Truck Tire Recommendations?

[Art_Davis]

My first experience with having to replace truck tires. Only got about thirty thousand miles on original equipment tires on my Dodge Ram 1500.

I have had good luck in the past with Michelins on the family bus.

Any advice as to how to choose a truck tire? I have done a search, but can't really identify a trend-so thought I would ask for general advice.

Any links on how I read tire data such as the date code?

Thanks in advance.

[RJCorazza]

BFG AT on the F150, very agressive but loud on the highway. BFG Rugged Terrain on the F250, moderately aggressive tread and quieter. Both are great off road and snow traction tires. I also like E rated tires, but they give a stiffer ride.

[All_about_the_B]

Follow up: The original tires worked for their living. My truck is either in the shed, or it is pulling my 12,000lb dump trailer with a Bobcat in it or the Jayco Eagle. The original tires went 49000 mile and still look good. They have quite a bit of tread left and that was my biggest hurdles to buying new tires as they still look fine and I am a cheapskate. PS: I am really happy with the new wheel and tire look.

[All_about_the_B]

I have always favored Goodyear, but the last set I put on a Dodge Grand Caravan were really bad. They handled terrible! They were sold as "mileage savers" and they were the worst tires I have ever had. My 2003 2500 Ram now only has 49000 miles and the original tire look fine, but we were headed to South Dakota and I read that they were beyond the service life based only on age. The tread still was good. I was not in the mood to experiment with how the truck might handle pulling the Jayco. I bought a new set of the tires that came on the truck: BF Goodrich Long Trail load range E. No surprises, they handle great. Bought them from Discount Tire Direct. I was VERY happy. (I bought new wheels also) Three days they were delivered by UPS, free mounting, balanced, and shipping. Very helpful customer support when I had questions about wheel backspacing etc.

[Thom02099]

FWIW, Michelins have consistently gotten high ratings from Consumer Reports, for more than a few years. You can check on line if you have a subscription or check out the mags at the library if you don't. I've run Michelins for years on a variety of vehicles and have had no problems with them. For the best combination of ride comfort, performance on dry roads, performance in snow/rain, they are hard to top. As B.O. said, you get what you pay for.

[Hybridhunter]

Cummins12V98 wrote:
Put a set of E rated tires on you will love how they feel towing .....

I suppose that would depend on how smooth the road is lol.

[mileshuff]

BigSkyFamily wrote:
I hated the Michelins that came on the wife's Yukon XL. Horrible winter tire, and started to chunk apart after lots of gravel road.

Most of the Michelins I've seen on trucks and SUV's from the factory are LTX A/S tires. They are horrible on snow or anything other than dry pavement. Not a good tread in gravel as well.

However, the LTX M/S or M/S2's are excellent. They stick like glue in the snow and wet roads. Much more expensive than the A/S's though.

[wintersun]

A good ballpark place to look is the tire manufacturers' own tread life rating. Different treads will have different tread life ratings as there is a trade off with regard to traction, all season performance, use in rain or snow, and tread life. If there is a tread life guarantee that is also an indicator as one tire may be guarantedd (though prorated) for 40K miles and another of their tires for 60K miles.

Michelin's have an excellent reputation and my neighbor got 60K miles on the ones that came from the factory on his 3/4 ton truck. He is not replacing them with new Michelin's as he spends a lot of time on pea gravel roads and the tires would collect the gravel in the treads and then spit them out when he got onto the pavement.

[Cummins12V98]

Put a set of E rated tires on you will love how they feel towing and they will last a long time on your 150.

[blt2ski]

Michelin's and there owned Uniroyal, BFG and Kelly springfield tires seem to have a love or hate relationship with people on here. I would take firestone or Firebombs as they were called a decade or so ago with some issues on Explorers. ANyway, michiblows are not my favorite tire, as I have yet to get one to go over 35K miles with out a tread seperation or a blow up. Coopers have been over all the best for how I drive. With Toyo's M55 the absolute best tire I have gotten from an overal mileage at just under 80K miles. Otherwise, 40-50K is normal, Coopers I usually get about 50-55K or there abouts.

I will also say, I am about as hard or harder on tires as anyone per my tire dealer!

marty

[B_O__Plenty]

Everything I own has Michelins. Cars, truck, 5th wheel....You DO get what you pay for.

B.O.

[pyoung47]

I replaced the Michs on my Ram with the same tire. Dodge dealer was as cheap as anyone sand get free balance rotating.

[BigSkyFamily]

I hated the Michelins that came on the wife's Yukon XL. Horrible winter tire, and started to chunk apart after lots of gravel road. Put Toyo Open Country A/T's on it. Very happy with them.
I run Toyo M-55's on my Duramax, it gets pounded down thousands of miles of dirt road hauling and towing. They hold up well.
I have also had good luck with Firestone/Bridgestone.
Had a set of BFG A/T's and they were so soft they just melted off in about 20K miles. Great winter traction though.

[CND_SuperCrew]

Art Davis wrote:
Thanks for all the info, folks. One thing, though. Several peopke have referred to date codes, wear ratings, etc. Does anyone have a link to a reference on these issues? I only know the basics, like how to read size, general category (LT, etc), and pressures. Where do I find (and how do I evaluate) these other ratings?

Sidewall info

Manufacture date of tires

[Art_Davis]

Thanks for all the info, folks. One thing, though. Several peopke have referred to date codes, wear ratings, etc. Does anyone have a link to a reference on these issues? I only know the basics, like how to read size, general category (LT, etc), and pressures. Where do I find (and how do I evaluate) these other ratings?