Highway tires on a 4x4

[RegularGuy]

I do nearly 100% street driving, the closest thing to a "trail" being National Forest service roads. As such I would fall into the small category of people interested in highway tires, at the stock size of 31x10.5r15 there is little to none in the way of highway tires and as such I'm switching wheel size to the oem 16 found on the "off-road" (Y-spoke wheels). My tire options then are as I understand them to be, a 265/70r16, or more preferably (for fuel economy reasons) a 245/75r16.

My questions:
Is the Michelin LTX the best there is to offer or is the a better highway all season?

Is 245 too narrow? Will it look dumb?

Is going higher on the load rating worth the money or should I stick with load C?

And lastly,
If there's anyone out there running highway tires of a similar size on an 4x4, what are you running (tire and size) and what would you recommend?

 

[Josh B]

Hey RG, I haven't had a chance to say hello. Those are good questions, but I can't give you any specifics on them. You will get some good answers in time from those who know well the parameters you've mentioned. Good luck with it

 

[adsm08]

A lot of people in general don't like Michelin tires. I think the LTX is a decent highway tire and I don't see a ton of issues with them.

When I first put 31s on my Ranger I actually had a set of metric tires there were as close as you can get to a 31x10.50x15 that came off an E-150. Don't remember the exact size, but they were LTXs. I didn't keep them long because they were chopped really bad and I had a better set of tires on a parts vehicle.

BFG Radial Long-Trails are also a nice tire with a more streetish tread, I believe they are available in that size.

 

[Grumpaw]

While not on a truck or true 4x4, I have a set of Michelin LTX MS2 on my Subaru Crosstrek.. Put them on at 30,000 miles, and they now have 55,000 miles on odometer, plus the Crosstrek has been towed behind our motorhome , with those tires, another 30,000 miles. Mostly highway miles, but we have taken the Crosstrek on many trails and dirt/gravel roads thru a dozen national parks.
They are a bit noisier than the stock tires that came with the car, but I would guess much quieter than more aggressive 4x4 tires. Very good on wet roads, and pretty good in light snow.
Tires are a personal choice, but I would/will buy another set when these go.
Also, for info, I have a set of them on our 2012 Ford E-450 based motor home. Rig weighs in at about 12,000 lbs, and the tires have about 35,000 miles on them, and are still in great shape. Will also buy the same setup when these need to be replaced. Very stable at all speeds, and, on this rig, very good on wet roads.
Grumpaw

 

[19Walt93]

My 2011 Ranger 4x4 came with Goodyear Wrangler SRA's, they were quiet on the road, decent in snow, and still in good shape at 43,000 miles when I sold it. If I'd managed to wear them out I would have bought another set. I had good luck with the Cooper Discoverer HT's on my 04 Ranger,too. The Goodyear Wrangler all terrains that came on the 04 were treacherous on snow. During the Firestone recall many Explorer owners jumped at the chance to get Michelins, about half came back and said their Explorer rode better, the other half said it handled sloppy.

 

[gw33gp]

I run 31x10.5-15 Michelin LTX MS tires on my Ranger when I am not going off-road. I doubt the MS are available now but the MS2 should be similar other than tread. I am on my second set and got over 80K miles on my first set. They still had decent tread left on them but they were starting to not be as good in the rain. I really like them for pavement. They are very quite, run smooth, corner nice, stop well, are good in the rain and decent in snow. They suck on ice and in mud but most tires do.

They are also good for towing my race car when I bump the rear tires up to around 45 psi. Mine are Load Range C and see no need to go to a higher load rated tire. When I tow my race car I also have about 800 lbs of stuff on the bed. As long as I pump the rear helper air springs to up enough to bring it to near level, it tows very stable as long as I keep it at 72 mph or under. If I try to run 75 it can get somewhat unstable under certain conditions. I don't think it has anything to do with the tires though.

245 tires are a little less than 1" narrower than 265 tires (basically 10.5"). Some people don't mind that narrower look but most like the 265 better. I doubt you will see much difference in gas mileage between those two sizes. I think lifting a truck has more effect.

 

[09fx4guy]

Honestly, you will probably be better with the 265-70R16 vs the 245-75R16.

My dad had the LTX's on his GMC Sierra about 10 years ago, and they rode pretty good, and he got about 80,000 miles on it before he sold the truck, and they still had life left.

When I need a new set of tires, I am going to look at the Goodyear Wranger Trailrunner. They are supposedly pretty good on road, and are a decent price, and you can even find some good specials from Goodyear. I know you are thinking highway tire, but they are not too aggressive of an AT tire.

I would steer clear of the Firestone Destination LE2, pretty poor performance in the snow / rain.

Go on TireRack, and look at tires side by side, for comparison. You can get 100 opinions from us on here, but its up to what you like.

 

[RegularGuy]

Honestly, you will probably be better with the 265-70R16 vs the 245-75R16.

Why do you suppose the 265 would be better than the 245? They're pretty close to the diameter of the 31s, just a little narrower

 

[bobbywalter]

The Michelin is a win we for what you want...


And these xoops...

https://simpletire.com/catalog/paid?width=265&ratio=75&rim=15&featured=162073&zip=19150&stmodel=evolution-ht&stcategory=all-season&sttype=passenger&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=G_Search_NB_TireModel&utm_content=Profit-Bucket_Passenger_Competitive_HighProfit_RAD&utm_term=&utm_creative=383435609759&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImbWcjPaL6QIVmXZgCh17DQatEAQYCSABEgJc5fD_BwE

When I was on ranger axles I ran the old version of those summers.

 

[Blmpkn]

245s would have better road manners than the 265s. 10.5" wide tires on "little trucks" have a habit of floating all over compared to 9.5s.

 

[JohnnyO]

A 265/75-15 is pretty much the same physical size as a 31x10.50-15 and you might find a decent highway tread and not have to buy new rims. I used to have Mastercraft HSX's on my Sport Trac, they were kinda mild, had decent treadwear although last year I wanted something a little more aggressive for the snow that we never got this winter. Seems the HSX is available in that size.

https://www.mastercrafttires.com/tires/sports-utility/courser-hsx

 

[09fx4guy]

I meant it as far as appearance-wise. I personally like the look of the 265 vs the 245. Sometimes there are different tire types available depending on size. Also different sizes have different weights.

Personally, I liked the little larger size since I lifted the truck slightly.

You may lose a little fuel economy with the wider tire, but its not noticeable. If I were you, I would stay away from the low rolling resistance tires or something similar. You also probably won't find anything in a C load range in 16".

 

[sgtsandman]

I do nearly 100% street driving, the closest thing to a "trail" being National Forest service roads. As such I would fall into the small category of people interested in highway tires, at the stock size of 31x10.5r15 there is little to none in the way of highway tires and as such I'm switching wheel size to the oem 16 found on the "off-road" (Y-spoke wheels). My tire options then are as I understand them to be, a 265/70r16, or more preferably (for fuel economy reasons) a 245/75r16.

My questions:
Is the Michelin LTX the best there is to offer or is the a better highway all season?

Is 245 too narrow? Will it look dumb?

Is going higher on the load rating worth the money or should I stick with load C?

And lastly,
If there's anyone out there running highway tires of a similar size on an 4x4, what are you running (tire and size) and what would you recommend?

245/70R16 will be close to the 235/75R15 in height and width, so won't look too narrow. It won't affect your speedometer reading much either (reading 2 mph faster that what you are actually traveling).

265/70R16 will be close to 31/10.5R15 in height and width, so will be similar in affecting your speedometer reading about 2 mph slower than what you are actually going.

30X9.5R15 is the "sweet spot" for speedometer accuracy.

This will give you some sizes to play with for what is available and what they will do as far as your truck performance goes. If I remember correctly, you were looking at a leveling kit, so 31" will give your truck wheel wells a bit of a stuffed look and you might need to trim the fender wells on the inside, in the back do to rubbing.

Load rating, anything over load C isn't going to do anything for you other than maybe make the ride harsher. I would stick with that or the load rating around what is recommended for the truck. I think that is 109 but I'm not sure. 112 would still be fine. The load rating C - E tires tend to have a heavier side wall for load carrying and resiliency and not necessarily needed for road travel as long as you pay attention to the tire pressures when you are carrying a heavy load.

 

[RegularGuy]

After way to much research, I've come across something entirely unexpected! Nokian released a truck tire (back in 2014) when I wasn't paying attention for an extremely reasonable price of $125 (regular price, before rebates or sales)

The reviews, although there aren't any on Discount's website, rate the Nokian as the better tire when compared to the Michelin. I'm going to see about waiting until the memorial or independence day sale to pick them up and hopefully I'll have found the wheels I've been looking for by then

**Update**
Walmart has this tire listed for under $100, Discount will likely price match this making it not only one of the most affordable tires but also one of the least expensive!

 

[sgtsandman]

Nokian has a good reputation.