Good tires for towing

[Tymeks]

Hello all.

I’ll be doing some towing with the truck and come to find out the Duellers that came with the truck might not be ideal for towing. I’ve exhausted myself looking at options and using the search feature. But with all the acronyms and designations that are essentially meaningless, I’m turning to you guys for help.

Anyone have any real world experience with a good tire that is better for towing than by 20 inch Duellers?

I’ve seen some reviews recommend the Michelin Defenders but those appear to be a YL and not an LT or XL or etc……….. are those a better tire for towing in real life is the question? If not those, then, any other suggestions?

 

[theblet]

If you're towing heavy and often, I'd look at some Load range E tires (10 ply). There are many all terrains in this category.

 

[Bt10]

Some more info might help give more accurate recommendations. Towing a utility trailer in Maine or a 33 foot TT across Nebraska? Off road, snow, or pavement only? If you change the size slightly, you may open up a lot more choices, and sometimes price savings. I see a lot of XL/117 load tires in your basic size, and only a relative few LT D or E range tires. If you will heavy tow often, I wouldn't go below these ratings. If you only tow occasionally and moderate loads, stay around 60mph and any tire will technically handle the weight the truck is capable of.

The defenders are very good tires generally speaking, altho I'm so cheap I'd run the duelers till they were done. I have used defenders often on my regular suv's.

 

[Tymeks]

It’ll be used to tow a 2400BH ( about 7Klbs all in ) in Arizona and the surrounding states. I was looking at these tires here >>

 

[Tymeks]

As well, I’m comparing those to these tires here. I can see the load rating is different and the XLT‘s allow for a max PSI of 80. Will I feel the difference when towing with the XLT version over the 4s?

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

Hello all.

I’ll be doing some towing with the truck and come to find out the Duellers that came with the truck might not be ideal for towing. I’ve exhausted myself looking at options and using the search feature. But with all the acronyms and designations that are essentially meaningless, I’m turning to you guys for help.

Anyone have any real world experience with a good tire that is better for towing than by 20 inch Duellers?

I’ve seen some reviews recommend the Michelin Defenders but those appear to be a YL and not an LT or XL or etc……….. are those a better tire for towing in real life is the question? If not those, then, any other suggestions?

How much will you be towing? Do you daily drive your truck? I'd really recommend you actually tow with the tires that are on it first.

For the most part, my truck either sits in the garage or it's towing our camper, and the stock tires do just fine. I may upgrade at some point, but 85-90% of the miles on my truck are with a camper behind it.

Unless, of course, you just want new tires. If not, I wouldn't spend the money just because a few people on the Internet said they had something else.

 

[Nsleone]

How much will you be towing? Do you daily drive your truck? I'd really recommend you actually tow with the tires that are on it first.

For the most part, my truck either sits in the garage or it's towing our camper, and the stock tires do just fine. I may upgrade at some point, but 85-90% of the miles on my truck are with a camper behind it.

Unless, of course, you just want new tires. If not, I wouldn't spend the money just because a few people on the Internet said they had something else.

Is Your Laramie on 20s or 22s ? It looks like 22s in your signature but I can’t tell for sure. The stock 22” rims come with XL rated tires from factory while the 20” rims get SL rated tires.

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

Is Your Laramie on 20s or 22s ? It looks like 22s in your signature but I can’t tell for sure. The stock 22” rims come with XL rated tires from factory while the 20” rims get SL rated tires.

Southwest Edition comes with 20s. I believe the OP has the exact same tires I have, unless I read that wrong somewhere.

 

[Tymeks]

I have the 20 inch Duellers SL rates.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

I have some Yokohama Geolandar G015's and LOVE them. They are an LT tire with an "E" load rating. I did not like how "squishy" the stock tires felt when towing, so I upgraded. A lot will depend on your load and towing experience. I feel like I have better control with "E" rated tires personally.

 

[41magmag41]

will be putting that exact tire on mine saturday. got them for $180.00 a tire at discount tire after all the rebates. 275/65 r 18 123 load rating.

 

[Nsleone]

Southwest Edition comes with 20s. I believe the OP has the exact same tires I have, unless I read that wrong somewhere.

Oh ok cool. Yeah we were just pointing out how soft the duelers are, especially for a larger camper. I wouldn’t expect the duelers to struggle with something like a Sol Horizon but a 2400BH is quite a bit heavier. Just pointing out the potential upgrades to make the towing experience better/safer

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

Oh ok cool. Yeah we were just pointing out how soft the duelers are, especially for a larger camper. I wouldn’t expect the duelers to struggle with something like a Sol Horizon but a 2400BH is quite a bit heavier. Just pointing out the potential upgrades to make the towing experience better/safer

The dry tongue weight on my camper is 525 lbs vs 505 lbs for the 2400BH. I'm very familiar with the Grand Design as it's one that we considered before going with the inTech. The design of mine is also a good bit worse aerodynamically. I'd put good money down that the 2400BH is an easier tow than mine.

 

[Nsleone]

The dry tongue weight on my camper is 525 lbs vs 505 lbs for the 2400BH. I'm very familiar with the Grand Design as it's one that we considered before going with the inTech. The design of mine is also a good bit worse aerodynamically. I'd put good money down that the 2400BH is an easier tow than mine.

How much money? That Horizon has a nice tongue weight but that’s not really the concern regarding the Duelers, the 2400BH is 10 feet longer, a foot and a half taller, and dry it weighs 2500 pounds more than the Horizon. By the numbers the Duelers can handle the weight but it’s the sway concern mainly with the side profile of the camper combined with the higher weight. ( not tongue weight, I mean gvw )

Certainly wouldn’t hurt OP to do a test run with the duelers before pulling the trigger on a set of tires, at least that’s what I would do in their situation.

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

How much money? That Horizon has a nice tongue weight but that’s not really the concern regarding the Duelers, the 2400BH is 10 feet longer, a foot and a half taller, and dry it weighs 2500 pounds more than the Horizon. By the numbers the Duelers can handle the weight but it’s the sway concern mainly with the side profile of the camper combined with the higher weight. ( not tongue weight, I mean gvw )

Certainly wouldn’t hurt OP to do a test run with the duelers before pulling the trigger on a set of tires, at least that’s what I would do in their situation.

A lot of it. Our previous camper was a Jayco 24MBH. The "Tilt-Forward" design of the inTech is great for interior space. Less so for towing. Also a big difference between Goodyear Endurance and the off road tires on the Rovers. And WDH vs no WDH. And, and, and...

 

[HemiDude]

I had the Discoverer AT3 4s on my last Ram and I really liked them. Having said that, those are 4 Season Tires. If you are not going to be towing in snow or similar weather, consider going with a 3 Season tire that has a better tread for highway driving (less road noise, stiffer sidewall). That's my .02

 

[drydocked]

I have the 20" Bridgestone's on mine and feel that they have too much sidewall flex, the whole rig feels squirmy when being passed or if there is a sidewind. I've put on over 5k towing miles on the truck with a Jayco Jayflight 21QB and am currently in the middle of a 4k+ mile trip. I have them at the 41 psi max pressure but they still wiggle too much. I wish the truck would have come with the Falken Wildpeaks which have a higher 51 max psi, others say those are better tires for towing with less sidewall flex. I'm planning on replacing the Bridgestone's with Continental TerrainContact H/T's (the XL 117H tires, not the SL). They've got great reviews and are only a couple pounds heavier than the Bridgestone.

 

[SnowBlaZR2]

I have them at the 41 psi max pressure

I'm not with my truck, but I thought max was 44 PSI.

 

[theblet]

Those must be standard load range e for that pressure.

 

[Nsleone]

I have the 20" Bridgestone's on mine and feel that they have too much sidewall flex, the whole rig feels squirmy when being passed or if there is a sidewind. I've put on over 5k towing miles on the truck with a Jayco Jayflight 21QB and am currently in the middle of a 4k+ mile trip. I have them at the 41 psi max pressure but they still wiggle too much. I wish the truck would have come with the Falken Wildpeaks which have a higher 51 max psi, others say those are better tires for towing with less sidewall flex. I'm planning on replacing the Bridgestone's with Continental TerrainContact H/T's (the XL 117H tires, not the SL). They've got great reviews and are only a couple pounds heavier than the Bridgestone.

Thanks for the input! I’m with you on the stock tires, they do ride pretty nice but for how much camper these things can tow I would’ve wanted an XL tire on 20’s. The 22 inch rims get XL tires from factory.

I'm not with my truck, but I thought max was 44 PSI.

Yes 44 PSI max on the Duelers.