Truck tire recommendations

I'm going to need new tires on the truck before snow flies. They were a bit thin last winter when I bought the truck, but they got me through OK.

The truck is a 2005 Silverado 1500 4WD. Stock wheels, 265/70/17. The most off road it sees is down a dirt road a few times a year to get firewood. Most of its life is spent on asphalt. No plowing or anything like that.

I'm looking for an all around decent tire. I don't want the cheapest, and I don't need an aggressive mud/off road tire. I've read some reviews, but I trust the folks here more than I trust random internet reviews. This is my first full size truck, and I plan on holding on to it for quite a few years. I owned the S-10 that was replaced with this truck for 23 years, so the Silverado isn't going anywhere any time soon.

 

If I recall, we have a tire expert on here somewhere, can't remember who it was though. Pallet Pete DexterDay MasterMech Do you guys remember?

 

Look at Craigslist. Search by tire and wheel size. Lots of people sell for cheap when they upgrade tires and rims. Been looking for a while and just picked up 5 tires and wheels all E rated (including spare) off of a 2002 GMC with 75% tread for $475. Will put em on the truck when the snow flies. The old SilentArmors have 51k on them and prob 5k left but will run that off next summer. Glad to now have a spare set of wheels. New ones are Hankook or something like that.

 

You could check the reviews on -tirerack.com - for your size and application. Narrow down the list to a half-dozen you like (based on price, reviews, and aesthetics), and see if anyone here has personal experience with them. Couldn't hurt.

 

I used to run a Ford E350 hauling 'just in time' freight (mostly automotive) for Con-Way Now. The truck had a 9600# GVW and I was at, or near, that weight 50% of the time. I was licensed at 10K.

I bought it @ 108,000 miles… sold it with 380,000 miles (no mistake) 18 months later. The truck came with Goodyear LT tires… wore out real fast. Then I bought BF Goodblimps… blew them like popcorn. Then I bought two Hankook's for the rear axle on recommendation from my local dealer… got two weeks out of one before it blew. The next experiment was with another brand (don't remember exactly) but those didn't last either.

Now I can be a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to some things… and I never bought 'brand name' rubber because of that. But the best tires I ever owned on that truck (and my big trucks) carried the Michelin name. I simply could not afford to keep going with other brands when the answer to my problem was a Michelin tire.

I had to swallow hard the first time I wrote the check… the BF Goodrich 285/16's I was using cost about $85.00 each… the Michelin's were $125.00 at the time. But I never blew another tire on that E-350. I think I got 80,000 miles out of the last front tires and over 60,000 miles on the rears. Never got 10K on any of the others that I had on the rear.

I bought two steer tires for my '95 Peterbilt from the local Dunlop dealer. The truck developed a vibration less than two days later. After six months, and a couple thousand dollars of front end alignments, replacing parts that were not worn, rebalancing, two pairs of replacement tires that Dunlop did not pay for I simply gave up. I was in Indianapolis and I saw a big MICHELIN tire sign and I pulled into their lot. One hour later I pulled out $700.00 lighter in my wallet but I was driving a truck without any vibrations.

I owned that Pete another 9 1/2 years and it never saw anything except Michelin's from then on…

Last February we were driving to Florida and, before our trip, I had my tire guy find four new tires for me. Our old '90 Buick has 14" tires… hard to find in any quality brand. So I had to buy four Ho-Chi-Min cheapy's @ $70/each. Blew the two front tires driving over a bump in the road in Indiana less than 8 hours into the trip. We were in the boondocks. I limped it four miles on two blown tires to a tire shop that had done some work for me over the years. We slept in the car for 8 hours (the 'slept' word is an exaggeration). I had to buy two more Moo Goo Gai Pan jobs to continue our trip…. what a trip.

 

I second krooser experience with michelins on his truck. On my trucks I put Michelin LTX tires with a load rating of E. I have gotten well over 60k miles on every set I have replaced some lasting 70k. They are a bit more money but once you experience lesser quality and the headaches that come with it you'll know why. Just recently I put a set of michelins on my wife's Lexus, so far she's only put 10k on them but again, they are dependable.

 

Michelin makes a good tire... You get what you pay for. That being said the firestone destination series seem to have decent tread life.

 

Michelin LTX M/S have done me well on my small Ridgline as well as a friends huge Suburban. Not cheap but I got 75K miles from my first set and they never let me down in any heavy snow conditions.

 

Bfg all terrains. Stick like Velcro in the snow, relatively quiet, long lasting. I got 65k out off the last two sets I had on my 2000 z 71. Rotate every 8k to get the most out of them.

When I was young I would bark off a set in 25k, but as I grew up and the tire price went up I started taking better care of things.

 

I have Michelin LTX AS on my F150...factory tires...75K and still have at least another 10 left in them. I'm not kind to them either.

 

I've got 26k on a set of the firestone transforce ATs. I figure on getting about 35k out of them. My friend has got 46k on his set so far. He's got an 02 dodge 2500 cummins quad cab short box. Mine is an 11 3500 SRW. I've done a bit more heavy hauling than he has. Good traction for rain and snow so far. I hope to get through this winter on them.

 

Thanks for all the comments. I don't want to skimp on tires as I plan on having the truck for a quite a while. I used to work in a tire shop (granted, it was 20 years ago) and I've done the cheap tire thing back in my young days.

I'd somewhat narrowed it down to Bridgestone Dueller or Cooper Discoverer H/T, but I know there are others I wasn't considering. I figure if I can get out the door for around $800 or less, then I'll be happy.

I've looked at CL, and every now and then a good deal pops up on a virtually new set, but they're gone as quick as they appear. Most of the rest is people trying to unload tires that aren't much better than what I already have.

 

I've have great luck with Cooper Discoverer tires. Never have gotten less than 75,000 out of them. And I tow a work trailer around. All have been E rated tires too.

 

I have Cooper discoverer AT/3's on a Ram 2500 4x4. Decent tires but not great in snow. Just not enough siping to get the job done at a high level. They wear well though. I'll likely get around 50 to 60k miles out of them if the truck holds up.

 

I had the Bridgestone Dueler REVO on my truck, I wasn't impressed with them. While they had great grip on dry, wet, and snowy pavement, and did very well off-road in dirt and mud, I only got about 35k miles out of them.

Next I tried the Pirellix Scorpion ATR, which weren't quite as aggressive off-road, but did just as well on road. They are a heavy tire, and my mileage went down 1 mgp, but I got about 50k miles out of them.

Now I've got Michelin LTX AT2's on my truck, and I'm extremely happy. Again, they aren't as aggressive as the REVO's were off-road, but I haven't gotten stuck yet. They are very good on-road, and even last winter when the 4WD went out in my truck I never had an issue on the roads with all the snow we got. I have 45k on those so far, and there's still a lot of life left. I think I can easily get 60-65k out of these, maybe more. They were the most expensive up-front, but with the long life I should get they are actually the most economical tire. I highly recommend them.

 

I went to Sears tire college (I'm not kidding), does that count? Hehe!