What tires for my Suburban?

I need new tires for my 2002 Suburban 2500.  Factory is 245/75/16 LT load rating E.  On my old 99 pickup I had Yoko Geolander ATs that I really liked.  Looking at tire rack it seems that the Kumho Crugen HT-51s get better reviews.  Any thoughts?

E rated Michelins. Pricy but worth it. 

The biggest, knobbiest, gnarliest looking meats you can stuff under those big fat American fenders. 

Cooper discoverer ht3 

I freaking loved mine 

Dad prefers the Michelin ltx on hos diesel camper puller

Kumho Road venture ATs on mine tow great, plenty of off-road prowess for muddy pit spaces and the like

Toyo proxes R888R comes in a 245/16, only a 45 series though

In reply to Mndsm :

I'd rock the hell outta them.

I'm really happy with the new Nokian Outpost AT's. All the snow and winter traction of their legendary Haakippeletta tires translated to mud, sand, gravel,  and grass. 

Mndsm said:

Toyo proxes R888R comes in a 245/16, only a 45 series though

What an ancient tire though! They are slower than the modern 200TW stuff. 

In reply to Javelin :

I didnt really look all that hard when I wemt into the high performance category. 

E-rated Falken Wildpeaks - I had these on my old Sequoia and they were great - quiet, excellent ride, awesome traction, look good too. Great on-road manners with off-road capability and looks. 

I have the BFG AT KO3's on my new Sequoia and they're almost as good, but definitely louder. I'd buy the Wildpeaks if I was doing it again. 

I've tried just about all the tires listed on my '01 Ram 2500 in the 300+K miles I've had it.

BFG, worst ride /best turn response

Geolander, softest ride/worst lateral load handling

Kumhos did nothing spectacularly good or bad

My winner so far is the Michelin LTX. Best balance of ride and trailer control.

To give you an idea between the BFG and Geolander. I had to wait for a couple tires while switching from the BFG's to the Geolanders and I threw a pair of Geo's on the rear of the truck. The first turn above 5 mph I felt the back step out like I had loose lug nuts. I actually stopped and shook both wheels to be sure.  With all 4 Geo's installed the truck rode smoother but I didn't like towing with them.

I always run BFG all terrains on my trucks (and my Westfalia). Great in all weather. Ride you might ask...it's a truck.

I ran wildpeaks on my truck for 58k.  They were pretty solid.  However, they were $800 when i bought them in 2017 and $1300 now so I just replaced them with some $699 E range ironmans.  They ride so smooth and quiet.  I run way less miles now so any tire will age out before they wear out on my truck, so I'm being a guinea pig for science.  

In reply to Patrick :

Similar but different...

I've been running Falken 201s on my Prius fleet. I've bought like 5 full sets over the years. Very happy with them. I used to get them for $60-ish each, before mounting but add $15 each and I could be mounted for $75 each.

Now, the same tire is $80-ish and mounting is more like $20 = $100 each 

I probably bought my first set of these tires in 2017 or 5 years ago.

I guess inflation sucks! 

So for the Michelin fans what is their like mild AT tire and does it tow as well as the LTX everybody seems to recommend? 

On my 3/4 ton Suburban I run Ironman All-Country CHT tires.  Super stiff sidewall and handle towing loads of up to 9,000 lbs  just fine.  Being a highway tread they are very quiet tires as well, if I need more traction I just shift into 4wd.

Michelin LTX is the peak.  Looks down on all the other tires as a king might view peasants.

Got Cooper Discoverers on my truck right now.  They're solid enough for what I do.

John Welsh said:

In reply to Patrick :

Similar but different...

I've been running Falken 201s on my Prius fleet. I've bought like 5 full sets over the years. Very happy with them. I used to get them for $60-ish each, before mounting but add $15 each and I could be mounted for $75 each.

Now, the same tire is $80-ish and mounting is more like $20 = $100 each 

I probably bought my first set of these tires in 2017 or 5 years ago.

I guess inflation sucks! 

been a while, but I'm fairly sure inflation is more of a blowing process. 

Hands down first choice is Continental TerrainContact AT.  Quieter than the H/T rib tires on my van, very capable off road and snow, and super-awesome wet performance.

I just bought some Falken Wildpeak AT Trail for the van and that was ONLY because Continental didn't do the TerrainContact in the size I needed.  They're not on yet, but top marks in all the right categories.

Michelin LTX is a premium tire and you'll pay through the nose.... and they are absolutely helpless in the snow and ice.  Watching my brother-in-law spinning 3 out of 4 LTX trying to get out of his driveway in 4" of snow completely soured me on them.

Don't fall for the popularity of BFG KOs.  They were the pinnacle of A/T greatness... 15 years ago.  Compared to today's tech, they have a lot of compromises.  Still a great tire, but they don't live up to the hype.

Many of the off-road guys who want something a little more aggressive that still does well on the street go with Toyo Open Country A/T.

The Geolandar was the darling for a brief run, but the Wildpeak and Terrain Contact outperform them in this year's tests, and not by small margins.

irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

E-rated Falken Wildpeaks - I had these on my old Sequoia and they were great - quiet, excellent ride, awesome traction, look good too. Great on-road manners with off-road capability and looks. 

I have the BFG AT KO3's on my new Sequoia and they're almost as good, but definitely louder. I'd buy the Wildpeaks if I was doing it again. 

This is the correct answer. If it's an AT tire, get the Falken Wildpeaks. I liked my first set so much that I now have them on the Suburban, the XJ, the Samurai, and the Ridgeline. 

If you want a street tire, I really like the Sumitomo Encounter HT I'm running on my RV. 

Another vote for Wildpeaks here, they have been excellent on my Suburban 2500 (LT 265/75/17 on Hummer H2 wheels). 

What Curtis said. The Conti TerrainContacts are what I went with and I'm very happy. They are a dark horse, as in very few buy them. I finally saw someone last week that had them after a year of peeking at AT tires. I see so many BFGs and Wildpeaks.

The Contis are outstanding in my experience and according to TR tests. They are insanely quiet and do everything I ask of them. It's been the perfect tire for my needs (lots of highway use with some gravel, offroad and very occasional snow). The only time I was disappointed was in deep snow (approx 12"). But this is on a 2WD Econoline with an open diff. Otherwise, I have gone on roads in Death Valley that crews of full 4x4s look at me like I'm crazy and I just motor on through. 

I'd be interested in the Nokian that Javelin mentioned if you see a lot of snow. Otherwise, get the Contis. If you want to go more knobby, someone on here said the Wrangler Duratracs were great. 

In reply to Patrick :

My alignment shop put some ironmans on the front of my f350. They were 125$ mounted and balanced if thats an indication of how long ago. No complaints. 

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I never thought about snow performance. I had my Michelin LTX in California and Texas lol. They didnt do terribly in the snow on my trips to Big Bear and Mammoth. 

My Expedition will need tires soon. Maybe I'll give the Conti TerrainContact's. 

I don't see Stampie having to worry about snow.