Tundra tire options

[supton]

I'm kinda sad that my Tundra came with brand new tires, as I suspect I would have rather have gotten something else. Right now it has Bridgestone Dueler h/t, which seem to get mediocre reviews. And appears to be an average all season. This truck is meant to be my winter driver, in snowy NH, but I'm also going to drive on dirt roads. Not off roading, but the typical dirt roads are to be expected. Especially during mud season.

I'm trying to decide if there is a decently quiet mud and snow I could run year round, or if I should run two sets of tires, like I do on my car. I don't drive the cars off road, so that makes sense ere, but the truck is more apt to see soft dirt, and one set do do-all tires would mean one less set of wheels in the shed. Just seems weird to run a set of "aggressive" summer tires and a set of "aggressive" winters, I know each will be best at what they do, but is it really worth two sets of tires?

Thoughts? I usually buy Nokian tires, but I don't see a reason to be brand loyal here.

 

[redhat]

Not sure if they come in your size, but my father had BFGoodrich Commercial T/A Traction on his K1500 that were an excellent tire. They wore well, they bit great on snow and ice and pulled our 5th wheel through some very sticky mud.

Not sure if they are available for your Tundra but they are one of my favorites.

BFGoodrich Commerical T/A Traction - TireRack.com

 

[95busa]

I am a huge fan of BFG. I have had great experiences with BFG A/T TKOs, I am currently runnning BFG Rugged Terrain (not Rugged Trail) on my F150. So far, very nice tires and great on dirt roads, wet grass/light mud, etc.

 

[rjundi]

Keep driving and see how they actually perform for you.

That being said if you want superior winter tires get winter tires. They are trying to dump inventory right now and its the time to buy.

 

[supton]

Yeah, am just at the begining of figuring out what I want. All I know is, the H/T's right now are clogged full of mud, just from driving around in the yard. I've already noticed much less tire spin in 4WD (well, duh, yes I know, but that was on typical dry dirt, not even mud--typical touchy Toyota gas pedal, automatic, light rear end, and deep-ish gears).

Good point on the vendors wanting to get rid of winter tires, that might be helpful.

 

[UG_Passat]

there are some all-season truck tires that bear the Mountain-Snowflake logo.

BF Goodrich makes one.

Of course... Nokian

 

[Sequoiasoon]

One we need to know what size as that changes options and availabilities. If you run winters on the other cars you know the difference and why. How much will you run on dry pavement during 3 season? Can you get better winters and run them all year?

Nokian Rotiiva AT might be a great choice knowing their products and reputation. Also the LT2. How much will the siping get beat on the roads you travel? How much mud? will the Michelin LTX winters do? LTX M/S some of best I ever had but mostly road and some dirt not much mud. Not sure how bad they cake up.

I remember older threads on tundrasolutions.com that many got the Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo's and like them. My boss had them and said great in snow but wore a little fast for him (mostly dry road).

Many off roaders run the BFG AT ko's all year and comment on them. Mt friend had an old set (before ko)and they were the WORST winters he ever had. They got hard like plastic, wouldn't flex, hydroplaned like a boat as no clean outlet for water. Off road and light mud they were awesome. goopy mud they caked right up.

Maybe a size change General Altimax Arctic (or Arctic LT). Has gotten me out of some very muddy areas (spring skiing parking lots that others got towed), slippery grass, and 2 feet of snow.

 

[supton]

I need to go look at load range options, not sure what it has right now, but it does have P255/70R18's in the Dueler's. I *thought* I had seen it mentioned on the forums that this truck uses load range E's, but now I'm not so sure. It does have the towing package, with a GVWR of 6,900lb and max towing of 7,900lb, if that matters.

These tires would see more snow than mud, good point. Dirt roads and pavement; no trail riding.

Does sound like running the Dueler's, and getting some winters, is probably best bet. If I don't like how the Dueler's work out, I could get a more aggressive set later (say BFG's) but still run real winters. I did see a local deal for alloy rims (have steel rims at the moment) with half-worm Michelin LTX's for a good price; right now I have to figure out how much of a nuisance it is going to be, from the TPMS perspective, of swapping summer and winter tires.

 

[RonH]

P255 means it's a passenger car tire, not load range E. In 18" there are really limited selection. Goodyear silent armor should be a good choice.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: supton
I'm kinda sad that my Tundra came with brand new tires, as I suspect I would have rather have gotten something else. Right now it has Bridgestone Dueler h/t, which seem to get mediocre reviews. And appears to be an average all season. This truck is meant to be my winter driver, in snowy NH, but I'm also going to drive on dirt roads. Not off roading, but the typical dirt roads are to be expected. Especially during mud season.

I'm trying to decide if there is a decently quiet mud and snow I could run year round, or if I should run two sets of tires, like I do on my car. I don't drive the cars off road, so that makes sense ere, but the truck is more apt to see soft dirt, and one set do do-all tires would mean one less set of wheels in the shed. Just seems weird to run a set of "aggressive" summer tires and a set of "aggressive" winters, I know each will be best at what they do, but is it really worth two sets of tires?

Thoughts? I usually buy Nokian tires, but I don't see a reason to be brand loyal here.


I am generally disappointed with factory rubber as well.

You will find the Michelin LTX MS2 to be amazingly capable in mud, snow, etc. for a street tire. And it is always quiet, too. Add to that it runs 70k miles or more on a Silverado, so it may be one of the cheaper tires across its entire lifespan.

Not knocking the GVWR, but 6900 pounds is not needing load range E tires! Save the money and get LT rated models, maybe go up a size or two...

 

[meep]

you got a problem---- good mud tires are rather different from good snows.

mud tires need big blocks that can sink in and grab, with lots of space to clear it out.

good snow tires need lots of rubber with gads of siping (cut grooves) to provide as many little "edges" as possible for grip.

way different designs.

I have an '06 tundra 2wd, and boy it's light in the tail. I'm extremely pleased with the destination LE2s that have about 9000 miles on them now. good in the rain, rides like a passenger car, tracks great and grippy, predictable, sure-footed. I have not had them in the snow. Even if the tires themselves are decent in the snow, the vehicle won't be. They are ok in light/medium mud. nothing to write home about. LS diff helps.

My favorite A/T was the bridgestone revo 2, which I wrote about recently on my past 2wd jeep wk. competent in the mud, very good on road, pretty quiet for an AT. I do not think it would have been very special in the snow. That said, if you have 4wd, they'd be just fine in the white stuff, driven properly.

I sometimes regret not having spent the extra $ for revo 2's on my tundra. However, the Le2's are far better on gas than true ATs, and ATM good mileage is more practical for me than the occassional romp.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I am generally disappointed with factory rubber as well.

You will find the Michelin LTX MS2 to be amazingly capable in mud, snow, etc. for a street tire.


I'm not exactly sure how much I value your opinion about snow performance, as I see you live in Florida...

J/K Probably good enough for my needs; I don't need to drive in heavy snow, and it's 4x4 afterall for a reason.

Quote:
And it is always quiet, too. Add to that it runs 70k miles or more on a Silverado, so it may be one of the cheaper tires across its entire lifespan.


That is good to hear. I did hear good things about the Michelins; but not enough to sell off a new set of Bridgestones. I have already 500 miles on them, so I'm not sure it'd make sense to make the swap.

Quote:
Not knocking the GVWR, but 6900 pounds is not needing load range E tires! Save the money and get LT rated models, maybe go up a size or two...


I still haven't read up on load ranges; I coulda sworn I had read about Tundra's having load range E tires from the factory. I'm probably confusing the 5.7L trucks with mine: I have a 7,900 max towing rating (13k GCWR?) whereas the 5.7's have a 10,300lb max towing (16k GCWR?). Most of the forum chatter seems to revolve around the 5.7's. I did try to size my truck for up to 5k towing; I don't have a trailer that weighs that much (yet) but I did buy it specifically to have that sort of towing capacity.

I'll probably stick with stock tire size; if I want to go fast I'll take the Jetta. Off-roading would be fun, but the truck is too new to me to dare think about that.

 

[Oldswagon]

I just put Michelin LTX MS/2's on my Tundra this spring. Awesome tire so far, smooth, quiet and great in the rain. We had a few late snow falls, and they are ok in snow. With 4x4 you can get by, but my dedicated Yokohoma winters are far better for traction overall. Personally, for my driving conditions the LTX MS/2's are not good enough for winter driving.

Depending how bad your winters are, it might be worth while to invest in dedicated winters. Around here lots of guys run BFG AT Ko's on 4x4 trucks and they are decent for an "all year" truck tire. And like I said in our area, we have pretty harsh winters. They do have the snow flake rating.

Also, you can run 275/65-18's on your truck which is the size that comes with the TRD package. They are the same diameter as the 255/70-18's but there is much more options in the bigger size. My truck is a 5.7L TRD and it came with the 275/65-18's but I run 255/70-18's for my winters.

These trucks come stock with P-metric tires. The 255's have a 112 load index rating or 2470 lbs per tire. The 275's have a 114 load index rating, which is 2601 lbs per tire. The same tire (275/65-18) in LT size has a "E" load rating or 123 load index, which is 3418 lbs per tire. Even the stock 112 rating is enough to support the GVWR of a Tundra. These are only half ton's, but if you are hauling a lot of weight all the time, maybe the LT's would be a worthwhile upgrade. Keep in mind all BFG AT KO's are LT tires and have the higher load ratings.

 

[GenSan]

Pickup trucks, personally, require AT tires not all-seasons or summer tires.

I have both the Michelin LTX M/S2's and AT2's and you would think the AT2's would be a harsh ride but you'll be amazed how smooth or even smoother they ride than the M/S2's. With the added benefit of better winter traction than the all-season M/S2's.

Have a look at Michelin AT2's.

Do your research and buy what you want.

 

[supton]

Thanks all. Lots of info to wade through, here and elsewhere. Just want to get as much info before I pull the trigger on anything.

 

[Oldswagon]

Originally Posted By: GenSan
Pickup trucks, personally, require AT tires not all-seasons or summer tires.


That all depends on usage, MS/2's do all that I need in the warm months, plus they will likely last longer than AT/2s. AT tires are NOT winter tires, even the ones with the "snow flake" rating are no where near as good as a true truck winter tire. Running an AT tire year round is a comprimise. We probably have much more harsh winter here than you do in WV, and AT/2's do not have a good reputation as a snow tire here (many F-150's have them OEM).

 

[supton]

Digging up my old thread. But after snow tires now. After using my truck this summer, I never went off pavement. It's a pavement queen. Also, unless if I spring the coin for another vehicle, it's going to be my daily driver, so 26-27kmiles/year; almost half of that will be winter driving.

I'm thinking, most of my miles are dry pavement (the plow crews are pretty good up here); black ice is always present, but I rarely have had problems with it. But when it snows... it snows.

I got a quote for Blizzak DM-V1's but when I did some looking around it seems that they are half-worn after 10kmiles. No good there, that would be like $800 of tires every winter. Looking around it seems that Blizzak and other soft compound tires are great on ice, not bad on deep snow--but wear fast. I'd like to not spend $800 also on a set of tires if I don't have to.

I have seen zero good feedback about the stock Dueler's in snow so I'm not even going to bother running those.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: supton
Digging up my old thread. But after snow tires now. After using my truck this summer, I never went off pavement. It's a pavement queen. Also, unless if I spring the coin for another vehicle, it's going to be my daily driver, so 26-27kmiles/year; almost half of that will be winter driving.

I'm thinking, most of my miles are dry pavement (the plow crews are pretty good up here); black ice is always present, but I rarely have had problems with it. But when it snows... it snows.

I got a quote for Blizzak DM-V1's but when I did some looking around it seems that they are half-worn after 10kmiles. No good there, that would be like $800 of tires every winter. Looking around it seems that Blizzak and other soft compound tires are great on ice, not bad on deep snow--but wear fast. I'd like to not spend $800 also on a set of tires if I don't have to.

I have seen zero good feedback about the stock Dueler's in snow so I'm not even going to bother running those.


Don't waste your money and time with snow tires. I am not saying snow's aren't good but they just are not really needed IMO. Just get some good AS tires like the Firestone Destination LE2, Bridgestone Dueler HL Alenza, or the Michelin LTX M+S2. General Grabber HTS is another decent tire although not as good as the others above. Any of those tires on your 4WD will more than do the job for you. I live in NH too and the tires above on a 4WD truck will be just fine in any winter weather we see.

One set of tires year round. No hassling with 2 sets of tires and rims or having to M&B tires 2X's a year. Has worked for me on many trucks and suv's. The tires above perform excellent in the snow. Don't let the pro snow tire crowd tell you otherwise.

 

[rslifkin]

I've run my Jeep through a few winters on A/Ts (Firestone Destination A/Ts and Toyo Open Country A/Ts). They work ok in snow, but they're pretty bad in slush and downright terrifying on anything icy (nothing like getting pushed sideways by a gust of wind). For this winter, I ended up springing for a set of snows this year as it'll be nice to have a bit more grip and not be fighting the tail back into line through every intersection on an icy day.

 

[supton]

It's my first year with a truck, after years of FWD. The FWD were never spectacular in snow, IMO. I could always get them stuck. With this new vehicle that is RWD until I engage 4WD I'm rather concerned about having better traction. Yes, I'll tack in extra weight in the bed, drive slow, all that. But in the end this is a 5,500lb truck replacing a 3,000lb car. I'm expecting it to to scary.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a single set of tires, but with the touchy throttle in this truck I will be in search of traction whenever snow flies. Honestly, I have the wrong vehicle for me, I suspect.