Tires for towing

[Silver11]

I own a 2016 GMC Sierra 3500HD. Can I use mud tires like Toyo Tires' Open Country M/T to tow my RV? What kind of tires should I go for?

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Yes, you can use those tires for towing.  But being a more off-road type tire they will wear faster than a road tire.  Also be aware that the load rating on the tire may be lower than a standard highway tire.  Off-road tires have more sidewall flex, flex at speed creates heat, which can create blowouts or other problems. 

Check your tire ratings.

Weigh your truck/RV combo all hooked up and ready to roll.

Stay within the ratings.

[Ray,IN]

Heavy cleated tires do not have the same stability as standard M&S/all-position tires of today, you  may experience more  side-sway simply due to tread design when towing at highway speed.

[Rickl]

I’ll weigh in here, going to an aggressive off road type tire is dependent on what tour trying to accomplish. If you need that traction once you get to your location for play or just getting off road then they will work. But for the most part something with open shoulder slots will suffice for most applications. 

To clear up any myths, when dealing with most major tire manufacturers the carcass of a highway or DOT approved off road tire will be the same. The difference is the cap that is installed/molded at the factory. The reason a highway tread (think less aggressive, straight style tread) feels more stable then an aggressive off road style is the tread blocks. The larger the blocks, the more tread squirm you will notice, especially with added weight. The squirt has NOTHING to do with the carcass, but rather the vehicle riding on the tread blocks. Everything being the same, load range, compounding, size, weight carried, you will notice little difference in tire wear in terms of miles if all you do is drive straight down the highway. What causes the aggressive tread design tires to wear faster is turning. i.e. in town city driving. The aggressive tread block will wear faster as they “snap” during the twisting while turning. That is why you see heel to toe wear on steer axles but not drive axles. 

My suggestion is to get a highway/all season tread design for the 90% of your driving needs, unless you spend most of your existence off road. 

Off soap box!

[Consolenut]

Once you get new tires. Being an MDT get them balanced and trued. Truing helps so much. I know it stinks to see them cut tread off the tire but its so worth it.

[Ray,IN]

21 hours ago, Consolenut said:

Once you get new tires. Being an MDT get them balanced and trued. Truing helps so much. I know it stinks to see them cut tread off the tire but its so worth it.

Today's tires are quite different from tires of 40-60 years ago.

Per Tireman9, quote " Today's radials are a lot "rounder" than the bias tires of 40  years ago. Most tires have what is called a Rim Centering Rib or rCRright above the outer edge of the wheel. This gives a visual ref to the centering of the tire when mounted. There should be almost no visual variation of the distance from the rib tot he wheel. If there is the tire is not properly mounted or centered."
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That re-enforces my belief that the person mounting the tire is responsible for a tire not centered on the rim. Improperly mounted a tire can exhibit the same symptoms as an actual out of round tire.

[Consolenut]

I had a slight wobble in the steering wheel. Tires were balanced and checked two different places.  The only thing that removed the wobble was truing the tires.  Tire wear has been excellent as well. I thought tires were much better. But apparently molds are round but excess rubber in the mold contributes to tires not being perfectly round. Either way to each his own. This is just my experience. 

[Rickl]

My suggestion, especially when it comes to medium commercial truck tires is if you are experiencing a wobble and have had the balance rechecked, the suspension looked at, then I would have to tire deflated knocked off the beads rotated 90 degrees, beads re-lubed with the correct mounting lube per the manufacture recommendation and then re-aired correctly. ( airing commercial tires is a 3 step airing process. Yes you won’t find many that do it, much less less know about it. If someone questions you then ask them if they have an automatic airing station. If they do then they SHOULD know and realize it has a 3 step process) 

As to the correct lube, many lubes are petroleum based and some are vegetable based. A few years back when Bridgestone introduced a new steer tire we had shops still using petroleum based mounting lube. One of the product engineers asked what we were using as we had a number of “warranty” claims due to irregular wear or drivability issues. Sure enough we started using the correct lube and the correct airing method and the issues went way down. Just a heads up is all.