Tow Vehicle E load rating tires

[jlucas]

I'm talking E load rating tires.

Our Chevy 2500HD is 2wd which helps a little on fuel economy but the stock tires absolutely SUCK! Damp pavement = little to no traction, which unfortunately also translates to wet grass or soggy paddocks. I picked up this truck from my bother in law last fall and this year we've been stuck once in Putnam's early spring soggy grass paddock, nearly stuck a couple of other times, and worried about it the rest of the time --> no fun.
The stock tires are Bridgestone R265 5rib, load rating E (245/75-16), TireRack classifies them as a Highway Summer Rib so that might explain the traction, and unfortunately for me they last for ever (38k now and 1/2 worn)! I don't think I can put up with them till are all used up as this lack of traction is likely to get worse as they continue to wear down.

Been looking at the Michelin LTX M/S and A/T 2 since I've heard good things about Michelin for tire life. Other than wet grass paddocks all this truck sees is highway trailer towing miles.

Any others out there with a 2WD that have not had issues with grass paddocks? if so, which tires?
Is going to a M/S or A/T going to be noticeable in fuel economy? I assume A/T would be better than a M/S for rolling resistance/noise/and tire life.

If your talking about something other than an E load rated tire than it has no meaning for me.

[joeg]

I have 4WD on account of muddy paddocks!

[pballance]

I have experienced the same problems on my truck with the exact same tire but I do have 4wd. I think I've got nearly 45k on these tires and they are about shot and I too have been looking at the Michelin. I had them on my suburban and the lasted forever and seemed to be pretty good in the rain. They were also quiet. They were the less aggresive tread whichever one that is.

Anybody else got any info on the Michelin's?

[irondragon]

Jeremy:
I towed for years w/ a 2WD Suburban - it had a 454 and met no hill it couldn't conquer - but w/ Cooper M+S I never had a traction problem. And they wore well.
As I live in NH, the M+S was necessary for other reasons, but I towed a loaded trailer over ice and snow as well as grass. No problems.
M+S are noisy, but just close the windows and sing along.
Of course the 'burb does better than an empty p/u because it has much better weight distribution to the rear. But you can create this by loading the p/u with the usual race stuffs.
Best Regards Bill Miskoe

[philstireservice]

Michelin LTX M/S suck in the wet when they get half worn.....even on 4WD. I've had many many sets of tires......the best I ever had were Kumho AS....even though I'm not a big fan of Kumho anymore, I've had the best luck with their LT tires. And with that said, I don't think they make the tire I had anymore.......I have Michelin's on our RV...don't love them in the wet....just put Goodyear on F450, so far they are pretty good. Better than the Conti's that came with it....and they got 55,000 and still are only half worn. My opinion is for towing, most tires, when they get half worn get mighty scary in the wet........I get rid of them at half worn. Just my opinion.

[Rabbit07]

I had Michelin M/S's on my old G30 Van that I used to tow with. I loved them. I never got stuck even in ht e deapest snow. I noticed that the Bridgestone's that are on my new 2500 were a bit twitchy in the wet at first and seem to be getting better.

[BruceG]

Hi

Sorry to hear thar someone else has the same problem. I have a 2002 2 whl dr Chevy HD2500 with a 454. I live in Southern VT adn don't plan to use the truck in the winter but have experienced the same issues on damp grass/dirt.etc. Since I'm using similar summer rated tires the switch to m/s tires makes good sense. I'll report back once I've made the switch.

Best of luck with not getting stuck!!

BruceG

[CRallo]

ha, reminds me of tGA's Excursion pulling out a 4x4 chevy and a giant motor home both attached to traliers at Pocono...

I'm a BFG fan myself. don't remember the exact tire but I put many miles on BFG's with a cummins dodge 3500 and never had any issues in rain or light mud. guess the dually might help though...

[Mike Guenther]

I had the Michelin tires on my Excursion after I let the tire guy talk me out of buying Goodyear. They were the multi-ply truck tires. 16 ply if I recall. One thing I recall clearly is how they sucked in wet or dry traction. I couldn't wait to get them off the truck.

I ran the Goodyear tires and they were much better. Last year when Goodyear was on strike I got a set of Pirrelli Scorpion truck tires and they're fantastic in wet or dry. Great traction and seem to be wearing very well.