Cargo Van Tires

[BobWolf]

Who makes a decent tire for a 2005 Chev. 3500 C Van. and has highway manors, wears like steel wheels, and decent mileage.
I want something that's aggressive so I don't have to worry about deep snow & rain, but not so aggressive and noisy that after 5 minutes of road noise I have to beg someone to drive my van or experiance a psychotic episode.
I was looking at the BF Goodrich KO2 ta, Firestone Trans force, I do have a Yokohama and the Toyo Open Country I have on it now.
They're a decent tire but trying to find them local is a pain in the neck. The couple shops I talked to say theyre special order.

Still have a month or so left before they come off, so there's no rush I just prefer to switch them out before they're bald.

Maybe some Rogaine will work for now?

 

[Turtle]

Michelin LTX AT/2
A very tough, all-terrain tread with an extra 2/32 to start with. Engineered to be extra quiet. Very low rolling resistance gets you outstanding fuel economy and tread wear mileage, especially if you put nitrogen in them.

I won't even post how many miles I got from my last set because no one would believe it. I wouldn't believe it. The guys at Discount Tire didn't want to believe it, but their own computer was telling them otherwise.

New Hampshire and Delaware (and Oregon, Montana Alaska) are good places to buy tires because they have no sales tax. I've bought tires for my Sprinter in Minnesota, Delaware, and Michigan. Deleware is better.

Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana are tax exempt if you have operating authority. Big truck tire places will be familiar with that, but I'm not sure how familiar the smaller vehicle retail tire places are with the exemption.

 

[bikerpaul]

I used Michelin on my 2008 Ford E-250 when I was with Premium Transportation. When I sold the van, there was 156,000 miles on the tires, and still had life on them.

 

[ysracer]

Michelin LTX AT/2
A very tough, all-terrain tread with an extra 2/32 to start with. Engineered to be extra quiet. Very low rolling resistance gets you outstanding fuel economy and tread wear mileage, especially if you put nitrogen in them.

I won't even post how many miles I got from my last set because no one would believe it. I wouldn't believe it. The guys at Discount Tire didn't want to believe it, but their own computer was telling them otherwise.

New Hampshire and Delaware (and Oregon, Montana Alaska) are good places to buy tires because they have no sales tax. I've bought tires for my Sprinter in Minnesota, Delaware, and Michigan. Deleware is better.

Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana are tax exempt if you have operating authority. Big truck tire places will be familiar with that, but I'm not sure how familiar the smaller vehicle retail tire places are with the exemption.

Agree ! I much prefer these to the popular MS/2 which I found very disappointing.

I now have a set of Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar, and they have better snow/ice/rain traction than the Michelin AT/2 and are very quiet. I only used them thru winter, so life expectancy is not yet known.

 

[Mailer]

This website has the tire ratings info similar to what you've asked for. Select the brands and check on the bottom of the chart. Hopefully it has your tire size. Good luck shopping.

245/75R16 Tires | Town Fair Tire

 

[Mailer]

This website has the tire ratings info similar to what you've asked for. Select the brands and check on the bottom of the chart. Hopefully it has your tire size. Good luck shopping.

245/75R16 Tires | Town Fair Tire

Oops! I just check this site again, it may not have the tires specs(E rating)for your vehicle. But I think the rating results of the brand you selected may give an idea what brand you want to choose.

 

[DollarSign]

Michelin's M/S 2 with 160k and with nitrogen. Still has tread left. Going to be replaced soon. I've check on Discount Tire and they don't do nitrogen?

 

[Turtle]

I've check on Discount Tire and they don't do nitrogen?

I've never heard of one that carries it. You can pull into most any tire place and ask if they have nitrogen, and they probably won't. But they probably will know a place close by that does.

It's far from all-inclusive, but you can plug in a Zip Code and get a list of places carry it at GetNitrogen.org. They also denote in the listings any places that are truck friendly.

The car dealers will charge the most for nitrogen, usually $49 to $89 for the 4 tires. My Dodge dealer at home charges $59.95, but they only charge me $20. Tire dealers will usually charge between $20 and $30. You really shouldn't pay more than $5-$7 per tire. Costco gives free nitrogen, but I think you have to buy the tires there. I'm not a member there so I'm not sure. I don't even know if you have to be a member to get your car worked on there.

I run 55 psi front and 80 on the rear, so when I have the tires rotated I make sure it's done at a place that has nitrogen, ideally at a place that doesn't charge much more than $20 total for the rotation and the nitrogen.

I only rotate my tires ever 30k-50k miles. If I see some wonky or uneven tread wear, rather than rotating the tires really often to deal with that, I find the mechanical root cause of that and have it fixed (wheel bearings, alignment, worn shocks, lower ball joints, whatever).

 

[kg]

Michelin LTX MS/2 for sure!!!!

Stay safe
KG

 

[danthewolf00]

The new michelin m/s tire is now called
defender ltx m/s and they lowered the mileage warranty to 50k

 

[Turtle]

The new michelin m/s tire is now called
defender ltx m/s and they lowered the mileage warranty to 50k

It's exactly the same depth and design as the LTX M/S2, except it's made with the Evertread compound, which we know lasts longer than the standard compound of the LTX M/S2. The P-metric sizes, typically for the lighter half-ton trucks and SUVs, come with the same 70,000-mile warranty as the predecessor.

The LT sizes carry a 50,000-mile warranty, which is what all the competitors have for those. They did that mainly for the truck folks who, it seems no matter what, can only get 30,000 miles out of a set of tires. Michelin is even guaranteeing to those people that they'll get 50,000 instead of 30,000 with these tires. Those are the people who do a lot of severe driving, like heavy towing and off-road and lots of gravel road stuff.

The LT sizes with the Defender Evertread means the treadlife is improved by a minimum of 10% over the M/S2, chip and tear resistance are greatly improved, while wet traction, snow traction and rolling resistance remain unchanged.

 

[brokcanadian]

I got almost 200,000 miles out of the Transforce HT and they were cheap. I wouldn't drive in the Northeast without winters, so although I agree with the Michelins mentioned here I wouldn't attempt winter driving with them, they suck in the ice. Ask me how I know

Looking forward Bridgestone Blizzaks were the best in W965, but the ice compound goes quick so I drove throughout the summer with no issues. Switched to Michelin Arctic alpine and could not get stuck even in 3+ feet

 

[Turtle]

If I spent most of my winters in the northeast I'd have winter tires, for sure. The issue with most expediters is, there is only a need for actual winter tires for just a handful of days a year. Maybe half a dozen days per winter. The rest of the time is spent driving on well-plowed or completely cleared roads.

I've had excellent experiences in snow with the M/S 2 and certainly the A/T 2 tires, always with at least 6/32 of tread depth, or course.

Then again, I've never tried to negotiate 3-feet of snow in a Sprinter with a 9-inch ground clearance.

 

[brokcanadian]

That was a Ram Van 3500 with posi and a heavy load, not looking forward to an unloaded Sprinter

They do make a sprinter lift kit...probably pointless without tall tires and the open diff...

 

[dchawk81]

Look at Goodyear SilentArmor as well.