Advice on Tires For My (work) Truck Please

[nomad297]

This is not RV related and it is not tow vehicle related, but I know there are a lot of people here who know a lot about tires, and I can’t think of a better forum that I am a member of where I can get good opinions and advice for which tires would be best for the truck I use for work. I have owned a lot of trucks and I have bought a lot of tires, but I have never really put much thought into which was the ideal tire for any of them — I usually just buy what the guy at the tire shop tells me I need. Not this time, though. This time I want to try to find out if there really is an ideal tire for my truck and the type of driving I do. I need to replace the factory tires now, and they only have 29,711 miles on them, but that’s about all I ever get on work trucks similar to this one with the same type of use, no matter which tires they are. I get about twice the mileage on the same tires with my personal truck.

My current work truck is a 2016 Chevrolet 3500HD SRW 4x4 with a utility body. I have no idea how much it weighs loaded, but I had to add a leaf to the rear when I first bought it and loaded it with everything I use daily to make it look right with no squat. So, it’s heavy. I drive anywhere from 50 to 80 miles per day in the city and suburbs — always through neighborhoods to get from one job to the next — stop signs, turns and traffic lights almost every 300 feet...all day long. The closest comparison I can think of for the way I have to drive to anybody else is the UPS delivery trucks. I wonder which tires they use.

I am currently looking at the Michelin LTX AT/2 tires, but are these the best tires for the way I drive?

Bruce

[Hatchee]

Did a ton of research and put the Michelin LTX on my 2016 GM 3500HD SRW 4x4 LB. I have about 10k on them and very happy so far.

Hope your Chevy's brakes are better than mine. After 77k, I'm on my 5th set of rotors and GM has admitted they have no idea what the issue is. They will no longer cover under warranty. Next diesel truck will be a Dodge!!

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by Hatchee

Did a ton of research and put the Michelin LTX on my 2016 GM 3500HD SRW 4x4 LB. I have about 10k on them and very happy so far.

Hope your Chevy's brakes are better than mine. After 77k, I'm on my 5th set of rotors and GM has admitted they have no idea what the issue is. They will no longer cover under warranty. Next diesel truck will be a Dodge!!

Thanks for the reply. My brakes are fine so far, but I only have 30,000 miles on this truck. My brakes do get a lot of use, though, due to how I use this truck. My personal-use 2015 3500HD has 65,000 miles on it and the brakes are fine and have never been a problem. I put my first set of replacement tires on this truck at about 60,000 miles, and the original tires still had enough tread to get me through inspection — they just didn’t do too well on wet grass anymore.

I’m really surprised that more people haven’t chimed in here. Is my question really that odd?

Bruce

[frank4711]

Michelin Defender LTX M/S
MICHELIN
DEFENDER LTX M/S
Highway All-Season
Size: LT265/60R20 121/118R E
Style: Blackwall
When I upgraded to E rated I put these on and so far excellent ... truck came with 20' tires and I have always used Michelin on my cars .... ride is very good and sidewalls are firm and also quiet ...

[5picker]

I'll also toot the Michelin horn.

For more years than I can remember I've been using Michelin on my trucks.
Michelin Defender LTX M/S and now the LTX AT2 for winter.

[Harkerr]

I run Michelin tires on my 2500HD and am very happy

[Hi Rider]

I just went through a lot of research on tires for my Class C RV. No truck. I bought Michelin and very happy with purchase. I checked out their web site and had a couple of calls to their customer support line. Well worth the time as I found them to be very helpful in choosing the right tire. You might want to talk to them about your truck tires. They can be very helpful.

[Jakieboy]

X10 regarding Michelin truck tires. I regret their decision to discontue manufacture of trailer tires.

[BigH]

I just bought a set of factory rims from a guy with a 2018 3/4 Chevy. He had Michelin LTX on the rims with 40,000 miles on them. They were wore down to nothing and had weather cracks in-between the treads at two years old.

I don't have a good answer to this topic but I bought the rims so I could put better winter tires on them and I'll swap back to factory Firestone AT's in the summer. When those AT's wear out I will be putting on something for on-the-road towing. A GM tpms tool for switching back and forth between the sets was only 14 bucks.

[rracer5]

The heavier the load, the faster you'll go through tires. My first set of Cooper "60,000 mile" tires only lasted about half that much. But then, they were towing a 39' 5'er most of that time so......... Since I don't know what you do with your personal truck, that's all I can speculate on. Just my 2 cents worth.

[flipper2]

One issue everyone needs to take note of is valve stem come in different grades. We got our tires from Sam's Club. I think they use the dirt cheap stems. We had an air leak while towing on the interstate. It was the valve stem. We had them replaced at Discount tire with heavy duty. They have metal stems instead of plastic. We have not had issues since. We use Michelin truck tires on the truck and Goodyear Endurance E tire on our rig.

[Hi Rider]

When recently buying my Michelin's I was told by Costco and Les Schwab that two different tires I was price checking had been discontinued. Not so, I discovered. In both cases the MSPN Numbers had been changed by Michelin and neither Costco nor Les Schwab had updated the information on their computers.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by nomad297

My current work truck is a 2016 Chevrolet 3500HD SRW 4x4 with a utility body. I have no idea how much it weighs loaded, but I had to add a leaf to the rear when I first bought it and loaded it with everything I use daily to make it look right with no squat. So, it’s heavy. I drive anywhere from 50 to 80 miles per day in the city and suburbs — always through neighborhoods to get from one job to the next — stop signs, turns and traffic lights almost every 300 feet...all day long. The closest comparison I can think of for the way I have to drive to anybody else is the UPS delivery trucks. I wonder which tires they use.

I am currently looking at the Michelin LTX AT/2 tires, but are these the best tires for the way I drive?

Bruce

You didn't mention driving in mud or snow so unless you do a lot I'd consider something like the Michelin XPS RIB. Rib tread designs are designed for use just like you describe. Plain old paved streets and highways, no need for fancy tread designs to give extra grip in deep mud or snow. They typically yield the best mileage because there is less "squirm" in the tread.

This tread design will usually work just fine for "City Driving" even if you get a little snow (especially with the weight you carry and the 4WD)
UPS/Fedex trucks typically will have a similar tread design.

Tread looks like this:



The LTX AT-2 is considered an "All Terrain" tire but is that what you need for what you described? It's tread looks like this:



Warning, the XPS-RIB is not cheap but good tires rarely are.

I'd also suggest you find a place to get your truck weighed, front and rear axles separately. Make sure you have the proper load range tire for the extra weight you've acknowledged carrying (the extra spring leaf).

[Tall frog]

I just put new Goodyear Wrangler Trail Runner AT I have Little LT 275/65/20 load range E they have a wight rating of 3750 lb. I was looking at the 2020 2500,3500 gmc and this is what is from the factory, I had GY Wrangler SRA LT 275/60 that came on the truck,load was 3190 lb. I wanted a little more load capacity and slightly more grip but still a good ride and quiet . Don't know your size but I like the new ones.

[Poper]

Wasn’t gonna chime in till I saw all the Michelin responses.
I just put on set of four LTX A2 last week. Had a problem!
Truck is 2015 2500 Chev. 4wd.
Came new with the LTX A2, and wore flawlessly to 60k running 60lb ft 70 rear and always rotated at 6k miles. Always rode like on a cloud!!
The new tires bounced all over the road!!?? I did not buy the Michelin’s at a tire discount shop.
However after research on “ Road Force Balancing” I learned that the Road Force Balance is done by manufacturing plant before it gets to the dealer.
Almost no tire shop, discount or otherwise offers this service. It’s as rare as hens teeth.
I did learn that the better more equipped dealerships have this equipment.
It’s a Hunter Balancer Machine. Do a search on it. It will tell you who in your area has the equipment.
Long story short, buy the Michelin LTX at a Chev or GM dealer that has the Hunter machine.
It simulates the load force in pounds on the truck while performing Dynamic
Balance. Giving it a poundage rating.
Sadly and unbeknownst to me My tires were only static balanced, adding sticky weights to one outer edge. Hence the bounce on $1200 tires..
So after paying for mount and “balance” at tire shop ,I had my Original Chev Dealer perform Road Force Balance all four $80.
Difference in ride was immediate and I’m now confident that I’ll get another 60k from these new ones. BTW tires are 275-70-18 E load.
Good luck.

[russhd1997]

I put BFG All Terrain T/A KO2's load range E on my truck. They're overkill on my 1/2 ton truck but they were the only tires that I could find that were LT tires in the 17" size. I've only put about 4,000 miles on them so far and am very happy with them. They aren't showing any signs of wear yet and they are quiet for an aggressive tread. When I did my research I found that Michelin makes the BFG tire.

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

You didn't mention driving in mud or snow so unless you do a lot I'd consider something like the Michelin XPS RIB. Rib tread designs are designed for use just like you describe. Plain old paved streets and highways, no need for fancy tread designs to give extra grip in deep mud or snow. They typically yield the best mileage because there is less "squirm" in the tread.

This tread design will usually work just fine for "City Driving" even if you get a little snow (especially with the weight you carry and the 4WD)
UPS/Fedex trucks typically will have a similar tread design.

Tread looks like this:





The LTX AT-2 is considered an "All Terrain" tire but is that what you need for what you described? It's tread looks like this:



Warning, the XPS-RIB is not cheap but good tires rarely are.

I'd also suggest you find a place to get your truck weighed, front and rear axles separately. Make sure you have the proper load range tire for the extra weight you've acknowledged carrying (the extra spring leaf).

Based on what you have said and shown, would the Michelin Defender M/S be a better choice than the A/T2? I would like to buy at Costco (I will save $400.00 by buying here), and the Rib isn’t available there. Snow isn’t a big concern for me because of the weight of my truck and it is 4x4. We don’t get too much snow here, but when we do, I still have to work and drive, though. So, while the Defender is a mud and snow tire, I really don’t need them for that purpose, but the tread is closer to that of the Rib than the A/T2...I think.

The Defender and the A/T2 are just about the same price — just under $1,000.00 installed.

Here’s a picture of the Defender tread:





Bruce

[TowPro]

[QUOTE=nomad297;2200762 This time I want to try to find out if there really is an ideal tire for my truck and the type of driving I do. .

I am currently looking at the Michelin LTX AT/2 tires, but are these the best tires for the way I drive?

Bruce[/QUOTE]


to make this decision more information is needed.

I did not see if your in snow land, or the deep south? do you ever go off road or are you always on blacktop? I did see 4x4, but that could be because anymore to get 2wd you almost need to special order the truck.
that AT/2 is really an All Terran tire, but if you are not going in mud/snow a highway rib tire might be better for longer life, quieter running, better rain traction.
I also loved the Michelin tires, I could get 45K miles on my 2006 Ram 3500 SRW (sitting in garage), but after I sold it to my brother it ended up being parked outside the the tires showed dry rot cracks real bad. also had a 2011 Escape with factory Micheline tires that dry rotted real bad in 4 years sitting outside.

[jcr59]

Originally Posted by Hatchee

Did a ton of research and put the Michelin LTX on my 2016 GM 3500HD SRW 4x4 LB. I have about 10k on them and very happy so far.

Hope your Chevy's brakes are better than mine. After 77k, I'm on my 5th set of rotors and GM has admitted they have no idea what the issue is. They will no longer cover under warranty. Next diesel truck will be a Dodge!!

Had a similar issue with the rotors on a gm car we had several years ago. The oem rotors would heat up and "warp". After several replacements I went with more expensive aftermarket rotors and low and behold the problem went away.

Would be nice if GM could admit they have a problem and foot the bill for a good replacement. I'm not holding my breath though.

[graman]

Just to add to the discussion, I've been really pleased with the Toyo Open Country AT/2. Performs well in typical Canadian winters, handles heavy loads well, and has a 80,000km/5yr tread warranty - I'm 5 years in and just over 80k, but should easily have a couple years of useful life left of them. Majority of my driving is on pavement - low road noise at highway speed, but they perform great off road occasionally as well.

I think most premium tires with similar specs should perform somewhat equally, so my best advice is spend a bit extra and look for a good tread warranty.