My 2003 Ford E-250 Econoline Van blew the passenger rear tire on the expressway the other day. The van has Hankook Dynapro, Size: HT, Lt225/75R16 E1, purchased new 45,000 miles ago. At the time of purchase I was told the tires were rated at 80,000 miles. I do only Chicago city expressway driving and want a 10 ply all-season tire that's good in wet conditions that will last.

I called Discount Tire, Tire Rack, Tire Tracks, Just Tires, DeRe Tires, and my Ford dealer to start my investigation to find a better set of tires. To my surprise, I got six different answers. Seems either they were pushing off-road tires or what they had in stock. Here are some of the recommendations:

Goodyear dealer recommended DuroTrac off-road tires at $250+ per tire.
Discount Tire recommended Hankook Dynapro AT2 - 60,000 mile warranty.
Tire Rack recommended Goodyear Wrangler Fortitude Tires - Their customer reviews said "Don't buy these tires!"
Ford - Said to buy Firestone Transport HT commercial truck tires.
Sumitomo Tires were mentioned as an alternative tire made in Thailand by a Japanese Company

Looking for the membership opinions/experience on which tires to consider.

John

 

If indeed made in Japan, I have faith in their manufacturing. I'm no expert but my opinion is I'd trust Japanese manufacture over Chinese.

 

Guys in the Super duty 7.3 powerstroke section swear to Cooper tires and are made here in the USA.
I had great success with the Bridgestone CLT tires good for at least 50k. Another brand is Thunderer CLT one of the best Chinese tires I've ran in some of our fleet one set lasted us 70k and that was on an abused and most of the time loaded to maximum capacity 3/4 ton truck.

 

Dunno if it's available in the US, but I'm satisfied with the Nokian Rotiiva HT (made in Finland).
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Did you ever consider switching to LT245/75R16's?

​​​​​​That Dimension is stock on all 350s and 250s with higher trim levels and fits the stock rims AFAIK . would increase your choices of
finding the right tire.

ATs​ are a no-no for your requirements. I'd suggest the Nokian HT mentioned above!​​​​​​

 

I would suggest Firestone Transforce.
They were my second fav on my Ram 3500. 1st went to Nitto Dura Grappler.
Both were long wearing and stout.

 

I never thought that you could step up one size and it would make a hugh difference. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

I've been running Michelin LTX tires for the past 10-12 years on my E-250's & E-350's, LT245/75-R16 without any issues. They're long lasting, decent in rain ( I don't drive like a fool though) and assuming your chassis is in good condition and air pressure checked regularly 60-70K miles would be no problem.

Those have changed name now to become Agilis LTX, here's a link to an eBay seller I've visited and bought from in the past---have bought about 12 of these tires so far. Price is more than fair for a top-tier heavy duty tire: Michelin Agilis LTX

HTH

 

I'm running the Michelin LTX on my motorhome. Got about 50K on them which isn't bad for a motorhome (the first 46K were nefore I bought it when it was in a rental fleet). I put new LTXs on the rear, but then when I replaced the front a couple years later had to go to the Agilis.

I'm happy enough with the Michelins on the motorhome that last summer I switched from BFG A/Ts to the Agilis on my pickup. Very happy with them there on dry, wet or snow/ice covered pavement. Not enough time on them to know how they'll last though.

 

I had a set of off brand ATs made by Cooper on the last van, I don't know how many miles they lasted but they weren't noisy and produced pretty good winter traction so overall I was happy with them.
The current van had a set of mostly worn out Firestone Transforce HTs on it that appear to be holding up well but there's no way I was going to run worn out tires in the winter here so I bought a set of Continental winters for it and will use the Firestones for a few more summers.

 

I'm following along and started a new thread as well.
For our usage - I'm not as concerned about "long lasting" as I am about wet and dry traction.
My previous choice - Grabber HTS - have been pretty good... would consider again except they were worthless in even the smallest amount of snow.
I also rec'd "differing" recommendations from a couple of sources