Tow Rig Tires

[mrekim]

Tow rig is Ford Excursion 7.3. Trailer is 35' long about 9,000 lbs.


I'm interested in the best tire for towing, for example a stiff sidewall to limit flex.

After doing a little research it seemed like Bridgestone Duravis R500 HD would be a good choice. I ordered a pair from Costco but they were already 2 years old, so I refused them. My understanding is that I should require 1 year old or newer. So the first question is am I correct in my one year or newer requirement?


After calling around to local places and emailing one or two online ones it seems like there is no way to ensure that I can get Duravis less than 1 year old. Since these tires are not popular I guess they sit in inventory for a long time. The local Bridgestone dealer said they sell them up to 5 years old - one year past the max warranty period!!!!



Are there some other tires that are held in high regard as a tire for a tow vehicle?



My other Costco choices are:
BFGoodrich - All-Terrain T/A KO2
Michelin - X Radial LT2
Michelin - LTX A/T2

My current tires are Firestone Transforce HT, so I'm hoping to find and improvement from these. I have to run the rear tires at 80 psi for the best behavior. This is with approx 2500 lbs load on each tire.


Can I use the tire weight as a rough gauge to aid in selection? For example the Duravis is 53 lbs while the Transforce is 44 lbs.


I'm happy to go to some other shop if there's some other option that's better than the above choices.

[Passin_Thru]

If you don't have it, get Airlift and put on the rear. We run Michelin LT/MS. Best all around and only inflate to 60 lb. I don't understand why you think you need 70 lb but maybe you like the Kidney jarring effect. We haul a 10 K trailer, GCVW 19800. MS2s have greater grip, greater water cahnelling and better traction on snow-slush.

[Brisk]

I am running BFG KO2s. No issues with 6500lbs on rear axle at 80psi. Quiet on the highway, great offroad/snow traction, and they look good to boot. I have never seen "new" tires that were older than 6 months. Usually they are only 2 months or so.

[coolbreeze01]

I'm happy with my Toyo AT II's.

[dougger222]

Having run the following tires on the tow vehicles,
BFG ATKO (2 sets)
Michelin AT (2 sets)
Michelin MS2's (2 sets)
Nitto Terra Graplers
Goodyear Wranglers
Bridgestone Ravo's E load
Cooper Discovery

The only ones worth buying again were the first 3 tires.

[DodgeVoltage]

mrekim wrote:
Tow rig is Ford Excursion 7.3. Trailer is 35' long about 9,000 lbs.


I'm interested in the best tire for towing, for example a stiff sidewall to limit flex.

After doing a little research it seemed like Bridgestone Duravis R500 HD would be a good choice. I ordered a pair from Costco but they were already 2 years old, so I refused them. My understanding is that I should require 1 year old or newer. So the first question is am I correct in my one year or newer requirement?


After calling around to local places and emailing one or two online ones it seems like there is no way to ensure that I can get Duravis less than 1 year old. Since these tires are not popular I guess they sit in inventory for a long time. The local Bridgestone dealer said they sell them up to 5 years old - one year past the max warranty period!!!!



Are there some other tires that are held in high regard as a tire for a tow vehicle?



My other Costco choices are:
BFGoodrich - All-Terrain T/A KO2
Michelin - X Radial LT2
Michelin - LTX A/T2

My current tires are Firestone Transforce HT, so I'm hoping to find and improvement from these. I have to run the rear tires at 80 psi for the best behavior. This is with approx 2500 lbs load on each tire.


Can I use the tire weight as a rough gauge to aid in selection? For example the Duravis is 53 lbs while the Transforce is 44 lbs.


I'm happy to go to some other shop if there's some other option that's better than the above choices.

I've sure had good luck with Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure and SilentArmor with Kevlar tires. I had GY SilentArmors since 2009 on one of my trucks and put almost 70,000 miles on them with no flats. They are smooth and quiet and still had another 10,000 in them if I had wanted to push them. My other truck has had SilentArmors for almost a year and they have been super. I hear the All-Terrain Adventure's are the updated replacement for the SilentArmors, but not sure about that. Just make sure when you get them that you get the LT version. I ordered mine this last time through Sam's and they ordered the lighter ply non-LTs. Had to wait on the LTs to come in when re-ordered. Had no idea a tire that big didn't come in LT only.

[97chevor]

You might not like the R500. Need alot of weight to keep the tires from spinning on wet pavement. They do last though.

I have always been able to get fresh tires. Try tire rack.com.

[blt2ski]

What size tires are you running? I've noticed when running 235-85-16 vs a 245-75-16, I needed about 10 more lbs in the 235s vs 245s. If you have 265-75-16 tires. I.could run those at 55-60 lbs and be fine for loads in the 5000-5500 lb per axle. Fronts about +5 lbs vs rear.
First one HT are a.softer sidewall tire vs.some. I have them on work van. Overall I'm happy. I do not tow, only run empty 5500 empty lbs vs 9-10,000 loaded.
I have.an off brand from discount that were 125 per tire with a 60k wear out on them. I.would.call.them.an.aggressive hwy tire vs AT.they.are labeled. They handle.heavy.loads very well.
Marty

[mrekim]

Grit dog wrote:

You only have 5000lbs on the rear axle. Not sure how much stiffer you need. Any decent load e tire is fine. Worry less about sidewall stiffness and more about suspension stiffness with that big a trailer sitting on the back of an already heavy suv.

That's what I thought, but the Firestone's seemed to behave better with 80 PSI even thought I should not need to be up that high.

I do have on my "todo" list to get different springs but right now the tires are higher up on the list.

[Grit_dog]

Ya well I used.......nvm.
You only have 5000lbs on the rear axle. Not sure how much stiffer you need. Any decent load e tire is fine. Worry less about sidewall stiffness and more about suspension stiffness with that big a trailer sitting on the back of an already heavy suv.

[Tiger02]

I put Cooper Discoverer HT3s on my truck about a year ago, and I'm happy with them. They replaced Michelin LTX in the rear and Uniroyals in the front.

They were squishy feeling for the first 1000 miles or so, but ride quiet, and have had zero problems with them loaded or unloaded.

[alboy]

Toyo AT2-have had 3 sets ,great tire,extremely quiet,great on snow and ice,6400 lbs rear axel.

[boogie_4wheel]

I've had great luck with the BFG Rugged Trail on my Dodge.

I've run a ton of the BFG Commercial tires on duallys and on trailers. They have held up very well also.

[blt2ski]

There is never a BEST tire for anything. Towing, if like myself, I towed my old TT to the mtns as a ski hut. So the tire choices you mentioned are no good! I went with more of a true traction tire. If you are on hard roads, desert SW, then michilin xps ribs or equal are the best design. If you get more off road, you may find the Cooper AT to be the better design tire.

For me, Any brand BUT a michiblow or equal, IE the latter three tires you mentioned. The BFG;s are ok, but the traction is not what they are held up to be imho. The traction version is better.

Make sure they are round and balanced frankly. After that, its a **** shoot as to what is best per say, all depending upon driving habits, where etc.

Marty