Tires

[PMS]

My son needs new tires for his truck. 72 GMC LWB, 15x8 rally's with BFG 255/60 front and 275/60 rears. 350 cid, 330 HP / 370 TQ, 2500 stall turbo 350 with 3.42 posi.. Lowered 4.5" front with 4" in rear. Is there a better tire for traction / cornering than the TA radail? It must be an all season tire since it his only transportation and we just got about 10" of snow last week. Thanks for your input.

Parrish

[truckdude239]

i am running 255/70r15 dayton daytona srs seem to be good so far but we only got rain so far seeing i work in an tire shop the ta raidals are good tires good tread partens wonderful tires good in snow rain and dry handing`

[VinceY]

Originally Posted by PMS

My son needs new tires for his truck. 72 GMC LWB, 15x8 rally's with BFG 255/60 front and 275/60 rears. 350 cid, 330 HP / 370 TQ, 2500 stall turbo 350 with 3.42 posi.. Lowered 4.5" front with 4" in rear. Is there a better tire for traction / cornering than the TA radail? It must be an all season tire since it his only transportation and we just got about 10" of snow last week. Thanks for your input.

Parrish

Sounds like your son's truck is very similar to mine in both tires sizes and approx. inches lowered. My tires are BFG Radial TA.
I am not sure how the winters are in your area but where I am from we get winter big time. Snow, more snow and ice. Although I usually don't drive my truck in the winter, I did have to drive it during a small storm last year. The 275s on the back of my truck were a nightmare. I was forced to drive at 40 mph on the highway to stop fishtailing on the windblown ice. As far as my experience wide BFG Radial TAs are for summer only. I run all season P235-75-R15 all the way around on my other pickup with sandbags in the back and never have problems.

[72MARIO]

A norrower tire would help out traction alot. All of the plow trucks here use narrow and tall tires and they hook really well. Wide tires are great for dry pavement but horrible when used on wet or snow covered roads.

[MrC1]

Check out tirerack.com to see different tires, tread types, and reviews by people using them - it's a pretty good site!

You can also go to Discount Tire and they'll price match them (plus the shipping cost).

Personally I hate BFG TAs. They seem to be some sort of generic standard, but I'm not sure why. Maybe cause they're pretty cheap. Traction and handling are both pretty poor, even in dry conditions with those suckers!

[veedublu]

For those sizes, I would suggest either a Firestone Firehawk Indy 500, or a Yokohama Avid S/T. Either one will perform better in all conditions (dry, wet, snow) and should last longer as well (compared to a BFG T/A). Plus they are cheaper!

John

[Old Yeller 1970]

Since I'm in the market for new tires I went to tirerack.com and checked out their reviews. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compar...=PAS&x=25&y=10
The Firestone Indy 500's sound like they hook pretty well on dry pavement and get good rain and descent snow traction.
I didn't read the reviews on the Yokohama's, they could be the best tire on earth but it will be a very cold day in you know where before I put a set of Japanese named tires on Old Yeller. Yeah I know I'm a Oh well
You can also compare reviews of BFG and others there too.

[dinnut]

i guess i might as well chip in here. ive got the 276/60 dunlop g/t qualifiers. great traction wet or dry never been in snow. in the rain i can nearly punch it and take straight off sometimes its amazing... they are pretty good tires plus i really like the tread design... i paid like 76 a piece at sams club this is an old pic before i wrecked the front of the truck... it has a 4" drop on the rear. all 4 tires also match now too haah

[Bowtie67]

As far as trucks are concerned I dont believe any all season street style of tire is going to make any difference. If you like me live in the are where we get snow of any depth and frequency he would much better off investing in a spare set of rims and put some snows on it and deffinately some weight in the rear. I currently am running the firestones Indy's and have run the BF Goodrich Comp T/A's, the Firestones are better than the BFG's on dry and wet but both suck n the snow. Also narrower tires work better in the snow as someone else stated above.

[mwerfner]

To increase cornering you might want to go to a 16 or 17 wheel and a lower profile tire 50 would be the best a little sidewall but not to little. you have 2 tons of truck it isn't going to handle a corner like a Vette but stiffen the body roll (sway bars / Springs) and a stiffer side wall and it will flatten your corners and make the tire work. in addition your tires if equal in size all around will give you better handling. You have to determine is this truck a dragster or a daily driver. road track and drag cars are set up different.

[Huck]

With that horsepower and torque converter, tires aren't your answer in snow, ice or rain. You need about 4-500lbs of weight over the rear axle. A narrower tire would also help a lot but (not cool)?! Invest in some sand bags and put them in the bed right between the wheel tubs. If you still have issues, spring for some winter snow tires from wallmart but keep them somewhat narrow as wide tires are not helpfull for winter traction. (see Vince above^) Huck

[truckdude239]

as an tire tech for sam's club and after the last few days i wouldn't recomend the bfg t/a or the dunlop g/t qualifiers seems to me i have had to prorate about 6 or seven set of both of them in the last week seems noone can get the milage warrenty out of them so i withdraw my last post lol

[greasemonkey]

Howdy from another Sam's tire tech. I hate GT Qualifiers for the exact same reason, they don't last the 50k they are "guaranteed" for and I prorate them a lot. The Radial T/As seem to last 40k usually, but they are not the best traction overall; I have the 275/60 on my truck and even with 3:07 gears I can spin them all the way down the side of the store. They do look good though.

[MrC1]

My C20 had 235/85-16s when I bought it and I upgraded to something a bit beefier and better looking, not to mention better handling. I also had the issue of installing Asian tires on a classic Chevy, but...I did anyway.

I went with a set of 17x9 aluminum wheels and 285/60-17 Kumho Exsta STXs. They were cheap, look great and are highly rated in most areas. So far so good, but I don't plan to test them in snow anytime soon. Hey, I'm in TX! We get to drive our toys year-round!