New Tires For Tow Vehicle...

[longislandcampe]

I've got a 2013 Ram 1500 Big Horn 5.7 3.73 and pulling a 26' camper that's around 7,700 - 8,000 lbs. I still have the original tires on it with less than 19,000 miles on them.

I'm interested in replacing the TV tires and am looking for suggestions.

[ParkCountry]

I wore out many, many sets of Toyo M-55 tires over 20 years and thought they were adequate...that is, until I tried a set of B. F. Goodrich Commercial T/A TRACTIONs over 10 years ago. Tread wear is much, much better, and they stick to the road like glue in the snow! I now have a 2012 Ford F-350 with an oddball size (275/70R18E) not available in the Commercial T/A Tractions. My research and observations have led me to Goodyear Wrangler DuraTracs, which I will have installed this month at Costco. Not only do they have the best deal, by far, than the local tire dealers, but there is an $80 rebate promotion on 4 Goodyear tires good until April 26th.

[MO_Traveler]

I have the same size issue on same truck...2015 RAM 1500. I was looking at the Cooper Discover HT Plus. Says it is an LT tire with weight rating of 2998 lb. Worried an E rated tire would make the truck ride like a cement truck when empty, which is 90% of the time. Put a lot of miles on it. Looking at purchasing an Open Range Ultra light around 7500lbs loaded. Thoughts??

[longislandcampe]

Finally got the new tires. 🙂

[longislandcampe]

OK, camping season is upon us so I finally made up my mind and went with the BFG K02's for one simple reason. They were the only LT tires I could find that fit my wheels! 275/60/20.

I dropped off my truck this evening and am having the tires mounted and an alignment done. I'll be able to pick it up after work tomorrow and then Friday I'm heading out for the first trip of the year.

[longislandcampe]

Still looking around and it's hard to find tires that fit. I'm 275 60 20 and it doesn't seem like I have many options for beefier tires, especially if I want white letters which isn't a deal breaker.

[bigfootgrey]

Just replaced OEM BFG with Michelin Defender LTX MS. Better ride is noticeable,no need for all terrain tire. We'll see how they do

Bob

[Mkos1980]

I went at3 becuase it was one of the few AT tires I could have gotten with no white lettering anywhere. I've had the bfgs in the past on other trucks and they have been good.

[longislandcampe]

Mkos1980 wrote:
Just had Cooper AT3's installed. Love them.

I really like the look at the BFG K02's. They have them in my size but when you use most of the "compatible tire" searches on pep boys, mavis, sts, and even BFG then the BFG's are not listed as being compatible with my truck. The only place that lists the BFG's as compatible with my truck is Discount Tire.

The clerk at Mavis was pushing me towards the Cooper AT3's today which would have cost me about $970 installed after rebates.

[Mkos1980]

Just had Cooper AT3's installed. Love them.

[MitchF150]

Get the "XL" rated tires in that size.. They have a max load of #2833 @ 50 psi and are more than enough tire.. Heck, your rear axle rating probably isn't much over #4000 anyway, so why do you need a E rated tire??

I've got 275/55/20's in the above XL rated load and run them at 40 psi for everyday driving. I bump them up to 45 psi when towing. Tried 50 psi and didn't really make that much difference.

Anyway, That's what works for me.

Good luck!

Mitch

[brulaz]

cm11599ps wrote:
OK, so I'm leaning towards Toyo Open Country A/T II tires. I have 20" wheels so my tires options are limited. The Toyo's are E rated. Is that TOO much tire for my 2013 Quad cab Ram 1500 with a 8,000# 26' camper?

The truck is my daily driver but I only do 10 miles round trip to work and put about 8,000 miles a year on it.

I don't think it's too much tire. I put LTs on my F150 and they really helped when towing heavy. Maybe LT-D or even LT-C is all you really need weight-wise, but they are harder to find than LT-Es.

The harder tire makes the ride crisper, and if inflated to their full 80psi you'll notice it when you hit a pothole. But our F150's suspension and seats absorbed most of the shock, and our roads aren't that bad, so it wasn't really an issue. Especially as a previous Tacoma had a much worse ride even with P-rated tires. The suspension is more important than the tires with respect to ride quality IMHO.

If you can find a RAM 1500 with LT-Es from the factory, look at the yellow sticker to determine what psi RAM recommends for inflation.

And about Michelins, I put their LTX MS/2 LT-Es on that F150 and they wore very well even when loaded, were an excellent highway tire, but poor off-road.

Good luck.

EDIT: The BFG TA KO/2 are great off-road and winter tires by all accounts (they come with the snowflake symbol). But they don't come with any treadwear warranty and apparently wear fast when loaded, as in towing.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

Thanks RA. I was assured by my tire friend that the tires I bought would not crack. We will know in a few years. I broke my own rule and bought these tires after saying years ago I will NEVER buy Michelin's again. I think I will go with Toyo's next time.

[RAS43]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

rwess wrote:
Do not buy Michelin. They do not last. 36,000 miles on a set of LTX M/S2's with a 70,000 mile warranty. They cost $1250. Regularly rotated and balanced. All 4 tires wore evenly.
Discount Tire said they have very soft rubber and do not last on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. The new Defender LTX M/S 2's have been downgraded to 50,000 mile warranty. Mine were load range E on 3/4 ton Chevrolet Gasser. Original Bridgestone's lasted 60,000 and still had tread left when I got the Michelin's.
I do like Michelin's on my cars.

I just through up in my mouth a little after reading this post. I wanted the longest lasting tires put on my truck and several people recommended Michelin's so that's what I went with. My tire buddy says he got 80K out of his Michelin's. I'm beginning to wonder if it was fake news now?

There will be those that swear they get tremendous miles out of their Michelins but then there will be most people that don't, like Turtle and myself. And lets not even mention the sidewall cracking that many experience with them. I have Michelin LTX's on my truck and they will not make it to the 70000 mile warranty. And at 4+ year old they are already cracking all around the sidewall. The dealer says "that looks normal for Michelin"! My trailer has the same tire and it also has cracking-same response. And the warranty is only for 5 years I believe regardless of mileage so mine will time out. For the premium price I paid on the truck's tires I expected more. The trailer's tires were replaced with Michelin during the BFG recall in 2013. I liked the BFGs better.JMO

[TurnThePage]

If you have the 20 inch wheels, I assume your OEM tire size is 275/60. As far as I know the BFGoodrich AT KO2s are pretty much the ONLY LT AT tire made in that size. I was leaning that way too, but my commute is longer, and I don't want to sacrifice gas mileage and general comfort, not to mention no treadwear mileage warranty, and the upfront added expense, just for the occasional tow.

[longislandcampe]

How about BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires?