Best Tire 225 70R 19.5

My current 19.5's are BFG's. They use the Michellin casing. Cheaper than Michellin. Well balanced tires. I have three tires with 4ounces of balance weight and one with 2 ounces of balance weight. That's less than most non commercial applications.

I have to second what Marty said about the Michelin XDS M+S tires, only Michelin hasm't made the XDS M+S for quite a few years now. Instead, they replaced that tire with a newer and improved XDS2.

Marty says that there is no such thing as "best" when it comes to a tire, but if you are looking for the best wet traction, you would be hard pressed to find a better tire, of any size, than the Michelin XDS2 in the wet.

The XDS2 has 700 sipes that are factory cut in zig ziagging patterns deep into the tread blocks. As you no doubt know, it is sipes that help with wet traction. People in cold wet climates often get their tires siped at a tire shop... where thin slices are made in the tires treadblocks. I'm not a fan of siping after the fact of manufacture. But I am a big fan of sipes engineered into the tire tread and incorporated in the original manufacturing of the tire.

I know of no other tire, regardless of size or type, that has as many as 700 factory sipes like the Michelin XDS2 does. I run four XDS2 tires across the drive axle of my F-550, in the 225/70R19.5 size.

These tires are noisier than the HSR's you are retiring, so that might be a consideration. I didn't care. Marty's right, there is no one perfect tire. If you want quiet, there is the ribbed XRV. I wanted wet traction above all else, because I'll never wear out the tire tread before I have to change the tires anyway due to age.

I run HSR's as steers upfront, even though my truck is 4x4 like yours. I only use the 4LO transfer case as a granny low, I don't lock the front axle. The TrueTrac helical gear limited slip in the Dana S135 axle walks right out of any stuck I've been, especially in 4LO, no front axle involvement needed.

So you might consider running separate drive and steer tires. Rotate the spare in with the steers only, and leave the matched set of drive tires alone, other than to maintain inflation. I dislike Continental tires generally, so when these HSRs time out (I cant seem to wear tires out), I'll replace them with a Michelin all position or steer tire.

There is NOT a best tire in this size, no different than there is NOT a best tire in ANY size.
With this in mind, did not see it listed as it may have changed or is not listed at Rics, amazing but true, this is my one, and ONLY one Michelin I will recomend, that is the XDS M+S tire. A true road traction tire. Will not slip on wet roads, does well in mud etc. This is on the rear of my Navistar dump flatbed.
On the front I have IIRC the Bridstone R250 or something like it.

Marty