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Need thoughts on tow rig tires

Houndoc

Houndoc

Registered User
Location
Grantsville
The time has come (I can hear my credit card groan) for putting new tires on my Ram 2500 Quad Cab CTD.

I would love to have some recommendations as to what y'all have found to be a good traction (esp on snow, ice) and decent tread life truck tire.

Currently it has BFG Rugger Trail T/As. They have worn well (72k miles) but stink like rotten skunk on snow and slick roads.

Obviously the truck is not going to see heavy duty off-road use, but does get some mild off-road use (esp on Lake Powell trips), occasional dirt while hauling the horses and some winter condition trailering potential with the boat. So, traction is important.

With an investment of roughly $1,000 I would like them to last as long as possible as well.

Thanks in advance for all the in-depth (I know folks here can shovel it deep :rofl:) insight!
 
Rot Box

Rot Box

Diesel and Dust
Supporting Member
Location
Smithfield Utah
My experience with tow rig tires:

Michelin LTX's are quiet and last a long time but really suck in the snow and ice.

Good Year Silent Armor's are quiet don't last a long time and are amazing in snow and ice :p

That being said I keep going back to the Good Years aside from wear they have always been awesome, and I don't worry too much about taking it off the paved road every so often as they have a decent sidewall and good grip.
 
Cherokeester

Cherokeester

Registered User
Location
Wellsville Utah
Back to the basics, I just put new BFG AT's and replaced the old ones after 70,000 miles on my 04 Powerstroke. They are just an awesome tire and are pretty dang good in snow.
 
mbryson

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Location
Bountiful, land of rocks
I just bought Goodyear Silent Armors. They have a 50K mile mileage warranty. They're round and I like that. I got the "D" rated ones. I'd go with the "E" ones if/when I do it again.

(I had great luck with my Toyo MTs--55K miles)
 
bryson

bryson

RME Resident Ninja
Supporting Member
Location
West Jordan
I ran the BFG A/T KOs for a while on my 98 Dodge 2500... I hated them. Horrible wet/icy traction, and I didn't like the way the truck rode with them. That being said, they are what I have on my 01 Dodge 2500 now:rolleyes: so we'll see!

My favorite tire so far on a tow rig has been the Toyo M/Ts.
 
Houndoc

Houndoc

Registered User
Location
Grantsville
ChestonScout said:
TOYO mts.


good luck on the 1000 dollar budget tho. I will be buying 6 of them for the dually before to long........OUCH
Click to expand...

On the $1k budget can get BFG A/Ts, Nitto Terra Grapplers or a few others that I am not really interested in. Toyo MTs where quoted at over $1300.

Anyone run the Nittos on a tow rig?
 
mbryson

mbryson

.......a few dollars more
Supporting Member
Location
Bountiful, land of rocks
Houndoc said:
On the $1k budget can get BFG A/Ts, Nitto Terra Grapplers or a few others that I am not really interested in. Toyo MTs where quoted at over $1300.

Anyone run the Nittos on a tow rig?
Click to expand...


Nittos: I have a friend with a Duramax put them on his NEW truck. He got about 28K miles out of them. He swore at my Toyo MTs frequently.

There's a reason I spend money on tires. I think like nothing else, you get what you pay for in that industry. There are exceptions, though.
 
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K

Kirk

Active Member
I have had 3 sets of Nitto Terra Grapplers - 295 "D", 285 "D", and 285 "E" I gave them one last chance hoping the E's would wear better. They wore evenly, and I liked them except I got about 30K out of every set. Discount paid me the difference on every set to the 50K warrenty, so I got some of it back. I changed over to the BFG AT - 285 "E" about 2 months ago. First impression is I hate how they shower my truck with rocks after going off road. I assume they will last longer. Hopefully I will still have some paint left.

My truck is a dodge - pull trailers fairly often.

Kirk
 
camicaztoy

camicaztoy

Active Member
Location
Layton, Utah
Im running the goodyear silent armors in an e rated 285 on my duramax. I love them, good ride, awsome in the snow and wet, not bad in the sand and snow. I replaced a set of bfgs with these, currently have half tread left in the same miles that the bfgs wore out. 40,000 so far, but im pretty religious about rotations too. played the pricing game with a few places. got these at discount in roy for a little over $800, but that was 3 years ago.
 
L

LT.

Well-Known Member
Location
Los Alamos, New Mexico
I have had no less than 13 sets of BF Goodrich tires (at least I can remember 13 sets). Every vehicle that I have had them on has responded differently than another. One truck (a 1975 GMC) would out do any other on snow covered roads or off road. Nothing could beat that old truck. My current 06 QC, dually, 4X4 does very well, considering that it is a dually, with BFG all terrains. I have driven through snow that was just over the bumper, with a six inch lift and 35" tires, and had no issues. I also have over 20,000 miles on this set on a truck that weighs a little over 9,000 lbs. I also live at 7300 feet in elevations and drive to the Jemez mountains that are over 8500 feet in elevation. Plenty of snow covered roads here. The last set of Mud Terrains I had on any truck, the old KM's, sucked in every kind of snow cover road I ever drove on. I also have a set of Toyo all terrains on a Ford Escape that I drive daily. I have almost 50,000 miles on them and they will go another 10,000 if I push them to it. The Toyo's are good just about every where and excell if there is water on the road. They do not have as good of traction on the snow covered roads as the BFG's. Take a look at the tread pattern and it will start to make sense as to why. The BFG's have tread blocks that interlock with each other. Leaving no voids when the tires are spun in the snow. The Toyo's have their blocks aranged in rows around the circumfrence of the tread. This leaves four or five rows that are void of any tread. I think this is why they do so well on water covered roads. I have not yet owned a set of the Toyo MT's. I just cannot bring myself to pay that much for a set of tires. Way expensive!

LT.
 
Houndoc

Houndoc

Registered User
Location
Grantsville
I'll peak into the Goodyear Silent Armors.

Anyone run Coopers on tow rig recently? I put the Discoverer STs on Monty last winter and in that aplication they have been good, but???
 
Maverick

Maverick

old-school
Location
Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
I've loved my BFG AT KO's. 2 sets, 295's and 315's, both D rated. Thinking of going 285's to get the E, I'd like a little less squish when towing.

The traction has been outstanding in all different conditions except towing in deep gooey snotty mud (to be expected).

They have worn a little faster than I hoped they would, even on a 9000lb vehicle. Rotated religiously. The 295's seemed like they lasted longer. The 315's saw a lot of towing on gravel roads, mud, snot, etc.

If I can find some cheap 18" f*rd takeoffs, and some E rated 315's, then I'll buy those next, cuz I like the size, just not the sidewall. Also considering the Toyo MT's and the BFG KM2s (to deal with the mud). mbryson got 55 billion miles out of his MT's. Yes, with a "b".

whoa, just checked the pricing. Screw that 18" stuff. Make mine a 305/70r16 E-rated. I'll even get a little power back.
 
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Houndoc

Houndoc

Registered User
Location
Grantsville
Busily narrowing the options. Based on current info for here, a boating forum and survery results on tirerack.com, list is something like this:

Michelline (thats not spelled right, is it?) LTX A/T2 Highest rated in most categories (traction, tread life etc). 60K mike warranty. Run about $1,100 for a set. Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armour runs about the same cost, rank just a hair below on tirerack but is only warranted as a 50k tire.

Cooper Discoverer ATR. I have not run these, but have the older tread Discoverer AT (on a Durrango) and got great life and traction for the cost. $830 for a set, minus $75 rebate for a net of $755 per set.

General Grabber A/T2. Good ratings on Tirerack surverys, esp. for tire life and snow/ice traction. 60K mile warranty. $780 for a set.
 
Houndoc

Houndoc

Registered User
Location
Grantsville
Related question: From looking at it, I would think that 285/70R17 (1 step up from the 265s that come stock) would fit on my truck (05 Ram 2500 Quad Cab CTD) with out any trouble.

True?
 
Maverick

Maverick

old-school
Location
Anywhere, thanks to my geeky droid
It looks like I'm going with BFG AT KO 285/75r16 E rated or maybe 305/70R16 E rated next week. Was leaning toward the Toyo OC MT but hear too many conflicting reports of how they do in the snow, packed snow, ice, wet roads vs consistent reports on the BFG. Weird to go to a smaller size...

I had LTX on my X when I got it...pretty good street tires. Not sure I'd want them in the snow.
 
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