them with Coopers. On trucks and 4-runners, I replace with the Cooper Discover. Just my 2 cents, but again, for highway use, and crawling all over rocks in Colorado I have never had a failure or problem with traction or wear.

Ron

 

[CPH]

Cooker,

What happened to tturn you off Coopers? Just curious. I've had good luck with them. Is there a recall or something I should know about?



Charlie

 

[JAnderson]

Les Schwab has a tire called the toyo M55. I beleive it is a 8ply and is E rated. Its a good tire if you are hauling loads. I personally prefer the Wild Country TXR. Great traction, low road noise 8Ply but is D rated. I haul a 8ft camper and 2horse trailer. No problems yet.

 

[Cooker]

CPH,

I have never personally owned a set, but I will go throught the list of people I know who had had them replaced, some under the prorated warranty, and some under the extra tire warranty offered at the tire dealer, and some at their expense.



My father is on his third set of Coopers on my Moms minivan. The prior two sets were replaced for a nominal fee under the pro-rated tire warranty. Both sets had less than 20,000 miles and less than 1 year on them. The sidewalls were cracking.



Father tried a set of STE's (I think) on his Chevy 2500 4x4 gasser. After 500 miles he took them back to the dealer because they rode like #$%^$%, and took a ton of weight to rebalance. After another 500 miles the dealer bought them back and put on some Dunlops, and 25,000 miles later he is still happy.



Friend has a set of the new style AT's on his truck (1500, V6, 4x4, Chevy gasser). At 18,000 miles they almost look finished. About 1/3 of those miles are highway miles.



Friend had a set of the old AT's and had the sidewall blow out while driving down the highway.



Friend had a set of old style AT's and they would never balance right. Then had one replaced for broken belts. Then at 30,000 miles he junked them because they wouldn't balance and rode like #$!) He put on BFG A/T's and they balanced with little weight and rode beautifully.



I understand other experiences are different than the one listed above, but I have never heard of this many problems realted to one tire company (except Firestone ). For these reasons I will never buy a set of Coopers. For those of you that have them, good luck and I'm glad they are working for you.



-Ryan

 

[JJW_ND]

Toyo M55

I can highly recomend the Toyo M55. They come in 245 or the 235/85R which is as tall as the 265. They all are 10py E rated.



Original Goodyear AT went 32K, next set Dunlop Rover AT (255/85R) went 34K, First set of Toyos went 58K (235/85R). Have 61K on the seconds set. This is on a 96 2500 5sp.



I religously watch air presure, rotate every 5K (2. 5K the first two times) and get good even wear. BUT! lots of hard pulling miles the really eats rubber.



The M55 is a Mud and Snow tire but is suprisingly quiet on the road. Wears good and great traction. Best winter tire when combined with Siping. BTW, I have all my tires siped which may help increase milage. I drive little or no gravel.



Other then Michelins XPS (big dollars) these are probably right up their for wear. Based on the Govt trucks wear on the factory Michelins LTX's, I would think the Toyo might last longer.



I pay about $150 per tire mounted/siped/life balance.



jjw

ND

 

[DBazley]

Happy with the 19.5 semi tires

Just a thought from this new TDR forum subscriber. Last year I got the 19. 5 tire / rim package from Rickson Truck. What a deal ! They are the answer to the "I keep wearing out my 10 plys in 25,000 miles (or less!)" problem.



I admit, if you don't tow at least sometime, they may be overkill. But I now have 15,000 miles on em, and I can't tell any wear on the tread. The tires themselves are Bridgestone M 724, highway tread, 245/70 R 19. 5. They handle the weight of any load no sweat, I go as high as 20,000 lbs gross with trailer and the feeling of confidence is greatly improved over the stock "E" 10 ply rated tires of any make.



They estimated 100,000 + miles per set of tires, and I think that's going to be the case. Hope this helps !

 

[BCFAST]

It really doesnt matter too much which tire brand you choose, so long as you dont put anything that says "Goodyear" on either your truck or trailer!! Personally, I'm a Michilin and BFG fan... had good luck with both of those and repeated failures of GY tires.

 

[DHatfield]

When I get my new tires for my truck before winter as my tires are about to the wear indicators I am going to get the Mitchenlin's LTX. I think any tire is good except for the Firestones as they blowout.

 

[chuck3]

Tires

I have 23000 miles on my stock set of michelins and can hardly see any wear at all.

 

[Jeff Knight]

I'm on my third set of Kelly Safari AWR and like them a lot . Stock size 245 , load range E Jeff

 

[Floor It]

I have gone through 2 set's of cooper STE's and will not run anything but coopers. I have 2 vehicles with them, I have gone through michliens and goodyear with no luck, you have to remember, no matter what brand you buy there will be some bad set's from the best manufacture's out there!

 

[almitchell]

My factory Michelin LTX M/S have 74,000 and tire dealer says good to at least 80,000. Hard to beat that in my opinion.

 

[Ken B]

Big Mike,



I've had nothing but good luck with Les Schwab tires and service, they can't be beat! If you don't want to go with Schwab tires, I'd go with the Michelins... but buy them from a Les Schwab dealer and take advantage of their unmatched service.