Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Tires again

2019 Chevy 2500 HD. 17" rims. Looking for recommendations for a winter/snow tire that I will run all year. Need a set that have stiffer side walls that won't roll with heavy loads when going around bends. Use to use Cooper SST Max, but that is no longer made. Original Firestones on it are a piece of crap and Goodyear Duratracs were like jelly on my old 98 Dodge.

Load wise I have a pop up 6 ft slide in camper and 3 horse slant trailer. Truck is right at 8000 pounds. Full upload is about 18,000, but that is only during hunting season. I use a load distribution hitch. I do not want all terrain tires.I live at 7600 feet and snow is from November thru April with more ice than snow.

I am not sure you can find a 3-peak rated load range E tire that is not an "All Terrain". So that means you will need an "All Season" tire that is good in snow. I would recommend the Michelin Defender LTX. They are decent in snow and can be had in load range E. There are some "All Season" tires that have the 3-peak rating but I can not find one that is also E rated.

I have been looking myself for just what you are talking about for my next set of tires on my Super Duty.

vince, the local oilfield service guy is raving about these...

https://milestartires.com/light-trucks/patagonia-at-pro/

He had me convinced to try them myself, but couldn't get them in my size without ordering them. So I just went with duratracs again, as the falkens and coopers were chit, on the ranch trucks.

TOYO

I'm a Defender LTX fan, but have never carried a camper or hauled a trailer that heavy.

I want try the Goodyear Wrangler with Mylar.

You mean Kevlar? OEM spec on my truck. No complaints but I've never been uber picky about matching load ratings and the such because the most I move is about 3k lbs. That said - they've been good in the snow, grip wise. Never stuck. No real issues in mud but not a mud tire so I've not looked for a real soup hole. I suspect the locker or ATRACs will play more of a role for stuck or not than the tire with me in mud.

My suggestion was based on the OP's desire to not have a "All Terrain" tire, and I assumed since he said they would be for year round use that would also eliminate "Mud Terrain" tires also because of the rough ride and noise.

This leaves "All Season" tires to choose from and like I said above I see no one making them that are 3-peak rated with also E weight capacity, but I am still looking for my own curiosity.

Cooper Maxx......seems to be in production

Running a set of 5 from 3 yrs ago---------285-70x17s

Loud & heavy.....3 ply sidewalls rock off road @ 16 psi

Your store in CO link

https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/cooper-discoverer-st-maxx

New Duratrac is out, Wrangler Duratrac RT

Also new Falken Wildpeak AT4W, replaces the AT3W. Supposed to be better for towing heavy loads.

Both more expensive than what they replace.
Looking at the Wildpeaks for my truck.

Got wildpeaks, that stiffer rubber compound change will do nothing for winter conditions.

They suck at everything. Always nice, running a load of straw, where just the crown of a road on soft/warm/icey roads, the truck begins to slide towatds ditch at anything faster that 45 mph

OR, just a smidgen of snow on leaves, truck won't even move with the slightest slope.

I have to chain up all the time. Tires have the 3peaksnowflake logo and it doesnt mean jack fkn sht.

Falken death-traps-4w.

I put the Toyo RT Trail on this year to haul my 16,000 camp-trailer and still have traction. They have done great so far but we have had a mild winter. I finally took them off last week and put the winter tires on. I have to say the RT Trails did better in snowy/icy conditions, but the other tires do have some wear on them. Another we like so far is the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT. Those are on our suburban so no towing with it, but they seem to handle snow/ice conditions well.

I've also used the Cooper ST Maxx (SST Max?) on a '06 Dodge/Cummins. I'm currently running the Cooper Disoverer AT3 XLT on a '16 Chevy 3500 Dmax and like them better. Quieter on the highway and better in snow. I tow 13k-17k lbs (5th wheel plus utility trailer) with no issues, and lots of gravel road miles during hunting season. This is my second winter on them and I'm at 16k-18k miles so far.

You said no AT tires, so can't help there but I'd buy the AT3 XLT again for my use.

Looks like I will have to go to the AT..I will look at the Discover AT3 XLT. Do you know it it has a stiff side wall as the ST Maxx?Hard to change since I ran the ST MAXX for almost 20 years on my 98 Dodge cummons.

We get dumped on with a lot of snow, but most of the problem is ice in the winter.

I had the ST Maxx and currently run the AT3 XLT. Towed our 14,000lb toy hauler with both. No complaints towing with either tire. My honest opinion, while not as aggressive as the ST Maxx the AT3 performs just as well in off-road situations you’d encounter in a crew cab long bed pickup. I like the rain/snow performance better with the AT3. Much prefer the reduced noise of the AT3. Longevity probably a slight nod to the AT3

Tires must be a pain in the azz to find for these heavy chevy's and dodges. Those newer 3/4 ton chebys have been getting stuck down at the range. Pizzes me off to have to pull around them on the shoulder to go around them in my Accord.

Love a tire thread

One thing we used to do until the tire we used was discontinued, was get a mud tire and have it siped. They worked better in the deep stuff than the AT's and with the siping were good on packed snow snd ice. The Mickey Thompson Baja Boss looks like a mud tire with a lot of siping the Cooper Rugged Trex is another that we have used.

I'd expect the ST Maxx to have a stiffer sidewall due to the 3 plies, but I can't tell any difference between them in that regard. Friends of ours tow a triple axle 44' 5th wheel toy hauler with the same AT3 XLT and swear by them.

Just a Hunter

Used to Sipe my tires also worked great and got good tire life

did you do it yourself?......anybody else?.....has anybody studded their tires themselves,,,,,bob

That is my prime concern. After those Duratracs. I never want that feeling again of the tire rolling sideways going around a bend.

Nitto Exo Grappler. Great support with a load (3rd sidewall belt). Excellent on packed snow/ice, I live in North Dakota and we have that 4-6Mo every winter. Back in Oct I put my 3rd set on my '11 F270 6.7L. They're the best AT I've used on the slick stuff on my current or previous F-250 diesel in ~300K Mi between the 2. For reference, I've used BF Goodrich Long-trail, AT and AT KO2, Duratrac, Nitto Trail and Terra Grapplers, Continental Conti-trac off the top of my head.

No, they're not "Blizzak/true snow tire good", but again, they are the best AT I've used in snowy/icy/slick conditions.

Thanks

Dang horse1, those nittos are well built. Right off the bat, the outside tread blocks have twice as much siping as my falken-failures. No wonder guys are raving about these in the winter.

That'll be my next set. Thanks!

I’m a fan of the Michelin Defender LTX MS.

It’s not an aggressive AT tire, but for on road, dirt road, all season, they’re great. Wear like iron, lots of siping, strong sidewalls, good traction on packed snow. Not great in mud but not horrible.

I pulled a 23’ trailer with both the truck and trailer loaded to the gills, I’m sure over payload, cross country and the truck tires were the last thing I was concerned with.

If I needed an aggressive AT/mud tire I’d look elsewhere.

They don't get super hard when it gets really cold either. We don't get "interior AK cold" but we usually see 2-3 7-10 day periods of -20F ambient each winter. As I said above, we usually have 4-6Mo of packed snow/ice in town, many of the secondary paved roads and just about all of the gravel.

Bob MT had the tires siped early 80,s a lot of tire shops did it back then used them from MT to Kodiak lots of ice worked well. Now I just look for good siping on factory tires, or run studs change them out about 25K rubber wears back and studs act like skates. Tried restudding but never works as well as new factory studded tires on ice we get about 2.5 months of it. Tires are about 1K accidents is about 3k, nutty drivers around Anchorage.

Appreciate all the replies.I am down to the Nitto Exo Grabbler, Cooper Discover AT3-XLT, and Discover SST Max in that order depending on what is available here. Thinking I might put them on new wheels so I can run what I have now during the summer.

Exo's are fall/winter tires for me. I also have a 2nd set of wheels for summers. I get 2-3 winters on the Exo's, run them the rest of the next summer and then replace.

cooper at3 xlts I have them on my 2018 silverado 2500, i tow heavy with them, theyre great. really good in snow too. They're probably techinically an all terrain, but theyre aggressive. Ive had duratracs as well, and these grip as good or better in snow and Ice. Cooper also has an at3 xlt snowflake rated tire that are a 60K tire as well. Those will be my next set, my buddy owns a tire shop and has been running them since before they were available to the public and he says theyre damn near as good as a blizzak

Added Michelins to the wife’s 2017 when original tires wore out. Very impressed with traction, ride, and lack of noise. Was so impressed the day after I picked up my 24 F350 went to local tire shop and had them swap out the stock tires for the Michelins in a larger size.
Worth every penny.

[quote=acooper1983
cooper at3 xlts I have them on my 2018 silverado 2500, i tow heavy with them, theyre great. really good in snow too. They're probably techinically an all terrain, but theyre aggressive. Ive had duratracs as well, and these grip as good or better in snow and Ice. Cooper also has an at3 xlt snowflake rated tire that are a 60K tire as well. Those will be my next set, my buddy owns a tire shop and has been running them since before they were available to the public and he says theyre damn near as good as a blizzak[/quote]

Tire shop told me yesterday the Cooper AT3 XLT's are discontinued. The Duratracks have a soft sidewall. BTDT

You may check a different shop. This review was posted just 6 days ago.

https://tiregrades.com/buying-guides/reviews/cooper-discoverer-at3-xlt-review/

Cooper website only shows 15". https://www.coopertire.com/en_US/tires/discoverer-at3-xlt/24486.html

👍🏻

Yes,I could not find a 17" one and Discount tire could not either.

Is the XLT just rated higher mileage than the LT?

What exact size do you need ?

There are still some out there in the Southeast

Mike

265/70R 17. I would not want to put a tire on that would be hard to find a replacement if one failed. I am kind of gun shy.These factory Firestones, broke a side wall at less than 1000 miles and I was 300 miles from home. I do like Cooper tires though. These tires will probably be the last set I ever buy, being 80, I probably won't be able to drive in five years.

Not sure if you can get them but I’ve had amazing luck with Mastercraft CXT’s. I have them on my 3500 Ram which is only used to pull trailers or campers. I’ve got 47k and they need to be replaced. That’s pretty good service for a heavy 1 ton diesel.

I had them on my diesel Colorado and they went 70k miles and we still swapped them to my mother in laws truck since she doesn’t drive near the miles I do.

I tried to get them again this fall for the Colorado but they weren’t available so I went with the Cooper STT Maxxs. Great tires but almost 100 bucks more a tire than the Mastercraft.

The Mastercraft are amazing in mud and snow/ice. Luckily they are back around and my tire shop has a set for my Ram ready to go on.

https://www.mastercrafttires.com/tires/courser-cxt/24736.html

I had a local tire shop do the job.

Never stuck with those siped mud tires until one time when they were almost worn out and I got high-centered with ice under the snow. Otherwise, did better than any winter tire and AT I've used.

Honest question. If siped mud tires are so great, why aren’t they siped from the factory? What’s the downside? Wear? Instability?

This is from the Les Schwab website.

"Why Don’t My Tires Come Siped From the Manufacturer?
First, the siping process we use would be too expensive and time-consuming for manufacturers. Plus, typical factory siping leaves small, vacant gaps in the tire tread. The Les Schwab siping process creates gripping edges without gaps and without removing any rubber, allowing the individual sipes to support each other."

There was no instability that we could decern and they lasted 3 winters. My wife was more upset than me when those tires were discontinued (we had 2 sets before they were discontinued.) This is our first year with the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT's so we'll see in a couple years how they hold up and how they do in the winter. So far so good and a 50,000-mile warranty. That is something we didn't get with the MT tires.

Wouldn’t run a free set of Goodyears. St max is made in that size, at3 is a damn good tire just not a true 3 ply sidewall. Ran at3’s on single wheel one tons pulling cattle trailers without issue. Nittos are great tires but wear extremely fast. Especially on a heavy truck. Toyos probably best current tire imho. Cooper 2nd.

I’ve had good service from Toyo Open Country RT’s and Mt’s.

Put a set of Nittos EXO on yesterday

Goodyear owns Cooper and Mickey Thompson now. I didn't have good luck with Goodyears from 30 years ago either. Wonder what will happen with the new acquisitions.

Yea,if you search Goodyear and Cooper, you can find the same tire. One of the reasons I went with the Nitto

I put Nitto Ridge Grapplers on my 1 ton Ram. Took them off as soon as I could and put Toyo Open Country RT Trail's on. Much better tire for the Ram. Put the Nitto's on a 3/4 ton that isn't used for hauling. They have been good there.

nittos were one set of tires that I was glad to get rid of.....didnt wait for them to even get close to being wore out...the ridge grapplers...bob

Nitto and Toyo are the same parent company.

Goodyear/Cooper/Mickey Thompson/Dick Cepek/Falken/Dunlop/Mastercraft are all the same parent company.

Michelin/BFG are the same company.

This is not to say or imply that all of the tires in each parent company are all built to the same level of quality, but it is interesting for sure.

It seems like the standard every other AT tire is compared to is the BFG KO2 (they now have a KO3 in a limited number of sizes). They may not be the ‘best’ for any particular application, but you are doing something right when everyone else compares themselves to you.

I have been underwhelmed with my one set of Coopers, and the stock Goodyears that came on my new trucks have generally been ok, but not outstanding. Unless the price differential in the size I want is huge, I just go with the KO2’s.

Yeah, there is a lot of tread left on the Nitto's. Very squishy feeling on the Ram. Might have been due to the weight of the diesel motor.

The Nitto Ridge is a different tire than the EXO. Exo has 3 ply side walls and is rated commercial. Specs for the Ridge does not show it. That 3rd ply should make a big difference.I know it does in the Cooper which I used in my 98 Cummins. Probably why the Ridge felt squishy.

the truck they were on 2016 f250 crew cab short bed diesel a lot of roll/wandering, probably the worst driving experience I have ever had......bob

I run maxxis razr mt’s. The sidewalls aren’t as stiff as a highway tire, but I’ve towed with them and they handle fine. The traction in mud and snow is amazing.

Ridge/Terra/Trail Grappler Vs. Exo Grappler is Apples to Cumquats. I've had sets of all but the Ridge-Grappler on my '11 F250 diesel.

Ridge Grappler compared to the Exo would be like comparing a Toyo Open Country (I II, or III) to an M-55, different league.

Good to know.