Best type/brand/size tire on your tow vehicle??

I have BFG All Terrain KO's in 285/75 16 load range E on my F-250 SD in my signature. Very happy with them.

I have had my Suburban 2500 for 4 years now and it came with Michelin LTX M/S2 tires in the stock 245/75R16 size LRE. We have been storing it in the winters since it was an extra vehicle used mostly for towing, but starting this year we will drive it year round. The tires now have nearly 40k miles on them and are fine for summer use but seem too worn down for winter as the siping in the shoulder tread blocks is not nearly as deep and is now completely gone. Only the center blocks are siped still.

They have been very good towing tires. My tow vehicle has been incredibly stable and they have had good traction for all my needs (I don't go off road much at all). I will make a comment regarding all the issues people have mentioned with sidewall cracking. 2 of the 4 (currently on the front) have a lot of long narrow cracks in the sidewalls that you can see if you get close. I towed our travel trailer in weather up to 115 degrees this summer over 5300 miles with the cracks and I did not have an issue with the tires. They will get replaced before winter with winter tires, probably 265/75R16 sized.

Next summer I will get a 2nd set of rims and go with tires to match. Either 265/70R17E or 265/65R18E. I'd prefer the 18" rims, but there isn't as much selection.

I will say this for the G2. My wife reports to me every time her pickup slips, she keeps it in the auto trac function during the Winter, but we had a hellva Winter last year and twice she said she broke loose. The block design of the tread I think provides numerous biting edges that grip in icy conditions. It does really well in the Winter, never had it off-road, but I doubt it would clean real well but a good all around do many things well type tire.

ksss wrote:

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I have been running my second set of the Nitto EXO Grappler on a 2015 3500. Loaded heavy the majority of the time. Really good off road, Winter driving is good, as it is good on ice and in deep snow, not as good a new BFG AT but I will take the trade off, especially last Winter. After these tires get down to 50% I have been sipping them for improved Winter ice traction. I really like this tire. I got 50K out of my first set, and could have gotten more except I was going into Winter had I been going into Spring or Summer I could have pulled another 10K out of them.

My Wife has a set of Nitto G2 on her 2016 GMC 1500. Really a good all around tire, close in Winter traction to the BFG AT. Seem to be wearing well so far at 20K.

I have a set of Cooper SST's on a 2006 GMC 3500 DRW. Really good traction, and they are wearing very well for an aggressive tire. This tire is probably the most common AT tire I see in Eastern Idaho, seems they are every where.

Many thanks for that info.

The Nitto Exo Grappler AWT looks like a great tire. It does run about C$100 more per tire than the Yokohamas locally, but may be worth it with the tread wear you report.

The Cooper Discoverer Stt Pro is prolly too aggressive, too off-road for my purposes. Looks awesome though. It also lacks the Snowflake and sipes. As does the Nitto Terra Grappler G2.

Amazing how many good tires are out there. Really hard to make a decision. I'm adding somewhat arbitrary restrictions (all-Weather: with the Snowflake, treadwear warranty) to reduce the # of possible tires.

Make sure the tires are round, have the tread pattern that suits you needs and wants..........make sure they are not michiblows!

My 02 to this subject........

marty

alexleblanc wrote:
The stock Michelin AT2 tires on my F350 are impressing me for a factory tire, I currently have 10k on the truck and 7k is towing my fifth wheel as per the display in the truck, they are currently measuring 14/32 on the front and 13/32 out back. At that rate I can imagine them lasting around 45-50k which would be great.

My buddy runs his Chevy diesel hard and put 60k on his Michelin AT2s. Put them on my truck 5k ago and have been happy with the results in snow, heavy rain, dry pavement and gravel roads. Wish they had the snowflake...

It is my understanding the new Michelins use a different compound to address sidewalk cracking. The new ones also have less tread depth.

Good luck,
Stu

brulaz wrote:
It's complicated. My next tires will be:

"All Terrain". IOW something between Highway and Mud tires. Had Michelin LTX MS2s on my last truck and they were a great highway tire, long lasting and good mileage, but as soon as I got off the pavement they sucked. And Mud tires, although cool looking, are noisy, not as long lasting and with poorer mileage.

"All Weather". We travel to Florida in November and return in late March and on several occasions have run into snow and ice in the Appalachians. An "All Weather" tire is not a dedicated winter tire but does have Triple Peak Mountain and Snowflake. This means special rubber compounds and sipes which usually means increased treadwear (and reduced mileage). But lately Nokian, Cooper and Yokohama have come out with AT tires with that symbol AND with decent tread wear warranties.

Think it was Nokian that introduced the "All Weather" term , and they are very popular around here in S. Ontario as you don't have to swap tires every spring and fall. Not as good as dedicated winter tires, but good enough for many around here.

The AT tires with the winter symbol AND a treadwear warranty that I've found so far are :
Yokohama Geolander A/T GO15, 80K kms treadwear waranty for LT
Nokian Rotiva AT Plus, 65K kms for LT
Cooper Discoverer A/TW, 80K kms for LT

My favourite so far is the Yokohama based on looks, availability and local price.

There are a lot of other AT tires with the winter symbol but no tread wear warranty:
BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2
Toyo OpenCountry C/T
Nitto EXO Grappler AWT
Nitto HD Grappler
Kumho Road Venture AT51
Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac

But I suspect they will not last as long as those with the warranty.

I can speak to a couple of tires on your list. The BFG AT/KO2 is probably the best tire I have run on icy roads. When they are new, they simply cannot be beat. I have been running BFG AT and then the AT/KO2 since those came out on an 08 Chevy 2500 D/A. My biggest issue with these tires is The first 50% of the tire is really good except in deep snow or mud. After the first 50% the tire is essentially a good looking highway tire. I would replace these after 24K miles on them, which is about every 18 months.

I have been running my second set of the Nitto EXO Grappler on a 2015 3500. Loaded heavy the majority of the time. Really good off road, Winter driving is good, as it is good on ice and in deep snow, not as good a new BFG AT but I will take the trade off, especially last Winter. After these tires get down to 50% I have been sipping them for improved Winter ice traction. I really like this tire. I got 50K out of my first set, and could have gotten more except I was going into Winter had I been going into Spring or Summer I could have pulled another 10K out of them.

My Wife has a set of Nitto G2 on her 2016 GMC 1500. Really a good all around tire, close in Winter traction to the BFG AT. Seem to be wearing well so far at 20K.

I have a set of Cooper SST's on a 2006 GMC 3500 DRW. Really good traction, and they are wearing very well for an aggressive tire. This tire is probably the most common AT tire I see in Eastern Idaho, seems they are every where.

The stock Michelin AT2 tires on my F350 are impressing me for a factory tire, I currently have 10k on the truck and 7k is towing my fifth wheel as per the display in the truck, they are currently measuring 14/32 on the front and 13/32 out back. At that rate I can imagine them lasting around 45-50k which would be great.

I bought my truck with 20k miles on it, it had a brand new set of Hankook tires on it. I will never own another set of Hankook tires.

I went with the OE size tires on mine, load range E, just like it came with but a different brand.

I almost bought Michelin. I was told they get 80k miles out of them so I just about pulled the trigger.

Then I thought that at least the last 30k miles of rubber there wouldn't be much tread left.

Bad for any slick conditions and living where there's four seasons it was an easy decision to buy a set that I would replace every 2 years in the fall so I would always have decent winter tires.

I bought Big O, I don't know how wide spread their stores are.

50k out of a set of tires works perfect for me.

Interesting thread to me, as I am getting to the point of needing new tires. Mine are 285 60 R20's. Cooper's Discoverer ATP 265 60R20's are only $205 a piece at Discount. That's a GREAT price.

Mike