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.