The tires on my '07 Screw have about 34k on them but I'm asking in advance for advice on what to replace them with.
They are currently P255 70R17 General Ameritrac TR. The truck is usually empty or lightly loaded, and I sometimes pull a 5,000 lb. boat.

If I go with the same sized tire what would be a good smooth riding, all-weather choice?
I am rarely off-road, but Michigan does have a decent amount of snow and rain.

I'm also considering tires with a slightly bigger profile, to fill the wheel well a bit more.
What size would work for that...and would the dealer be able to re-calibrate things so that my speedometer/odometer would be accurate?

As usual, thanks for any thoughts you may have!

 

i have a 285-70-17 BFG AT and i love the way they look and ride....plus they last forever

 

to keep the same overall diameter as your stockers, but slightly wider

265/70/17 (32" tall)


I really really liked my Goodyear Silent Armours. Put them through their paces in the Lava Rocks out here in Hawaii and they are pretty darn good in the mud as well.


They are in my Top 3 for replacement tires on the Expy when I switch to 22" HD rims. They also look pretty nice and compliment the looks of the truck pretty nicely

 

I'd do what Tylus suggested and go up one size to a 265/70...this will be a very small diameter increase but will look a little bigger without messing anything up.

My E150 came stock with Michelin LTX M/S's and I replaced them with the same. These are GREAT riding tires and are great in Michigan weather for me--I've been through the last 7 Michigan winters with them. They are also great for gas mileage, where a lot of the chunkier and heavier A/T tires are heavier and use noticeably more gas, especially if you upsize a bunch. Again, a great ride.

A slightly cheaper alternative is the new BFG Long Trail T/A Tour (make sure it's the Tour version). They seem to have some of the same DNA as the Michelins--the test reports are great--and cost much less than the Michelins in larger wheel wheel sizes like yours. I've got a set of these on my Subaru Forester and they did very well last winter. (The Michelins are hardly more money in 15" size for my van but were like $60 more each for the Forester.) If you have access to a Discount Tire store, they are running a $70 per set rebate on Michelin/BFG tires right now.

George

 

Has anyone ever hear of General Grabber AT 2? They look like BFG AT but like 40 cheaper. I was looking at them and they were 150 a piece for 275/65/18 but wasnt sure how good they were. I need some new tires but hopefully these will make this winter.

 

Lots of guys use them on Subaru Foresters because they are available in the smaller sizes (I have a Forester and hang on that forum as well). They are noisy but probably perform similar to the BFG's in terms of traction.

The Generals are also available in more P metric sizes (car rated), whereas the BFG's are virtually all LT tires in load ranges C, E, etc... So I'd expect the Generals to maybe ride a bit better if you buy the P metric ones built on more of a car type carcass. The BFG's would be better if you spent your life on sharp rocks, etc. Another tire that a lot of the Subaru guys like, and which is available in bigger truck sizes, is the Yokohama Geolandar AT/S--I think those are cheaper than the BFG's.

Still, if the OP is mostly on road, I still like the Michelin LTX M/S and BFG Long Trail T/A Tour. (the T/A Tours are mostly P rated tires as well and are very inexpensive compared to most everything except off brand crap)

George

 

Firestone Destination A/T

I bought this last year right before winter and they did a really good job. They are a good all around tire. They are pretty quiet for as aggressive as they are. Worth checking out.

Tirerack --> Firestone Destination A/T

 

Thanks a bunch for all the great replies. I'm still researching, and have not even begun pricing, but so far it looks like I'm leaning towards a 265/70-17 size, slightly bigger than my original 255/70-17 size.

They will be about .5" taller, .4" wider, and will read only 1 mph faster on the speedo.

The 285/70-17 would be 1.5" taller, 1" wider, and read 3 mph faster on the speedo.

Question #1: Could the Ford dealer reprogram a chip or something to calibrate the speedo to the new tire size?

Question #2: If I spring for Michelins, would the Latitude Tour give me slightly better fuel economy, and the LTX M/S gives me slightly better snow traction?




THANKS!

 

I have a set of these that I just put on this summer. So far they've been great! I'm looking forward to testing them this winter.

 

Looks like you're doing your homework. I'd go to the 265 and not bother with the speedo. A half inch with a 32" diameter is going to read 1 mph fast at 64 mph, and that's so close. Moving to the 285 will look cool, but will make for a heavier tire, start messing with your gearing a bit, etc.

No experience with the Latitude Tour. I think they're using these on the new Escapes, so you might sniff around the Escape forum. The tread on these does not look very aggressive for snow. The LTX M/S has my strong endorsement after 80k miles driving them (including today), and if you want to go cheaper, the BFG Long Trail T/A Tour is my pick for a bunch less money. (Note that Michelin and BFG are the same company.) One more thing is that the Michelins balance GREAT--they need very little weight, whereas I've seen other trucks with 6 inches of weights on a couple of the rims... My LTX's have like a half ounce on 2, 3/4 ounce on one, and 1 ounce on the 4th. Amazing for big tires.

For car tires, I've had 4 sets of Michelin MXV's (the original MXV, the MXV4, the Engergy MXV4, and now a set of Primacy MXV4's on my wife's car--and these are my gold standard for car tires--kind of the car equivalent to the LTX.

George

 

67Tony I have the same tires General Ameritrac on my 07 150 supercab 7000 miles I just bought last october and I have a viberation that I notice more around 55 mph so I had the tires balanced 2 different times and found one front brake that had alittle drag so I cleaned the caliper pins and lube and that took care of that but still have a slight viberation it changed some from one balance job to the next one but is still there.Starting to think its the tires themself how did yours ride for smoothness?

 

Bowstring, I have not experienced any problems with my original Ameritrac's. 33k miles, with decent tread remaining. That doesn't mean that yours are not crap, though. I believe that some vehicles come with substandard tires, sometimes way too soft, to enhance comfort during test drives.

 

I've been researching tires for my 06 E/C 4x4. It has the General Ameritacs on it now. I'm probably going to put General Grabber HTS tires on in the spring. They were rated the best by both Tire Rack and Consumer Reports. And they can be had either in P-metric or E rated. Cost is reasonable. The Ameritracs rated way down on Tire Racks ratings and CR didn't even rate them. Continental Crosscontac LX's were rated well a by both TR and CR. Slightly more money. Leaning more toward the Grabbers due to tread wear and rolling resistance. The Grabber AT's don't wear very well compared to the BFG's. Check out Tire Rack's web site. It's very informative. And the prices beat Discount Tire and a lot of others as well. In my case that's important because I live close enough that I can just drive over to Tire Rack and purchase and have mounted and balanced at their store.

 

I will swear by the BFG TA/KOs. The cost may be a little higher than some others, but they have a triple-ply sidewall belting that is stronger and much more resistant to sidewall damage than most tires available for street use. (very few tires have this feature) They still handle pretty good on road, work well in snow, sand and dirt. They last well on road and are not as noisey as a lot of other on-off road tires. I've used them for eighteen years and have been very happy with them. They are not what you want if you're going to a mud-fest though!

 

i will swear by the Grabber AT2. I had 2 sets on my 03 Ranger and they did awesome. yes, a slightly rougher ride but i would rather have that than sacrifice traction. It was my daily driver (avg 19 mpg with the grabbers/ 4.0L V6) and for mudding and never had a leak. Even had a 1 inch screw in between the treads and pulled it out, no leaks. I've heard that the Firestones aren't bad either but thats a completely different tread pattern too. One thing to keep in mind about the Destinations is that they DO NOT have a rim protector edge built into the rubber as many A/T's do. I don't know about the rest of you but if I do go off road i would rather not risk cracking the rim on a rock.