Recommendations for tires?

[smolkin]

I'm trying to find some relatively inexpensive tires. I don't really go offroad or have a need for anything pretty or fancy, baby just needs a new set of shoes that will last a while. I have an aversion to used tires, I've had too many blowouts on them. Right now I have Goodyear Tracker2's 265/70/R16, and they're ok on the rear but they're getting destroyed up front. I fixed my steering and alignment issues within reason, so I know it's not absolutely perfect but I should get more than 10K miles on the tread I thought. The GY's are $130 ea. Can anyone beat that?

You get what you pay for, I know, but I'm also getting a couple new batts this weekend, so the ol' cookie jar is a little tapped out at the moment. I might make it another week on the tires but I'm pushing it.

 

[88beast]

pepboys got cheap decent tires theyre not the best traction or anything butthey last a decent bit and take some abuse wear wise
the ht would be youre best bet its onroad tread with a good bit of tread

 

[david85]

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I'm running Toyo Open Country highway ribbed tires and am happy with them so far. Smooth, quiet and no tire wear issues at all. I drove them in snow and while they are not rated for that, they did pretty good due to the rubber compound (one of many advantages in buying new). I think I paid something like $120/tire (canadian) and those were locally bought. I guess they aren't in demand as most people want aggressive off road tires.

These tires have 2 slots in the tread that seem to be designed to cut through standing water and they work very well for that. I often drive heavy rain and feel much more confident with these tires when plowing through puddles on the highway at 70 MPH. Only real complaint I have is those slots in the tread can catch pebbles and throw them sometimes but considering the wet weather handling its a fair trade off for me.

Traction on pavement is also excellent. My truck will easily out corner my car.

 

[rjjp]

You are not going to find good, cheap, new tires for these trucks. hence the reason must of us drop $600+ on tires. You can get retreads for cheap, www.treadwright.com but if you do then be careful as we've all herd stories of retreads comming apart, my father has pictures somewhere of the way he learned that, 59 Ford that needed a new quarter pannel after that. My best advice would be rotate your current tires (you said that the ttb is eating them) and save the money up to fix your alignment issues then get some good tires that will last.

 

[RLDSL]

I picked up some Kuhmos for the steer axle and I've been real happy with them. the things were only about a hundred bucks ea. Local place that sells in bulk to all teh farmers carries them. They wouldn't sell any junk or someone around here would come after them with a shotgun
I've run their tires on a semi before and they held up for a long time and handled quite well in bad conditions

 

[freebird01]

the general grabber AT2's have a good reputation...or the hankook dynapro at-10's (i think thats the model) are very good all weather tires...

the generals can usually be had relatively cheap..

i just got a set of 285/75/16 Cooper STT's. the new style ones and i LOVE them. i dont get offroad much but when i do i dont want to be stuck. they have been wearing good so far and are atually pretty quiet for a mud tire.

they are not cheap however.... i think i paid $205 ea

 

[The Warden]

FWIW...some may disagree with me, but I think RLDSL hit on a good point regarding steer vs drive tires. Unless you keep the rear tires overinflated (something I've been guilty of ) or you do burnouts on a regular basis your rear tires should wear very slowly. Because of this, I have come to advocate replacing tires two at a time, instead of replacing all four at once...and, on the same note, I've stopped rotating tires. This is assuming you're using the same or similar brands and tread patterns for your tires; if you're running separate steer and drive tires, then this may not be feasible.

What I've gotten in the habit of doing on my Mercedes is, when the front tires wear to the point of needing to be replaced, I put the rear tires on the front and buy two new tires for the rear...and, when the next set of front tires wears, repeating the process. I haven't needed to replace tires on my truck since starting this cycle (although I'm going to need to replace all four of them in the near future), but I'm planning to go to a similar cycle when the time comes. I started this out of necessity because my last M-B was destroying front tires in less than 10K miles but it seems logical to me?

I don't know about an economical tire for these trucks, but towcat has a couple of recommendations for good tires to use when towing...unfortunately, I can't remember the brand/models off the top of my head. With that said, I would be careful of going too cheap with tires...if you load or tow with your truck much, a cheap tire with a weak sidewall can create safety problems.

Just my $.02...

 

[OnDaRoad]

Check Craigslist .....

If you know how to decipher a tire code to get the manufacturer date of production, try craigslist for used tires .....

I run Michelin tires on my dually - I sell my used tires on craigslist wherever
I happen to be in the country when I am due for new tires ......

I find a buyer within a day or so .....

Just use common sense


Jim

 

[MR.T]

I'm trying to find some relatively inexpensive tires. I don't really go offroad or have a need for anything pretty or fancy, baby just needs a new set of shoes that will last a while. I have an aversion to used tires, I've had too many blowouts on them. Right now I have Goodyear Tracker2's 265/70/R16, and they're ok on the rear but they're getting destroyed up front. I fixed my steering and alignment issues within reason, so I know it's not absolutely perfect but I should get more than 10K miles on the tread I thought. The GY's are $130 ea. Can anyone beat that?

I'd go with just buying two $130 tires like what you have on the rear in a tight-budget situation.

 

[smolkin]

Thanks for the advice!

I looked around today, I really can't find anything much cheaper. I have an 800# to call for a possible pro-ration on the tires (50K tread warr) but they're closed until Monday. I guess if I can get money back on the Goodyears I'll just get some more. Otherwise I'll look around some more this week. Pep Boys has a Futura and a Definity for about the same price.

 

[Butcherman]

You are not going to find good, cheap, new tires for these trucks. hence the reason must of us drop $600+ on tires. You can get retreads for cheap, www.treadwright.com but if you do then be careful as we've all herd stories of retreads comming apart, my father has pictures somewhere of the way he learned that, 59 Ford that needed a new quarter pannel after that. My best advice would be rotate your current tires (you said that the ttb is eating them) and save the money up to fix your alignment issues then get some good tires that will last.

Just remember semi's run recaps for 100k + miles. Very rarely is the cap failure caused by anything other than improper tire inflation. And if it is the problem with the cap, it will normally fail very quickly after installation. The proper tire pressure will help the tire last alot longer. If the tire is low, heat builds up in the carcass and will cause a failure in the tire. And I have seen plenty of ****** tires fail just like recaps due to low tire pressure.

 

[bikepilot]

I'm running some Toyo Open Country AT and love them. Good grip, good feel, seem to be well made. I'd recommend staying away from BFG, before this I had BFG Commercial TAs and the entire tread blew off the rear at ~20k miles and did a bunch of damage No warning, didn't hit anything, not re-treads etc, but the tread came off in one big chunk all the way around. I'm way OCD about pressure too and had checked it (all good) less than 5 miles before it blew.

 

[1994IDI]

I am running a set of Treadwright 285/75/16. I have not had any problems with them, but have only put about 5,000 miles on.

 

[Knuckledragger]

I have 235/85/16 Falken tires on my truck, they were $85 each as a set. I don't know if they make the size you want, but they wear well and are quiet on the road.

 

[smolkin]

Bumpin' this back up b/c I got some tires today. Firestone Transforce HT LT235/85R16's, has anyone used these or heard good/bad things about them? It's a done deal anyway, I guess, but it was the cheapest ($140) I could find locally on a Sunday. It turns out that I was a bit ignorant of tire sizes, and Walmart should never have put the other size on in the first place. These Transforces are definitely better, the quietness and ride are like night and day.