18" Tire Selection

[Big Dog D]

Time to get something else besides the Contisucks. What have others tried? Why specificaly do you like or dislike them?

Anyone know of another option not listed here? Keep in mind it's LT275/70R18 so any other suggestions need to be available in that size.

[Earthscapes]

We put Pro-Comp All Terrains on the 05' F-350 in Oct. 07. Size is LT275/65R18 in a E range. They wear great all around and dig well in the snow.

The first replacement tires were, Master Craft Courser C/T LT275/70R18 E. They were awesome in the snow, but wore like crap on the road.

[Big Dog D]

I forgot to mention that the BFG's are not an option I want to consider. I have them now and aren't overly impressed with them in general.

[marcs]

I put the Courser CT's on my '07 after I plowed with it ONCE. I was going to just run the Conti's till they were bald since 18's are $$$, but they were not just bad, they were unsafe in the snow. I've had the CT's before, and I was able to get 35K out of them if you keep them rotated. My brother has the Procomp's on his 99 (16") and he won't end up with much more than 40k on them. The CT's do dig very well in the snow, though.

[90plow]

Just put the firestones on our 350 and I like the tread pattern and the tire guy said his cousin got 70k out of them before replacement.
-Eric

[cat320]

I hear good and bad about the goodyears silent armors. I'm waiting as well I hate the conties but be damned if i spend big money on more junk.

[Markford14]

My Cooper ATR have been great in snow. I dont even use 4 wd plowing much. Even on on maintained roads in the upstate NY the are great.

[Big Dog D]

I hear good and bad about the goodyears silent armors. I'm waiting as well I hate the conties but be damned if i spend big money on more junk.

What have you heard that was bad about them?

[cat320]

well I was looking on there customer reviews and 2 guys loved them but had no miles a guy that out 12K on them said not great.

[Big Dog D]

well I was looking on there customer reviews and 2 guys loved them but had no miles a guy that out 12K on them said not great.

That makes it clear as mud. :popcorn2

[cat320]

just go to goodyears site the testmoines will make it clear as water . but 1 out of 3 that dislikes it I have heard people dislikeing the wrangler which this basicly is.

[Abes]

My uncle has cooper ATRS on his 1 ton superduty he seems to like them. but ya i hear ya on the contis they are by far the worst plowing tires i have used.

[ducatirider944]

I have ran the cooper discover SST on my F-350 and have had great luck with them. They work great in the snow for pushing, great in the mud, I lose about 1 mpg running them verses a road tire but I feel it is worth it. I have been getting around 45k for mileage on them which I think is pretty good. I could probably get more miles out of them but they always seem to be getting light on tread going into winter so I replace them before they need it. The other thing that is nice about them is they are only about $150 a tire mounted and balanced.

[Big Dog D]

Those SSTs don't seem like they would be good in the snow with the big lugs, big grooves, and minimal siping on the sides.

I was hoping that someone would have first hand knowledge of the Wrangler S/A's or the Michelins.

[snow what]

I replaced the Conti's with Toyo A/T Open Country from my Ford Dealer. Expensive, $250/tire, but beats getting stuck with those stock POS tires!

[GMC Driver]

Big difference in price between the 18" and 16" Toyo - but we've been buying them, and so far the operators love them. Got a third set going on today.

[cat320]

It be worth it if they are good in snow rain and ice and get good millage out of them. but when you spend good money and they crap out

[nben]

I have ran the cooper discover SST on my F-350 and have had great luck with them. They work great in the snow for pushing, great in the mud, I lose about 1 mpg running them verses a road tire but I feel it is worth it. I have been getting around 45k for mileage on them which I think is pretty good. I could probably get more miles out of them but they always seem to be getting light on tread going into winter so I replace them before they need it. The other thing that is nice about them is they are only about $150 a tire mounted and balanced.

I 2nd the STT's. I have them on my personal truck and love them. We have ATR's on almost all of our work trucks and they seem to work well, however I still prefer the STT's on my truck in the snow, mud, and plowing. Surprisingly quiet too compared to other aggressive patterns.....

[Wizard]

DJ, just curious, what about the BFG's dont you like? I like mine, I think they're great for plowing. Of course, some on this lovely opinionated site will say I just bought them for looks, but I really do believe they're a good tire.

I have run Goodyears before and really didn't care for their traction characteristics (harder rubber) and the plies weren't stiff enough when loaded, very squishy and not comfortable. Also, they balance nicely on the spin balancer, but always felt "lumpy" on the highway.

My old man went to class about tire tech a while back. What I learned from him is that goodyear tires are manufactured using a single piece of rubber/plies and connecting them at one point in the tire versus some of the others such as Bridgestone that manufactures their tires using a continuous band. This explains the out of balance feeling on the vehicle when they balance just fine.

Cant comment on the other options, I've never run them... I sure wish Bridgestone had the Revo in an 18", those are my favorite of any tire I've had.

[Big Dog D]

DJ, just curious, what about the BFG's dont you like? I like mine, I think they're great for plowing. Of course, some on this lovely opinionated site will say I just bought them for looks, but I really do believe they're a good tire.




I think they are way over priced and that you pay a lot for the "cool factor". Their traction is OK but I was hoping for something better in a narrower profile. I have never had a set that wore particularly well. I've owned several sets and just aren't all that happy with them.

[apgarconstruction]

I have 18 contis on my 06 ford 350 and they need to go soon, 27000 miles and i didn't rotate enough, but i should get 30-35000 out of them.
i went to my tire place. i chose the michelins and got a price on them. i have run michelin in the past and liked them but had transforce at on my old 97 diesel and liked them also. they aren't bad for the money.
either way, even for the cheaper tires, it's going to run 1000-1200 bucks for four. all because ford wants to put 18 inch rims on a work truck for the guys who want bling bling and drive around the city.

i could put 4 tires on my old 97 for under 800 bucks.
i like the toyos or the michelins. i'm looking for a year round tire though that is good in the snow but not for plowing, since i'm not plowing anymore.

i'm probably going to lean more towards the at/2 michelins in the end. i think they have a great pattern on them and should wear good too.
just very expensive.

[Mark Oomkes]

DJ, did the BFG's cause more moose damage than acceptable? Or was it mini-van? If you hadn't screwed around so long trying to decide (like a woman) you might not have murdered the mini-van.

How come no pics, either? I'm too lazy to go find them on the web. Help a poor guy who can only afford wooden shoes out, would ya? :grinz

[Big Dog D]

DJ, did the BFG's cause more moose damage than acceptable? Or was it mini-van? If you hadn't screwed around so long trying to decide (like a woman) you might not have murdered the mini-van.

How come no pics, either? I'm too lazy to go find them on the web. Help a poor guy who can only afford wooden shoes out, would ya? :grinz


The weapon of choice for the mini-van was the same F-550 that just came out of the body shop 3 days before the murder. It has excellent rubber on it, a mix of Michelin's in the front an Coopers in the rear.

[marcs]

Actually the 17's and 18's are on there to clear the large rotors and calipers, which helps allow you to carry massive amounts of....anything. 17's will fit, and are offered from the factory, but they are similarly priced to the 18's. I was considering selling my 18" wheels and buying 17's, but it wasn't really worth it in the end. About the only advantage I found with 17's was a better selection of tires available.

[Honest Mike]

I actually started a thread similar to this not too long ago, search for it and check it out, some decent reading there. I have the Silent Armors on my 06 F350 and they are awesome in the snow! They are brand new and have only been used in the snow twice so far, but those 2 times impressed me like you wouldnt believe. The truck goes through snow now like a hot knife through butter! Absolute night and day difference between them and the stock Continentals! This past storm, I was purposely driving around looking for steep hill type unplowed streets to try and drive up, and the truck flew up those hills like the snow wasnt even there. The more I pressed the gas pedal, the faster it drove up the hill. Maybe that doesnt prove anything to anyone, but to me it does cause I know what the truck felt like before with the stock crappy tires lol. I was like you and stuck between the Cooper and the Goodyear, and I know Cooper is a damn good tire as well, but to me the Goodyear just seemed to look alot beefier with that mean looking aggressive tread pattern. I dont put many miles on at all, so wear shouldnt be a problem for me atleast, but obviously I hope they last! I love these tires, and definitely recommend checking them out. I paid $191 each. Hope this helps.

[apgarconstruction]

Mike,
are they an all season tire? or strictly for snow? i really need to decide soon by springtime on a new tire. 1200 bucks is crazy for michelin AT/2s

thanks!
Dan

[Mark Oomkes]

I actually started a thread similar to this not too long ago, search for it and check it out, some decent reading there. I have the Silent Armors on my 06 F350 and they are awesome in the snow! They are brand new and have only been used in the snow twice so far, but those 2 times impressed me like you wouldnt believe. The truck goes through snow now like a hot knife through butter! Absolute night and day difference between them and the stock Continentals! This past storm, I was purposely driving around looking for steep hill type unplowed streets to try and drive up, and the truck flew up those hills like the snow wasnt even there. The more I pressed the gas pedal, the faster it drove up the hill. Maybe that doesnt prove anything to anyone, but to me it does cause I know what the truck felt like before with the stock crappy tires lol. I was like you and stuck between the Cooper and the Goodyear, and I know Cooper is a damn good tire as well, but to me the Goodyear just seemed to look alot beefier with that mean looking aggressive tread pattern. I dont put many miles on at all, so wear shouldnt be a problem for me atleast, but obviously I hope they last! I love these tires, and definitely recommend checking them out. I paid $191 each. Hope this helps.

Good to hear they work well, however comparing them to the Conti's isn't really fair. The Conti's are best suited for drag racing use only, as they are basically slicks to begin with.

Whoever the dumb ass at Continental thought this was a good 'All Season' truck tire and then the bigger dumb ass at Ford who bought into it just blows my mind. I've seen better tread patterns on ricers.

[Wizard]

I guess I was a little behind the times here. I hadn't been tire shopping since summer '06 and at the time, the only thing available was goodyears in a little smaller size, the contis in stock size, or the BFG's in a little bigger size, hence me picking them, as they were the only option in my mind at the time. I'd lean towards the transforce or Michelins. I had the transforce tires on my work van after the goodyears that were on it split their plies, and the transforce were good tires. Not sure about snow traction on them though, didn't have much of an opportunity to try them out before I dumped the van. We had Michelin LTX tires on our explorer, and they were a great tire in the snow, not sure about the AT2's.

I agree, there are better options than the BFG's for a work truck, and yes, they are a bit spendy. They also dont wear the greatest on the highway, are slightly more noisy, and I did notice about a .5 mpg drop on the highway after switching to them. Not saying I dont like them, I think they're a great A/T tire, but I'm not sure I'd spend the extra coin on them the next time around... If this were an employee driven truck, I'd go with the transforce, but on my personal ride, I'd take a closer look at the Michelins. Cant comment on the coopers, I've never run them.

[Big Dog D]

I am leaning toward the Goodyears and it's nice to finally get a firsthand report on them. They seem like they'd be decent on the highway and great in the snow. I have an extra set of 18'' wheels and would mount the new tires on them I will be keeping the Conti's and would continue to use those in the spring, summer and fall.