New tire time/59# LT33 too heavy for Colorado? (1 Viewer)

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It's new tire time and I don't know if another 33" LT tire is a good idea. Hankook Dynapro ATM LT285/75/16 E is available for $718 installed but they weigh 59 pounds each! To compare, a stock p275/70/16 Michelin M/S weighs 39pounds. The discount tire guy said the oil companies put the dynapro on their field trucks which I find reassuring.

I have LTX MS/2 LT285/75/16 (33", 52pounds each) coming from flat places like AZ, TX, FL. I keep them around 42-45psi. Now I am in Colorado and I think the extra tire weight is really straining the vehicle over the i70 11,000 foot mountain passes. The truck will dip to ~2200RPM at 45MPH before I jam the pedal into the floor and it goes to 3-4000RPM and slowly regaining speed. I worry that I'm going to blow something driving like that. If I don't jam the gas it doesn't downshift.

I did have one day where I drove like a bat out of Hell from Denver to Junction and basically kept the RPM over 3000 on all the passes and it seemed okay but I was praying the entire time.

I mostly drive on the street. Have a medium OME 2-3"lift. I go to bike trails, ski areas and generally want to safely explore most of Colorado (don't want to blow out a passanger tire in the woods).

So do you fellows have the same experience with the RPM's and speeds on the mountain passes? Keep the RPM above 3000? Stick with 32" tires? Will 59# 33" tires be a nightmare on i70?

Thanks
 
There is not much weight savings going from 33" to 32" LT tire.

Have you considered the Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar tires? These seem to be well rounded tires and are used on some of the Tacoma 4X4 equipped trucks, including the TRD PRO. The non-LT version 265/70/16 weighs about 36 lbs.

Wrangler® All-Terrain Adventure With Kevlar® Tires | Goodyear Tires

Edit: These do come in LT so I guess that will increase the weight significantly.
 
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I think the extra tire weight is really straining the vehicle

Its the grade and altitude that is straining your truck, not the tire weight. If you want anything over a stock tire, it will suffer. These motors really like 4k rpm and it is tough for them to hold that with 33's in CO. Mine was always hunting for gears until I went to the 315's. Now, as I round the corner to head up the I-70, I just stand on it in 2nd gear at about 4100 rpm and it does just fine. That is until I S/C or turbo this thing:D.
 
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I used to run the 265/75r16 Hankook Dynapro ATM and they were solid tires. Lots of wheeling all over CO and UT (I wheel hard, even on 265's), major sidewall abuse, plenty of chunking but no failures! Good road manners for an E rated tire, just dandy in the snow.

Don't overthink the weight. This isn't a miata or a civic where you really feel those extra pounds. Even a 235/70r16 on a set of Volk TE-37's would still feel slow driving over the passes. I'm running 315's now. Just leave the shifter in 2nd and get whatever tire you like :hillbilly:
 
Unless you plan to pick them up a lot, weight isn’t going to matter.

The best tire I can recommend is the BFG ko2. That tire has so little rolling resistance while providing long life and excellent traction characteristics for four season Colorado driving. My fuel economy went by 1 mpg switching to the ko2 and I could reliably get 14 mpg on 37’s on round trip high country days.

The Hankook is a good tire, but if you are working off a less than ko2 budget look at the Falken AT3W - that tire is awesome. I run them in a 34” on my ‘04 Sequoia. The value is off the charts.

I agree with @LC4LIFE, though, that 33s are more of a dead spot than 35s on stock gears.
 
I work with tires all day, all week.... and can honestly say that we almost never have any issues with Hankook which is a tire brand we do work with. Toyo is still my personal favorite though.
 

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