need new tires

31K on 2020 near the wear bar not happy with firestone ht anybody like cooper ? towing 38 foot 5th 15 k need help deciding what to buy thanks

 

I have been extremely happy with these NITTO Ridge grapplers. They have held up very well and are a quiet tire for the lug size. I am sure they make a less aggressive tire also. I will easily get 40k.

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My 15 came with Firestone A/T's. Replaced at 30K with Michelin Defender LTX M/S which I was very happy with.

 

I put Cooper AT3 XLT's on my '18 and they were hands down the best AT I've ever ran. They will be going on the '22 when I wear out the OEM's, or get tired of them.

 

I like the AT-KO2 from BFG, snow-rated. I get 30,000 miles out of a set of those. Good off road too.

 

I like the Coopers they are pretty nice tire.

Would be nice to have an option besides the Firestone deals as the stock, but by now everyone should know not to expect much out of those.

 

Just had the Cooper AT3 XLT's installed last week. Nice looking and so far so good.

 

Do you want HTs (Highway Tires) or do you want to change to AT (All Terrain Tires)?

HTs generally handle better, stop faster, do better in the rain on pavement and are quieter than AT tires, while ATs are nosier, sometimes don't last as long, and trade pavement handling / braking (and a bit of rain) performance for better mud/sand/snow performance. Ironically HTs are often better on ice than ATs due to the amount of siping on the tires.

For Highway / HT Tires, I really like Cooper Discoverer HT3s, I've run them for over 10 years on my 1993 F350 2x4 Crew Cab Dually. I don't yet have much experience with All Terrain/ATs tires, but have heard good about the Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLTs and the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LTs, The XLT is more aimed at trucks that spend more time off road/lifted, and supposedly has a bit better "off road traction" (it has larger sidewall traction blocks) while the LT has better "winter traction". Personally when I put new tires on the new to me RAM 3500 4x4 I have, I'm leaning towards the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LTs as my truck will spend most of it's time on the road towing, but on occasion get onto forest roads / beach etc. Being a 3500 Crew Cab Dually, I don't intend to take it mudding or in the sand dunes... But then again I may put HT3s on it for the same reasons .

 

This has not been my experience with HT’s. The only thing they were better at was fuel economy and noise, everything else was worse. Several types of HT’s and many different AT’s. None of the HT’s I’ve ran have lasted longer than the AT’s.

 

The jury is out on my ridge grapplers, I’ve had 3 different shops try to get them balanced the 3rd shop tried again today (so 4 times total). I’ll see on the ride home from work tomorrow if they got the F’n things balanced right this time. They do have a fair bit of weight on them...

 

I will very soon need a set of MT tires for my oem winter wheels.

Does anyone have experience with the Cooper Discoverer ST Pro??

https://www.prioritytire.com/cooper...17-121-118q-e-10-ply-mt-m-t-mud-terrain-tire/

Or Cooper Discoverer ST Max ??

https://www.prioritytire.com/cooper...121-118q-e-10-ply-rt-r-t-rugged-terrain-tire/

 

I kept the OEM wheels of my ‘18 to run some early winter hunting tires. I went back and forth on the ST Pro and and ST Maxx’s (which I had ran before). I went back to the ST Maxx and had them studded. With plenty of towing miles, and potential for deep snow/ice the ST Maxx seemed like a better choice. Commercial tire agreed.

 

^^^ Thank you.

It looks as if main difference between them is that the Pro has a more aggressive tread pattern then the Max which would be of benefit top me where I live.

Please explain what you mean by "commercial tire agreed" ??

 

I told them what I planned to do with the tire (light mud/snow/ice/tow/USFS roads) and they thought the ST Maxx was a better tire for that than the ST Pro which was more of a mud tire.

 

Thanks for clarifying that !!!

TWO more question for you, only SLIGHTLY off topic, as I am sure you ill know the answer.

Will the 4th gen 18" wheels fit directly on my 3rd gen truck with no issues??

What is the largest size 18" tire that i can run with 4th gen wheels on my 3rd gen truck ??

I am mostly looking for increased load capacity over the oem 17" wheels and available tires when I put them on for winter.

(As I think you know, I run forged Rickson wheels and Toyo LRG 19.5 tires on my truck during the dry months)

 

I know that 4th Gen wheels fit, but there is a slight offset difference and I can’t recall which way.

You should be able to clear up to a 35” tire, but the offset change might effect that.

 

Driving style/environment plays a lot into this as well. If one drives a lot of gravel roads, etc, it can chew up many HTs. Some of the comercial HTs (like the Cooper Discovered HT3s) suposidly have a tread compound to handle gravel better.

As far as handling and braking, Tire Rack independently does their own test, and for similar class AT vs HT the consitently get shorter braking disances and faster slalom / lane changes with HTs on dry/wet pavement.

For me I rarely put enough miles on a set of HT tires to wear them out, they age out on me first. Truck is largely used for vacations only and is driven maybe 5k to 7k miles a year. I got over 50k miles out of my last set of Cooper HTs, but pushing 10 years old it was time to replace them.

 

I believe they will sit "in" which could be resolved with spacers.

 

The stock 3rd gen wheels have a +44mm offset while radius arm trucks ran a +57mm so they are closer towards the frame which will make the tire run on the control arms and sway bar sooner when turning.

 

When I got my Ridge Grapplers one was out of round and had to be replaced, I would find a shop that can do road force balancing and also check alignment as I have seen many shops put wayy tooo much toe in and cause handling issues / vibrations.