Tires that don’t suck

[TheAutumnWind]

Softer ride =18” rims/tires

My 20s ride great. Hankook ventus st in 275 55 r20.

 

[LRob]

I bought a 2012 Tahoe this year, it has 20's, they are rough riders unless I'm towing our 3500 lb trailer. The smaller the rim diameter, the smoother the ride... larger sidewall...

this only holds true if you pick the right tire. You have to be familiar with diff tire categories....grand touring, highway, high performance, etc. you can run a 17” wheel with a high performace tire and it will ride stiffer than a grand touring or highway tire. Its all in the tire and of course suspension. I ran 22s with the bridgestone and didnt notice a real difference in ride quality over the 20s with the same tire. I also live in the south so the roads are much better. With 22s the truck wont seem as nimble but it wont have a harsh ride if you pick the right tire.

 

[tsuintx]

The jury is in on my end. Wish I would have gone with the Defender LTX M/S

Costco has $150 off Michelins right now, so get you some.

On the other hand, I had a set of 285/45-22 Bridgestone Dueler Alenzas put on the wife's Suburban a few weeks ago at Costco when they had $150 off of B'stones and, unlike you, I do like them a lot. Even being 22s, the truck still rides nice and smooth and handle the Texas rain well. Not much of that white stuff on the ground here , so handling on that is a non-issue.

Definitely much better than the damn Chinese rubber that was on truck when we bought it, that's for sure!

 

[George B]

Costco has $150 off Michelins right now, so get you some.

On the other hand, I had a set of 285/45-22 Bridgestone Dueler Alenzas put on the wife's Suburban a few weeks ago at Costco when they had $150 off of B'stones and, unlike you, I do like them a lot. Even being 22s, the truck still rides nice and smooth and handle the Texas rain well. Not much of that white stuff on the ground here , so handling on that is a non-issue.

Definitely much better than the damn Chinese rubber that was on truck when we bought it, that's for sure!

After more driving and testing I think the only way I will get noticeably better snow performance is if I were to go to a dedicated winter tire on a narrower wheel. For now I will adjust my driving style a bit to compensate.

 

[swathdiver]

...tires at a max of about 50psi, 6 ply equiv. LT tires might be max press. 60psi and 8 ply equivalent LT tires will be around 80psi.

BFG A/T tires are usually 6ply equivalent (3 plys that count as 6)

On my 1996 Tahoe, my old Coopers, two sets, forgot the model name both All Terrain tires had a make press. of 80psi.

Load Range C = 50 psi
Load Range D = 65 psi
Load Range E = 80 psi

Construction is different now from the old days, they are unlikely to have as many layers or plys as yesteryear.

 

[Stbentoak]

After more driving and testing I think the only way I will get noticeably better snow performance is if I were to go to a dedicated winter tire on a narrower wheel. For now I will adjust my driving style a bit to compensate.

If you deal with serious winter.. Then winter rubber like Blizzaks is mandatory. I run them on my wife's SUV and the difference is absolutely night and day. Much different composition and siping make all the difference....

 

[R Black]

Load Range C = 50 psi
Load Range D = 65 psi
Load Range E = 80 psi

Construction is different now from the old days, they are unlikely to have as many layers or plys as yesteryear.

Ick .... my new tires (new at 3,000 mi.) are max 45psi hope that doesn't mean they are load range B. DOH!!!

Excellent comment by the way, and yes the construction is different I thought I mentioned that but I can see that I did from where I sit.

Man! ... As an Illinoisan (Land of Leavin') who spends most time on pavement but is given to annual periods of extremely rough use, I learned my lesson, more than twice about subpar tires.
On my '79 K5 and 90 K5 Blazers I always ran BFG ATs' once I got the GMT400 I had to go progressively stronger in order not to kill my family by starvation from being stranded.
The lesson I learned twice, and forgot the first time, was taking a brand new 90 K5 out West with Uniroyal load range C tires. I had three flat tires in one day, thankfully I could patch one, the other had a hole you could throw a hamster through, and the third I was able to inflate-a-flat and keep full every 20miles with the ARB compressor. I bought some very sturdy Big O tires in Pinetop and eventually went back to exclusively running BFG ATs. I quickly forgot that OEM tire lesson when I took the 2020 out west. I shredded all four treads and punctured the sidewall on one at an undisclosed location in Colorado that used to be the stomping grounds of Jumat Al Fuqra terrorists. It only took about 180 miles of off pavement driving to ruin the fake OEM tires.

I am still stumped trying to find out what the sturdiest tire is for this 2020 Tahoe. I forgot the rim size but it's the smallest one, (Thank God) I think it's 17"

It would totally suck if I could not get heavier light truck tires for this behemoth.

Though, I'm sure the Coopers I have now, though the same size and rating are way sturdier than the fake OEM rubber.