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Tire choice for commercial use trucks

fbh31118

fbh31118

Cadet
Messages
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Location
Augusta, Michian
I'm looking at possibly going into the commercial car moving biz with my truck. What I was wondering was what was a good choice for tires. My truck is currently running a BFG AT E Range tire 265/75/16 and stock rims. I love my BFG's but am willing to go to another brand as long as it's Made in the USA and is very durable on the highway. The A/T's are not needed for OTR and may be noisy under full load and I thought that a highway tire would be a wiser choice.

So what is your opinion on this?
 
I always thought that AT's were super quiet under load and while empty. I dont think I'll look at anything else for a while.

What about the stock tires? I mean the stock brand? Surely those were decent rubber?
 
Don't know, I'm the second owner. The truck had Firestone Steeltex or at least the spare tire is. The truck had Yokahama Geolander A/T's when I bought it, which were fine and about used up when I bought the truck. Just trying to keep my dollars here in the US if possible and a tough tire along with it. Using the truck to make a living I really don't want any down time due to poor tire performance and was thinking that a highway tire might be a better fit than an A/T. Not at all unhappy with my BFG A/T's just thought there might be a better fit and wear properties for the given job, possibly another BFG?

Thanks Unit.
 
Must be a regional thing with the stock tires. I've had terrible experiences with original tires. My '05 I didn't even get 10k before I had a blowout. That's when I looked closer and noticed my tread was almost down to the wear bars on all 4 tires. Similar experience with my '99 GMC, '03 GMC patrol, and '05 patrol.

IIRC they were all Bridgestones M77, or something like that.

I've had good luck with Cooper.
 
I'd go with a heavy duty truck tire if you plan on hauling alot of weight and want great millage.might want to think about going with 19.5 rims. My 22.5 are 16 ply so not the softest riding but durable to road debris and other mis haps. I've had mine for 2 1/2 years about 50,000 miles and the fronts are about a little less then 1/2 way gone so I hopping for another 3 or more years from them and the rears are a little weird my in sides match the front but the out sides are worn a little more then the rest can't figure out why, but all in all no problems and haven't had a flat since got them. Tires usually only last me about a year or so.
 
BigS brings up a good point with switching to a 19.5 and would be some thing that I would consider for the future. Right now cash is king and I'd have to make that a future project. The guy at the tire shop recomended the Michelin LTX's but if iirc they are imported from France but I would have to check, that maybe only certain sizes.

I was checking the link the Chad refereanced earlier this morning and also saw the 'commercial' series at the bottom of the page. Sounds like there just designed to be less expensive than there premium lines of tires? Haven't actually seen these tires before, any thoughts or experiances out there on the commercial series?

Thanks for everyones input so far.
 
I have had several of my service trucks with the michelin LTX's. The have a pretty mild tread and wear like iron. When I put them on our fleet pick ups, most got 80K+ on the tires. This was with mixed driving, by people that did not own the trucks.
 
:iagree: on the LTX's, my Dad has ran three sets on his 95 Silverado and they do wear like iron. My BFG's have not lasted as long on my 03, as on my 95, but I didn't expect to be able to run out past 70,000 like on the half ton truck. I really try to take it easy on them as much as possible but it's just a heavier truck I guess.
 
I would still look into stock size rim commercial tire then. When you start towing that puts a lot of wear on the tires and you won't get the same life out a set of non towing tires. I think the more plays the better for durability but the trade of is a Little stiffer ride because the tires so stiff and don't have much side wall deflection.
 
2003bigsilverado said:
I would still look into stock size rim commercial tire then. When you start towing that puts a lot of wear on the tires and you won't get the same life out a set of non towing tires. I think the more plays the better for durability but the trade of is a Little stiffer ride because the tires so stiff and don't have much side wall deflection.
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Agreed, tire guy says that E range is the heaviest avalible for the rim size. The heavier the better for otr.

Anyone running Cooper, Douglas, stones? BFG Commercials? Just trying to solicitate as many experiances as possible. Thanks for all the input everyone.
 
I plan on putting a 19.5 commercial tire on my truck when I can afford it.

Unless I find a cheaper way I was planning on using a company called rickson.
 
We have Firestone Transforce A/T's on our truck, have about 3k on them and they have been good so far. They're quiet, ride well, and tow very well. We also have them on a 2k 1500, and that has 35k and they have at least another 15k on them. We got 265/75R16's in Load Range E, and we need to re-tune the PCM for the taller tires, but other than that they've been great. The shop said a local construction company swears by these tires, and they get 50-60k out of the average set, and they do tons of on and off road driving, in all conditions, including towing.
 
Unit453 said:
Since you're up north near the great lakes, I assume you'll be using your 4 wheel drive at some point? And this is going on your 03?

BF Radial Long Trail T/A come standard on those...

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/bfg/vehicleInfoSubmit.do
Click to expand...

I have looked at those Long Trails on a 1ton Dodge the other day. They look very durable and would have a heavy shoulder on them. Might have to look into those a little more.
 
I'd try e-bay maybe for a used set of rims or Craig's list. You never now with as hard as times are right now some people are just trying to unload there stuff for some cash these days to pay the bills sorry to say.
 
I went 265X19.5 14 ply - and since my truck is heavy, they really do not hurt the ride. With 70,000 miles on them, there is about 60% left. No flats, 4,400 load per tire, not one tire problem in 70,000 miles. Haven't had to rebalance either. Fuel mileage actually increased about 1 to 1.5 mpg both while towing and without a trailer. I think narrower tire has less air drag on it. I use Sumitomo for price, better wear, smoother, and they worked well on ice and snow without chains, which really surprised me. I came across the interstate in ND from Fargo to Miles City MT with a loaded trailer during the flooding, snow and ice this winter at 45 mph without studs nor chains on over 400 miles of slick ice. Used 4WD, but they really worked well with no problems nor sliding. They have worked well for me, and I would never go back to a 16" tire, which used to last me less than 20,000 miles, no matter what brand. I also tried Toyo's in a 19.5 first, and hated them for lousy handling characteristics. Sumitomo's have been great and are 35 to 40 % less than Toyo.
 
gardnerteam said:
I went 265X19.5 14 ply - and since my truck is heavy, they really do not hurt the ride. With 70,000 miles on them, there is about 60% left. No flats, 4,400 load per tire, not one tire problem in 70,000 miles. Haven't had to rebalance either. Fuel mileage actually increased about 1 to 1.5 mpg both while towing and without a trailer. I think narrower tire has less air drag on it. I use Sumitomo for price, better wear, smoother, and they worked well on ice and snow without chains, which really surprised me. I came across the interstate in ND from Fargo to Miles City MT with a loaded trailer during the flooding, snow and ice this winter at 45 mph without studs nor chains on over 400 miles of slick ice. Used 4WD, but they really worked well with no problems nor sliding. They have worked well for me, and I would never go back to a 16" tire, which used to last me less than 20,000 miles, no matter what brand. I also tried Toyo's in a 19.5 first, and hated them for lousy handling characteristics. Sumitomo's have been great and are 35 to 40 % less than Toyo.
Click to expand...
please fill out your sig,otherwise we all have no clue,you might have a 1500hd with a v-6
 
I'm on my second set of BFG Comercial T/A Tractions. They last 50,000 miles and work great as a plow truck tire, even when well worn. They are a traction tire meant for the rear, but work great on all four. A bit of noise, and they are somewhat squirrelly for the first couple thousand miles of use. After that they are just great.Real good off road and snow traction and I can back up a steep gravel drive that used to take FWD with my last brand of tires(Michelen). The Price is good as well.
 
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