New Tyres or Tires, however you want to spell it.

[rsdata]

If you bought new, you should have a tire warranty. Have you ever rotated them? I have had good wear on my Michelin LTX s-Defenders. Make sure you are getting a "D" rated or better LT tire. I have had these tires on my last 3 trucks and averaged 55K of mixed travel trailer and flat bed towing w/ each.

I also have LTX Defenders on my RAM 1500 and have hit 73K miles, but they need changed out soon... keep them rotated and balanced... very happy with them.

 

[jrk341]

Okay so to the Meat of the question. Our tow vehicle is a 2021 Ram 2500 Cummings, It came with FireStone Transforce AT 285/60/20. We just turned 5000 miles on the OD of which 700 are towing. trailer is listed in signature, and is towed with water tank about 70 gallons ish of 150. Fresh water tank is in between king pin and first axle, closer to the axle (I think).



So the front tyres have 15/32 remaining tread and rear tyres have 7/32 remaining.



So I know that factory tyres generally suck and usually wear faster than other retail tyres, but I think this rate of wear is beyond acceptable.



Just looking for input to see if this is worth going back to the dealer and fighting them on the wear issue.



I would also like some input on a good towing / AT tyre. I am usually a Nokian fan but that is for snow tyres, and have not run their all season. And these were passenger tyres not HD truck tyres.



Lastly, I am always up for a good debate on the spelling of Tyres. LOL


Cheers all.

Just so you know there is no "g" in Cummins.

 

[NJBreeze]

Your 1500 lbs over your GVWR but maybe you knew that. General rule is if you have over a 2100 lb pin your probably in a 3500 truck.

The rears are wearing because of the weight of the pin. Do you have 265's???? A 3500 would probably have 275's and with your weight that is probably where you should be and this may help that rear tire wear.

I have found Michelins LTX tires to have a soft sidewall which I'm not sure is so great for towing especially when your a fair piece overweight. They also suck in the snow if that is a concern.

Believe it or not I have good luck with either the Goodyear Trailrunner AT or even the SRA but the SRA was on my truck with a bit smaller trailer at 19k lbs total truck and trailer. These tires are cheaper than most anything and they have worked mileage wise for me. They have been good in the rain up until about 40K miles and the SRA's were pretty bad in snow. Both tires are quiet yet the Trailrunner is far better in the snow.

My favorite tires are the Cooper AT3. Good wear, good in the rain and decent in snow with low noise. Quite a bit more expensive then either Goodyear product but the same as a Michelin but way better all around performance.

I don't believe anybody who says they get 60K miles out of tires on a HD truck. What you have to look out for is when they lose traction in the rain. That is when you replace them.

 

[masque]

^ I agree.

 

[Bryan1960]

Same tires, same issue. Absolute garbage. I just hit 8k and they're very worn in the rear. Have towed my travel trailer less than 500 miles with it. Gasser engine. I mentioned it to my dealer and she said "well the roads here are rough". Now I'm 44 years old. I'm not mashing the gas or doing burnouts. Definitely would like advice on what up upgrade to.

 

[dsjohns71]

I also have LTX Defenders on my RAM 1500 and have hit 73K miles, but they need changed out soon... keep them rotated and balanced... very happy with them.

I have the LTX AT/2’s on my Ram 1500. LT 275/65/20 and on this set I have just over 70k miles and lots of tread wear left, on previous set I replaced them at 107k ONLY because I was about to do a long pull with the TT and wanted to be safe not sorry. They still had good tread left. I didn’t rotate very much (maybe 3 or 4 times ) but kept air pressure consistent at 46 psi cold. Despite what others have said, they are a great tire and quite stiff for pulling a trailer, as I can air up to 80 psi if needed but never have. So far the best tire I have put on a truck. ( and I drive 36-40k miles a year) Oh and my Ram is a 2011 with 358,000 miles.

 

[garywilson]

1. "Just looking for input to see if this is worth going back to the dealer and fighting them on the wear issue.
2. I would also like some input on a good towing / AT tyre. I am usually a Nokian fan but that is for snow tyres, and have not run their all season. And these were passenger tyres not HD truck tyres.
3. Lastly, I am always up for a good debate on the spelling of Tyres. LOL"
-----------------------
1. No. And your discussion would be with the tire manufacturer, not the dealer. When you order your next truck, order heavy duty tires. What you got is intended for high school kids to burn off at the drive-in.

2. I ask Discount Tire what their best tire is for my purpose. This time (last month) it was Michelin. Since I don't off-road anymore (much), I didn't need an aggressive tread.

3. Tyre? You ain't from around here, are you? Attributed to Mark Twain "I don’t give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way." Tire, Tyre, and as Woody said, 'tars' (or tar) is also acceptable.

 

[garywilson]

I would rotate pretty quick. You need the best tread on the front.
You still have a little wear left.

 

[aircommuter]

Your 1500 lbs over your GVWR but maybe you knew that. General rule is if you have over a 2100 lb pin your probably in a 3500 truck.

The rears are wearing because of the weight of the pin. Do you have 265's???? A 3500 would probably have 275's and with your weight that is probably where you should be and this may help that rear tire wear.

I have found Michelins LTX tires to have a soft sidewall which I'm not sure is so great for towing especially when your a fair piece overweight. They also suck in the snow if that is a concern.

Believe it or not I have good luck with either the Goodyear Trailrunner AT or even the SRA but the SRA was on my truck with a bit smaller trailer at 19k lbs total truck and trailer. These tires are cheaper than most anything and they have worked mileage wise for me. They have been good in the rain up until about 40K miles and the SRA's were pretty bad in snow. Both tires are quiet yet the Trailrunner is far better in the snow.

My favorite tires are the Cooper AT3. Good wear, good in the rain and decent in snow with low noise. Quite a bit more expensive then either Goodyear product but the same as a Michelin but way better all around performance.

I don't believe anybody who says they get 60K miles out of tires on a HD truck. What you have to look out for is when they lose traction in the rain. That is when you replace them.

I put the Cooper AT3 ( now Goodyear) on my 1500 and they are at 32k 80% gone and very noisy. My first set were Bridgestones made it 16000, too much sidewall flex even though I kept them at max pressure. Mountain roads with armor coat is part of the problem. The AT3 has too large of contact pads and almost no sipes. Fortunately I have a set of winter tires and wheels.

 

[Kamper Dave]

AIRCOMMUTER, We purchased 4 Bridgestone tires in Montana and I fought the RAM's steering wheel of the way to Wisconsin. Dropped the 5th wheel and heading to Costco for a new set of Michelin. It was possibly the best $14.00 I ever spent; no more drift and less wear!

 

[Keithfirefighter]

Yes I have had it on the scales,

CAT Weights:

Steer Axel is 5040
Drive Axel is 6540
Trailer Axel 10140
Gross Weight 21720


Truck specs from Door:

GAWR front 6000
GAWR Rear 6040
GVWR 10000



Trailer Specs from Sticker:

Hitch Weight 2685 lbs
Dry Weight 12764 lbs


Ok, so if someone could help me break those numbers down that would be great, because the just the truck weights alone are rather confusing, GVWR is 10000 LBS but GAWR total is 12040 LBS, which tells me the load capacity is 2040 LBS.

To break it down your total gvwr for your truck is only 10000lbs which means that is all your truck can weigh fully loaded! Your loaded weight according to the cat scale ticket is
(front)5040+(rear)6540=11580lbs puts you 1580lbs over your trucks gvwr! The really only way to know your trucks true payload capacity is to take your truck back to the cat scale and weigh just the truck then subtract that number from your trucks 10000lbs gvwr and that number equals your payload capacity for example if your truck weighs 8000lbs and with your truck gvwr at 10000lbs you have 2000lbs of payload! Just remember everything you put on or in your truck cuts into the payload your hitch,firewood,the wife,kids,dogs everything!! FYI i have a ram 3500 my Axel ratings are front 6000 rear 7000 but that does not make my gvwr 13000lbs my door sticker rates my gvwr at 12300lbs my trucks payload is right around 4000lbs. Look on the inside of your drivers door it will have a sticker that will let you know how much payload your truck has when it rolled off the factory floor! Hope this helps ya understand. The pic is the sticker your looking for. This is mine off of my 2016 Ram 3500 srw

 

[Tireman9]

Yes I have had it on the scales,

CAT Weights:

Steer Axel is 5040
Drive Axel is 6540
Trailer Axel 10140
Gross Weight 21720


Truck specs from Door:

GAWR front 6000
GAWR Rear 6040
GVWR 10000



Trailer Specs from Sticker:

Hitch Weight 2685 lbs
Dry Weight 12764 lbs


Ok, so if someone could help me break those numbers down that would be great, because the just the truck weights alone are rather confusing, GVWR is 10000 LBS but GAWR total is 12040 LBS, which tells me the load capacity is 2040 LBS.

So you are 500# overloaded on the rear and 1580# over your GVWR


To get better tire life you should be no more than 90% of GAWR for each axle.




GVWR is the max for the vehicle. Many times this number is less than the total of the individual axles.


Being that much overweight is probably a major contributor to the tire wear. You don't have to be "burning out" to get faster drive tire wear. Just "normal acceleration with those loads will do it.

 

[garywilson]

I would rotate pretty quick. You need the best tread on the front.
You still have a little wear left.

OOPS!!
I meant you have the best tread on the front, and it needs to be on the rear.
Sorry.

 

[Lins]

The factory Firestones on our Rams are garbags. They just barely meet the load rating and they're known to wear fast. I'm guessing all siping is gone on the rear tires. I wore my rears significantly after our first 9,000 km road trip. It's the tq of the diesel and exhaust brake that does it, IMO. Weird your rear GAWR is only 6040, mine is 6500. Get a good proper Load E tire and you won't have a problem. I have Toyo AT 2 AWs that I got just under a year ago. Good for winter, unfortunately haven't got a really good road trip in, just a short 1000km one. They ride a bit stiffer due to not being as soft as the Firestones. I agree, those are more like car tires, I could see faint cracking in those almost from new.

 

[Comanchecreek]

Next time you're towing your trailer, drive for awhile, then stop at a rest area. Feel the temperature on the tread and you will see why the rears are wearing faster. Diesels have more torque, and they tend to burn off the rears when towing heavy. Only solution that I know of is to rotate more often. I try to do it every 3-4 thousand miles. It's the nature of the beast.

 

[plaso20]

I have a 2019 Ram 2500 just turning 22,000. I just replaced the OEM Firestone tires with the Michelin LTX Defender. Getting ready to take off again. The Firestone's could probably go another 3000 miles but I just decided to replace them and error on the side of caution. My driveway is pretty steep and I can easily spin the rear wheels when backing out. I have to really be gentle on the throttle.

 

[fchidsey0144]

well, After stewing on this for a bit, letting the tires finish wearing some, the rear is now down to the wear bar, so I have decided to order some Toyo AT3's and give these a go, I will put the Fronts on the rear, let those burn up during our travel this 2022 season and then replace the other 2 with Toyo's unless I have some issue with them.



Thanks all of the help with this. It is Greatly appreciated, Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all.

 

[mmartin_tdc]

I was seriously considering the AT3 as well. I think those will do you justice.