Tires for tow vehicle

[JASinIL2006]

I'm getting close to needing new tires for my F-150 XLT Supercrew 4WD pickup. I'm looking for some info on truck tires.The last set I bought before we owned our boat, so I'm not sure how to take into consideration the fact that I now tow a boat around.

Our boat is a 19' Larson SEI with a 350 Mag Mercruiser I/O on a single axle trailer. I live in the Midwest, so I'm looking for a year-round tire that can handle snow. I take a couple of 2000 mile round trips with the boat each year to Canada, so we do some highway driving while towing, but we also spend a lot of time up there driving on gravel roads that aren't always in great shape.

I'm sort of leaning toward Goodyear Wrangler AT Adventure with Kevlar tire, but I'm very interested in hearing anyone's thoughts on specific models or things to take into consideration.

Thanks!

Jim

 

[robert graham]

Most any good quality truck tires for your truck should work fine....it's just the weight of the trailer tongue on the back.....

 

[MH Hawker]

You may want to avoid the Cooper Discoverer tires i have a set and i am not impressed at all, when i need new one it wont be these.

 

[redneck joe]

you want LT or passenger tires? I have a 3500 and a bit stiff but I get 100k+ on mine and I drive in all types weather (40k per year)

Rugged TA by Goodrich

 

[keith2k455]

My honest opinion is that you should go to sams and buy whatever they have in stock. They are best on price and stock good tires. Not that I'm a Wal-Mart fanatic, but Ive never been able to beat sams for a "good" set of tires. And their price includes mounting, lifetime balance and rotate.

 

[H20Rat]

Nokian WRG3. They are a little pricy, but they are the closest thing you can get to a winter tire that is still all-season rated.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I like the rugged TA's, I used to run Yokohama Geolander A/T's on the old Durango as well as on Dad's Cummins powered Ram and really love them from a traction, ride, longevity and price perspective. Only got myself stuck once to the point needing a winch.

absolutely hated the Badyear Wranglers as the two sets I had wore quicky, and the ride and traction were only so-so.

 

[JimS123]

My honest opinion is that you should go to sams and buy whatever they have in stock. They are best on price and stock good tires. Not that I'm a Wal-Mart fanatic, but Ive never been able to beat sams for a "good" set of tires. And their price includes mounting, lifetime balance and rotate.

When they first came out I tried a set of Goodyear Assurance and have gone back and bought 4 more sets for different cars. The last set was put on just a month ago. Sams price wasn't much cheaper for their "good' tires, so for a couplabucks more I got "Great' tires.

 

[Tnstratofam]

I've got a set of Falkens on my F150 right now, and they are giving me good service. They are snow rated, and have a little agressive tread pattern but they have not failed me in the snow, ice, or at a wet boat ramp. They are a softer compound so I suspect mileage may be down compared to a regular all season all terain tire. I've also had good luck with Bridgestone/Firestone in the past.

 

[southkogs]

... I used to run Yokohama Geolander A/T's on the old Durango as well as on Dad's Cummins powered Ram and really love them ...

I put a set of the Yokohamas on my truck this past year. Seems like a good tire so far.

 

[oldjeep]

Firestone Destination AT gets my vote. Best all season tires I've ever owned

 

[H20Rat]

Firestone Destination AT gets my vote. Best all season tires I've ever owned

Those aren't M+S rated though, so I wouldn't take them on ice/snow very often. There are better all seasons that are M+S rated, but of course, you pay for it. M+S tires are also softer compounds, and have siping, both of which affect how many miles, and also your MPG's.

 

[ho1ywars]

Make sure whatever you go with you meet or exceed the current load range on the tires.

 

[JASinIL2006]

You may want to avoid the Cooper Discoverer tires i have a set and i am not impressed at all, when i need new one it wont be these.

I have these now, and while they haven't been terrible, they don't thrill me, either. They're wearing faster than I would expected and they really don't corner very well. I know lots of folks rave about Cooper Discoverers, but I'm nonplussed about them.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Those aren't M+S rated though, so I wouldn't take them on ice/snow very often. There are better all seasons that are M+S rated, but of course, you pay for it. M+S tires are also softer compounds, and have siping, both of which affect how many miles, and also your MPG's.

I'm not sure I've owned any tires on my truck that were M+S rated... we get some snow here, but not tons. Do they use softer rubber to counter a more aggressive/grabby tread pattern?

 

[JASinIL2006]

Thanks for all the feedback so far; it's really helping me think this through. At one online tire seller, I found these survey results for truck tires:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

It doesn't have as wide a variety of brands as I'd like, but it's interesting and based on quite a few responses...

 

[BF]

I put a set of the Yokohamas on my truck this past year. Seems like a good tire so far.

Interesting... I put Yoko Geolander A/T's on my Expedition, and hated them. So much so that within a few months I considered it a bad experiment gone wrong and took them back to the tire place and used the "dissatisfaction warranty". They gave me credit that I put towards going back to another set of Michelin LTX M/S's, which I should've bought in the first place.

What I disliked about the geolanders:
noisy and clunky feeling
threw up an amazing spew of gravel (not good when towing a boat)
poor puncture resistance (I punctured one of them within a couple weeks by driving on gravel made from crushed rock... a stone pierced the treads)
scary poor traction on freezing/slushy roads (this was when I finally decided I wouldn't put up with them anymore... life's too short to drive a squirrely truck all winter)

What I like about Michelin LTX M/S's:
quiet
very smooth on pavement
fully siped = excellent winter performance
I've now have had 2 sets and found them to have good longevity and have awesome winter performance when they're on the first 1/2 of their tread life, and they're still very good in winter when they're getting down on tread. (90% worn out LTX's were way better than new Geo A/T's)

downside: they don't "look" aggressive like an A/T tire, but they perform much better than I expected in mud and wet sand.

Maybe it wasn't the Geolanders so much as going to A/T tires (?) compared to the LTX's.... I'm not sure. I did have BF Goodrich A/T KO's on a previous truck and liked them a lot... I just thought they might be a bit stiff for the Expedition....

 

[WIMUSKY]

This is a good tire. A bunch of plow guys use them year round around here :
http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Light...VERER-S-T.aspx

This is what I use for winter. Great snow/mud etc tire. A little loud on dry pavement due to the agreesive tread. I have a different set for summer. I plow too:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Goodyear-W...70R17/11983163

Here are my summer ones, which would be good for winter too.
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-...rail-t-a-tires

 

[alldodge]

Michelin LTX M/S2

 

[oldjeep]

Those aren't M+S rated though, so I wouldn't take them on ice/snow very often. There are better all seasons that are M+S rated, but of course, you pay for it. M+S tires are also softer compounds, and have siping, both of which affect how many miles, and also your MPG's.

Jebus, I live in MN and drive a 2wd pickup. You're on crack