Reccomendations Please.

[Going Postal]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum. I thought I would start off by asking for some opinions. First a little background.

I have a 2004 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 4x4 with plow prep package and a 7.5' Boss Straight Plow. I use sand bags in the bed for extra weight (approx 500lbs). I live North of Buffalo, NY, very close to Niagara Falls.

My truck runs great and has about 33K miles on it. I don't really plow much more than my driveway and a few friends and family. Mostly concrete or ashphalt driveways. The problem is I need new tires by the end of summer as the ones I have are getting pretty worn. I am on a pretty tight budget, so I don't want to buy winter tires and have to buy summer only tires also. I would prefer a good all season tire that i can use for both summer time and winter plowing. Do you guys have any suggestions? Please be very descriptive. I don't know much about tires or tread or sizes, etc.

Thanks.

[Rocket]

Welcome GP,

I'm no tire genius and I'll have to bow out to others whom know better but can you post what you have on the truck now? Start with the size and make printed on the tires. I guess it would be important to know if you like them too.

[snow problem]

Go to tirerack.com They have the best prices and a wide selection. They also run weekly specials.

[Markford14]

I have found that the Cooper ATRs are a good all season tire. I orginally bought them just for the winter set but I got lazy and didnt change them well into spring. They are great in snow, off road they handle great, and on the highway the are quite and comfortable.

[GuzmanProperties]

http://www.greendiamondtire.com/

I saw them at the Englishtown Swap Meet, they had tires to sell. They are all season tires with "diamond-hard silicium carbide granules" in the tires.

They had a nice set of aggressive off road tires, but not my size.

Anyone use them?

[EZSnow]

I have had BFG All-Terrains, and while they are a GREAT tire, they have gotten pretty dang expensive. Last fall I switched to Nitto Terra Grappler. They are MEGA-smooth on the highway, and must have balanced far better than my BFGs ever did, as there are NO vibrations. I don't think they had quite as much traction as the BFGs did when brand-new in the snow, but they were far FAR better than worn BFGs.

Mine are LT285/75R16E. Your truck probably has LT245/75R16 or maybe even a p-rated 70-series. I would strongly recommend getting into an LT-rated tire, and you can certainly fit more tire on there than the factory uses. 285's will fit on a chevy.

[Alan]

One problem with running one set of tires all year is that if you drive much through the summer you may well end up wit tires that just won't cut it by the second winter on them. Once they get down to a third or so of tread depth they just don't work good as a plowing tire. By swapping two sets I get three winters out of a set of BFG All Terrain K/O tires then I run them bald that last summer and start with fresh ones going into winter. If I run them all summer I can barely get two plow seasons out of them. Granted, I've got more money tied up in tires but the actual cost is less over the lifespan of the two sets.

Believe me, In know how that hits the budget. Extra wheels aren't terribly costly and that saves mounting fees and eliminates the chance of bead damage with repeated mountings. I like to put my summer tires on alloys and the winters go on steel wheels with solid hubcaps to keep the salt off the studs as much as possible.

[Going Postal]

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

I have:

Bridgestone V-Steel R1B 265 LT245/75R16

Now did I hear someone say I could put on a wider tire so I could have more rubber in contact with the pavement? Would this require new wheels or would the ones I have be ok?

[Got Grass]

I have a set of Cooper ATR's 265/75/16's on my 01 2500hd. Got them from Hurtubise on Walden in Lancaster # is 716-681-8446
By far the best price for the Coopers. They also have a location on Oliver in NT. but I think they were a couple $'s more. I delt with the owner who qouted me & stuck them on the same day.

[Going Postal]

Is there an advantage to using slightly oversized tires?

[EZSnow]

They don't look like pizza cutters? Seems to be reason enough for me. Some of the guys here like tall'n'skinny for snow work. I've never had a problem running bigger (and wider) tires. I just can't bring myself to install a 235/85... too ugly.

Bigger tires look better, typically ride a little softer, and offer better ground clearance. Once they start getting REAL big, they tend to vibrate and are harder to balance, and will start to rob power.

[Got Grass]

Narrower is better in the snow (usually, tho I haven't noticed it w/ my truck). I think the size up looks MUCH better on the truck. The larger size is also better for off roading meaning thoes times you go whoops & find yourself off the pavement & in the mud. I had a set of 235/85/16's & they looked so funny on my truck & didn't seem to offer any improvement. The larger size did improve ground clearence wich is a big issue on the newer Chevy's.
Either way it's all in the the tires themselves tread design makes a HUGE diffrence and what looks like they would be great tires dosnt meen much.
there are a ton of thread here on types of tires. While most prefer the Cooper Discover M&S for dedicated snow tires (no summer use). The ATR is a nice year round as well as the BFG A/T's. The majority agree anything the factory puts on is junk. Usually cheep easily made tires that are great when new, offer a great ride but thats about it. Not something you want on a work/plow truck.

[sonjaab]

Don't forget that if you run a different size tire (245s to 265/285/305s)
than what came on from the factory your speedo/odo reading will be incorrect also with even bigger rim and tire packages (20s-22s etc)
you will get ABS/SES messages in some cases.

Then its off to the dealer for a PCM reflash hassle...................

[ratlover]

For just occasional plowing duty......dont get excited about the ultimate in plowing traction. The "narrow tire" argument and all that....your splitting hairs IMO for a part time plow truck. Got for a good AT tire that does well for both. Now the winter/summer tire over the long haul makes sense $ wise. You can run your summer tires way down and not worry about traction in the winter. Stock PYO(factory aluminum) or even the H2 rims alot of guys run are resonable to find used.

On the 2500HDs alot of guys step up to 265's at a minimum. They fit great and look a lil better. Not uch bigger and wont throw the speedo off much.

Cheaper AT tires I have ran and liked. My mickey tohmpson atz's and my dunlop radial rover rt's. I think the rt's got replaced by the rtv or something like that. Also realy liked my yokohama geolander +2(the regular geolanders suck) All are cheap. i try to buy US tires though so I have been sticking with goodyear, dunlop, MT and the like.

Got my mickey tohmpsons from national wheel and tire, and I have bought from tire rack before with positve results.