The 2007 5.4L Crew Cab I just got has a set of 255/70/17 General Ameritrac A/T's on it. These tires have crappy reviews everywhere I look. Can you help me pick out a new set? I live in Iowa so I do drive in some snow and ice. In the summers I tow a stock car. The trailer and stock car are probably under 5000 lbs. What would be some good tires for me to check out?

 

My truck had the 255/70/17 Ameritrac's too when I got it. Those thing were terrible. They lost traction at the first signs of rain. Last fall I changed them out for a set of Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 2s. I love these. The work very well in the snow. I was able to pull cars from ditches in 12" of snow and push a minivan up hill in the same storm.

 

What about the towing? It looks like the 255/70 are just a standard load, whereas the 265/70 come with an E load rating. I'm not well versed when it comes to the towing/tire specs, and I want to make sure I'm not taking an dangerous shortcuts.

 

I've loaded up the truck with 2.5yds of mulch and a trailer behind it with 1.5yds of the same mulch. Total weight of all the mulch was about 3,000lbs and the trailer weighs about 500ish. So total with 3500lbs between truck and trailer and it did just fine. The tires did flatten out a bit and could've easily been fixed with a little bit more air. Tires were at about 35psi at the time.

Other than that I don't tow anything heavy. My trailer completely loaded with my lawn equipment weighs about 1300lbs so it's not even noticeable back there.

Last winter I was able to easily tow the trailer through 8"+ of snow with my ATV on it and never lost traction in 4HI. If I didn't have the trailer on I rarely lost traction in snow even in 2wd. I also didn't put weight in the bed of my truck for winter.

I also didn't change size because I didn't feel like messing around with having the PCM reprogrammed with the new size or buying a programmer to do it. My next tires with be 33's and I hope to have a programmer then.

 

I purchases a set of Dayton timberline at2's about 3 years ago. These are the lt265/70/17 in a load rance C. I have had good luck with them pulling my 3500# pop up. My truck is 2wd and I haven't had any problems driving in the Missouri snows with about 250# in the bed. I was jsut thinking about it today and I have just under 50,000 on these tires and have over half the tread left which Makes me very happy considering the contenentals that came with he truck were gone after 32,000 miles. Load rangemE tires are generally found on one ton trucks from what I have seen, I had them in my last truck when I bought it and it rode like a skateboard.

 

Ive got 235/75/17 Firestone Destination AT's on my truck and theyre great in the winter and I didnt have a problem pulling a trailer with them.
Ive towed my car on a trailer once and towed my atv on a small trailer several times.

After a little over 20k the tires still look new.

In the winter I didnt even need to put the truck in 4wd on unplowed roads.

 

I would second that mine are 255/70/17's though, never had an issue in wet conditions with traction, I have close to 40k on mine, in the snow they do great, I was impressed and our roads here will be snow covered for a couple months it seems. I drive alot of gravel also out to the farm and hunt for 8 weeks straight in the fall and they have never failed me. The only time ive got stuck with them is when I high center. Ive tow quite a bit every thing from bobcats, our tractor that weights in at 9,000lbs and a 29 foot snowmobile trailer in the winter.

These came new on the truck when I bought it 2 years ago and been waiting from them to wear out cause I wanted to level it and get something bigger but they keep on going, Ive been more than pleased with them.

 

You guys have me very interested in the Destinations now. I used to have a set of Firestone Transforce AT that I was very pleased with, but they would be a bit overkill for me now. So I see the 265/70/17 Destinations come in standard load and C Load. Could I just run the standards on front and C Loads on back? I could just rotate side to side.

 

I've been running Hankook dynapro atm rf10 for awhile now.

IMO... The are awesome for all of what you need.

I've "run" em in snow, rain, dirt, mud, sand, up and down hill, towing a boat, etc... Have had not a one issue with them.

 

Ive heard lots of good things about those also, but haven't ran the personally, theres alot of guys running them in the oil field out here and getting good life out of them, my buddy has them on his cummins and is happy with them.

 

Darn it guys! You're supposed to make this easier on me - LOL! The Hankooks do have pretty good reviews and the price is quite low.

I'd still like to know if it would be okay to go with a 6 or 10 ply in back, while running a 4 ply up front, as long as all four are the same tire.

 

Don't know if this will help any, but I have some Terra Grapplers for sale they are 18s tho. I would sell rims and tires both if need be. They are on FX4 rims. All in great condition loved the tires but to small for a 6in lift ha ha

 

Terra Grapplers. Love em.

 

Would've went with them in 35's but found a better deal on the Hankooks.

 

I ended up with a set of Firestone Destination A/T 275/70/17 6-ply tires. These tires had great reviews everywhere. They aren't too much taller but definitely make the truck look a bit more like a well... truck.
I've got them at 40 psi and they don't seem to be any stiffer than my General 4-ply tires were. However, I did notice the steering wheel has more of a vibration at highway speeds. Is that indicitive of a poor installation or just a more aggressive tread pattern?