What do you cionsider the "best" tow vehicle tire?

I got 50K out of my stock Michelins. Then I tried the Hankook Dynapros and only got about 32K out of them. They were a more aggressive tread (which I didn't really need) and were pretty noisy after about 20K. I switched back to Michelins and I love them (Michelin Defender LTX M/S).

IMO, You can mount either 245 or 265's on the stock GM rims without any concerns. Once you start looking at aftermarket rims, pay close attention to the backspace.
The choices of 16" aftermarket rims is getting smaller.
Most manufactures are going 18" plus rims.
I recently went to a 16x8 rims with 4.5 backspace & 265's. Haven't pulled with them let.
I've had the 'fat mans' tires and never a problem.

I have the same truck... but mine came with 265/75/16's from the dealer. I upgraded them to 285's and got an unofficial increase in RAWR to 7500 lbs, which I'm nowhere close to in actual numbers. Our fiver tongue weight is only around 2000lbs wet and loaded.

For tire brands (all in AT's), I've had Yokohama, which are nice tires, but too soft. I've had Hankook DynaPro ATM's which were very good tires - lasted a long time, but which I thought were noisy - however, I found out later that all or most of the noise was a bad hub bearing in the front left that I replaced shortly after I got new tires (and still heard a lot of noise). So I'm sure they weren't as noisy as I thought they were. Now the truck's as quiet as it's ever been.

I now have BFG AT KO2's, and they are just as good as the Hankooks. The Hankooks and BFG's I would recommend, they give a solid ride when aired up while towing without hardly any sway to speak of. The Yokohama's seemed to have a lot of flex when towing, and gave an uneasy feeling.

I also have Bilstein shocks that helped improve the stability while towing as well. I highly recommend Bilsteins.

Good luck!

Hard to beat the Michelin Defender LTX MS 2. Chris

Top line Goodyear with Kevlar.

X3 Michelin

Nitto terra grappler G2 for me, but not sure if they make them in 17". I also used the sister company Toyo Open Country AT, both great tires with great max carrying capacity.

X4 Michelin

Me Again wrote:
Hard to beat the Michelin Defender LTX MS 2. Chris

have you noticed the mileage is down from the LTX MS 2 to 50,000 from 70,000. We have 4 defenders and 7 LTX MS 2

chevman

Truck came with Firestones and they did not last at all. Tried Michelins and they were good but tried Goodyear Wranglers and was not impressed, so switched back to Michelin Defender LTX and have been happy.