Community Forums

Jaydub · 07-26-2021, 06:00 PM

I have a 2019 Ram 1500 4WD with the factory tow package, that I bought new, and its time for tires. It came with Nexen Roadian tires, that are 113T load rated ,and they can handle 2535 lbs ea. The truck is rated to pull about 11,500 lbs. Tire size is 275/55/R20.

I am pulling a 24' Bullet Ultralight, 5350 lbs empty, 6540 fully loaded, that we will be taking out 8 or 9 times a year. We live in the Calif Central Valley and Summertime temps of 105 are not uncommon. We generally travel less than 500 mi to get to our destinations. I also do light off road 4WD and occasionally go to the Sierras for some snow driving without the trailer.

My question is two fold. Switch to an LT tire or stay with the current load rate of 113T for an added safety margin while towing. And.. Im thinking of switching to a mild AT tire for the times I want to explore fire roads and such in 4WD without the trailer. BUT, I do not want a lot of tire noise.

Thoughts and or experiences? Recommendations on a tire? Im looking at the Goodyear Workhorse AT for the 113T tire, and in LT a Hankook DynaPro AT2, or Firestone Destination XT.
Thanks in advance for all who respond!

tuffr2 · 07-26-2021, 06:11 PM

I always use Tirerack.com when looking for tires. They have some tested tires but I mostly use the survey results. You can also price the tires.

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Old-Biscuit · 07-26-2021, 06:30 PM

'P' tire (passenger) is great for ride comfort, cornering grip/stability, quiet
Not good towing tire

'LT' tire more suited to towing
Can be good riding, quiet, and street worthy

I always run LT ---towing or not
It's a truck not a sports car

ArtJoyce · 07-26-2021, 06:38 PM

I always like LT, aired up. I got great wear from them compared to car tires. I bought the Michelin LT. Now I would run the tire for 75-85k.

tuffr2 · 07-26-2021, 06:49 PM

My 2nd set of tires will most likely be Michelin LTX M/S2. I had LTX M/S tires on a previous truck and thought they were good tires. I tried to get stuck but in an AWD Honda Ridgeline I could not get stuck in fresh snow. Only about 6".

jleonard · 07-27-2021, 06:18 AM

I would go LT. The suspension on the Rams is soft enough that the stiffer tire won't hurt your ride so much.

carybosse · 07-27-2021, 07:10 AM

Like what I am hearing. On my 2015 Canyon, it had Goodyear Wrangler tires of some sort. They were lousy on wet pavement, but they would not wear out. At 70K, I switched to Michelin LTX M/S2 from Discount Tire. At 20K, picked up a nail, when I took it to Discount to plug, the service advisor told me it was so sad I had a nail in a brand new tire, was shocked they had 20K miles on them.

The Michelin might have road a little harder than the OEM tires, I think my gas mileage was hurt slightly, but they had much better wet traction and I felt much more comfortable with them. Traded that truck at 103K, 33K on that set of tires, still looked great. I felt like they were fairly quiet.

I wasn't familiar with the OP's tires, but a quick google search suggests they are more of a SUV/touring type tire as opposed to a truck tire. I would probably prefer going with an LT tire if I had a serious towing need or truck need. I can't speak to if you can get a tire that does offroad & truck duty in the same tire.

bneukam · 07-27-2021, 12:00 PM

Going to a LT tire will result in 2 to 3 loss in mpg’s, if not more, and a harsher ride. Wouldn’t even consider it for my Ram 1500. Have the 20” wheels, and no issues towing with them. Michelin Defenders that run at 39 psi unloaded, and 44 psi towing.

I did upgrade the suspension to Fox 2.0 coil overs with TuffTruck rear coils, couldn’t be happier with ride, and towing.

xc-mark · 07-27-2021, 05:49 PM

michelin LT tires with out a question. less aggressive tread works good and last longer. I would put a load range E tire on any truck towing , follow the manufacture load inflation charts and you will notice minimal difference in your ride.

CharlesinGA · 07-27-2021, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuffr2

My 2nd set of tires will most likely be Michelin LTX M/S2. I had LTX M/S tires on a previous truck and thought they were good tires. I tried to get stuck but in an AWD Honda Ridgeline I could not get stuck in fresh snow. Only about 6".

Most Michelin LTX tires are NOT actual LT tires. Also, Michelin is slowly phasing out various sizes of the M/S2 LTX tires in favor of the straight M/S tires (there is a total of SIX sizes still available, three 17 inch, two 18 inch and one 20 inch and the only remaining LT tire in the lineup is LT245/75R17/E (which oddly is the size my RAM 2500 uses.) Even some sizes of the straight M/S tires are going away in favor of the Agilis Cross Climate series which is exclusively Light Truck sizes (begins with LT) or commercial (ends in a C which is not the load rating you are used to seeing)

I have not looked at All Terrain tires in the GY lineup.

Charles

Alpine36 · 07-27-2021, 11:26 PM

Run the LT's. Too many good choices out there to recommend one brand over the other. Your 2019 Ram will ride just fine.
I can say without hesitation if you want your 2019 truck to ride and handle like a 1989, buy the GY Workhorse AT's. The absolute worst tire I've ever seen on a light truck.

Timtoolman · 07-28-2021, 01:57 PM

I put on Hankook dynapro At2 load E , on my f-150 for towing our Winnebago 8400 miles across country and back works great 285- 55/20

Jaydub · 07-28-2021, 08:49 PM

Thanks guys for all of the responses. I've decided to go LT, just for the safety margin. Toolman, Ive used Hankook Dynapro ATM as our company tire at work for years. Great tire but they got too noisy for my liking around half life. They do make the AT2 in my size and I'm considering it. How is the noise level, is the ride smooth? Did putting them on affect mileage positively or negatively??

Timtoolman · 07-29-2021, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaydub

Thanks guys for all of the responses. I've decided to go LT, just for the safety margin. Toolman, Ive used Hankook Dynapro ATM as our company tire at work for years. Great tire but they got too noisy for my liking around half life. They do make the AT2 in my size and I'm considering it. How is the noise level, is the ride smooth? Did putting them on affect mileage positively or negatively??

I may have lost 1-2 mpg , the AT2 are better they don’t seem noisy on my truck , but my towing Winnebago is much better , and I don’t worry as much getting a puncture on mountain gravel roads , I get 22 mpg with them