Tire choices

austin92

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So I feel like I’m fighting an uphill battle with tires. When I got the truck it had radial street tires on the rear and bias ply street tires up front. Felt solid, till the the front right chucked the tread. Decided on Toyo open country A/T based on reviews. Worst sidewall I’ve ever felt!!!!! I felt unsafe driving the 5500lb truck around corners. Shaking the steering wheel felt like the bead was going to roll off the rim and the truck was “shaking it’s ass”. Swapped to bfg all terrains and was very happy with sidewall stiffness but only got 38k out of their claimed 50k so I decided to try general grabber ATx. Same as the toyos.... ran the bfg’s at 30psi rear and 40psi front when empty, felt great. ATx 80psi front and rear felt like 12psi on the bfg’s. All of these are load range E/120load index. I don’t understand why such soft sidewalls are selling. Truck calls for 235/85/r16, tire shop talked me into 245/75r16. Toyos were 235s, bfg’s and generals were 245s. Am I too pickey or should I be shopping for bias ply’s? The 3 peak snowflake rating is important to me being the truck is my DD and 2wd in Indiana


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austin92

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Oh and the generals don’t even have 100miles/24 hours on them, already ******** lol


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210Tumbleweed

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THE FOLLOWING IS NOT AN AD, NOR A SPECIFIC ENDORSMENT OF ANY KIND...JUST MY OPINION...WELL BASED (NOT BIASED) ON YEARS (AND MANY MILES) OF DIRECT OBSERVATION AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE...

BIASED PLY TIRES ARE FOR OFF-ROAD...ATV's, UTV's, BACKHOE's, FRONT-LOADERS...EVEN AIRPLANE's....NOT YER DD

The toughest of the tires I put on "light trucks", when I worked out in the oil fields around San Angelo, were Yokohama A/T's...a bit pricey...but a satisfied customer 98 percent of the time. Oil field roads are ******* tires for sure...we ran them exclusively on the service trucks; with excellent durability, mileage, and handling. Get the 10 ply, whatever your tread choice.

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My second best choice, and currently preferred tire is the Cooper Discoverer... mainly because I'm rollin' six now and budget constrained. Still a damn good tire for a working-type-truck...look real close at the Super Duke there in my sig, it was a feed-lot truck. Those fronts are Cooper Discoverers and were on it when I got it...dated 2001. Definitely NOT RECOMMENDING ANYONE RUN TIRES THAT OLD...But for my crappy finances and having to get around I've ran them for a year now. And I'll probably throw one back for a spare...when I get two new ones. Good price, handling's decent, multiple tread patterns available, might be givin' up a bit of mileage versus some of the others...but three fer the price o' two...and still a 10 ply.

JUST MY 3.14 CENTS...:bail
 
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chillman88

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I'm a cheapo. I tried running Treadwright recaps and after several close calls I'm still running them on the rear duals but decided to get a set of good tires for the front.


After talking with @snicklas I'm running Firestone Transforce AT2s on the steer axle. Between those in the front and the BFG AT patterned recaps on the rear my 2wd dually hasn't had any traction issues yet this year. Even considering our first snowfall this year was a freak 12" storm.

I will probably buy them for the rear when I can. Downside is they are $210+ each. X6 that isn't fun.

I would probably run 265/75/16s in your case, not being a dually. They should exhibit a little less sidewall flex. Not really sure how that works having the same height, but the wider footprint seems to make a difference.
 

hacked89

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Ive run:
Treadwright 285s on my dodge - meh thought they wore aggressive

Cooper discovery 35s on my jeep- good

Military 37s on my IDI - you dont have to worry about sidewall flex with these ha

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austin92

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I had Yokohama’s on my wrangler and coopers on my Comanche and liked them but those didn’t have the 3 peak snow flake rating. It’s not a deal breaker but I prefer it

When I traded in the toyos the guys at the tire shop were shocked when I told them how they felt. I have a feeling they’ll say the same thing about the general grabbers. They said they’d never heard a bad thing about them. Am I just getting tires that have slipped through quality control or is this really what’s selling/acceptable these days?


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Thewespaul

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Ive run a lot of toyo ats on my rigs, currently three trucks have them. I run them around 60 psi unloaded and have never had the sidewall issues you mentioned, but they are all 265/75/16s. Maybe its the wider tire that helps like chillman mentioned, or maybe a quality issue? On the shop truck I run yoko highway treads and an offbrand all terrain in the back. Im going to be changing to a different setup soon, the chinese all terrains are miserable in the rain, but do perform well everywhere else.
 

nelstomlinson

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I am currently running Cooper Discover studded snow tires, Michelin somethingorothers, and Yokohama somethingorothers, all 235/85-16. I keep them at 80psi on the rear, 70psi on the front. I don't notice any sidewall issues, but that may just be because I don't know any better.
 

Black dawg

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I have run that toyo at on my truck (4x4 crew) without the softness you describe. Takes about 52 psi up front for tread wear and ride. Far from my favorite tire though. Those 245/75 will take even more air to hold it up. I cant think of any reason to run the 245s over the 235/85.

My favorite two tires are the toyo HT, fairly soft though, but are fine without max gvw loads. They are far better in the snow than they look like they would be....no worse than the toyo at. The other tire is the toyo m55. they last at least as long as anything out there, have great traction and can carry a load. I have a set from 07 that is at 65k and 1/4 tread.
 

snicklas

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As @chillman88 said, I really like the Firestone Transforce A/T’s. Between Dad and I , we’ve had 5 sets on 4 different trucks. 2 sets on my Excursion (8000 lb truck), and Dads 97 7 lug F-250, 12 F-150 SuperCrew, now his 16 F-150 SuperCrew. All are/were 4x4, so only have the Excursion and the 16. Dad replaced the 5000 mile old tires on his brand new 16 because he hated the squishy factory tires. We both have been extremely pleased with the Transforce tires. The first set on the Excursion went almost 80,000 miles.

I actually have come to really like Firestone tires. When the Infiniti need tires, got a set of Firestone Destination L/E 2’s. I’m extremely please with them also. I have a locally owned tire shop in town, and the next set of tires I need will come from there and likely be Firestone’s......
 

DrCharles

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I bought my truck with well-worn 265/75R16 BFG Mud Terrain tires on it. They're just about the same diameter as the 235/85R16 originals, and do a good job in mud and snow on our back dirt roads even though there is only about 20% tread left.
But they ride hard even with 50 psi (certainly the TTB is not known for a smooth ride anyway), and are the loudest damn tires on the highway that I've ever heard. Wondering what to buy that's got decent traction but don't roar so much.
 

austin92

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Maybe it is the size I’m running but when I returned the toyos and got the bfg’s I figured the shorter wider tire helped with stability of the side wall. Tire barn set these general grabbers at 60 front and rear and I moved them up but they still feel like they’re at 15psi. I’m thinking about trying the geolanders or the discoverers now but if it is an issue with the 245/75r16 and 235/85r16 sizes, why do they sell? My trailer has 235/85r16s and they don’t sway like my toyos did. Trailer has hauled 12k, toyos couldn’t support my 5500lb truck. Same load ranges, just different brand. Same deal with the 245/75r16 bfg’s, no sway from them but the general grabbers do. That’s why it’s hard for me to believe it’s the size. I’m lost but thanks for the input guys


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Oledirtypearl86

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When I was diving the tow rig I used to haul everything was a 99 F-350 with a power stroke and a zf6 the weight of the pickup loaded with the trailer was 19940lb and I ran nothing but the Yoko geolander an I have to say in a 265/75/16 they were a good tire and handled well and we're fairly quiet I also got about 60k miles a set that being said I had a guy I work with recommend some nankang n998 I got a set from Amazon and put them on my suburban and I have to say for a 125 dollars a corner I'm auctually impressed even after about 10k miles they are pretty quiet have a e load range and seem to wear pretty even and the only complaint is they hum a little at 95 mph but I hardly ever drive that fast so I'm happy
 
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