I am looking for some 245/70R19.5 load range G or H tires for a 4X4 3/4 ton pickup that mostly will see highway miles. Some of the criteria are as follows. 1, Must be hi quality/reliable.......this truck will mostly be used for long distance vacation trips with a truck camper on it and it may end up on an Alaska trip in a couple of years. 2, As it will mostly be long distance, highway miles, I don't want tires that would be objectionably noisy. 3, Very rarely will be off road, but an all terrain type tread may be OK, so long as they are not real noisy and wear decent. Right or wrong, but due to the local dealer and an Alaska trip and other longer trips we have planned, I have pretty much decided to go with Michelin's as I want a very high quality tire to lessen the odds of tire problems. I have kind of narrowed the choices down to the following 3 options. Michelin XZE tires all the way around. These are a straight tread steer tire which concerns me some as I am not sure what we might run into road off/road driving if we do get to Alaska someday. Michelin XDS2 tires all they way around. These are a mud/snow rated tire. The concerns with these tires are noise at highway speeds and possibly less tire life then the straight steer tires. Michelin XZE tires on the front and Michelin XDS2 on the rear. This combination limits the rotation options, but other then that it may be the best compromise for noise, traction and tire life. Anyone have any experience with this size tires in different combinations? Thanks!

I guess it depends on how quiet your truck is, but even with my very agressive tires, I don't find the noise that bad. I do drive with the windows up.I ran very aggressive drive tires all around on my F350 SRW for 8 years. You may not like it, but I wanted to make sure I had very good traction.

I don't know what truck you drive, but more modern trucks have plenty of sound insulation that tire noise isn't really an issue unless you drive a lot with your windows down.

I would like the mud and snow tires. Probably would want the same tire on all four corners, because outside diameter is very important with 4 wheel drive trucks. I would look at Toyo tires too. While Michelin are great, Toyo are more reliable in MHO.Yet what I have also heard about 19.5" tires is they are very stiff, and the tread of many tires are hard as a stone, and can cause traction problems on a slick wet road.Tire life probably will not matter much, I would expect you to get 50,000+ miles, if you can put that many on within 7 years.Good luck,Fred.

skipro3 wrote:I don't know what truck you drive, but more modern trucks have plenty of sound insulation that tire noise isn't really an issue unless you drive a lot with your windows down.The truck is 2006 Dodge quad cab 2500 with Cummins engine. At 47,xxx miles (known actual miles, I bought truck new) the truck still has the OE BF Goodrich Rugged Trail TA LT265/70R17 tires on it. We have a 2009 Lance 845 purchased that is about 4 hours from home and I don't want to get it until I get these new tires/rims on. Last weekend I installed AirLift bags with the 72000 dual controller, the Hellwig Big Wig Sway bar and rear Rancho 9000 shocks.Edit to add: I also installed front and rear Torklift frame mount tie down brackets.

I ran Rge G (just over 4000lbs capacity) XZE ribs all around after tiring of the noise of an all season Goodyear 19.5 I had on. The XZE has teeth on the sides of a couple of the grooves that gave them unexpected good performance in snow. I also towed a loaded stock trailer (16000lbs?) in over a muddy track that a dually - all season tired 4x4 1 ton with 4 fewer cows on got stuck ... they worked almost as well as winter tires on ice/packed snow. We called the XZE's the "tires that make no sense..."I am now running 18" Firestone HT's that have a load range almost as much as the 19.5's but can be aired down way more on the rear for empty work. They also don't duck around as much following parallel wreckage in the road surface. The 19.5's are steel casing tires so they will stand up better to road punishment (gravel). They are heavy assemblies so handling changes. They have super "stability" compared to Rge E stock type 2500/3500 tires.edit - the truck is a 4x4 SRW quad cab long box diesel / 6speed I shift.

19.5 tires again-more input needed please | Good Sam Community

Bedlam
Moderator
Nov 06, 2016
pirlbeck wrote:
Bedlam wrote:
If you want a quieter tire, look for a tread pattern with closed blocks on the tire edge. I run open on the rear and closed on the front which is a good compromise for quietness while still offering traction.

I suggest going with a 16PR LRH tire instead of the G rated ones. You will be able to carry the same amount of weight with less tire pressure which will make the ride more comfortable. Since this is a higher weight rated tire, you will also find it has less flex and thicker carcass which will help with wear (for those of you doing more mileage).

Do you know of any H rated tires that have the closed block pattern? In looking at the pictures on the Rickson wheels site there appears to be only 1 mud & snow rated tire with the closed block and it is a G rated Firestone FD690 plus.

Exmples of closed shoulder LRH tires:
Bridgestone R250F
Road Warrior Steer All Position
Michelin XZE
Double Coin RT600
Continental HSR1

Maximum pressure will increase between load ratings, but it drops to carry the same amount of weight if the tire is built heavier. Look for a tire that has a 136 load index which translates to a load rating H or ply rating of 16. Typically LRH tires inflate to 120 psi and LRG tires to 110 psi, but a LRH tire inflated to 100 psi can carry what a LRG does at 110 psi.
Ski_Pro_3
Explorer
Nov 06, 2016
What can someone expect to have tires and wheels match mounted and road force tested?
pirlbeck
Explorer
Nov 06, 2016
taycotrains wrote:
msiminoff wrote:

As other have said,I suggest that you take them to a shop that has experience mounting and balancing 19.5's. You should have them match-mounted, then balanced... and have the shop do a road force test too

Cheers
-Mark

Watch is match mounting ? and what is a road force test ?

Match mounting.

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=17

Road force test

http://www.gsp9700.com/technical/4202t/5theo004.htm
taycotrains
Explorer
Nov 05, 2016
msiminoff wrote:

As other have said,I suggest that you take them to a shop that has experience mounting and balancing 19.5's. You should have them match-mounted, then balanced... and have the shop do a road force test too

Cheers
-Mark

Watch is match mounting ? and what is a road force test ?
msiminoff
Explorer II
Nov 05, 2016
Last year I switched to Bridgestone M729F's. I like them way more than the Michelin XDE's they replaced; They're a lot quieter, handle better, and stop better than the old tires ever did. I put ~25K miles on them last year in every imaginable road condition and have zero complaints.

As other have said,I suggest that you take them to a shop that has experience mounting and balancing 19.5's. You should have them match-mounted, then balanced... and have the shop do a road force test too.

Also keep in mind that 19.5" drive (all terrain) tires will have a lot of tread squirm when they are new... will take at least 1K miles for them to break in and handle well.

Cheers
-Mark
jimh406
Explorer III
Nov 05, 2016
Bedlam wrote:
I suggest going with a 16PR LRH tire instead of the G rated ones. You will be able to carry the same amount of weight with less tire pressure which will make the ride more comfortable.

I thought most the weight carrying capacity had to more to do with air pressure than number of plys. I'm ok with being wrong, but what are two tires that you are comparing?
wcjeep
Explorer
Nov 05, 2016
I previously had Toyo 608z all terrain tires. Too rough for highway tires. Now running BFG tires which use Michillen casing. Great tires for the highway that were easily balanced. Each tire took 4ounces to balance.
pirlbeck
Explorer
Nov 05, 2016
Bedlam wrote:
If you want a quieter tire, look for a tread pattern with closed blocks on the tire edge. I run open on the rear and closed on the front which is a good compromise for quietness while still offering traction.

I suggest going with a 16PR LRH tire instead of the G rated ones. You will be able to carry the same amount of weight with less tire pressure which will make the ride more comfortable. Since this is a higher weight rated tire, you will also find it has less flex and thicker carcass which will help with wear (for those of you doing more mileage).

Do you know of any H rated tires that have the closed block pattern? In looking at the pictures on the Rickson wheels site there appears to be only 1 mud & snow rated tire with the closed block and it is a G rated Firestone FD690 plus.
Bedlam
Moderator
Nov 05, 2016
If you want a quieter tire, look for a tread pattern with closed blocks on the tire edge. I run open on the rear and closed on the front which is a good compromise for quietness while still offering traction.

I suggest going with a 16PR LRH tire instead of the G rated ones. You will be able to carry the same amount of weight with less tire pressure which will make the ride more comfortable. Since this is a higher weight rated tire, you will also find it has less flex and thicker carcass which will help with wear (for those of you doing more mileage).
pirlbeck
Explorer
Nov 05, 2016
I am buying these tires from a wholesale distributor through my business. As of now they do not have the equipment to "match mount & balance" them, but one of their accounts do and they are willing to take the tires and rims to them to have them mounted and balanced.