new to towing.... buying 4 tires...

[groundhogy]

I kind of read a bunch of old posts, but I am still a bit confused.

I see that I want the E rating.
I want like 100 mph continuous speed, etc.
Load like +3000 lbs..

What I am confused about is that I see some people
talking about their "stiff" sidewalls.
Does this help the ride? I guess from some side-to-side
wandering?

If so, does the E rating get you this stiffness, or is it
a specific brand and model that I want to look for
for this stable towing ride?

2.. my second question is tread aggressiveness.
The more pure road tires are what I see people recommending
I think. But I am thinking what if I get in some soft
dirt and need to pull harder? IDK...

help.. lol

[Cummins12V98]

The MS2's are a superior tire IMHO. I have had great luck with the LTX's also.

[COnative]

It looks like they do make that tire in the size I'd need. Tire rack has them reasonably priced as well. Great reviews on them. The LTX A/T 2 is getting good reviews as well. Tire rack reviews are saying 3/4 and 1 ton trucks are getting 60000 + miles on them. Impressive.

[Cummins12V98]

Don't know if they make them in your size but Michelin MS2's are a great tire.

[COnative]

I too am thinking about changing tires... My truck is a 2014 Ram 3500 Mega CTD. I think its in my sig. I have the original tires on it which are the Transforce HT, they have 15000 miles on them. Looks like theyd make it to 40000, but am thinking I may get something for them on a trade if I switch now. They ride nice on the highway for sure, but I live in the Rocky Mtns, ski 30 days a season and like to get off the beaten path with the 5er and hit moab in the spring when travel can be dicey. No plans to level or lift this truck.

Previously I had an f350 and ate through a set of general grabbers in 25000 miles. I then put on a set of toyo MT's and leveled the truck. Not a snow tire and loud. I've ran goodyear silent armors on a smaller truck. They were decent, but P rated. I like the look of the Toyo AT II's. Went to a tire store and the same size tire that I have on now in the AT II, 275/70/18 had a Load Index of 125s and a Load capacity of 3640 per tire. Should be fine for my 12000 lb loaded 5er and all the stuff I carry in the bed. Salesman then tells me he has same make in a 285/75/18. with load index of 129 and a load capacity of 4080.

Did I say yet that I don't know a lot about this stuff, but am a quick study... Anyway, I assume the taller tire is going to knock down the mpg's abit, but would there be benefits to having these higher ratings. Also, what AT tires have you all had with 1 ton trucks that didnt get chewed up too early. Thanks. Hope I gave you enough specifics...

[Cummins12V98]

rxr wrote:
I'm assuming this discussion is about a full size but any offer of advice would be dependent on vehicle and specks.

info needed:
truck
year
lift?
engine
what is being towed (or planned for)
usual or common use of TV

right now I feel like you've asked us to guess your favorite food.... I'm up for it but some help would be nice...

One response from OP so far.... "thanks much. your explanations were very informative, easy to understand, and in depth at the same time. lol"

Common occurrence on here, post a question with little to no info never reply with proper info and the answers just keep coming to a question that has no info that a person can really answer.

[rxr]

I'm assuming this discussion is about a full size but any offer of advice would be dependent on vehicle and specks.

info needed:
truck
year
lift?
engine
what is being towed (or planned for)
usual or common use of TV

right now I feel like you've asked us to guess your favorite food.... I'm up for it but some help would be nice...

[Grit_dog]

Well just about any AT load range E truck tire on the market would fit the bill for you.

[Cummins12V98]

Do we have to play guess what the op is asking the tires are going on?

[Kevin_O_]

donn0128 wrote:

rhagfo wrote:
If you want grip and a strong tire check out the Michelin LTX M/S2! I replaced my Toyo's with them and have gone all winter without any extra weight in the bed, and nary spun a tire.

But you forgot to mention this has been the driest winter since 1930. LOL

Speak for yourself! The way it's going here in Ct I'm hoping to be able to use my trailer by June! LOL!!

[groundhogy]

thanks much. your explanations were very informative, easy to understand, and in depth at the same time. lol

[jus2shy]

Offering my 2 cents below

groundhogy wrote:
I kind of read a bunch of old posts, but I am still a bit confused.

I see that I want the E rating.
I want like 100 mph continuous speed, etc.
Load like +3000 lbs..

What I am confused about is that I see some people
talking about their "stiff" sidewalls.
Does this help the ride? I guess from some side-to-side
wandering?

If so, does the E rating get you this stiffness, or is it
a specific brand and model that I want to look for
for this stable towing ride?
Generally speaking, a higher load rating typically means a stiffer tire "Relatively speaking". So for a given tire line, higher load ratings mean a stiffer side wall typically. But between different tire lines, you have different methods of construction. For example, the Firestone Transforce HT tires tend to have a very soft sidewall that actually helps in daily ride comfort, but they do balloon out and aren't as abrasion resistant as the heavier carcass commercial style tires. It really requires time to sit back and compare tire construction and your uses for a given tire.


2.. my second question is tread aggressiveness.
The more pure road tires are what I see people recommending
I think. But I am thinking what if I get in some soft
dirt and need to pull harder? IDK...
So in this regard, maybe a more mild "All-terrain" tires would be suitable to you. Something that can handle sand and shallow mud/forest roads. The tires that tend to have adverse handling characteristics are those tires you see with the large independent lugs (Like Goodyear Duratracs or BF Goodrich Krawler KX's). Many mall crawler show trucks tend to sport these tires in these parts. But if you get an all terrain tire that doesn't have large canyons/grooves between the individual tread lugs, you won't be as adversely affected. Some examples of decent all terrain tires would be like the Michelins previously suggested, or Goodyear Wrangler All-terrain adventures, or even some Bridgestone Dueler AT Revos. This is really just a guideline as I'm not brand biased. But on the all-terrain tires I've pointed out, you'll notice that they only have some large areas to help eject mud/clay/rocks, but in general all the lugs are really close to each other.

Highway tread tires are excellent for pure highway driving as they have constant contact with the road which lends itself to a much straighter ride and less wandering by the vehicle. That's why many posters on here are big fans of Highway tread tires.


help.. lol

[Golden_HVAC]

Hi,

Are you talking about the tow vehicle, and what vehicle, or the trailer, as they use different tire treads.

The towing truck might want a aggressive tread to get more traction in the snow or on sand. Yet those things are not desirable at all for a trailer tire. It will offer a bumpy ride and less stability overall.

I found out first hand that you do not want polyester sidewalls on a class A motorhome, because when I installed them, the back end would 'wiggle' side to side while towing our small Honda CRV down a hill. I had to change back to the steel sidewall tires like the Michelin "RIB" tire.

As for the trailer, why do you 'need' 3000 pound weight rating? If your trailer has 5,000 pound rated axles, and is only 11,000 pounds or less overall weight, then tires rated at 2,600 pounds will work great. Only if you have a larger trailer would you also need heavier tires. Of course a truck that came with 3,000 pound rated tires would get replacements with about the same rating. Some of the travel trailer weight is on the hitch, and 20% of a fifth wheel weight is on it's pin, so the tires do not normally have as much weight capacity as the trailer GVWR is.

High speed car rated tires are a whole different tire, rated and designed totally different than a truck tire. While sidewall stiffness is desirable in a truck tire, it is not desired as much in a car tire, where the ability to absorb bumps and not transmit vibration from the road is important. Car tires also have a softer compound, where they will stick to the road better while cornering, and give more traction while speeding up and stopping. This will accelerate the treadwear on the tires, something not desirable in a truck or trailer tire. And car tires are designed to run at 1,000 RPM - 100 MPH+ while truck tires are not designed to go over about 800 RPM. At 600 RPM, a 3' tall truck tire will be going well over 75 MPH, and that is their normal design limit.

So what kind of vehicle do you need the tires for? What is the GVWR of that truck, trailer or whatever?

Fred.

[donn0128]

rhagfo wrote:
If you want grip and a strong tire check out the Michelin LTX M/S2! I replaced my Toyo's with them and have gone all winter without any extra weight in the bed, and nary spun a tire.

But you forgot to mention this has been the driest winter since 1930. LOL

[rhagfo]

If you want grip and a strong tire check out the Michelin LTX M/S2! I replaced my Toyo's with them and have gone all winter without any extra weight in the bed, and nary spun a tire.