Howdy fellow Ford Super Duty Owners!!! I hope all is well and you are enjoying your summer of high inflation, astronomical fuel prices, general merchandise shortages... :-). Anyway - not to dive in that mess of crap (seriously) - but I would like a little input please.

I have a 2017 F-350 (6.7) Lariat Ultimate that I have owned since it was new. I purposely ordered it with the 18 inch wheels and have stuck with the stock setup (no lift, OEM tires, etc). I am NOT looking to change wheels or tire sizes but I am looking for input on a new set of tires. So I am about to roll 70K miles and I am currently running my second set of Michelin LTX AT/2 (LT275 /70 R18) tires. I tow a 40 foot / 15K fifth wheel regularly (well not as much in 2020/early 2021 but that is a long story). I have been fairly happy with the LTX AT/2 from Michelin as they have a good highway ride and have held up pretty well. My truck is on pavement 80% of the time. My first compliant is the performance of these tires in mud and wet roads. My other complaint is how pricey they are - nearly $300 each now. Prior to this set, I tried the Cooper Discoverer AT3 for about 3 days. Discount Tire could not get the tires to balance. They would shake and shake above 70 MPH. Never had that problem with the Michelin LTX AT/2 so I swapped them out. Well now it is time for tires again. I really don't like loud noisy tires and again - 80% of my driving is on pavement and I tow a heavy trailer. I plan on staying with the LT275 /70 R18 size. So suggestions on alternative tires that are gonna provide a good highway experience, that are NOT loud/noisy and maybe a little better mud/wet road performance?

Thanks,
Gascan

 

Yokohama G015?

I want to try those next.

 

I would highly recommend firestone transforce at/2. They are all-terrains, I have them on my current GMC sierra 2500hd. I currently have 35,000 miles on them, and about 25,000 miles is heavy towing, and that is towing higheay, wash board roads, etc. with a hitch weight of 3,000-4,000lbs. They are still 40% tread. In fact I have managed 7-8k tire rotations as well. Tires are still quiet, smooth, and have no flat spots. Now keep in mind these are the at/2 series. I know alot of ram guys that had the AT and claimed they only lasted 20-30k. These tires are only roughly 150-200 cheaper I believe then the michelin.
another great tire my dad had on his silverado 2500hd was the nitto terra grappler G2. He got 60k out till a belt broke in one. Roughly 20k was heavy towing his 40ft montana 5th wheel. They were smooth, a little loud as far as the hum goes, but they were 35s.

 

Michelin all the way. I buy 2 sets of tires every year and always come back to Michelin.
I tried Hancock, Firestone, ,Goodyear. Either they do not balance or do not wear.
The little performance you give up on mud is worth it to me.

 

The reviews I’ve read seem to indicate the Michelin Defender LTX M/S is a better tire (on wet roads, wearing, and snow) than the AT/2.

I can’t vouch for that first hand, but have the LTX M/S on my wife’s Tahoe and swapped the OEM tires out for a set on my truck at 1,900 miles (have 700 miles on them now). I really like them, but haven’t had them in any mud yet.

 

Oh hell no. Those are probably the worst tires I have ever ran on a truck.

OP... you got 70k miles out of the LTXs. You're not likely to beat that. There's not a whole lot out there that's gonna be cheaper that's gonna last 50k+ miles.

 

He said he has 70k miles.

So that is one set of GY Wranglers and 2 sets of michelin, towing his 15k trailer.

I would also consider jumping up to a 295 so you can get the 129 load rating. Same/Similar height as the factory 20.

 

My advice would be to stay with the Michelins, those are premium tires. Most slightly more aggressive AT tires are not really going to be much improvement in mud, they will all slick up and most will wear more quickly and generate more noise. If you insist, I might try the General Grabber ATX but I have no experience with them, just some good reviews. I think going up a size to get the 129 rating as mentioned above is very good advice, that extra capacity when hauling is a worthwhile safety cushion IMO.

 

I'm at 30K on my LTX tires and they are still looking, riding and handling very good. I will probably get another set when the time comes. I'm not sure if the tire size you need has the same load rating no matter what brand but something to consider since you are towing fairly heavy.

 

^^^^^^ what Brent said. I have had a set of Grabbers...they did ok and I got about 50k miles out of them. I'm kinda shocked about the Coopers. I've had great experiences on all of mine over the last 10 years. My AT3's did the best off-road. Stay away from Goodyear's. Never liked them. I'm lucky to get a "Goodyear" out of them.

 

If you are hauling heavy a LOT then the Grabber ATX's will wear out kinda quick, you should still get 40k+ out of them though. If you aren't hauling heavy a lot (say a couple hundred mile trip with the trailer once a month) then they'll easily last to 60k or better. They are a great AT tire, I have been using that series of tire since they were the AT2's and they really haven't changed much. Even on pavement they aren't THAT noisy (though they're louder than all-seasons), and with the soundproofing of newer trucks you can easily talk over them.

 

Thanks for the input. I have a buddy that has the Transforce tires and he has not had a good experience with them on this Dodge. He has almost the exact same trailer I have and has switched to BFGs but they are a little noisy - IMO.

 

Interesting comment on the Wildpeak.... I have never even looked at those tires... Who makes those?

 

Falkin Wildpeak.

I always pass on them because they are pretty heavy for some reason, and in all sizes.

 

Well it might be disappointing to know that Goodyear acquired Cooper a year ago.

10+ years ago I went through several sets of M/T tires on a truck I have. Out of all the tires I ran, the Coopers (at that time STT 2) wore the best and lasted the longest. They also performed as good or better than the others in the type of use put them through. That AT3 was on my list for consideration when the time for new tires comes.