Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives new tires needed

I'm going to need four new M&S tires for my 98 Dodge Ram 2500 before hunting season.

I haul a 1500 # camper, and a 3 horse slant mule trailer that weighs about 6500 # loaded.Truck weighs about 7500#. I have a load leveler hitch. About 15.5K # total.

I am presently running Goodyear Duratracks M&S 8 Ply,but the side walls are too soft even at 75 pounds pressure.

Wasn't satisfied with Hankooks

I was considering Cooper's M& S but read a lot of reviews of them coming apart.

Suggestions. Don't want an all terrain tire, but something with an aggressive tread.Road noise doesn't bother me.

I'd give the Toyo Open Country MT a try if you can get it in 10 ply (you didn't say what size). They are pricey but I haven't heard a bad thing about them.

Those are on my F150 and they are holding up quite well.

Mileage was bad on the Toyo Open country M&S but they were among the best tires I've ever used period. I ran 38" tires on 17" wheels. They were E rated and did everything I could ask of a tire on such a heavy truck( cummins double cab 2500)

I just this late winter switched to the Toyo AT in 35" size. I did not need the aggressive Open country design I have Limited slips front and rear so I think I can get through most of my struggles with that setup. I also had planned many thousands of miles pulling my 7500b 22' camp trailer around the USA this year, so the additional Mileage was my priority.

E rated toyo tires are at the top of the heap in my opinion.

I have a 2001 1500 Ram, not sure if they come rated for the loads that you carry or haul, but I am on my fifth, thats 5th set of Bridgestone Duelers.

Truck has 250,000 miles on it.....

I would just go to Discount Tires there in the Springs, and get their recommendations.

I have the perfect tire for you buddy:



Good year wrangler authority mud tires load range E

Can you say front and rear lockers? No tire will do that without them.

I just got some Toyo Open Country R/T's, pretty aggressive tread pattern and a 45,000 mile warranty. Like them so far!

Toyo M-55 or Nitto Trail Grappler.

Take a look at the Nitto Exo-Grappler, a bit more aggressive than the Terra Grappler, a bit less than the trail grappler.
I like them, good on and off road, great in snow, and drive well on the road.

I've become a huge fan of the Cooper STT. We've put them on three rigs and have no complaints. Two pickups, and the Jeep.

I currently have Toyo Open Country MTs on my pick-up during the summer. While hauling hay they are the least squirmy tire I have tried. One strong tire. They have good steering response and surprisingly I did not see a reduction in fuel mileage as compared to the ATs I had before. That's the good.

The bad. They are terrible on light snow and ice. I don't know about deep snow since I want to live to see it. I have dedicated snow tires that I put on for winter. Kelly Safari TSRs. I am not hauling heavy loads then so don't know how the snow tires would handle heavy loads. Maybe if I had the Toyos siped they would be better.

Right now my favorite winter tire is the Firsestone Destination MT that I had siped. This is on a half ton suburban. The only time I have been stuck with these is when I got high centered in a snow drift. I don't know how well they will do hauling however.

Does anyone know anything about the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac?

Never owned the Duratrac but have read a lot of good about them and lots of folks recommend them.

Great tire. Excellent in the snow, ride good, and good traction, but the Authority I posted earlier is a better tire from what I've experienced: I had a set of Authorities on my wifes suburban and they rode smoother with less noise than the duratracs on my 04 GMC sierra 4x4. The traction was also better in the snow. Wear was about equal.....Keep in mind the Suburban is a heavier vehicle though...

I've had to pull guys out of the snow when they thought that's all they needed was their lockers: Too bad they had chitty tires. It doesn't just take lockers to get you where you want to go. Sometimes they are even a detriment. I'll give you credit for maybe knowing what you are talking about since you live in the same high desert conditions I grew up in and I know tires are a huge deal there. I've seen sagebrush go right through sidewalls and rocks just slice a tire like a hot knife though butter. When we were way out in BFE (black rock desert for example) we'd carry 4 spares..

That is what I have on now.I have run them for two winters and they are about 3/4 worn down. About 20K on them. I left them on this summer as I planned to replace them this fall. They are probably good on a lighter truck though.

My complaint is the soft side walls.Go around a corner with a load and you can feel them roll even with 75 psi in them. That is even with the truck empty,not pulling anything. Truck weighs right at 7600 empty. That heavy diesel engine doesn't help on the front end.

I live at 7650 feet, lot of snow and the truck is usually in 4wd all winter ,so no AT tires.

I had Duratracs on my F250 for about 2wks, squirrly as all get out, no likey. In load E they were great on a previous F150.

Exactly my experience