Time for new tires already?

[way2roll]

Apparently the OEM Goodyear wranglers on my F350 are not the best tires. A little over 30k miles and they are worn out already. For some reason I recall getting 50-60k miles on tires on my previous F150. Are larger trucks that much harder on tires or are these just cheap?

Any suggestions on a decent new tire that won't break the bank? 275/70/18 E rated for hauling the FW.

I've seen guys on CL selling pretty new take-offs. I wouldn't mind going with a little taller tire and rim if the price were right but seems like most guys aren't selling E rated ones. What's with all the low profile tires on trucks. Doesn't that render your truck pretty useless?

[Me_Again]

My Firestone Transforce ATs on 2015 RAM 3500 SRW did the same, gone at 29-30K. I installed Michelin Defender LTX m/s and was happy with those.

[way2roll]

valhalla360 wrote:
30k miles does seem a bit low.

How are they being used?
- Only heavily loaded?
- Bad roads?
- Aggressive acceleration/braking?

Have you had the alignment checked? That can eat a set of tires in a few hundred miles or less.

Always bought off brand. Current tires (Corsa - same size) on our F250 have 40k miles and tread is barely broken in.

Rarely heavily loaded, roads here are fine, and alignment is good, psi always spot on (60 front, 80 rear). They are wearing all very evenly. But they are at the wear indicators on every tire. Doing some research it's as others have said and a common problem with tweaked OEM tires.

[Grit_dog]

“Some” OEM equipment tires are the real deal. Example my Chevy Trailboss came with real Duratracs. Not that they don’t have other less desirable traits, but excessive wear is not one of them. Sitting at 44k miles now and over 50% tread left. And I’m not easy on tires in general, although most of these miles on this truck are highway with no loads or trailers.

OE tires on my previous Silverado were not suitable for anything but dry pavement by 30-35k miles.

[JBarca]

bgum wrote:
I've never gotten good mileage out of oem tires. I would suggest it's not the name of the company but rather the grade of tires on the truck.

I agree with the same statement. My buddy with his new 3500 HD had the same issue on Michelin OEM tires. 30K miles and they are gone when carrying close to full weight.

What I have heard is, and it was confirmed by a Firestone rep trying to find new tires for a friend on a 2500 HD. The auto makers go to the tire companies and want their standard tires tweaked to the auto maker OEM tire requirements. Things like load capacity, nice ride, good brand, traction and then there is mileage. In order to get better ride to sell a new truck, they tweak the tire compounds to get better ride and this is offset by lower mileage wear when at the load rating. Something has to give, and mileage looses on an OEM tires. If you get the same tire in the aftermarket not OEM tweaked, then it can get to the mileage warranty the tire manufacture states at full load, but the tire may ride rougher.

I'm in the same boat on my F350, this spring I need new tires due to age. This will be my 4th set of tires on this truck. Something in the tire industry changed about 6 years ago where the truck is real squirmy when the tires are brand new. Many state this wears off in 500 miles, but in may case it took 3,500 miles then the truck handled the way it use to. There is no rating for tire squirm or side wall flex I know of. Choosing a good brand thinking it will work on your truck is a shot in the dark some times when towing.

Hope this helps

John

[valhalla360]

30k miles does seem a bit low.

How are they being used?
- Only heavily loaded?
- Bad roads?
- Aggressive acceleration/braking?

Have you had the alignment checked? That can eat a set of tires in a few hundred miles or less.

Always bought off brand. Current tires (Corsa - same size) on our F250 have 40k miles and tread is barely broken in.

[bgum]

I've never gotten good mileage out of oem tires. I would suggest it's not the name of the company but rather the grade of tires on the truck.

[PA12DRVR]

Wish I could offer a solution, but I'm in the same situation. OEM tires on my new (now "newer") F250 may make it through the remaining month or so before switching to snow tires, but they'll need replacing before next spring.

....and I'm seeing the same thing on CL and the local version: low profile tires focused on looks, not capability.

[Lwiddis]

IMO the tires mounted by the vehicle manufacturer always wear out quickly. The replacements from a tire shop don't.

[Grit_dog]

First, yes, same for same, a 1 ton Diesel will wear out front tires far quicker than a half ton. This shouldn’t be surprising unless one is not aware of the significantly heavier axle loads on the bigger truck.
Second, some new vehicles come with quality tires, but many are cheaper lines of tires. OE cost cutting.
Third, you’re looking at the wrong takeoffs and they didn’t come from a HD truck if they’re not sufficiently load rated.
Last, “low profile” is not an accurate descriptor of whether a tire is suitable for your truck.
And if you want taller tires then get what you want. If you can find them used, as takeoffs, that is often the best overall cost benefit compared to buying new.
However, the popularity of that, now with the massive inflation in tire prices yields far less quantity and much higher prices than before. I used to almost exclusively buy used tires off CL for all vehicles. Now the price gap is shorter and the selection is less.