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OT: Tires for my GMC Duramax Truck

kubotamiketx

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I know this is off topic, but I am stuck. I have a 2008 GMC 2500HD Crew Cab Long Bed truck that needs new tires. The tires coming off are some BF Goodrich KO2's which have been fantastic (other than wet roads, they suck at that)

I went down to Discount Tire and had them install a new set just like the previous set. Much to my chagrin the tires went out of balance while we were towing the trailer to Cloudcroft for a weekend ride. So bad in fact it was causing new rattles to show up in the truck.

When we got back to Austin I took the truck back to Discount Tire. They quickly discovered the rear tires we completely wasted, there was entire sections that were 1/4 of an inch less tread than the rest of the tires. They mounted them on the machine and found they were not round. They replaced the rears and ran them on the road force balancer, shifting them a bit to make sure they were perfect. Then they worked on the fronts and had to **** the tires on the rims to find a happy medium. The fronts were not as out of round, but they were not right either.

Took the truck to CTOR this past Sunday with the new tires and once again all 4 tires went out of balance. Soon as they warm up things get really bad.

So now I am stuck what to do. Discount will replace them one more time, but only one more time. Why bother trying another set of KO2's?

The other tire I started to look at is a Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac, but I have no experience with this tire. Researching the internet shows a bit of a mixed bag. People love them, but there is mention that the sidewalls may not be stiff enough for heavy diesel trucks like I have.

Does anybody have experience with diesel's trucks on the DuraTrac?

Any other recommendations?

Stock tire size is LT265 /70 R17 / E1

The last set of KO2's is LT275 / 70 / R17 E1. This is a factory authorized replacement size.

Thanks, I am so freaking frustrated. These are not cheap tires, but I am having to take a lot of time off work to deal with this.
 
Discount will replace them one more time, but only one more time.

That's just bull.

If you like the tires, Get Goodrich involved and get Discount to
find a set from a different batch run.

get the MFG to check the batch number and verify that they
are not seconds.
 
I tried to talk to the guys at DT about that very thing. They look at me like I was nuts, it must be my fault somehow. They thought it was the truck, my shocks, etc, but I pointed out to them that their own guy who removed the old tires said they were in the best shape he had ever seen on old AT's. I rotate them myself quite often and always vary the air pressure based on loads and wear. I even had him jump up and down on the bumper to show him the pretty new Bilstein shocks are just fine.

I did call BF Goodrich this morning and once again they said if there was an actual problem they would have issued a recall.

Maybe I can try a call to BFG again. what a PIA. Freaking $1,200 on tires that are not round and they look at me like I am nuts.
 
I am currently running Michelin LTX A/T2 on my 06 Duramax. I have been pleased with them so far (10,000 miles). They are not as aggressive as the DuraTrac but have done surprisingly well with the little off-road they have done.
 
I'll never buy another set of bfg's. The co-op where I work run a lot of cooper tires and we have really good luck . Our trucks see lots of gravel roads also.
 
Many years ago I tried the LTX A/T2. They were a great tire until I put the heavy gooseneck dump trailer on. The rears wallowed around when really loaded, no matter how much air I put in them. I know they are stock on a lot of newer trucks, but they weren't for me. Also, I am surprised at how often I used to get stuck at our Dripping Springs property until I had more aggressive tread like the KO2's. The clay mud out there is nasty when wet. They A/T2 and Duravis type tires would fill up and just spin even in 4X4.

Thanks for the suggestion, great choice for a lot of people...
 
I love my Duratracs. I do not have a diesel pick up, just a half ton four wheel drive. I have another set on a Jeep Wrangler too. My truck tires have 20K on them and they have been trouble-free and wearing well. They replaced the Miichelin LTX, and I like the Duratrac better plus they look far better on the truck, if you are vain like me, ha. They have been good the couple times the roads have been wet, they will sling some mud, that's for sure.

The size on my truck is 265/70/17. I am happy enough that I will replace this set with another set of Duratracs. Looks like they will be good for at least 50K miles, which to me is not bad considering the aggressive tread.

Even though my truck is a half ton, it is often loaded out. I haul my 900 pound 50 inch wide RZR in the bed of the truck and the tires do great. No vibration, have not rebalanced them or anything, and my average cruising speed is usually 80-85 on the open highway.
 
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I have 25K miles and 3 years on a set of KO's.
No issues here and it's disheartening to hear of your issues.

And I had similar experiences with Michelin LTX AT/2s.
They would squirm around and cause the trailer (28' RV and 28' enclosed car hauler) to push my truck all over the road. Tread finally separated and I was able to de-shod the truck of those things.

I went back to the BFG A/T based upon previous experience years ago on a full sized Bronco and how well they performed back in the day. Now having similar results with the current generation of BFG A/Ts
 
I'll never buy another set of bfg's. The co-op where I work run a lot of cooper tires and we have really good luck . Our trucks see lots of gravel roads also.

+1 for Cooper Tires.

On my 07 Dodge 1500 4dr. Quiet, Good Mileage, Great Price and solid on wet and dry roads.
 
Nitto terra grappler g2 or Cooper RTX.
If you are in the McKinney area I can make you a ridiculous deal on tires.
 
I ran the Cooper AT3 Discover on my truck. Traction off road was great for an all-terrain, and they were awesome in the snow (back in NY). Treadwear was also decent, at about 25k miles they were right at 50%, not too bad considered there was a fair amount of towing mixed in.

But holy crap were they noisy. Not too bad at first, but after a few thousand miles they developed a wicked hum between about 40 and 55mph. I've seen that mentioned in a LOT of reviews for them, so don't think it's something unique to me. Rotated every 10k. Alignment good. Sounded like I had flat super swampers under there driving around town. Putting the pressure up to the tire's max helped slightly (generally ran the door sticker's recommended). They also dinged my fuel economy off the General AT2's I had before, which were a lot quieter also. Consistently got ~20 miles less to a tank.

I went with the cooper's based off all the rave reviews and recommendations, but would go back to the General's in no time.
 
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I spoke with the general manager of the Discount Tire I purchased the tires from. He had me get him the batch numbers off the tires and is getting another new set making sure they are from a different batch. Will get those put on tomorrow (Saturday). With any luck they will work better, otherwise I will be done with the BFG's and try one of the many tires suggested here... Thanks for the offer MaxxTraxx... Next time :)
 
I have used Discount Tire for many many years. I have always been very pleased with their customer service whenever I have had an issue with any tires for multiple vehicles. They even replaced BOTH rear tires under the road warranty when only one of them got a flat that required replacement. This was so both would have the same wear life. I did not have to pay for the second new tire! They did not know it, but it was my birthday that day :mrgreen: Anyway, I am curious how they will handle this. I would be very unhappy if they eventually just tell you they can't help you!

My stock tires on my 2014 RAM 1500 only lasted about 24K miles, very little towing in that time. The replacement tires look like they might go about 30K or so. They are street oriented tires as I do very little dirt or unpaved driving with the truck. I am curious what kinds of tires folks run on their 1/2 ton trucks? The most I tow is a 7000lb rated trailer, but almost never loaded to the max.
 
Good luck Kubo hope they get you fixed up. And Tourmeister, I just purchased my third set of Firestone Destination LE2's for my 08 GMC Yukon. I have gotten 50,000 plus each from the first two sets and that is why I stuck with them. $705 for the set.
 
I am on my 9th BF Goodrich they keep splitting. I wish they would wear out so I could get rid of them but Discount keeps replacing them.
The first four went out within 30,000 miles and two months of each other. So I have four new ones. Then one of those went out last week. Don't think I would buy BFGoodrich again. But I still use discount Tire
 
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I have used Discount Tire for many many years. I have always been very pleased with their customer service whenever I have had an issue with any tires for multiple vehicles. They even replaced BOTH rear tires under the road warranty when only one of them got a flat that required replacement. This was so both would have the same wear life. I did not have to pay for the second new tire! They did not know it, but it was my birthday that day :mrgreen: Anyway, I am curious how they will handle this. I would be very unhappy if they eventually just tell you they can't help you!

My stock tires on my 2014 RAM 1500 only lasted about 24K miles, very little towing in that time. The replacement tires look like they might go about 30K or so. They are street oriented tires as I do very little dirt or unpaved driving with the truck. I am curious what kinds of tires folks run on their 1/2 ton trucks? The most I tow is a 7000lb rated trailer, but almost never loaded to the max.

I have experiences with Goodrich Baja KO tires, but they changed the country of manufacture and they are crap now....they separate and split now. My boss is an owner of the beer business I work for, and runs cattle and farm trucks all over Texas. He buys Toyo all terrains for most of his "light" trucks, 2 tons or less, and gets them from GCR. He claims they are the best tires on the market...I got a nice set of 285/ 17's for 800.00 out the door. 35k on them so far, love their performance all around......:sun:
 
Discount tire just put a new set of Goodyear wrangler AT tires with Kevlar. No clue how they are going to work, but already it is smooth riding again no more jumping up and down the entire drive. Not as aggressive but they really refused to go with the duratrack. What a freaking time waster. First set of KO2's were perfect... wonder where they were made in the beginning and where they are now.


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I am late to the game here, and I hope your goodyears work out. I drive a f350 and have had terrible luck with continental and even worse with coopers. Michellins cost more but never fail me.
 
Im running Falken WildPeak AT3w tires in 285/70/17 on my 4runner.
discount doesn't stock them but they can order them in. Read lots of good reviews about them, and watched a few videos.
So far I'm impressed. Smooth and quiet, and do well what little I've been on dirt.
 
Truck I bought a few years ago came with bfg ta's on it , by far the worst tire I ever owned , load range e truck tires got 12,000 on the rear and 22,000 from the front on a 6 speed diesel truck . Not like there's much sliding around corners or smokin the tires off the line . Coopers are doing much better . It's mind boggling to me that bfg is still selling tires with a product that crappy .
 
I've know a few folks (my dad is one of them) that ran Nitto Terra Graplers on full size and 3/4 diesel trucks. All said the were great. Pretty quiet, all got a lot a miles out of them and said they performed well on dirt.


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The Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor a/t tires are exceptional. I loved the set of 35's I ran on my Jeep. Fantastic performing tire.
 
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