Tires for tow vehicle

Bobby A

Well-known member
Not sure where to post this, moderator please re locate if necessary.

Looking for new tires for my Dodge Ram Mega cab 3500 4 wheel drive non dually. I have on the Nitto Dura Grappler LT285/70/R17 on now. I am fairly happy with them. This tires have a heavier tow rating then most in its class and size. Just reaching out to the Heartland community before I pull the plug on new ones of the same, to see if anyone one has a better choice. I have about 35000 miles on these tires and 4 years of service, we live in Fl. most of the time and travel back and forth from MI. Again, I would entertain other choices and also those that have the Nitto's are they happy with them ?? Thank you in advance.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone and safe travels !!

Bobby A
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
I put Michelin Defenders on my truck, Bobby, after getting fed up with the junk from Goodyear. Very happy with them after 13K miles on them. Got them from Discount Tire.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

sengli

Well-known member
I only had 14K miles on my OEM Nexens, when the fronts had a belt fail in them. Causing the front end vibrate something awful. Just put on the Nitto dura grapplers per some RAM forum reading. So far we love them. Plus a set of 6 only cost me 1000 at the local RAM dealer.
 

BarbandFrank

Well-known member
We also have Michelin Defenders on our Ram 3500 dually - purchased from Discount Tires. The Nexan’s that came with the truck did not last long. So far we are happy with the Michelin’s - have about 15,000 miles on them - towing our Landmark full-time.

Frank
 

danemayer

Well-known member
2 years ago, based on Sailun's great performance with RV tires, I went with Sailun Terramax A/T 4S 235/80R -17 at about $109 each from SimpleTire.com.

The 285s are quite a bit more expensive though.
 

Bobby A

Well-known member
I only had 14K miles on my OEM Nexens, when the fronts had a belt fail in them. Causing the front end vibrate something awful. Just put on the Nitto dura grapplers per some RAM forum reading. So far we love them. Plus a set of 6 only cost me 1000 at the local RAM dealer.

You got a good deal on the Nitto's, hear in Fl. they want just under a grand for 4 of them. I went with them because of the higher weight rating and my Bighorn pin weight is very heavy being full time.

Thank you all who chimed in, not sure which direction I will be going yet in regards to tire brands. I welcome more comments to help me make a good decision.

Blessings,
Bobby A
 

MCTalley

Well-known member
Another vote for the Michelin Defenders. We put a set on our DRW F-350 a couple years ago. They currently still have good tread life remaining (probably about 30-40%) with about 53,000 miles on them.
 

Bobby A

Well-known member
Thank you all for your great advise, I decided on the Defenders, I have had two of the Nitto's seperate on me, time to try a different brand of tire.

Merry Christmas to all,
Bobby

- - - Updated - - -

I only had 14K miles on my OEM Nexens, when the fronts had a belt fail in them. Causing the front end vibrate something awful. Just put on the Nitto dura grapplers per some RAM forum reading. So far we love them. Plus a set of 6 only cost me 1000 at the local RAM dealer.

Just curious, what tire pressure are you running your Nitto's ??
 

Gaffer

Well-known member
Nitto and Toyo are the same company. I like the Toyo RT. Not as aggressive as the MT but more than an AT.
 

zolman

Member
An FYI to Michelin.

I had just the opposite experience with Michelin LTX OEMs in terms of wear on my TV. I know that they are highly rated but I only got 19,000 miles on mine before 2 got down to 2/32 in certain areas!!! Yes I always check my pressure, rotate and use a TPMS. And I've also had poor wear on other Michelin tires on other vehicles. We only got 36,000 on a Prius with OEM Michelins. They were rated for 80,000. And I found out that tire wear warranties are useless. You have to show documented proof of rotation every 5,000 miles, have perfectly even wear across all threads with the whole tire showing EXACTLY 2/32 thread depth or less. And the rebate from tire wear is subtracted off the Manufacturer suggested retail price, which can be twice as much as what a dealer actual sells the same tire for. So I found out that I would be paying more for the a tire by using the tire wear rebate than if I bought the same tire directly with the dealers price.

I put on Bridgestone LTH on my truck But I've only had them on since July so I'm not sure about their actual wear yet. But they cost 1/2 the price (on sale) of replacement Michelins .

I know I would never pay the top dollar that Michelin tires cost after those two experiences.
 
Top