Tires........
Hey.. I was just wondering what everyone found to be the best tire, be it summer, winter or all around all season?? I have Michelin LTX M/S on my 94 Z71 right now and they are great summer tires but when the white stuff falls and the roads get slippery they ain't worth a sh**... The only tires I found really good are the ones that come on the truck, Goodyear Wrangler TD's.. These will be the next set that goes on the truck, they don't seem to wear as good as the Michelin's but they are a hell of a lot better in the slippery conditions we get up here in Newfoundland...
Swoosh Man
Swoosh Man
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-- Don
My uncle has the Wrangler RT/S's on his 96 Chev W/T.. They are almost wore out now but he finds them good, or so he says, I think I would put them through more of a testing then what little he does...
Swoosh Man
Swoosh Man
They preform excellent in snow, mud and dry pavement but, seem to be a little slippery on wet pavement. I currently have 31000 miles on them & have about 40% tread left. So you can get about 50k miles out of them.
A friend of mine has the BFGoodridge TA's on his 98 Z71.. I like the tire but he says that the tire floats too much.. I donno if this is the nature of the tire or if just his are too wide (their 285's)... But they are a little noisey on dry pavement.. Anyone else have any info on these tires??
Swoosh Man
I think goodyear has some new tires for trucks this year. I seen them at the auto show in detroit. I just can not remember the specific kind tho ..... I,m sure goodyear has a website.
Was up to Candaian Tire the other day and saw the LTX AT's.. Really nice tire compared to the M/S's... I also checked for the Wrangler TD's and they didn't have any in stock... The price is $250 per each tire.. Kinda expensive but I think it is worth is.. But am really gonna have a good close look at the Mich. AT's before I buy..
Swoosh Man
Did you check out goodyear's GSA tire. Dodge put them on the 00' & 01' ram with the off-road pkg.
My brother has them, & work very well in all conditions. I checked the goodyear website & they still make both , the AT/S & the TD'S.
Also, there's a reason BFG's are the number 1 selling light truck tire. Consider this.
offroad and found out that they offer zero traction in mud and wet grass. The truck is too
heavy for this tire to do any good offroad. Went to BFGoodrich AT KO's in the 265/75R16
and they are much better from an offroad traction point of view. Have a Powerstroke diesel
so I don't hear them anyway, just the pur of that engine.
I replaced my GSAs with BF Goodrich All-terrain TA-KOs and am very pleased. No punctures, no flat spots, nothing but good performance. I don't think they ride any rougher than the GSAs either. I can't compare their performance in snow to the GSAs (which had seen snow) but I imagine they would do just as good, or better.
If you drive on roads filled with RVs and motorhomes, be wary of punctures. I was told the reason I had so many punctures was because all the sheet-metal screws on these RVS and such shake loose and litter the roads. But so far, my BF Goodrich's have been puncture free.
Swoosh Man
Question for Ryan or anybody else with these tires - how bad is the highway road noise with these tires on trucks with such silent runners as the 5.3 ?
The past couple days have brought snow and ice to our commutes. Watching the behavior of other vehicles, these tires perform well. Can't be my expertise 'cause I'm not an expert. ;-)
I have had BFG's before they made the KO's, did not like them. I like they labeling KO, now I tell everybody I ordered them with ny initials embossed. Anyway, the noise is better than I expected, traction is as expected, don't know how they will handle the loading yet. I got D load range, thats the biggest they rate them at.
KO
Will get to try them outin some good snow today. SHould have 10-12" by early afternoon
Hunter
On the subject of trucks, the Duramax is running great, still averaging 16.5-17 on winter diesel, I was lucky to average 13 out of my 5.3L.
Hunter
Swoosh Man
Tires play a major role. An all terrain tire or mud tire will get much less traction on ice and slippery roads. A regular passenger tire or an all season tire will do much better.
If you find it to be a big problem and/or you drive in those conditions a lot use very light emergency brake pressure. This will keep your tire from spinning much, if not completely. Once your tires break loose the friction is drastically reduced. With nothing to disperse the to force that was being applied to get the vehcle moving, that excess force produces wheel spin.
I would not forget to release the E-brake. I've known it to be done to wire the release handle when you need to use the E-brake all the time.
It comes in handy for doing 360 degree spins too.
HEH HEH HEH
Swoosh Man
I said...
An all terrain tire or mud tire will get much less traction on ice and slippery roads. A regular passenger tire or an all season tire will do much better.
you said...
an all-season tire and they were horrible in rain and snow (pathetic in mud).
and then about the BFG AT's you said...
They were the worst in the rain (very bad hydroplaning).
Lets rethink that one, OK.
Besides if you look for a third time you will see I said ice and slippery roads, I never mentioned mud, snow, or water filled roads (ie....hydroplaning).
KO
Dave
Call a Chevy dealer and find out how much change the ABS can take,,,it may be as simple as recalibrating the speedo and them maybe no problem. Larger tires always stress the steering linkages, brakes, transmission and shocks.
You may also want to check with tire sales/alignment shops, they have experience with people changing TOO much after the fact
good luck
Swoosh Man
'94 K1500 Z71 350 ci. with LT265/75R16
IF you get the "LT" tires with more plys on the tread and sidewalls they will last longer than the non "LT" versions, those extra plys support the tire better , they hold the tire shape better. Best tires I've had in a few years.
Should I get the Michelin 265 75 16 AT's - Total cost of $680 ($142 per tire + $15 lifetime balance + tax) or
No name brand - Fisk 265 75 16 A/T - total cost of $443 ($87 per tire + $15 balance +tax) or
No name brand - Fisk 285 75 16 A/T -Total cost $572 ($117 per tire - $15 balance + tax)
I always put Michelins on the wife's car/SUV - but have always went with the cheapo tires on my truck. I have been surprised a few times - the cheap tires wear great and have great traction too. Anyone have any experience with Fisk tires? I know the Michelins are good tires - but are they worth the price?
I will keep this truck for 5-6 more years ($60-70K miles) which means these tires will not be on the truck when she gets traded in.
see ya
Rando
This story shows the reason to check both hot and cold. Tires seem to "want" a specific pressure running under load, and the highest cold pressure that does not cause it to rise above that is what I would want.
Harry
Everything I have ever read / heard says to check the PSI when tires are cold. The manufacturer (vehicle & tire) takes the fact that tires get warm & increase PSI after you drive them into consideration when they set the standard.
What does it tell you if a tire has 45 PSI after driving 100 miles on a hot day with a full load in the bed? It means nothing - if you started with 20 PSI it would means your tire is under inflated and getting hot as a result. If you started with 50 PSI cold it would mean you have a leak in your tire and should get to a repair shop, if you started with 35 PSI it means your tires are inflated properly.
What would you do if you check your PSI hot and it was at 65 PSI? Would you bleed some air out? How much would you take out?
If you drive a truck routinely with either low load or no load you will need less pressure than if you normally carry a substantial load, you will also need to pay attention to front vs back,
low pressure up front causes sloppy steering and generally causes a lot of heat in any tires from flexing too much.
My main goal is to keep the tires wearing evenly all the way across the tread, I check air pressure about every 2 weeks/rotate every 6k and my tires are lasting very well on my vehicles, so far I have 50k on some BFG 31x10.5LT on the S10 ZR2 and I have 80k on Michelin LTX 235/75x15 on a S10 Blazer. All these tires are almost 1/2 worn and are wearing evenly. So far it seems to be working for me.
The main thing is to check them routinely, water can get in the stem and freeze/thaw and the pressure will go down during the winter, you can catch a nail and get a slow leak and not notice for a few days too.
The point here is to make the tires last the longest and make them perform as they should, generally low pressure makes them dangerous (Just ask Ford about that one..) and high pressure makes them wear out sooner and have less traction/more gas mileage too!!.
Whatever works for you is the best for you, for me, I make sure they are right when I am drivin on em, not when they are in the garage.
In post number 49 OLDHARRY seems to have a good point, their goal was to make the tires right pressure/temp while in use in the current conditions..they adjusted the cold pressure to make that happen.