Michelin. Period.

 

Go to Tire Rack . com. They will give you many choices and with their buyer reviews should should give you a number of good choices. Once you have a couple of models do a web search for reviews of the models you are looking at and get a good feel for what you are needing.

My opinion, but the original tires are a compromise and any quality replacement will be a definite upgrade in terms of handling, traction, and noise (except for the tires on performance cars, they are typically very good for their intended purpose).

Hope this helps,

Gerry G

 

I'm looking more for personal opinions than "dot com" stuff. Also, what size you guys might recommend. I have a friend that runs a Goodyear shop and he's a straight shooter with me and tires, but as I said in the original post, I'm looking for personal experience and opinions.

Thanks, floridaman2013, for your input.

 

For cars/light trucks, I've never had a problem with Big O. For heavy trucks, I stick with Michelin.

For size, stick with what the door sticker says, or you get into recalibration issues with the speedometer.

 

For a truck tire, take a look at the Falken WildPeak.
We started running them on our pickups and haulers after Falken started sponsoring our race Jeep.
The are smooth and quiet and so far exhibit good tread wear, after one year.

 

Michelin. Period.

Agree. My '06 Ram 1500 came with Michelins as OEM. They lasted 111,000 miles and had good traction in dry/wet conditions. They did get a little squirrelly the last 10K miles. If you run the numbers, yes, Michelins have a hefty upfront price, but the cost per mile is cheaper than the less expensive tires.

That said, I couldn't afford the upfront price of the Michelins at replacement time, so I ended up with Firestone Destination LE's that lasted 80K. Running Primewell's now (inexpensive tire from Firestone). I will say the Destination LE's and Primewell's are a little noiser than the Michelins were, but it's a truck. I expect them to be a bit noisy.

 

Thanks guys.... keep 'em coming!

 

I personally prefer BF Goodrich. I've long been impressed with their quality, they're comparatively quiet, and I think they were bought by Michelin a few years ago.

As for size, you might want to stay close to the manufacturer's recommendation. A little over is ok, but you probably don't want to go under in a truck. When I bought my '84 D100, it had 235/75R15 tires on it, but the sticker behind the door said that the recommended size was 195/75R15. The speedometer and odometer readings were off. When I bought new BF Goodrich Long Trails, I compromised and went with 215/75R15s. Afterwards, speedometer and odometer readings were much closer to accurate. They were 60K-mile tires, but when I sold the truck after driving about 50K miles with them, they looked like they still had half of their original tread left.

The Discount Tire web site has a feedback section where customers review the tires they bought. You might consult some of them for more input.

 

I would not worry if you want to upgrade to larger tires. It's really pretty easy to reprogram the speedometer for larger tires.

 

My rule of thumb, so to speak from experience for "street" trucks, is never go more than one size larger. And, Michelin did buy out a lot of American tire companies as well as Bridgestone. Michelin is the best, I have used allmost every brand out there. Long lasting, smooth ride, great warranty service if needed, and is the original Radial tire builder in the world.

 

I was always partial to the B.F. Goodrich Radial T/A when I had trucks.

 

If you do go BFG, or Michelin, the best source is Costco. Lifetime free tire rotations, inspections and their price usually include mounting.

 

I'm away from the truck now, but I think it's wearing 8 ply, Load E rated tires at present.
Does it actually need that heavy of a tire? That's what I ran on my 1978 Winnebago motorhome.
I run about 32 - 36 psi in all tires.

Decisions, decisions!

 

You have to check the sidewall rating against the door tag, but load range D could be fine.

 

My last 2 Dodges, an 08 Mega cab and now an 11 2500 came OEM with the BF Goodrich- pardon me for forgetting the exact model (Long Trail?) but aside from lasting 60k miles, I cannot say much good about these tires, except they were good in rain. Hit the gas too hard on dry pavement and they broke loose and howled. The tread pattern design loaded up with the slightest bit of mud or snow and the tires then became useless slicks. I've had street radials perform far better in snow. They were too much of a "try to do everything" tire that pretty much ended up doing nothing particularly well.

This time around I put Michelin LTX tires on. Past experience with these on other vehicles has been very long wear at the expense of poor Winter traction, but #1- I now live in an area where much snow is unusual and #2- 4WD if needed.

I have used the Firestone Destination LE on a 2WD 2005 Chevy piston slap special with great results other than fairly rapid tread wear. Worst tire ever? GENERAL. 2 Chevy trucks with a constant yearning for the dealer's service bay came with them. Out of round, out of balance, blowouts, etc. Maybe they didn't like the piston slap or the feeble brakes

I agree that Tire -rack.com can give you a good idea of other folks ratings and ball park pricing, even if you don't buy from them.