atctoby

Hi all! Looking to see if anyone has had any info on upgrades over the factory tires on a 2015 Silverado 2500 Z71. I pull a 36' toyhauler and even when not pulling, the wet traction on the factory tires in my opinion suck. Has anyone upgraded yet? Looking for something that is good for light offroad as well as highway performance. I have a small itch to lift and get bigger tires but would have to find a dropdown hitch option for my monster hitch/swaybar rig. Still a new truck so that may be in the "once paid off future" but I figured I'd ask. Any info would be appreciated.

I upgraded from a F-150 and am extremely content in my decision. Glad to be here and hope to hear from yall.

Very Respectfully,
Toby

iluvchevy

The Michelin LTX AT2 can last up to 70k+, depending if you tow regularly or not. Other off road tires that can be used for towing are Duratracs, Terra Grapplers and BFG AT.

cleveland63b

personally I'd never run Michelin or nittos, seen way to many issues even with them band new. Kelly and Cooper are usually at the top of my list but theres literally 1000s of choices so you'll have to do a lot of research depending how picky you are.

ToddLahey

I have always bought the Michelin LTX AT and thought they were great tires all around. My last set I bought Yokohoma Geolanders for a slightly cheaper option at the tire shops recommendation and the wet traction was no where as good as the Michelin in my opinion, they actually made me change my driving style and I don't think I am an aggressive driver. I traded that 08 1500 in on a 16 2500 last night it has Goodyears but I only have about 300 miles on dry pavement so far. It they are anything like the Goodyears that came on my 03 2500 they will not last more than 40K but they were ok all the way around.

Doc Savage

Michelin LTX all the way on my last 4 trucks when the originals needed to be replaced - with the Michelins; zero broken belts, zero wear pattern problems and good wear mileage in the roughly 750,000 miles I put on those trucks.


My new 16' came with Goodyears and at 10,000 miles there is already noticeable wear, I'm guessing if they make 35K that is really going to be pushing it.
The truck before that came with Goodyears as well and they barely made 30K.


You pay more (not a huge amount), but service life is usually double.


Just my .02.


Doc

Cowpie

I have a great fondness for the quality and durability of Michelin on my commercial heavy trucks, but they plain suck on my 2500. I guess it all depends on what you do and where you do it. I primarily use my 2500 for hauling. Not towing. And then, I needed the hauling capacity of a 2500 over a 1500. And I have to do it on rural two lane highways, gravel roads that can be very nasty at times, and some off road farm/ranch kind of stuff. The LTX AT2's caused me to invent new swear words.

But I decided to take another Michelin brand... BFG... and put on the KO2's. I did also move up a notch on tire size. From stock 265/70R18 to 275/70R18. I am a much happier individual in doing so. Handling is much better, ride is much better, and the more aggressive tread does me right in my rural situation. I have yet to see any appreciable mpg change between tires. As for tire life, we'll have to see how it plays out. My LTX AT2's took quite a beating in just 23,000 miles and I was not impressed. They were just plain terrible in crop ground and wet pasture type of scenarios. Maybe not the fault of the tire, but the application they were forced to deal with. One thing for certain, the KO2's do a far superior job plowing snow that the AT2's ever did. But again, it might be the challenge that is faced. I have to plow 900' of gravel drive, around out buildings and barn, some of that on turf and not on driveway type surface.

I get the distinct idea the Michelin leaves the serious work related tires to their BFG branch and concentrates more on average user stuff for the specific Michelin line. So again, it all depends on what you are doing and where you are doing it.

fishing nut

I have a set of BFgoodrich rugged trails on our 2011 Suburban 2500. The tires have roughly 45,000 miles on them and have held up extremely well. They show very little ware. We tow side by sides and a 5000 lb boat with the truck. This summer we are towing a 30ft Tavel trailer from Wisconsin to South Dakota and I have no plans on replacing the tires. Wet traction on the tires is very good snow traction is above average.

Cowpie

I have had good results with BFG rugged trails in the past and think they are a very good tire for general use. I took the goofy OEM supplied Michelin LTX AT2 tires off my 2015 2500 Z71 with snow plow prep (I found myself inventing new swear words over those tires) and put on BFG KO2 in the next size up. While BFG is actually a Michelin division, I have become convinced that Michelin puts more effort toward LT type tires on the BFG side than they do their own Michelin brand tires. I went from the stock 265/70R18 tires on mine to 275/70R18. A tad taller and wider. Been an excellent improvement. But I have to deal with several miles of gravel roads any time the pickup leaves the driveway and those roads can range from dry to very muddy, and maybe several days of snow drifts and such before the county gets out to clear the road. And a lot of off road on the property. On highway, they are surprisingly quiet for an AT tire and they are wearing extremely well and and extremely comfortable tire. I haul more than I tow, and what I haul can get up to the max payload occasionally. MPG has not degraded much if any with the different tires.

The key to getting the most in performance and life out of any tire is the air pressures. Whatever tire, get the load/psi chart from the tire manufacturer and run the pressures recommended for the axle load on the pickup. If you do ask for such a chart, DO NOT tell the tire maker the vehicle it is on. Only the tire model and size. Else they will just punt back to the OEM recommended pressure in the door sill, which is NOT the best pressure to run under all scenarios. I have learned after well over 6 million miles of actual driving both commercially and personally, that running the tire maker recommended pressures based on the load delivers the best life, the best braking performance, the best bad weather performance, and the best ride quality. After all, it was the tire maker that put in the R&D on the tires, not the OEM. They know what is best for their tires than a dweeb in a cubicle writing owner's manuals for the OEM. For my 2015 2500, I will typically run them at 55 front and 50 rear when running around empty, on highway or rural. Depending on load, I only really vary the rear tire air pressures occasionally. I only inflate them up to the OEM recommended 60 front 70 rear if I am really loading up the pickup. I will generally run 60 front and 50 rear with the snow plow on. And truth be told, the assumption on the OEM recommended pressures is for maximum loading of the pickup, towing heavy, etc, which very few people actually do every day. I have the load pressure chart from BFG for the KO2 275/70R18 tires I am using and stay pretty close to those recommended pressures..

Of course, the TPMS has a fit, but I am very good at ignoring that nonsense. I just take a look at the pressures it shows and dismiss the initial alert on the DIC about low tire pressures (typically the rear tires only) when I start the pickup, and I can't recall the last time I consciously noticed the little tire pressure warning light on the dash. Just have mentally blocked it out I guess.