Tire Update

[dorkweed]

Didn't know exactly where to put this, so I put it here.Just rolled over 70,000 miles on my Cooper Discoverer ATR's this past weekend. I tow a lot, and I usually run all 4 at 70psi. I'm gonna keep them on for my North Dakota trip next month and for as long as we don't have snow after that.Cooper no longer makes the ATR.............it was replaced recently with the Discoverer AT3. All the reviews I've read on this tire are positive. It's a bit more "aggressive" than the ATR, but Cooper is a good tire and American made so I'll probably get them when it's tire time!!!!!

[dripley]

i ran aset of cooper discoverers a good while back. i dont remeber if they were atr's or not, but i only got 45k to 50k out of them. at the time they were only $30 cheaper than a michelen ltx. i was not impressed. i like the michelens but still only get 65k out of them. but maybe your driving style is bit better than mine.the new michelens are about $250 a tire now, i cant stand that either. got pirrelli scorpions now and probably will get 60 k out of them at $200 apiece. not trying to knock what you are saying about them, if i could get 70k + out of any tire, nommater what brand, i would stick with them.

[RJC2]

$250 per tire is alot of money, but they all are getting up there. I had just put a new set of Michelins on my last truck. Nice tires. The truck I have now has Firestone Transforce tires. My friend who owns a tire shop says that they [transforce] are performing the best of anything he has seen lately. I live in farm country and we all tow. It's hard to get miles out of tires that haul weight but the Transforce.He also likes Mastercraft, which is a Cooper Tire Company. I had a set of them and they did well and were inexpensive.FYI, I know alot of guys like the BFGs, but he says he tries not to sell them as they have issues with balancing and being out of round which causes shaking.

[AH64ID]

I wish I could get that kind of life out of my tires! I wore thru 4/32 (28%) of my OEM Michelin's in less than 7K miles this summer, 3900 of those miles were towing with several hundred being on dirt. That's the average, 3/32 front and 5/32 rear.. and these tires are HARD! Based on that wear rate they will be only be good for 25K miles or so. At least I can pickup OEM take-off's for 200-300 bucks, and have a set of KM2's for hunting/winter.

[RJC2]

I think I would invent some steel tracks for your truck! A skid steer does better than that.

[AH64ID]

Pretty average for these trucks, my old man gets even less miles out of his as he tows a bit heavier and lived 5 miles up a dirt road.. Torque and tires don't like each other.

[Mopar1973Man]

I wish I could get that kind of life out of my tires! I wore thru 4/32 (28%) of my OEM Michelin's in less than 7K miles this summer, 3900 of those miles were towing with several hundred being on dirt. That's the average, 3/32 front and 5/32 rear.. and these tires are HARD! Based on that wear rate they will be only be good for 25K miles or so. At least I can pickup OEM take-off's for 200-300 bucks, and have a set of KM2's for hunting/winter.

Pretty average for these trucks, my old man gets even less miles out of his as he tows a bit heavier and lived 5 miles up a dirt road.. Torque and tires don't like each other.

About the same here... With all the dirt roads and towing time it tends to eat up tires rapidly. It not like I go out roasting tires for smoke shows but like AH64ID points out torque and dirt are just hard on tires.

[dorkweed]

Guys, I drive as much, if not moreso than anyone around me on gravel and dirt and horse manure etc. Trying to maneuver my work trailer close to the barns I work at can be a chore..........especially in winter. Plus my year trips to North Dakota and SE Missouri........almost all gravel off the main roads. Not to mention the areas around here that I dog train in. Many of those training areas are farm fields and I'm driving down gravel and dirt lanes...........a lot!!I've never had a problem with any brand of tire as far a mileage goes except for Goodyears. They suck IMHO!!!! Maybe it's the Grandpa style of driving I do though!!!!!

[AH64ID]

I think its the towing of 5-6K lbs on dirt roads that does it. And around here there are no flat dirt roads, so climbing a 6% grade, or more, with a trailer takes some tq, and the dirt/gravel just eats the tires. I even use 4wd almost all of the time to keep the rear tires form skipping, hopping, and spinning. At highways speeds my trailer tows much heavier than it is from the huge frontal area, that means more tire wear. I have towed 15K lb trailers that pull easier than my 6K lb TT.

[dorkweed]

I think its the towing of 5-6K lbs on dirt roads that does it. And around here there are no flat dirt roads, so climbing a 6% grade, or more, with a trailer takes some tq, and the dirt/gravel just eats the tires. I even use 4wd almost all of the time to keep the rear tires form skipping, hopping, and spinning. At highways speeds my trailer tows much heavier than it is from the huge frontal area, that means more tire wear. I have towed 15K lb trailers that pull easier than my 6K lb TT.

I don't doubt anything you type.............I was just saying, not arguing!!!! Of the 70,000+ miles on these tires, I would guestimate, that they have 8-10,000 miles on gravel and/or dirt roads. Much of those miles are with a trailer of some sort in tow. Not a big, heavy trailer like yours, but a trailer still!!!!

[ISX]

I think michelins are the best tires out there. The LTX M/S will last damn near forever, the A/T's will last almost as long. I got some hankook dynapro A/T's and although they are incredible in snow/ice, they don't seem to last as long. They are only $150 each so maybe that offsets it a little. For some reason when I got the truck it had 2 different tires and one pair was good and the other was gone so I've been letting the front tires (older set) take it easy and have the hankooks on back which are loving my screwed up limited slip (doesn't slip much in tight corners). I am pretty close to getting all new ones on all 4, spare is actually a brand new michelin LTX A/T. Anyhow I have read pirellis are very hard. I can't stand that sidewall drift when I go into corners. I probably just need bigger wheels so I can get smaller sidewalls because there is no way I'm going to keep slowing down to 40 on corners I can take at 60 just to prevent that drift feeling that drives me insane. My ford was fine until I put different tires on it and now it does it too.I run my tires at 80 in front and 60 in back.

[dripley]

i think the michelens are the best i have run on this truck. 11 to 1200 bucks for a set of tires sucks. i run 98% of my miles on the highway. probably tow my rv about 5k to 6k out of the life time of a set. but i do like to use my horsepower, spool up the turbo just to hear it, and sometimes i think i have a large sportscar. all that aand a truck that weighs 7500# will take its toll on the rubber.

[AH64ID]

I like the Michelin's LTX A/S as a summer tire. They are about the worst tire I have ever ran in the winter thou, short of a bias ply super swamper. They are much harder than any other tire I have ran, but are not wearing any better. I would like them to last for a few miles, but like I said 25K is what they are looking like they will last if the current wear rate keeps up.I do like the fuel economy, quiet and smooth ride they provide in the summer thou!Yeah, not arguing either, just proving my experiences. I would guess of the 6800 miles I put on the tires this summer 500 or so were gravel/dirt and 90% of those had the TT hooked up.

[RJC2]

There is a trade off with traction and longevity. The softer compound of the snow tire makes it grip like non other but they wear out fast, thus the reason non of the tire companies will put a mileage warranty on a snow tire. The harder compounds that give better wear aren't so good on wet or slippery surfaces.AH64ID, it sounds like you could make a tire company eat that mileage warranty. These trucks, [and all diesels regardless of brand] are really hard on back tires. Too light, too much torque.

[AH64ID]

AH64ID, it sounds like you could make a tire company eat that mileage warranty. These trucks, [and all diesels regardless of brand] are really hard on back tires. Too light, too much torque.

My first set of tires were Toyo A/T's in 285/70/17, they were not cheap but came with a 50K mile warranty so I went for it. They start at 17/32nds of tread. At 15K miles I was down to 10/32nds, 25K miles 7 32nds and by 30K I was under 5/32nds. At about 25K they were no longer good winter tires. I talked to schwab, they can't do anything until they are legally bald, 2/32. Well when I pulled them off at just over 41K miles on them they had been at 3/32nds for over 7K miles. I was able to get $50 back on one of them, but based on the wear rate the last 10K miles I would have made 50K miles without getting down to 2/32nds. Mileage warranties are a complete scam, the tires burn off quickly to 4-5/32nds and then wear like concrete. I also ran those tires when I was only towing about 20% of the time, and had lots of highway trips on them.

[RJC2]

As the tire wears the compound gets harder and harder so you get the most miles out of the worst part of the tire. That is why a new set of tires feels so nice for the first thousand miles. Conversely, we get better fuel mileage with the used up tire than the new. I agree that the warranties are a scam. They make the warranty contract hard to abide by. If your front end is misaligned and wear isn't perfect, or your rotation schedule isn't perfect, they will void it. I personally don't like to run a tire past 5-6/32", the safety of my family means more to me than money.

[AH64ID]

I personally don't like to run a tire past 5-6/32", the safety of my family means more to me than money.

Exactly why I am running cheap OEM takeoffs for summer driving and saving my good tires for winter. This way I will go 3-4 years between tire purchases. No more buying tires based on a warranty, I'll buy tires that meet my needs.

[Mopar1973Man]

Doing the same thing... I've got a set of Cooper STT's for the winter driving if needed.

[dorkweed]

Twas a nasty, raw, windy, rainy day yesterday, so I didn't work. I was reading posts on other forums (sorry) about tires, and found out that Cooper has a $75 rebate with the purchase of 4 tires until Nov. 7, 2011.So what do I do??? I go to the tire place/Cooper dealer where I bought my ATR's 3.5 years ago and order a set of Discoverer AT3's. They didn't have them at the warehouse, so they had to order them and they won't be here until later next week. So I'll have new tires on Mighty Whitey late next week. $990.00 out the door, but I do get the $75 rebate in the form of a prepaid VisaCard. It is what it is.My ATR's have about 5/16's of tread left. They're riding real "hard" right now. Not what you want for winter driving. I figure now is as good a time as any to replace them. They've been real good to me. I would've gone a bit longer, but I couldn't pass up the rebate on the tires.

[RJC2]

Do you mean 5/16" or 5/32"?