Even though we have a bunch of trucks - all about 50 years old except two - my recent tire buying experience has been limited to one 20 year old big Dodge, and have been running a set of Cooper ATs on it for quite a while.
Now am needing tires for a recently acquired 15 year-old Chev 3/4 ton 4wd and don't know much about the brands/prices being quoted by a smaller independent local tire shop. I want to support the local business if possible. There must be a ton of good info from guys at this site that could be helpful for me and probably a lot of others here.
So, if you have experience with all-terrain tread Hankook, Toyo or Sumitomo Load Range "E" (10 ply and 16 inch probably 245/75R) I would appreciate any assessment. If you are very strong on another brand in this type, would like to hear why.
As for price including mount/balance and heavy local tax, how does about $900 out the door sound? The Sumitomo would be about $740.
Thanks for any advice.
Why not stick with the Coopers? On a 3/4 ton anything it will be hard to find a "magic" tire that gets great traction and mileage. I'm sure you know this, but on a heavy truck you get one or the other, never both. I run the Cooper AT3 XLT and they do just as good or better than anything else I see or hear about. Over the years I've tried Mastercraft (owned by Cooper), Kelly and Goodyear, but they all wear about the same. Besides, Hankook is a Korean company and Cooper is based in Ohio. I damn sure wouldn't be sending any of my American dollars to Korea....
