Best tires for 3500 dually 235/80R17

[Jim2366]

What are the best tires for pulling heavy 5th wheel RV.

[bsmith0404]

I prefer black, round ones. I know sarcastic answer, but you’ll get a lot of opinions. My experience when I had my dually may not be relevant any more since it was a couple years back and tire manufacturers change compounds and designs, but I had my best luck with Cooper Discoverer tires. I transported RVs and went through several sets of tires in a short period. The Firestone Transforce didnt wear well, Michelins didn’t balance well, the Coopers were a good tire, balanced and rode well and I got great tread life out of them.

This question has been asked many times in many places on the net, a google search will get you all kinds of info.

[wrvond]

Like bsmith I also transported RVs. My truck came with Michelins and I averaged 85,000 miles per set. They don’t have the traction of BFG K02s but last a lot longer.
I personally was never a fan of the Michelin tires on my other vehicles, but they have worked very well on my dually so I stick with them. Interestingly the BFG is owned by Michelin and considered a lower tier line.

[bsmith0404]

That’s what I’m talking about as far as answers to a question like this. I got so frustrated with the Michelins trying to keep them balanced that I even tried tire beads. Eventually I pulled them early just to get them off my truck. Unfortunate part is they did wear well so I put up with them for a long time. I have the KO2s on my current truck (not a DRW). Will be looking for something different when I replace them. Not wearing well at all. I’ve never been a big fan of the KO2 in the past, but tried them again because of the load capacity. I like the look of them too. For every answer you get saying someone loves a particular tire, you’ll probably get an answer where someone hates it, but says they love a different brand, then someone else will hate that one. It’s a never ending spiral. Lol.

[sourdough]

The tire debate is like discussing truck preferences; the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The tire that checks all the boxes for one person may completely miss the mark for another. High mileage may mean a lot to one person or to another, like me, it doesn't. Road noise may be of no consequence to one but to another, like me, I don't want to deal with it. Same with cost etc. The only suggestion I would make is to get the proper tire size fitment in a name brand tire that is widely available. If it turns out you don't like them they make lots of brands and they come off easy.

[travelin texans]

I think I've tried most of the tire brands Discount Tire sells & a couple other brands from other shops in that size.
DO NOT use Falken, Firestone, Goodyear! The Falkens have VERY short tread life at about 25k, gets a bit expensive replacing 6 tires every year. Firestone & Goodyears would never balance, but got about 35k miles out of both brands, if you don't mind the ride.
Yokohama & Toyo either would be my 3rd choice,, got 35-40k+ miles, ride good & quiet! Coppers were my 2nd choice with Michelins as #1 for ride, mileage @ 70k+ miles per set & best performance.
Again your $$, your choice!

[wiredgeorge]

The tires on my tires are best. Don't listen to these other guys! I use... well wait a bit, I forgot what tires I have on my clunker....

Seriously, what tires depends on your personal druthers; do you put a LOT of miles on them or is your truck used for hauling the camper once or twice a month on short camping excursions. Makes little sense to spend a zillion bucks on tires that will get you 85K miles wear but if you do drive your truck a bunch of miles, those Michelin tires look like maybe the best value.

To be honest, I just put on a set of US made tires (Cooper) and can't say how long they will last but I have put less than 10K miles on my truck since buying it a number of years ago (we camp once or twice a month at best and short distances as we have 9 dogs and can't leave them a long time; my sis/bil dog sit while we camp).

Best for you? You is you; decide what characteristics of the purchase are important to YOU and not me.

[gearhead]

It's a kind of a blonde or brunette thing. Whatever you prefer.
I had Firestone OEM on a SRW 2016 Ram. Junk. Had Nexen on this dually as OEM, even worse junk than Firestone. I went to Coopers early. I just put the 2nd set of Cooper Highway Threads on. I do have a tendency to trash tires probably before most do.
A heavy 5th wheel seems to scrub them down pretty fast.

[Jim2366]

I bought my truck new in November of 2019 and use it just for pulling my RV and keep it in the garage. So in 2 year and 6 months I put on 37K miles and had just replaced the trailer tires. I had a flat coming home yesterday and looked at the tires and they are getting worn.

[pawpaw]

The factory Michelin LTX AT2's are still on my '17 F350 dually. with close to 60K miles. 245x75x17's. Never had a flat and used for towing a 41' fifth wheel.

[bsmith0404]

One of the things I always look at is the mileage warranty vs cost. I break it down to how many cents per mile does the tire cost me (old habit from when i was a trasporter and calculated every expense per mile). Then I consider past experience with different brands. When it comes to tires on a dually, Cooper and Michelin seem to be the most recommended. As I mentioned earlier, I couldn’t keep Michelins balanced, but others don’t seem to have that problem, but the cost per mile is also too high on them.

[Jim2366]

An update on my tire that went flat. It was a leak in the value stem and I had it fixed. After just getting new RV tires I am going to keep my current tires. However I appreciate the information and I know that I will choose between Cooper and Michelin. So I will keep looking at the prices and my tire wear to get the most wear without a blow out.

[hawghauler]

I'm running a 2010 chevy cclb drw with Cooper HT3 can't speak for longevity I've got around 5000 on the set so far so good my 5er is just shy of 15k and she's steady as a rock ride is decent for a 1ton drw 4 ton cruise missile

[Jim2366]

Today I purchased 6 new tires from Discount Tire, Michelin LTX A/T 2. LT235 / 80 R17. They did a price match Walmart. I do get free rotation and tire balancing. They are a little more aggressive tread so I am hoping that will just provide me with longer wear. With tax I was right at 2k. About 3.3 cents per mile if I get the 60,000 miles that are expected.

[notanlines]

"They are a little more aggressive tread so I am hoping that will just provide me with longer wear."
I'm curious how you came to this thought. Generally it is assumed that the noisier the tire (from the more 'aggressive') the less mileage. An actual road tire will normally give you the best mileage.

[Jim2366]

Which Michelin tire would you have bought

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Jim2366

Today I purchased 6 new tires from Discount Tire, Michelin LTX A/T 2. LT235 / 80 R17. They did a price match Walmart. I do get free rotation and tire balancing. They are a little more aggressive tread so I am hoping that will just provide me with longer wear. With tax I was right at 2k. About 3.3 cents per mile if I get the 60,000 miles that are expected.

Good morning Jim. Just as a general reference more aggressive treads offer more off road/snow traction, less on road traction, more noise and less mileage. The wider tread separations also make them more susceptible to rubber damage (chunking and cuts). Of course the rubber compound also makes a difference. If you tow part of the time and use the truck for mud/snow at other times they are a good choice.

I use the Michelin Defender tires. They aren't as aggressive but the traction is good due to the design and rubber compound. It's all about what you are looking for in a tire.

https://tirewheelguide.com/tires/com...elin-ltx-at-2/

[dutchmensport]

I've had Michelin on my dually since the day we bought it (new) almost 10 years ago. I'm on my 2nd set of tires. The first set lasted over 50,000 miles and probably 40,000 miles of that was towing trailers. The truck now has almost 90,000 miles and probably 80,000 miles of that was towing trailers.
The second set of Michelins are still going strong.

I keep my truck tires pressured up to the the max, even when not towing. It's always a stiff ride, but I've never had issues with my tires.

I cannot promise ANY success with anything you purchase today. Times have changed so much in the last 5 years.

[Jim2366]

After picking the truck up yesterday I had a little buyers remorse or concern with getting the tires. All the tires I had in the past were more Hwy and not All Terrain. Last night I spent more time after the fact of buying them, not the order you should do things and they have good reviews from RVers. Hopefully they will end to work well with pulling the 5th wheel.

[jxnbbl]

I picked up my 2500 and Bullet 273BH in the fall of 2020 with whatever was installed. The tires on the Bullet actually were fine/reputable (not bombs and lucky) ...as well as the 2500. We traveled about 15000 miles total and 8000 towing mainly in the heat of Florida. I could NOT believe the wear on the truck tires....and had to get new ones after one year before the snow flied. I ended up getting Michelin Agilis CrossClimate all around, traded the above for a 330BH and pulled another 8000 miles and now have 40k on the truck. They are still fine.