Tires that don't help wander?

[totally lost]

So what is out there you guys have found that are decent on gravel roads and in mud that don't make these truck wander so bad on pavement? I have used many tires but most rougher treads make these trucks wonder and squirl all over the road. Especially Fierce attitudes! They seem to make everything drive bad.  I had a set of pro comp mud terrains years ago that drove great but they have long been discontinued for a newer version that wonder all over the road. Only other tire i have tried that drove good are the michelin MS which are a street tread. I want something that does a bit better off road then street tires. Surly there are other good tires out there?

The bad ones i can remember off the top my head are
General grabblers AT, HWY driving was actually good but gravel was terrible and it literally got stuck on wet grass. 
BFG AT basically the same tire as above.
BFG mud terrain yeah not going down this path again
Fierce attitudes. These get around decent but one of the worst wondering tires on pavement.
The new pro comp mud terrains again wonder on the HWY.

Im not trying to fix a front end problem. Everything is already in good shape.

Edited July 27, 2020 by JAG1

[hdpwipmonkey]

I've seen people talk about having good luck with Toyo Open Country ATs.  I am not a fan of Les Schwab but now that I can get them at Discount Tire I think those are the ones I am going to try when its time for tires (probably before this winter).

[Sycostang67]

I've had a few sets of the Toyo's as well with no issues.  My Cooper STT Pro's have done pretty well too but I will most likely go back to an A/T tire now that I finally had fun with my M/T's.

[totally lost]

Thanks guys! I hope opinions keep coming!

I have had toyos before but never on a truck of this era. Last time i had toyos was on a 70s pickup i use to run at 100+mph as much as i could haha Poor pickup lol So they must have held the road well with that truck but at the same time i never found a tire that ever made that truck drive bad. I burned off many tires back in them days and picked up a different used par of tires probably once a month or so.

Far as mud i have never wanted to put a diesel pickup in the mud but i don't get to decide when it rains so i end up being forced to. Something decent in the snow is important to. I guess at this point i have got so sick of these fierce attitudes wondering all over i am willing to throw tire chains now and then if need be to get the HWY driving back. I avoid HWY as much as i can anymore and go for the back roads if i can. So i take it Sycostang67 you are saying a AT tire will for sure drive better then the Cooper STT PRO or you believe it will?  Basically have you been able to actually try both of them on this era truck?  As i have learned a different era truck or brand truck seem to act differently.

[Mopar1973Man]

If you have a lift kit (leveling kit) then you need to have the caster angles reset for your truck. Then you need to get the thrust angle corrected for the track bar if its not adjustable. Every truck with over sized tires tends to have geometry issues on the axle hence the wondering back and forth. It's not the brand of tire but how the lift was done and was all the adjustments done to bring the axle back where it needs to be. 

[Joe_Pool]

Nitto Terra Grapplers(AT) and Trail Grapplers(MT).  Have had great luck with both.

[totally lost]

3 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

If you have a lift kit (leveling kit) then you need to have the caster angles reset for your truck. Then you need to get the thrust angle corrected for the track bar if its not adjustable. Every truck with over sized tires tends to have geometry issues on the axle hence the wondering back and forth. It's not the brand of tire but how the lift was done and was all the adjustments done to bring the axle back where it needs to be. 

I have no lifts no leveling kits and running the stock 265/75/16 tires on stock wheels. We have a total of 7 2nd gen 4wd trucks. Some like the 99 i have come factory with the HD T steering some we have converted over but other then that suspension, tires and wheels are bone stock. It seems to be the same reaction no matter which truck a tire is on just the ones with the T style do a bit better. The Fierce attitudes i know are a wondering tire no matter the vehicle they are on to. I have swapped them onto fords and chevys to and then they wonder. Chevy being the least problematic tho with a good front end.

Actually i can tell you the casters of several of them. Best 2 driving trucks caster is at 3.5* with the T style steering and the other is sitting at 4.25* with the Y style steering. 4.25* seems to be the best for centering the steering wheel. One of the worst caster was at 2* we had adjusted it back to 3.5* but didn't really help a lot. The totally worst driving of them all is sitting at 4.75* with the fierce attitudes on it but as soon as you pull the fierce off it and put on say them michelin MS tires it drives like a dream! This truck actually has the newest of front ends. All new ball joints, all new T style steering, new track bar new wheel bearings, new rotors, new pads, new U joints, right down to a brand new steering box! Not a rebuilt but actually brand new from PSC. The toe on the T style tie rods are all set to dead 0 and the Y style ones are slightly toed in. We have 1 truck that the front end is all completely shot with some michelin MS2 tires and it drives pretty darn good! Except for the ridiculous amount of free play lol

[Mopar1973Man]

You've done your home work. Yeah I just got a call from a gent fighting this exact problem on his truck and its lifted and oversized tires are being used. Pretty common. The biggest problem is always when over sized tires are used it changes the geometry pretty good. Even you admit that...

1 hour ago, totally lost said:

The totally worst driving of them all is sitting at 4.75* with the fierce attitudes on it but as soon as you pull the fierce off it and put on say them michelin MS tires it drives like a dream!

Tires are the biggest problem with these front ends once you step up past 285's it just gets worse. 

 

I've opted to stay away from oversized tires. I've used 235's for years now step down one 1 inch to 245's. The 245's gave me lower EGT's, better towing power, better towing MPG's. (14.7 MPG towing 17,300 GCW). Never had any steering issues. Everything last at least 100k miles or more. My Ball joints are at 200k miles now. Brakes last over 200k miles. Tie rods ends went 350k miles. OE steering box was still tight but rusted the shaft damaged the seal. BlueTop Quick ratio (only can be used on 265's or smaller). Track bar will last at least 100k miles. I'm currently on 245/75 R16 Hankook ATm's (30.5 inches). Been through 4 sets of these getting between 60k to 70k miles on a set of tires. 

 

I destroyed 1972 Dodge Power Wagon doing lift kit and over sized tires. I was breaking the front drive line, u-joints, steering boxes, and ball joints, etc. Barely got a 100k out that truck but spent nearly every weekend fixing the front axle and suspension. Since I kept away from oversized tires and lift kits on my current truck I've not seen any trouble with my truck now at 417k miles!

[totally lost]

5 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

You've done your home work. Yeah I just got a call from a gent fighting this exact problem on his truck and its lifted and oversized tires are being used. Pretty common. The biggest problem is always when over sized tires are used it changes the geometry pretty good. Even you admit that...

Tires are the biggest problem with these front ends once you step up past 285's it just gets worse. 

 

I've opted to stay away from oversized tires. I've used 235's for years now step down one 1 inch to 245's. The 245's gave me lower EGT's, better towing power, better towing MPG's. (14.7 MPG towing 17,300 GCW). Never had any steering issues. Everything last at least 100k miles or more. My Ball joints are at 200k miles now. Brakes last over 200k miles. Tie rods ends went 350k miles. OE steering box was still tight but rusted the shaft damaged the seal. BlueTop Quick ratio (only can be used on 265's or smaller). Track bar will last at least 100k miles. I'm currently on 245/75 R16 Hankook ATm's (30.5 inches). Been through 4 sets of these getting between 60k to 70k miles on a set of tires. 

 

I destroyed 1972 Dodge Power Wagon doing lift kit and over sized tires. I was breaking the front drive line, u-joints, steering boxes, and ball joints, etc. Barely got a 100k out that truck but spent nearly every weekend fixing the front axle and suspension. Since I kept away from oversized tires and lift kits on my current truck I've not seen any trouble with my truck now at 417k miles!

Yes sir i have been around these trucks for a very long time. The one truck i have owned going on 15 years has around 320k on her and still factory ball joints, wheel bearings, and all but 1 U joint still factory. I am pretty sure you are the one i have seen around the forums for years. That is actually why i joined this forum is because of you. I remember the name. I use to play on the forums when cumminsforum was young and didn't have all the smart mouths lol I stopped helping there when the young ones wanted to argue all the time till i decided to help 1 last time and a new young admin had disagreed with me. I provided video proof of what i said to help the original poster and what do ya know i was permanently banned. No 3 strikes no nothing banned for good. I made sure to make no remarks to the admin himself or anything about him disagreeing with me i simply quoted the OP and posted the video. I didn't even talk in the video. Camera shy. But thats in the past and here we are.

Yes lifts change things for sure.  I have never in my life put a lift on any vehicle. I only bought 1 vehicle with a lift and it was up for sale by the end of the month. It actually drove just find down the road and was a chevy. I just didn't realize how big of a project it was sight unseen. I traded strait up a pretty rough pickup for a pretty rough suburban. Not sure i got screwed totally but the fella was not very honest about the tranny. When it shifted it shook so bad i thought for sure the front end went under the truck along with 10 little cars lol I had 3 hours to drive home and so did he. What a scary ride it was till we figured out what was going on. Never knew a tranny could do such a thing.

I only put 285s on one of the trucks and they was the old pro comp MT. They drove great everywhere and tire chains didn't help you. They would take you anywhere chains would. I know i put chains on them thinking i could get threw more. I ran them as long as i could. i got around 70k out of them. They eventually started breaking belts. I still had tread. Ever since it has been a fight to find something that would handle good and be a MT. I can't find any. There are many i can't remember what they was that was no good. I got some used michelins MS given to me once to try and man they seemed to fix front end issues. lol I ended up buying a new set just to run on a truck i don't plan to fix anymore. The front end is completely shot but the newer version michelin MS2 makes it seem like it drives good with the exception of a ridiculous amount of play. I guess my mistake is i keep finding tires that suck! Like them general grabber AT. Gravel roads you couldn't hang onto the truck. As soon as i put them pro comp MT on there i could drive faster and let go of the wheel on the very same truck. Nothing touched on the front end. Tires must play a roll here and i am sure the front ends of these newer trucks just don't like some tires. Newer as in above the 80s lol I don't remember such issues with 60s 70s and 80s trucks. I could pull off old junk tires from some junker in the field throw them on a truck and head down the road problem free. No balancing or anything. Can't do that anymore it seems.

Sorry for the ramble.... But thanks for your input. IDK about dropping down a size yet. I kinda like to stay at least 265 to keep the trucks afloat on sand. 285 was much better on the sand i run into but 245 forget it your getting stuck. It is a hard balance! I do have some 235/85/16 on one of the trucks. Bad part is they are fierce attitudes and still drive like crap. The plan was a narrower tire might drive better. maybe slightly with that model of a tire. Plus that narrow of a tire they are wearing fast.

[totally lost]

On 7/27/2020 at 1:03 PM, Mopar1973Man said:

 

I hope i didn't scare ya off?


I got to barrow a pair of yokahama tires and put them on the front. Makes the front feel better. The rear with the fierce still wonders around. Feels like a tail wag now lol Just reinforces my idea the fierce's are still creating the wonder.  I guess they never fully "wear in" to a good driving tire on these trucks.

Keep suggestions coming guys i appreciate the feedback. I am very very tempted to ditch these fierce tires right now for something better.

[dripley]

I have been running Cooper ATP's on mine for the last 4 sets. Great on the road and the dirt and mud on ths job. Some gravel too but very little. Great in the snow also. About 65k on each set with most of ghe miles on the highway. I got no better out of Michelins at a good bit less in price. 

 

 

But we dont drive in the same places.

[Mopar1973Man]

Personally I would just drop to a smaller tires like I did but 99.999% won't. They will continue to fight to keep there lift and 35 or 37 tires. I've got no solutions or idea because I have zero experience building lift trucks other that what it causes and having to take it all apart and replace everything back to stock for customers. Once back to stock height and stock tires the problem goes away. 

 

Hence just like I learned on my 1972 Dodge that a ruined the front axle to the point I bought out all the available parts locally and was now have to resort to axle replacement. I sold the truck for a mere 1,000 and bought my new Cummins. I made a promise I would never lift or run oversized tires. Since I never did I never had all the issue your have. Again most customer end up buying someone else's nightmare like I got a meet and greet in Ontario, OR today to fix a lifted truck and explain this again so he can replace all the lift junk with stock parts and drop tires sizes. I will not even attempt to fix a lift truck to keep the lift. It ends poor typically with the owner selling the truck because its undriveable. Just like I sold my 72 Dodge... I couldn't fix it...

Edited July 30, 2020 by Mopar1973Man

[Russ Roth]

I've been running Nitto Duragrappler 285/75x17 tires on my '01 and after that got wrecked the replacement '02.  I have had them in snow and when still fairly new they are very good.  I made it through snow uphill in coast range with my toyhauler and tons of traffic.  Stopped at rest stop east of Elsie and snow was halfway to my knees.  Thought I'm not getting out of here without hanging iron but a small bit of jockey back and a run forward and I was on the way.  Never did hang iron.  Very impressed with these tires.  Can't give miles since I bought them the '01 was wrecked and put a hole in sidewall of one tire.  Ended up getting a second set of 3rd gen rims and new set of tires. I have been rotating to get oldest worn out first and no real way to figure what mileage they are getting before replacement.  I know I had more than 40,000 on that first set and they were still at 8 and 9/32nds.   Best part is they are weight rated 3,970 lbs/80 psi.

[totally lost]

1 hour ago, Russ Roth said:

I've been running Nitto Duragrappler 285/75x17 tires on my '01 and after that got wrecked the replacement '02.  I have had them

15 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Personally I would just drop to a smaller tires like I did but 99.999% won't. They will continue to fight to keep there lift and 35 or 37 tires. I've got no solutions or idea because I have zero experience building lift trucks other that what it causes and having to take it all apart and replace everything back to stock for customers. Once back to stock height and stock tires the problem goes away. 

 

Hence just like I learned on my 1972 Dodge that a ruined the front axle to the point I bought out all the available parts locally and was now have to resort to axle replacement. I sold the truck for a mere 1,000 and bought my new Cummins. I made a promise I would never lift or run oversized tires. Since I never did I never had all the issue your have. Again most customer end up buying someone else's nightmare like I got a meet and greet in Ontario, OR today to fix a lifted truck and explain this again so he can replace all the lift junk with stock parts and drop tires sizes. I will not even attempt to fix a lift truck to keep the lift. It ends poor typically with the owner selling the truck because its undriveable. Just like I sold my 72 Dodge... I couldn't fix it...

Non of my trucks have ever been lifted and only 1 had gone up to 285 tires many years ago. It drove great better then the 265s that i removed. I had talked about it in a previous post. I kind of feel like this reply was for a different thread? Either way the truck i drive the most now is a service truck. No way would it get a lift or oversized tires lol It simply weighs to much and don't pull many trailer anymore. If it does it is a light one as the service body is a lot of weight. Air bags can only make up so much. I have them at there max pressure as it is and still can't get the rear back up to empty height. lol

23 hours ago, dripley said:

I have been running Cooper ATP's on mine for the last 4 sets. Great on the road and the dirt and mud on ths job. Some gravel too but very little. Great in the snow also. About 65k on each set with most of ghe miles on the highway. I got no better out of Michelins at a good bit less in price. 

 

 

But we dont drive in the same places.

That is the hard part getting advice from people online. Everyone is from another state and another life style. Just gravel from one state to another makes a difference. 1 state i had lived in used crushed rock this state uses river rock. River rock rolls around a lot but don't cut up wimpy tires. The crushed rock is much better to drive on but low ply rated tires get chewed up fast. I did go compare the cooper ATP vs the other mentioned Toyo tires. Now it is a harder choice. lol  2 for Toyo AT and 1 for cooper ATP. Maybe i should replace tires on 2 trucks. One with cooper ATP and the other with Toyo AT and see what works best. After all i have 2 trucks still with the Fierce attitude tires on them.

1 hour ago, Russ Roth said:

I've been running Nitto Duragrappler 285/75x17 tires on my '01 and after that got wrecked the replacement '02.  I have had them in snow and when still fairly new they are very good.  I made it through snow uphill in coast range with my toyhauler and tons of traffic.  Stopped at rest stop east of Elsie and snow was halfway to my knees.  Thought I'm not getting out of here without hanging iron but a small bit of jockey back and a run forward and I was on the way.  Never did hang iron.  Very impressed with these tires.  Can't give miles since I bought them the '01 was wrecked and put a hole in sidewall of one tire.  Ended up getting a second set of 3rd gen rims and new set of tires. I have been rotating to get oldest worn out first and no real way to figure what mileage they are getting before replacement.  I know I had more than 40,000 on that first set and they were still at 8 and 9/32nds.   Best part is they are weight rated 3,970 lbs/80 psi.

in snow and when still fairly new they are very good.  I made it through snow uphill in coast range with my toyhauler and tons of traffic.  Stopped at rest stop east of Elsie and snow was halfway to my knees.  Thought I'm not getting out of here without hanging iron but a small bit of jockey back and a run forward and I was on the way.  Never did hang iron.  Very impressed with these tires.  Can't give miles since I bought them the '01 was wrecked and put a hole in sidewall of one tire.  Ended up getting a second set of 3rd gen rims and new set of tires. I have been rotating to get oldest worn out first and no real way to figure what mileage they are getting before replacement.  I know I had more than 40,000 on that first set and they were still at 8 and 9/32nds.   Best part is they are weight rated 3,970 lbs/80 psi.

Honestly i would buy tires every 20k if they drive good everywhere and I didn't get stuck very easy lol Many years ago i had a set of super swamper boggers in the cart and nearly all my info filled out to order then someone said "hey check these out". I was so sick of getting stuck with my BFG tires i was ready to deal with boggers lol But i don't run that much off road anymore. A lot more pavement and gravel now. So now i am so sick of wondering tires I am willing to throw tire chains now and then haha I can't seem to find any true mud tire that drives good on these trucks. The ones that did are discontinued.  Even the ford and chevy friends i have complain about these Fierce attitudes making there trucks wonder.

[Deewelch]

I got my Nitto Tires Ridge Grappler on 4WheelOnline. The overall performance of Nitto tires in Toyota Hilux is excellent. I am very satisfied with the tires which I got at a reasonable price.

[Joe_Pool]

Look at the Nitto Trail Grappler (I have 285/75R16E size on my 2500 Cummins and they are great -- no lift), they are very much like the original BFG Mud Terrain (not the crap KM2 or KM3 redesign).

Edited August 1, 2020 by Joe_Pool
Spelling correction

[Sycostang67]

On 7/26/2020 at 10:58 PM, totally lost said:

Thanks guys! I hope opinions keep coming!

I have had toyos before but never on a truck of this era. Last time i had toyos was on a 70s pickup i use to run at 100+mph as much as i could haha Poor pickup lol So they must have held the road well with that truck but at the same time i never found a tire that ever made that truck drive bad. I burned off many tires back in them days and picked up a different used par of tires probably once a month or so.

Far as mud i have never wanted to put a diesel pickup in the mud but i don't get to decide when it rains so i end up being forced to. Something decent in the snow is important to. I guess at this point i have got so sick of these fierce attitudes wondering all over i am willing to throw tire chains now and then if need be to get the HWY driving back. I avoid HWY as much as i can anymore and go for the back roads if i can. So i take it Sycostang67 you are saying a AT tire will for sure drive better then the Cooper STT PRO or you believe it will?  Basically have you been able to actually try both of them on this era truck?  As i have learned a different era truck or brand truck seem to act differently.

 

I got the M/T tire simply because I like how aggressive they look and had always wanted a set so I splurged last time and got the Cooper STT pro's which are a fairly aggressive mud tire.  They do handle well in every terrain except ice.  I had them siped which helped a lot but I'm still extra careful.  I have about 30k miles on them and would say I still have about 50% tread left.  I did step up to a 34" tire with these going from a 285 Toyo and the Toyo's were definitely more stable probably due to the size as well.  I initially had the coopers on the OEM 3rd gen rims which were too narrow and at higher speeds I could feel the coopers ballooning and making the truck squirrelly.  I later went with a with a 9" wide rim which seemed to eliminate that problem completely.  I probably had about 20k miles on the Toyo's before I got the coopers and have nothing bad to say about them. 

Edited August 1, 2020 by Sycostang67

[totally lost]

On 7/30/2020 at 7:10 AM, Mopar1973Man said:

Personally I would just drop to a smaller tires like I did but 99.999% won't. They will continue to fight to keep there lift and 35 or 37 tires. I've got no solutions or idea because I have zero experience building lift trucks other that what it causes and having to take it all apart and replace everything back to stock for customers. Once back to stock height and stock tires the problem goes away.

Well I nearly took your advice today. Had a near new set of 245/75r16 10ply in front of me with cash in my pocket! Then looked at the actual weight rating of them. 3000lbs each. Yea thats not going to work very well. The rear has 5000 to 6000lbs normally then adding any trailer at all would put them tires over the limit! I think i will have to stick with the 265 size to keep the weight rating up. 3500lbs each tire gives me some head room. Still shouldn't be a issue at 265/75r16. If i have to i will go back to the 265/75r16 in a michelin MS tire. I know they drive great and they make trucks with wore out front ends drive good again.

9 hours ago, Sycostang67 said:

 

I got the M/T tire simply because I like how aggressive they look and had always wanted a set so I splurged last time and got the Cooper STT pro's which are a fairly aggressive mud tire.  They do handle well in every terrain except ice.  I had them siped which helped a lot but I'm still extra careful.  I have about 30k miles on them and would say I still have about 50% tread left.  I did step up to a 34" tire with these going from a 285 Toyo and the Toyo's were definitely more stable probably due to the size as well.  I initially had the coopers on the OEM 3rd gen rims which were too narrow and at higher speeds I could feel the coopers ballooning and making the truck squirrelly.  I later went with a with a 9" wide rim which seemed to eliminate that problem completely.  I probably had about 20k miles on the Toyo's before I got the coopers and have nothing bad to say about them. 

Thanks for replying. You had me thinking about another mud tire for a bit. I use the mud tires it is not just for show for me. I just can't stand the poor driving on the pavement of the ones i have. If i knew there was still a good pavement handling mud tire out there i would buy it. But i can't find one anymore. IDK any tire does good on ice? If in that rare event i just throw on the tire chains and laugh at everyone else haha I have had to put tire chains on once in the last 10 years.

[Mopar1973Man]

9 hours ago, totally lost said:

Then looked at the actual weight rating of them. 3000lbs each.

 

That is correct. The rear axles on 2500 series is only rated for 3042 tires and 6048 axle. Which these tires do meet. I typically run 60 PSI front and rear and tow with these constantly. Never had a tire fail yet, no explosive tire failures. The axle is only rated for 6084 anyways.I'm already licensed for 26,000 on my truck and towed up to 23,000 GCW pounds many times. 

 

Right out of the owners manual for weights...

 

3,042 x 4 = 12,168 pounds carry capacity on 245/75 R16 if inflated to 80 PSI all the way around,

 

At 60 PSI each tires can carry 2,147 pounds x 4 = 8,588 pounds. Wow look at that just close to what the truck is rated for 8,800 pounds. 

 

Last trip to Mohave Valley Arizona ran 60 PSI all the way around and towed a 31 foot RV for 17,300 scaled. Truck weight was right at 8,700 pounds. Hence why I know the numbers so well. 

 

If you looking there is Load Range G's in a 235/85 R16 which I've ran too. They have a max inflate of 110 PSI at 3,750 capacity. I've ran those before no real help on towing capacity being the rest of the suspension cannot handle the weight. I opted back to the 245's on a Load Range E's. 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Mopar1973Man

[totally lost]

On 8/2/2020 at 8:15 AM, Mopar1973Man said:

 

That is correct. The rear axles on 2500 series is only rated for 3042 tires and 6048 axle. Which these tires do meet. I typically run 60 PSI front and rear and tow with these constantly. Never had a tire fail yet, no explosive tire failures. The axle is only rated for 6084 anyways.I'm already licensed for 26,000 on my truck and towed up to 23,000 GCW pounds many times. 

 

Right out of the owners manual for weights...

 

3,042 x 4 = 12,168 pounds carry capacity on 245/75 R16 if inflated to 80 PSI all the way around,

 

At 60 PSI each tires can carry 2,147 pounds x 4 = 8,588 pounds. Wow look at that just close to what the truck is rated for 8,800 pounds. 

 

Last trip to Mohave Valley Arizona ran 60 PSI all the way around and towed a 31 foot RV for 17,300 scaled. Truck weight was right at 8,700 pounds. Hence why I know the numbers so well. 

 

If you looking there is Load Range G's in a 235/85 R16 which I've ran too. They have a max inflate of 110 PSI at 3,750 capacity. I've ran those before no real help on towing capacity being the rest of the suspension cannot handle the weight. I opted back to the 245's on a Load Range E's. 

That is nice and all but the dana 80 is rated for 11,000lbs and the dana 60 is rated for 6500lbs. 8800lbs total between the 2 i could over weight it with a 4 wheeler in the back lol I guess all the service trucks out there would have to be shut down because most of them have more weight then mine!  It is not my fault the trucks are under rated. Either way it is still around 5 to 6000lbs on the rear right now and will be for a long time. It would be stupid to put a lighter tire on. Also all of my trucks are plated for 32,000lbs and have been there towing for a lot of miles. Clearly they are handling it just fine with air bags. One has 600,000 miles on it. Sure i could use a bigger truck and we do. We over weight our semi to. It runs around 106,000lbs loaded. It is perfectly legal in my state with a permit. $300 bucks a year to be exact. I don't pull light little RVs around we actually use these trucks for real work. If i wanted a HWY car to pull a camper id buy a chevy!

Either way why are we talking about truck weight ratings all i asked for was tires that drive good. Make and model specifically. Not really size. 265/75/16 has drove good enough for me since the trucks was first built! 235/85/16 would be fine to i have run them. They sink easier. The old dually ran that size.  Just need a make and model that don't make these things wander all over and still get decent traction. most street tread work just fine handling it is getting into the AT and MT where i keep finding ones that don't handle so well. Street tires just don't do anything when you leave the pavement. Along with BFG ATs that get stuck in wet grass lol Not to mention it is rare i find any of these dodges run 245 even when they was on the dealer lots waiting for there first owner!