Well, getting close to replacement time - at least before the rain comes to SoCal and oily roads get slick and head up to local mountains for skiing this winter.
Done lots and lots of reading in search and elsewhere.
Don't need anything aggressive for what I do so I've ruled out all the MT's and the BFG AT KO's and similar. Swampers also Junk!
I've run nothing but Michelin LTX's in the 10 years I've owned the truck and the only real complaint I've had is the lousy wear - typically 35K average.
Looking for a slightly more aggressive look without giving up good pavement manners of the LTX. Also decided to go to the 285/75/16 from the stock 275/70/16 to fill out the wheel wells better. It'll add another inch in overall height to the truck which I have to be concerned with. I've barely got clearance into the garage. Truck at it's high point is 76.5 inches at the top of the OEM roof rack now and the very bottom lip of the garage door is 79.5 inches. Already can't extend the radio antenna completely to keep it from whacking the garage door.
From my research, I've identified 3 tires. Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo, Yokohama Geolander and the Michelin Cross Terrain.
Despite some good feedback from some forum members on the Cross Terrain I've pretty much eliminated it. Seems to me from my research it's been more designed for light SUV's. Lexus is using it as OEM on its RX330 and GX470. Tirerack ratings make it look superior in every way to the LTX tho.
Bridgestone Revo has had some great comments here. Tirerack ratings put it #1 overall in this category of tire.
Yokohama Geolander likewise had had some very good comments here. Ranked 7th in the Tirerack summary in this category slightly lower in every category compared to the Revo.
All three have good road manners, wet and dry traction, etc. Snow (for ski trips out of SoCal) look good.
Haven't been able to confirm what I've seen here about a 'C' load rating on the Geolander. The Revo is a D. Given my towing I'd be more inclined to go with the Revo's for this saftey reason alone.
Stopped by my favorite local tire guy last night. 4 Revo's out the door $700. 4 Geolanders out the door $560. Big difference! He's a little independent that I'd prefer to support. His feedback on both tires was very good and they have very similar tread patterns. He made an interesting comment about the BFG AT KO's being a bitch to balance (already excluded from my list, but we'd walked past a rack of them in his little warehouse). His service is impeccable! Haven't checked prices at Discount Tire or a Bridgestone store about the Revo's. Thinking a factory store may be less than an independent can source them for, but raises in my mind price vs. support/servivce of the local guy. I usually go with the later - you get what you pay for down the road (no pun intended).
Have I missed anything? I know Doc is real happy with his Firestone's and they are probably very similar to the Revo's.
Will probably go with 4 and leave the stock LTX spare initially. Haven't used it in 10 years (knock on wood). If I end up really liking what I end up with, I'll replace it as well for a matched set of 5. I know from Dan's comments (others?) that a 285 will fit in the stock spare location without modification. Hope it will still allow enough room for the receiver in the OEM hitch. Correct me if I'm wrong here as it's a biggie for me!
Done lots and lots of reading in search and elsewhere.
Don't need anything aggressive for what I do so I've ruled out all the MT's and the BFG AT KO's and similar. Swampers also Junk!
I've run nothing but Michelin LTX's in the 10 years I've owned the truck and the only real complaint I've had is the lousy wear - typically 35K average.
Looking for a slightly more aggressive look without giving up good pavement manners of the LTX. Also decided to go to the 285/75/16 from the stock 275/70/16 to fill out the wheel wells better. It'll add another inch in overall height to the truck which I have to be concerned with. I've barely got clearance into the garage. Truck at it's high point is 76.5 inches at the top of the OEM roof rack now and the very bottom lip of the garage door is 79.5 inches. Already can't extend the radio antenna completely to keep it from whacking the garage door.
From my research, I've identified 3 tires. Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo, Yokohama Geolander and the Michelin Cross Terrain.
Despite some good feedback from some forum members on the Cross Terrain I've pretty much eliminated it. Seems to me from my research it's been more designed for light SUV's. Lexus is using it as OEM on its RX330 and GX470. Tirerack ratings make it look superior in every way to the LTX tho.
Bridgestone Revo has had some great comments here. Tirerack ratings put it #1 overall in this category of tire.
Yokohama Geolander likewise had had some very good comments here. Ranked 7th in the Tirerack summary in this category slightly lower in every category compared to the Revo.
All three have good road manners, wet and dry traction, etc. Snow (for ski trips out of SoCal) look good.
Haven't been able to confirm what I've seen here about a 'C' load rating on the Geolander. The Revo is a D. Given my towing I'd be more inclined to go with the Revo's for this saftey reason alone.
Stopped by my favorite local tire guy last night. 4 Revo's out the door $700. 4 Geolanders out the door $560. Big difference! He's a little independent that I'd prefer to support. His feedback on both tires was very good and they have very similar tread patterns. He made an interesting comment about the BFG AT KO's being a bitch to balance (already excluded from my list, but we'd walked past a rack of them in his little warehouse). His service is impeccable! Haven't checked prices at Discount Tire or a Bridgestone store about the Revo's. Thinking a factory store may be less than an independent can source them for, but raises in my mind price vs. support/servivce of the local guy. I usually go with the later - you get what you pay for down the road (no pun intended).
Have I missed anything? I know Doc is real happy with his Firestone's and they are probably very similar to the Revo's.
Will probably go with 4 and leave the stock LTX spare initially. Haven't used it in 10 years (knock on wood). If I end up really liking what I end up with, I'll replace it as well for a matched set of 5. I know from Dan's comments (others?) that a 285 will fit in the stock spare location without modification. Hope it will still allow enough room for the receiver in the OEM hitch. Correct me if I'm wrong here as it's a biggie for me!
