2002 Chevy Silverado Tire Recommendation for highway use/no towing

I have found in all too many instances that, putting a passenger car tire on a truck or van(or even cuv, minivan) just because the tire is available in that vehicle(s) sizes, doesn’t bode well on those heavier vehicles. The tires simply are not optimal for those weights and wear out or wear oddly in a hurry. Heavier vehicles need specific load ranges.
Even my buddy’s 2004 Sienna does poorly with Pirelli P4s & AltimaxRT43s.
And another buddy put on some passenger car tires on his RAM just because they came in 265/75/16. Uht uh! (n)

Just saying.
 
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Between a 2000 Sierra and a 2004 Silverado, I've gone through about 10 sets of tires in that size.

Probably most impressed with the performance of the General Grabber HTS.

It was the best "put it on and forget about it" tire, out of all of them.

And the worst mistake (and unfortunately, the most expensive)... Michelin.
 
Between a 2000 Sierra and a 2004 Silverado, I've gone through about 10 sets of tires in that size.

Probably most impressed with the performance of the General Grabber HTS.

It was the best "put it on and forget about it" tire, out of all of them.

And the worst mistake (and unfortunately, the most expensive)... Michelin.
Mr S,

I fully acknowledge you have not had success with Michelins on your trucks. That MAY be an anomaly. I have Michelin defenders currently on two F350s, a full-size SUV, and have run defenders for many years, never ever a single issue. My youngest Son's S10 ran defenders for well over a decade. The defenders just would not wear out.

Not to question your experience with Michelins, but maybe if you had purchased Michelin Defenders for your 2000 Sierra and 2004 Silverado, you would have only gone through two sets of Michelins instead of 10 sets of misc tires.
 
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Mr S,

Not to question your experience with Michelins, but maybe if you had purchased Michelin Defenders for your 200 Sierra and 2004 Silverado, you would have only gone through two sets of Michelins instead of 10 sets of misc tires.

I fully acknowledge you have not had success with Michelins on your trucks. That MAY be an anomaly. I have michelin defenders currently on two F350s, a full size SUV, and have run defenders for many years, never ever a single issue. My youngest Son's S10 ran defenders for well over a decade. They defenders just would not wear out.

I looked at my spreadsheet... It has been 7 sets of tires between those two trucks. This has been across nearly 40 years of ownership, combined.

A lot of you are fond of your Michelins, and that's great. They were simply a huge disappointment for me. Once I had lost confidence in them, I took them off, sold them on Craigslist, made someone else happy (well, I was happy too), and moved on to something else. Problem solved.
 
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GENERAL ALTIMAX RT43
235 /65 R16 103T SL BSW
$146
Excellent tire with 75,000 mile warranty
Max Load 1,929 lbs
Rim Range 6.5-7.5"
You must of not paid attention to the OP. He's looking for 255/70r16, and the legendary Altimax RT43 is not available in that size.
 
You have to derate SL tires 10% when being put on a light truck. From what I can find, the lowest the 2002 Silverado came with was a 106 load index tire.


I had a set of Ironman (sub brand of Hercules) tires on my 300, they were down to 4/32 within 20,000 miles.
Iron Man is more like a 4th tier bottom of the barrel tire. Comparing them to General or Uniroyal is like comparing a Toyota to a Daewoo just because neither is a Lexus.
 
Kumho crugen HT51 Is a great tire. Looks like the Michelin Defender. I have some and they have been fantastic. Your size tires are $172 on tire rack.
 
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Chalk me up for another vote for the General Grabber HTS60. Great tire at a great price. My dad put a set on his Ford Escape to replace a set of Firestone Destination LE2s. He absolutely loves the Generals.
 
I usually luck out and find like new take-offs on Craigslist or marketplace for my truck. Small percentage of people buy a brand new vehicle and within the first hundred miles or so swap out tires. Found my last two sets of Michelin LT tires for my Ram that way.
 
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Another vote for the General HTS60. They are a great value for what you get. My Pap has a set on his 2002 GMC and I’ve been impressed with the traction. His truck is only 2wd and with those Generals it can actually be driven in the snow. My truck I have the older General HTS that came from the factory and they also seem to work well.
 
Own a 2002 Chevy Silverado (LT) and it's time for new tires (255/70/16)

Need safe and solid tires. Not going to Costco because not much to choose from.

Truck is mostly used for highway driving. No towing.

Any good deals out there?

Any recommendation is greatly appreciated
Michelin Defender
I'm on my 5th set on my current vehicle
2011 Ford Expedition EL King Ranch with 336,000 miles
 
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I’ll second the Firestone dueler LE, which I think is now the LE3? The LE was a great value tire, the LE2 were really well made and drive great, they just lost wet traction early in life. The LE3 is supposed to have fixed the wet traction thing.

yokohama g015 is well made, quiet, good on the highway.

continental makes a lite AT which is also great on the hwy and bests them all in wet grip.
 
It’s a 20 year old truck, there’s no need to put high dollar tires on it. Choose a second or third tier brand. Master Craft, Hercules, B.F. Goodrich, Uniroyal, General HTS 60.
isn't traction even more important when you are driving an older vehicle that lacks modern safety features like stability control?
 
I've had experience with Defenders, great tire
the yokohama that is a defender clone (discount tire exclusive) on my F150 have 70k on them, they are toast but have been great.
I have about 12k on the Nokian HT1 and so far it's been good, about = to the defender.
 
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