Thanks for the suggestion. The largest size they make in the Firestone HT and AT tires is my factory size.
Tires for HD diesel truck (50/50 towing/not, 90/10 pavement/dirt)
- Thread starter Snoozer
- Start date
So, I'm not the only one that has awesome experience with AT3W. I had them on 2016 F150 in 275/60/20
Replaced them last night with GY Duratrac , the only reason I got GY instead of Falken again was price. I lucked out and got brand new set of Duratracs for exactly 50% off their regular price..
Anyways, I did 67k miles on Falkens, and they would still do spring to fall season, but the tread was too low to run them in the winter.
Awesome tire, quite, excellent in snow and wet, never needed rebalancing and I haven't even rotated them once.
JHZR2
Staff member
Agree. We’ve had great service running BFG AT heavily loaded in severe service in severe terrain that’s unlike what folks see in the USA.
I've had Michelin defenders, Cooper HT3 and Nokian HT1 on my truck. My next set will be Continental TerrainContact as the set I put on my dads truck are working great.
The Defenders were great, good in rain and lasted a long time.
The Coopers wore like iron, but were not so good in the rain
The HT1's are excellent as well but I get a slight high speed vibration from them that can't be balanced out.
All 3 stink on wet grass
so if that is in your mix go AT. I don't get snow so I have no opinion there.
The Defenders were great, good in rain and lasted a long time.
The Coopers wore like iron, but were not so good in the rain
The HT1's are excellent as well but I get a slight high speed vibration from them that can't be balanced out.
All 3 stink on wet grass
so if that is in your mix go AT. I don't get snow so I have no opinion there.The WildPeak's were an excellent buy....5 years ago when they were inexpensive. Now that they've raised the prices equal to other tires in the segment or higher than, they became an okay/decent buy.
True, I got mine 4years ago, and the price for them was really good compared to almost any other AT tires.
If it wasn't for salesman in the tire shop I would walked out from there with another set of BFG, the guy couldn't praise Falken hard enough, to the point that after I bought them I thought that I got screwed and he just made extra commission money lol.
Very quickly turned out that tire was all that he said and some.
Don't know what the prices are right now, I know that they are more expensive than then, but I was going to get them anyways.
I couldn't refuse Duratrac's for half their price though.
Just glad you didn't get the BFGs. WP/Duratrac > BFG.
Check Nitto 37/11.50/20. They work okay on a 9 inch wide wheel. Also 37/11.50/18s on the stock 18x8 +44 offset wheels might clear without getting the angle grinder out. My three season set is 285/75/18 on the stock wheels.My “rock crawler” background won’t let me stick with a stock size, unfortunately.
I’ve tried to let that bug die, and it just won’t.
When setting up and adjusting the weight distribution hitch on my TT, the trailer tongue height now prevents me from opening my tailgate while I’m hitched up. If I can raise the truck ride height by 3-4”, I can re-adjust the hitch setup accordingly (lower it a notch) and regain tailgate functionality while hitched up. Kinda sucks not being able to use the tailgate while hitched up.
(At least that’s the excuse I presented for wifey to sign off on bigger tires and a modest 2” suspension mod).
These newer HD trucks are big and tall, and fortunately, fitting a 35” tire on them is an easy task, even in stock form with factory wheels. The GMC AT4HD and Chevy High Country trimmed trucks come from the factory with LT275/65R20 (34x11), so a 35x12.50 (34.5” typically) or even a 295/65 (35.1x11.8) is easy on a truck with diesel torque and 10-speeds, according to people who’ve done it. I have read that jumping to 37s you can just start to feel a bit of lag off the line.
Honestly, I think GM puts way too small of a tire on these newer trucks (for “profit margin” purposes, I’m sure). But they just look “correct” with a 35 and even a 37. It doesn’t look “showy” unless wide, negative offset wheels are installed. My new wheels are a 20x9 +20 offset, so the tires will still be tucked in under the fenders with only the sidewall bulges peeking out from them.
@Rob_Roy nice Suburban in your profile pic. Long ago, I owned a ‘99 Tahoe and two ‘98 Silverado 1500s of that era. Great platforms.
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2020
- Messages
- 12
I have been selling tires for over 35 years, I am a tire junky! As of right now my favorite tire is the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T, very quiet and awesome traction. I don't know how long they will last because I only use them in the Winter/Fall when I need traction. I am running a 295/70R18 on a 2017 Duramax crew cab long bed and I tow heavy. I have a second set of tires for quiet driving to keep my wife happy and they are Michelin Defender LTX in 295/70R18 also. The tires I ran before these were **** Cepek Trail Country EXP and they were awesome, wore excellent, had a little bit of a hum on the highway, not too bad. Cepek is owned by Mickey Thompson and MT discontinued the Cepek Brand. Mickey Thompson renamed the Trail Country EXP as the Mickey Thompson Baja Legend and they raised the price quite a bit. Still a good tire for wear, not the best for ice because it doesn't have a lot of siping. My next tire of choice is the General Grabber ATX, 50k warranty, I just replaced a set for a customer with a 2016 Power Stroke Ford CC and he got 60k out of them in a 275/65R20. They are pinned for studs and an excellent snow tire, very quiet. I am not a fan of the Cooper AT3, I have sold lots of them and they tend to be noisy and don't wear great in my experience. My next favorite tire would be the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extreme, a revise version of the Dynapro AT2 with a bolder sidewall. These tires constantly turn in excellent tread life in my area of Wyoming, excellent snow traction and very quiet. Next choice would be Falken AT3 very quiet and good snow traction. According to one of my customers, he says they get 50-60k out of them. I also like Goodyear Duratracs and BFG AT's. The Toyo AT3 has a good reputation but they are on upper end of pricing and inventory hasn't been great. This is an issue for a lot of tires for the past two years.Howdy everyone.
Brief introduction
Long term BITOG lurker. I'm OCD about vehicle preventive maintenance, but nowhere near the knowledge depth on UOA stuff as some of these members. -I've learned a lot. Will learn a lot more, I'm sure.
I reside in Colorado, am an avid outdoorsman and a family man that believes in taking great care of all things and members in my household.
Now, onto my question
2021 GMC Sierra 3500HD 4x4 L5P CCLB
Occasionally tows an 11k GVWR Travel Trailer in all sorts of road and weather conditions. My OEM Michelin LTX A/T2 tires have 17k miles on them and I'd be pleasantly surprised if they reach 25k mi. at the wear bars. These tires have perfomed "OK". The only time I wasn't satisfied with them was off-road (of course), but they've otherwise been "fine". Nothing impressive. My GMC is Base trim, so the tire/wheel size is LT275/70R18. The next tire set will be a 35-37" on a 20" wheel (I've already acquired the new wheels).
I'm hoping to hear from folks who have a comparable application to mine.
Some of my tire considerations and thoughts thus far
Michelin Defender LTX M/S
I have mixed feelings about this tire. I've run these tires on my old '16 Tundra and was shocked to see the tread life melt away to 1/2 life in just 15k miles. At the time, the "Defender" line had just debuted, and I've read/heard that Michelin has since "fixed" the rubber compound of the Defender line to yield more tread life. One DuraMaxforum.com member recently reported to me that he has 37k miles on his Defender LTX tires with 8/32 remaining. He tows heavier than me also, and may not travel the same road conditions that I do; considerations I have to account for also.
I suspect that modern diesel trucks are putting so much torque to the wheels, that all the siping might actually (in this application) be a detriment to tread life, since the tread lugs will be able to "flex" more, versus a larger tread lug with less siping and more surface area (larger lug) to stick planted to the pavement under high load/high torque scenarios. -Thinking about the tires all those big OTR trucks and dump trucks run on. The previous Generation LTX M/S2 was known to have 80k miles tread life (properly maintained). But that generation of LTX M/S was also during a period when diesel pickup trucks were producing half the torque numbers they are today.
Toyo Open Country AT III
I've run the previous generation AT II variant of this tire on my old '12 Tacoma. They were fine on dry roads, but I wasn't impressed with them in the snow/ice, and they weren't that impressive offroad either. However... the NEW gen AT III just looks like it is a much improved tread design. There looks to be an adequate siping count and also siping that doesn't cut all the way through the tread lugs edge-to-edge like the Michelin LTX M/S either. Adequate tread lug count, and the tread voids look proportionate and effective for an A/T. Made in the USA.
Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T
Looks awesome, made in the USA. I'd still appreciate an input on this tire in a comparable application.
Cooper Discoverer A/T3 XLT
This tire's tread pattern reminds me of the Michelin LTX M/S, if it were to spend time in the gym. They've discontinued the large size (325/60R20) I was considering. I was pretty well set on this tire until I learned that straight from a Cooper Tires Rep. I am still interested to hear from others experience on this tire. Made in USA
Yokohama Geolandar G015
I read @john_pifer thread about this tire on his Tacoma. Great thread. I also PM'd him directly to get an update on his satisfaction with it. He says he has "no complaints", but encouraged me to post up a thread here since our applications aren't.
Falken Wildpeak AT3W
I've admired this tire since its debut. The tread design looks like a perfect compromise for my application. I was pretty well set on running these until I learned they are now being made in Thailand. They used to have quite a selection of sizes being made in the USA (per Falken's website), but that doesn't appear to be the case anymore, according to TireRack.
Long post. But I wanted to get out all of my current considerations. Thanks for any input!
Adam
I’m with you on the Hankooks lasting longer than the others. They don’t cut corners on quality or construction. I wish they still made the RW-11 in 275/65/20.
Those Michelins you had as OE tires aren’t the same as the ones you get after sales from a tire store.
The ltx at2 are a good tire. Recommended and installed on several trucks. The agilis cross country if they have your size are also worth a look.
The BFG at ko2 good. Milestar patagonia believe it or not is a good line of tires.
I haven’t seen issues much with toyo or nitto “at” tires
OE installed tires are nearly almost crappy. Sad because it gives the name and model a bad name I feel
The ltx at2 are a good tire. Recommended and installed on several trucks. The agilis cross country if they have your size are also worth a look.
The BFG at ko2 good. Milestar patagonia believe it or not is a good line of tires.
I haven’t seen issues much with toyo or nitto “at” tires
OE installed tires are nearly almost crappy. Sad because it gives the name and model a bad name I feel
Figures my first post on an oil forum is about tires. Your title pretty much sums it up with the 90% highway/10% off. The PERFECT tire for this application is either an "aggressive" highway tire, or a "mild" all-terrain. I would lean toward the Yokohama G015 in the 295/65/20. This tire is like 3/4 AT / 1/4 highway. PLUS it carries the 3PMSF symbol. Some people cannot get over the non-aggressive looks of this tire which is probably its only downfall.
I am always surprised that folks even consider ”looks” when choosing tires. If I did 90% highway driving, I would choose a highway tire.
For my Dodge Ram 2500, I have used Michelin MS2 all season and Toyo Open Country H/T II’s in the LT265/70-17 size. I think the Michelin was the better of the two highway tires. I have only used General Tire Grabber AT2 for winter and early spring tires. I haven’t tried other winter tires yet.
For my Dodge Ram 2500, I have used Michelin MS2 all season and Toyo Open Country H/T II’s in the LT265/70-17 size. I think the Michelin was the better of the two highway tires. I have only used General Tire Grabber AT2 for winter and early spring tires. I haven’t tried other winter tires yet.
Yokohama put a lot of thought into the GO15 tread pattern. They perform better than they look, without big lugs sticking out and big voids.
