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Almost time for new tires on the tow rig..

3K views 23 replies 22 participants last post by  smasheromalley 
#1 ·
I'm thinking that before this winter I'll be needing a set of tires for the tow rig. It's a 2006 Chevy 2500HD CrewCab ShortBox Dmax/Allison 4x4.

Stock tires are the 245s on 16s, and I'd atleast like to go a bit bigger. Last truck (pretty much same truck except it was an 04 gasser) I put on H2 rims and 285s. Unless I run across a screaming deal on rims, I'm proabably gonna stick with stock alloys for this truck.

Right now I'm debating two tire sizes: 285/75-16 or 235/85-16. The 235s are just over 1" taller than stock and the 285s are about 2" over stock.

I'm leaning towards the 235s since they'll be a bit narrower, and maybe provide a little less rolling resistance than the 285s while still filling up the wheel wells a bit more than the 245s. Also, they seem like they are about $150/set cheaper than the 285s. Neither will cause an major mods to the truck to fit.

Front runners in tires are BFG A/Ts or Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor for Load Range E 235s. 285s are more common, and that opens it up to Toyo Open Country A/Ts (had them on the last truck and they were pretty good) and Nitto Terragrapplers.

So, what are your opinions on A/T type tires for a tow rig in these sizes? Anything I'm missing? Do those Goodyear tires suck?
 
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#2 ·
I was looking at the Nitto Terragrapplers. Simple reasoning on this is because my MudGrapplers are such an awesome tire (a near perfect balenced mud tires is amazing) and I think I will stick with that brand.

My neighbor has the Toyo's on his truck and they look great after 30k

I currently have 285s on the truck but I think I'm going to back down to 265s which are stock just for the mpgs.
 
#3 ·
I put Pirreli scorpions on my last truck and about 20k onto them and they were at like 33% remaining.

I just put Michilen LTX MS on my tow rig. Hands down the best tire on the market for 3/4 ton and up trucks. Discount installed 4 265's for like $750 out the door! I was shocked at the price, as they qouted me like $975 a few months prior.

When it comes to tow rig tires, you really do get what you pay for.
 
#10 ·
I just put Michilen LTX MS on my tow rig. Hands down the best tire on the market for 3/4 ton and up trucks. Discount installed 4 265's for like $750 out the door! I was shocked at the price, as they qouted me like $975 a few months prior.
About the LTX MS tires, how are they for light offroad? I've heard from a lot of folks that they wear like iron, but I'm looking at an A/T type tire to aid in traction on getting my trailer from the barn in the fall/winter/spring and for bad weather driving.

I don't wheel with the tow rig, but to get my trailer out of the barn I have to drive on wet grass, a bit of mud, and in the winter over unplowed snow. The stock Chevy 245s struggle whereas the Toyo ATs on my previous truck shrugged it off. This had made me leary of any highway tires, but if you've used them for stuff like that I'd love to hear it.

When it comes to tow rig tires, you really do get what you pay for.
No doubt there, the only way I'm comparing price is 235/85 vs 285/75 tires. I don't think for my tow rig that 1" bigger tire and lower MPG is worth $50 extra per tire; but if there's a much better tire in that size I may change my decision.

The same tire in Michelins is only about $100 different; so the spread is a bit less than other brands/tires..but as I said above, am I gonna miss something with the 235 vs 285 besides 1" of height?
 
#7 ·
Nitto Terra grappler 285 75r16's. they are an awesome tire, i would highly recommend them. I did some calling around and haggling and got them for 650 OTD at discount tire.

they fill out the truck nicely, ride great when they break in, they feel a little squishy until a few thousand miles. my fronts are in prefect shape after 2 winters ~15k miles and my rears are almost toasted for obvious reasons. I'll be replacing them with the same thing.
 
#8 ·
I will probably stick with the BFG Rugged Trails that came stock on my 3500. I got 62k out of the first set and still had 9 to 10/32" of tread left. I had some sidewall cracks and got them warrantied. They could have gone another 15k probably. I have 48k on this set and still have about 1/2 tread remaining.
 
#9 ·
Not that they ride great or anything but my stock Firestones on my F250 went 80K with tread to spare. I have 80K on my Excursion right now and these have at least another 20K left in them.

That said they are pretty stiff probably loook for something that rides a little better when it's time.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I put BFG Commercial traction 235/85R16's on my 2wd F250 and I am surprised how well it did in snow (could also be that I have 2000lb extra over the rear wheels.

I wanted the most tread depth and most aggressive tire w/o going to a noisy mud tire. Got all 4 w/certs for $600 @ discount tire.
 
#15 ·
My truck came with crappy Firestone HT tires. Those things would get stuck on wet grass! The michelins have been great. I towed my two place trailer on crappy wet dirt/clay switch back fire roads at Tellico and it did great. My old HT firestones would have jacked knifed me off the mountain LOL.

Michelins are great tires, you won't be dissappointed. I am glad I finally bucked up and bought them!
 
#16 ·
I have the Nitto Terra Grapplers. I bought them when discount was giving $100 off 4 tires, I think I paid like $450 shipped for a set of 265/75-16's in load range E.

Traction in the wet, snow, or mud is excellent. I don't like they way they follow the road at my trucks recommended pressure though.

I have since started running 65 PSI in the front tires. They feel a lot better, but the ride is obviously a little worse. I wish I would have went with more of a highway tire like the Kelly's I took off in hindsight... they look cool though *lol*

I don't expect them to last more than 30,000 miles, but at the price I am fine with that.
 
#17 ·
99 Super Duty came with Firestones, not a bad tire. Towed good and decent traction for a street tire.

Then I thought I would treat myself to a set of Michelins. Probably the poorest tire for towing I have ever had. In 30 years of towing travel trailers. I have never needed a sway bar until I bought the Michelins. The Michelins were just dangerous. Even squirrelly when not towing. Readjusted the hitch, stiffer equalizer bars, added a sway bar, max inflation and they were OK. The minute I could justify replacing them they were gone. Have had many sets on my cars but that was the last set on my truck. Tracked the problem down to a very flexible sidewall when compared to other truck tires and a phenomenon called squiggle.

115,00 on the truck and currently running Toyos. Much stiffer sidewall and a good truck tire. Looking back the stock Firestones were the best tires I have had on this truck for stability and comfort while towing.
 
#24 ·
x2

I dont know what kind of load you carry, but if your going for weight bearing (as in 10 ply) the bigger tires usually have a higher load rating - like comparing 245/75 vs 285/75. However as stated above the 285 will probably be too wide for a 6.5 inch rim (standard width on light trucks that come stock with 245/75).

For me I needed weight rating, SRW sidewall anti-wallow type thing. Was going to replace the 245/75s. 285s were too wide, Ive done that before - looked neato on the truck and rated for a lot of weight (~3800/tire I think) but was not right and probably not a good idea when you plan on running close to max poundage.

Was going to go for 235/85s but went with 265/75-16s. I think they're about the same height as the 235/85, slightly wider, and they're rated for an extra ~500lbs capacity per tire. (~3600/tire as opposed to ~3200/tire) Also much bigger variety of tires available in 10ply rating for 265/75-16.
 
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