I'm going cross-eyed reading dozens of thread discussions about tire sizes, types, and brands for my dually. I am getting ready to replace the two fronts only on my 2015 diesel (245/45/17 OEM BFG Rugged Trail). The rears still have more than half the tread left and the fronts are nearly shot. I've narrowed my focus down to a few questions.

I COULD stick with the OEM tires but like most of us, I want to UPGRADE if practical. Those tires look lost in the giant wheel wells. My truck will be my daily driver in winter since my daily is now a 2017 Mustang GT350 with summer tires that don't like the cold. I live in Northern VA, so 99% of my driving will be on pavement. The truck now sits most of the three warmer seasons except for weekend trips, Home Depot runs, track events (tow 15K GN) about 10 times a year, and freezing weather which is about 3-4 months for us. I'll drive the Mustang on a few mild days throughout winter. I'm putting about 10,000 miles per year on the truck.

Size:
I am considering going up a size but I don't want to make any other mods. No lift, no spacers, etc. I see that the 265/70/17 is the same height and circumference as the 245/45/17 and is 0.9 inches wider. Keeping in mind that I'm only buying 2 front tires now and the other 4 in a year or two, any issues putting the 265/70 on the front only? And will these rub on the back?

Model:
I'm leaning towards the Michelin Defender LTX M/S since road manners are the most important to me but I do want something that will work better in the snow. I almost never go off road. But I'll be driving it on the 10 or so (more like 0-30) snow days we get each year. The Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT (new replacement for the older AT3) looks like a really good option too. I am considering snow/winter tires too but I don't really think it's worth the hassle (storing extra tires, swapping, etc) for the little bit of snow we get.

Does anyone run a tire like the LTX MS on the front and an All Terrain tire on the back?

Would love to hear thoughts from others.

 

I run steer 12ply in the front 3 seasons and 12 ply drive tires in the rears
during the winter, I swap my inner rears to the front and front to the inner rears. this gives me good traction threads during the winter. the drive tires are basically slicks with no real grabbing treads.

I have all the rims the same Alloy so I can move any tire to any position.

 

I just put 6 new stock size Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT's on my truck 2 weeks ago. My fronts were shot and rears still had some life but I wasn't running them through another PA winter. Have about 1k on them now, with 500 of that with the 5ver hitched up. I'm happy so far. They do seem to hold rocks. I don't get off blacktop much but will see snow since it is my DD. The stock tires didn't really impress me anywhere.

I really considered going to the 255/80R17 toyos to fill the wheelwells up a bit. A few reasons steered me away.

First everything I have right now works. Making the truck taller will throw both my trailers out of level. I don't want any less rail clearance with the 5th, and don't have an adjustable shank for the tag trailer. The rear Ford mudflaps would be stupid close to the tires with a 1" addition in radius.

Second going to an oddball size means buying 7. If something happens on the road, you need the same size spare for the rear. It's not a tire anyone is going to have on the shelf.

Third, the pictures I have seen of the trucks with the 255/80's didn't inspire me. I just don't like the black sidewall, I'll keep my 80's OWL tires and two tone paint. Silly, but it played a big part.

The tires don't look as small as the wore out BFG's, but I'm function over form anymore so I decided to leave well enough alone.

 

 

Yeah, I really like that my stuff works well as is, stock!
The OEM BFGs are decent at everything except off-road but I rarely see any dirt. I just want to be able to go (regardless of snow depth) when I need to go but again, it's all asphalt.
I don't want anything noisier than stock. I love that I can drive my dually with one finger tip and it rides really nice.

 

I don't feel like they are any noisier than stock in a straight line. When pushed hard into a corner I think they are noisier than the originals. But I probably push my truck harder than most do into corners. I drive spirited to say the least.

 

 

running the new cooper AT3's on mine with a lot of towing and they do great, stable, cool and fit much better.

 

I look at what they are running on the UPS and trucks when I need tires, these are probably the best performing tire I ever ran.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...RatingsReviews

 

 

 

Thanks for all the feedback, guys! Keep it coming!

 

For pavement and ice I like Michelins. I can't remember which ones I got, but they were stock size and after getting more than 55k miles out of them I still was able to sell for $200 with 6-7mil tread left... They drove and wore really well.