I know this topic has been covered recently, but I couldn’t find it with the IDO search function…
I have a Ram 1500 with 20″ tires. I’m looking for a decent tire to put on it. I’d like to stay away from any type of all terrain tire, but still expect reasonably good traction in the snow and a decent tread life. The truck gets pretty light use right now (little off road use), but will hopefully be used to tow a decent sized boat in the near future.
Thanks for any suggestions you may have.
So, you’re looking for more of a highway-type tire?
Here is a recent thread on the topic.
http://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/community/forums/topic/looking-for-new-tires-for-truck/page/2/
-J.
So, you’re looking for more of a highway-type tire?
Kind of. I just bought a pair of Michelin LTX MS/2 tires for it. They’re awesome on dry pavement, but are remarkably bad in any snow. I can’t accelerate without spinning my tires in the snow. I have another two weeks to swap them out with something else at no charge. I understand you cant have it all (traction vs highway performance) but I expected them to at least be better in the snow than the worn out Wranglers I replaced.
Michelin tires would probably be the best fit for your needs/wants. You will pay for them but they will last. “Decent sized boat”, you may want to think 10 ply. They will be more money but have a stiffer side wall for a load and will wear longer than lower rated tires but ride will be stiffer.
I will add that the best tire I have had is the Goodyear Duratrack. I got over 80k on them and they were great for ice and snow.
Maybe look into these for road with some off road/snow traction. They are called an AT tire but I would not call them off road by any means.
I’m running Cooper AT3.
I want traction when i’m pulling my boat through snow on my way to the Rainy River! The heck with MPG.
I’ve consistently found the best selection and best prices (when you include the installation) at Sam’s Club. You can go in and look at tires without being a member, I more than pay for my membership ever time I buy tires, the last time I got 4 trailer tires and my savings was over $100 just on trailer tires.
There may be locally owned shops that can do this well, but the big chains are a total screw-job IMO when you look at out the door price. Yes, they may have the tires “on sale” for $20 off. But then the total install charge with all the add ons and fees is approaching $50-60 per tire. Forget it.
Sam’s installation and balance is $15 per tire, lifetime balance so you can have them redone anytime for free.
Grouse
Add a few sand bags in the back of the box makes a big difference.
I put a set of Michelin LTX on my Tahoe last fall and they are great tires – way better than the Goodyear tires that were on it. I would definitely buy another set of these.
Dave
i’m on my second RAM with the same 20″ wheels as you.
i think you’ll have some challenges finding a non-AT tire that also performs very well in the snow. this is due to the width of those lower-profile tires, it creates a ton of surface area that can “float” on snow and water more easily than a narrower/taller tire. (same amount of pressure spread out over larger surface.)
the stock Goodyear’s that come on those RAMs are particularly poor, imho, especially if you’ve got more torque with the 3.55 or 3.92 gear ratio like me. i was spinning the wheels at stop signs even in a light drizzle.
i switched to Cooper Zeons. the improvement in traction was astounding, and i didn’t notice any real loss in gas mileage. they are slightly more noisy and they aren’t cheap. plus they look cool.
I forgot to mention.
When you are tire shopping you need to be aware of what exact tire you are being quoted on. Often times the weight ratings and compositions will differ between some quotes from company to company.
I was unaware of this till I had a set of tires quickly wear away in 30k miles. After I started digging into it I learned Discount Tire put passenger rated tires on my F150. It was a great discount…
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