What Tires to buy next?

[Sixpac2]

Hi, I have a 04. 5 DRW 6 speed 3. 73 4x4





We tow a large 5ver. The stock Ameritrac tires are shot. they lasted 35k miles. They always have seemed to be a softer rubber. maybe good for off road but towing not so much. I do not need an aggressive tread, just a good Mud and snow tire as we do go up in the mountain snow for skiing in the winter.





Question?



what is the best way to go for towing and good mileage?



Also good mileage in MPG



i do not want to go any larger in diameter.



what about the Rickson 19. 5" and a lower profile



Thanks for your help, Marv

 

[TWilkening]

How about Michelin LTX M/S tires?

 

[Sixpac2]

I thought about these. Costco has them for $206 each



Have you used them?



I also went to Les Schwab they had some TOYO open counry H/T



They were a solid edge tread for $221 each



Any ideas on them. Is les schwab any good?

 

[Bob Cochran]

How about the Michelin commercial XPS Traction treads more aggressive than the LTX M/S tires. Probably the most aggressive tire Michelin has.

 

[JayWm]

How about the Michelin commercial XPS Traction treads more aggressive than the LTX M/S tires. Probably the most aggressive tire Michelin has.

They don't build the XPS series in a 17" and he's got 17's on his 3rd gen. 225/70r19. 5's have the same diameter as the 235/80R17. I'd buy Michelin's long before I'd buy Toyo's. Hard to believe that Toyo's price out higher than Michelin's.



There are not a lot of options in our size. Cooper makes a few options. Firestone has two options. Then there are the Goodyears that seem to crack around the beads. I'm about due for tires and I'm thinking that for the price I'll drop my spare, buy 5 new tires and run the General's again. I will likely get 40,000 miles out of them. They are a lot less than the Michelin's and I do not think you will see double the mileage out of them compared to your stock tires.

 

[Jack in Alaska]

Sixpac2,

I have the same exact truck you have. I am right now on an 8k mile trip pulling our 5th. whl. Gross combined weight is 24. 4k. My Americrap tires are about 3/4 worn out at 21k miles. Let me know what you find and how they are working out for you.



Jack in Alaska

 

[JRMora]

FWIW, I replaced my cracking GSA's with a set of Generals (only things I could get at the time with less than 30 day b/o) and I just hit the wear bars at 25,000 miles. Anybody running the Transforce (Firestone)?



Juan

 

[CumminsPower98]

I have had real good service from the Michelin LTX M/S tires myself (265/75R16). I got 107k out of my last set (still had 5-10k left but removed for winter) running OTR transporting RVs up to 12k lbs. I am loaded about 45% of the time. I also get good mileage.

 

[Jack in Alaska]

The tire question is for 3rd gen's that have 17" rims.

 

[CumminsPower98]

I don't see the problem, the tires I mentioned come in different sizes. I just stated the size I currently run.

The tire question is for 3rd gen's that have 17" rims.

 

[Bob Cochran]

They don't build the XPS series in a 17" and he's got 17's on his 3rd gen. 225/70r19. 5's have the same diameter as the 235/80R17. I'd buy Michelin's long before I'd buy Toyo's. Hard to believe that Toyo's price out higher than Michelin's.



There are not a lot of options in our size. Cooper makes a few options. Firestone has two options. Then there are the Goodyears that seem to crack around the beads. I'm about due for tires and I'm thinking that for the price I'll drop my spare, buy 5 new tires and run the General's again. I will likely get 40,000 miles out of them. They are a lot less than the Michelin's and I do not think you will see double the mileage out of them compared to your stock tires.

OOPs I missed that 17"

 

[Grizzly]

Consider Dunlop Rovers, I've had great luck with them and Consumer Report rates them high and better then Michelin.

 

[JRMora]

Consider Dunlop Rovers, I've had great luck with them and Consumer Report rates them high and better then Michelin.

George,



I don't think Dunlop has a tire in this size (I looked at their website). I'm in the market now for tires (one of my Generals is now throwing chunks of rubber and all are on the wear bars).



Are you running the Michelins on your truck now? I'm really thinking of trying the Transforce tires by Firestone. They are getting comparable reviews to the Michelins and will cost me about $3-400 less per set.



Juan

 

[10.5 Dave]

I'm thinking that for the price I'll drop my spare, buy 5 new tires and run the General's again. I will likely get 40,000 miles out of them. They are a lot less than the Michelin's and I do not think you will see double the mileage out of them compared to your stock tires.

I just did what you mentioned last week. My stock Ameritrac lasted 41k so for the price difference from the Michelin LTX I decided to run them again.

Hopefully I'll be driving a 5500 Mega cab 4x4 by the time this rig needs new rubber.

 

[GaryOwen]

I have Michelin LTX M/S 235/80R17 tires with 91k miles on them on my 2003. Should get about 130k to 150k miles total on them. About half of the miles have been towing various RV's. Lots of highway miles. Have been happy with them so far, but haven't used them in snow yet. Will probably replace them with the same.

 

[Grizzly]

George,



I don't think Dunlop has a tire in this size (I looked at their website). I'm in the market now for tires (one of my Generals is now throwing chunks of rubber and all are on the wear bars).



Are you running the Michelins on your truck now? I'm really thinking of trying the Transforce tires by Firestone. They are getting comparable reviews to the Michelins and will cost me about $3-400 less per set.



Juan

My 05 came with Generals, yak. MY 95 came with Goodyear Wanglers. I had 55K on them with some 15K to go, but before we went on a long trip to Florida, I replaced them with the top rated at the time, Dunlop. They were the best tires. Too bad they don't make them in our new truck size.

 

[JRMora]

Well, for what it's worth, I went out and got 6 new Firestone Transforce AT's installed today. $1053 mounted, balanced, road hazard warranty, etc.



I had to do something as one of the Generals on the front started shedding chuncks of rubber of the tread on Saturday. I know a blowout was imminent. Best price on six Michelins was $1456. I wasn't too thrilled with the tread design of the Michelins as we are looking to move to a rural area near Denver and I was worried about the mud and snow performance of them The Transforce A/T has a more open lug tread design.



Initial impressions (as much as you can form in a couple dozen miles!):



The Firestones appear to be a narrower tread design than the Generals (they are still 235/80/17's, though). They remind me of the 255/85's on a lot of the older 2nd gen trucks. Even with an open lug tread design they are very quiet at highway speeds. They don't squirm as much new as the Generals did. They also required very little weight to balance and run much smoother, too.



I had a slight pull to the right with the old tires. The truck tracks much straighter now (no alignment done - yet). I wonder if I wasn't getting some sidewall separation in one of the old tires?



Anyway, I am pleased so far and will post as these get more miles on them. I have been averaging 20-25k miles per year, so maybe these will last a little longer (as stated above, the Generals went 25,500 miles in a little over 14 months and were down to the wear bars - and started chunking).



Juan

 

[Okie-Go]

I really like the looks of these tires. It reminds me of a semi steer axle tread. A lot of guys are afraid of anything Firestone but the heavy duty 16" are supposed to be nice tires. I have 23 on my factory Genarls and they look pretty good so far. By the time I need shoes for my truck there may be more brands in my size. ( I hope)

 

[dward]

I'm happy with my Cooper ST's on my 03 dually. I had to replace my Goodyears before the tread was worn out due to the sidewall cracks.

So far (10k mi) the Coopers seem to be wearing well with most of the miles towing or carrying a 5k lb camper.

 

[Burner]

Toyo or yokahama (sp) dosen't make a 17" for our trucks?