Tires (again)?

[bogie514]

I have, what I think, is a slightly unusual tire question. I have a Silverado 1500 (Crew Cab, 4wd, LTZ, Z71) and need to replace the tires. This summer we are planning on going on a grand "Out West" tour to include AZ, NM, UT, and CO - and of course will be dealing with Ohio winters. While there we plan on going out into the desert on unimproved roads and into the mountains on the easier trails. With all the freeway driving we are planning, my local tire shop manager highly recommended Michelin LTX M/S2's, claiming that they will have great traction in the situations I described above. I am not sure about how they will do in the unimproved (dirt, 2 track, easier trails) roads in the desert and the mountains. So, I am looking for experiences with the Michelins, comments, and suggestions for other tires.

Thanks!

Tom

[dcg9381]

Michelin make excellent tires in terms of quality. You'll need to make a sacrifice though, those particular LTX's look like they're a decent "highway" tire. They should be fine on basic unimproved 2-track with no surprises, esp in a 4wd, but if you're going to really do some trail riding, I'm move to a more aggressive AT-type tire that's going to be loud on the highway...

[LIKE2BUILD]

I have no experience with Michelin tires at all. I have used Firestone TransForce AT tires for many years and have been extremely pleased with the performance. Road noise is minimal, traction in poor conditions is great, and they wear like iron. I used these on my 2WD Chevy 2500HD and I was able to get around fairly well even with only the rear wheels spinning.

My new truck came with Tansforce HT tires. Those will probably get swapped for AT's before next winter.

KJ