All terrain or highway tires for towing

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

We had a tire issue while towing and needed to replace tires on the spot.  I let them sell me some all terrain tires but I'm not sure I made the right decision.  I know these tires are more aggressive and I don't think I like them as well  It feels to me as if the pickup reacts more strongly to cross winds, etc. than the highway tires did.  Minor steering corrections feel stronger and I'm not sure that is a good thing so far as handing or driver fatigue.

It's not as though I take my F350 off roading - although there have been a couple of times over the past four years when when parking on grass that I wished for more grip.  99% of the time I have been okay with the performance of the highway tires.

I have a window for returning the all terrain tires and am seriously thinking about it.  

My question is especially for those who have run both on a bigger pickup - which do you prefer and why?

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

One thing I have noticed was with the all terrain tires is that they do seem to squirm a lot more than a highway tread tire does.  I have to keep mine at 80 PSI in the fronts even empty or it feels like it is on low tires. The highway tires I had before I could run 65 PSI in the fronts and it felt fine. I do know the compound in the all terrain is a softer compound for traction.

[trailertraveler]

24 minutes ago, GR "Scott" Cundiff said:

My question is especially for those who have run both on a bigger pickup - which do you prefer and why?

I have decided to split the difference and go with Mud & Snow tires like those that Michelin and other brands sell. I don't have 4 wheel drive, but do drive on dirt and gravel roads and occasionally in snow. They are not quite as smooth riding and quiet as highway tires, but do seem to have a little more grip in soft conditions.

[theeyres]

I used to struggle with this, too, especially when we were fulltime, and now just go with the highway tires. Not sure they last as long but they just ride better over all and are more comfortable which is my main criteria. I don't go four wheeling or off road so I choose comfort. My four wheel truck will still get me out of those rare occasions when I need to do so, so, again, I go with comfort.

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

I went back to Discount Tire today and had them swap out for highway tires.  They even refunded me a few bucks.  Driving back to the campground it felt more like my truck again.

Lesson learned!

[cpaulsen]

I have always used all-terrain tires like the Cooper AT3's. Have run them at 50-60 psi and all t way to 0 psi towing my 5th wheel with no problems.

[Chalkie]

On 9/22/2017 at 9:22 PM, GR "Scott" Cundiff said:

I went back to Discount Tire today and had them swap out for highway tires.  They even refunded me a few bucks.  Driving back to the campground it felt more like my truck again.

Lesson learned!

I agree with your decision. My previous truck came with BFG TKO tires. Once I found out how horrible this all terrain tire was in the snow I dumped them for Michelin LTX M/S2 tires. What a difference! Far better on wet or snowy roads and much, much quieter going down the road. The current truck has Rugged Trails on it and in a couple more months will likely get the Michelins as well.

 

[I'mdonewiththis forum]

On 9/23/2017 at 7:16 PM, cpaulsen said:

I have always used all-terrain tires like the Cooper AT3's. Have run them at 50-60 psi and all t way to 0 psi towing my 5th wheel with no problems.

That's what I have now. If I don't run 75 PSI the truck wanders like the front end is really heavy.

[noteven]

erased

[cpaulsen]

10 hours ago, Mntom said:

That's what I have now. If I don't run 75 PSI the truck wanders like the front end is really heavy.

And I meant to type.....80 psi.

[Ray,IN]

On 9/22/2017 at 11:22 PM, GR "Scott" Cundiff said:

I went back to Discount Tire today and had them swap out for highway tires.  They even refunded me a few bucks.  Driving back to the campground it felt more like my truck again.

Lesson learned!

IMO, good choice! For those infrequent time when you need more traction, ie parked on wet grass, etc. Carry a set of strap-on cables/instead of chains. You'll only need them on the outside tires unless you are in mud or snow, in which case you wait until traction is better.

I always ran B.F. Goodrich T/A commercial M&S tires on my 4wd dually, seldom needed to use 4wd, but when I did the heavy diesel engine was the cause, pushing the front wheels deeper into the ground causes a natural chock.

[packnrat]

not to worry so much about the tread type.

but look more into how the tire is made ( number of side plys). and how much weight it is rated for.

with that said some tires will squrm more than others, even if built with same ratings as another.

on commercial rigs i have found deep tread is very squrmey. i do not like them.

but also look into how much on rd, if any true off rd. aka: packed gravel, packed dirt, loose dirt. wet dirt, mud 😱

[RangeMaggotBob]

I just replaced my tires on my RAM pickup. I have less than 11K miles on the truck. The stock tires were Firestone Transforce. Biggest pieces of crap ever made. Worse than China bombs. I believe they were some kind of highway tread and I just hated them. Already worn out. Back to Cooper tires. They are some kind of off-road type tire but not too aggressive. Good enough for the four-wheeling I do, but like I said, not too extreme. 10 ply sidewalls. Haven't really noticed any difference in the ride; seems to be okay and not noisy at all. 60lbs. in the front and 80lbs. in the back per my tire guy, with or without the RV hooked up.