Opinions & favorites wanted: All-terrain load range E tires for towing

My daily truck is due for new tires. 1983 C20 Suburban with 265/75-16. Well, actually just a pair, since I burned off several/32 getting it unstuck several times over the winter. The tires on it are the perennial Michelin LTX and this is something like the fourth set in a row on it covering the last 25 years and maybe 150k miles. They have always been great on pavement in any condition, and hold up well when towing. My only complaint is that they have a nice fluffy sidewall, which helps ride quality but makes them laterally squishy heavily loaded. Having recently moved to real mountains in Colorado, I need to pivot my tire selection to something more all-terrain. I legitimately got the truck stuck in my own gently sloped driveway trying to cross a dusting of fresh snow over a thick layer of ice, among other notable stucks this winter (none while towing, fortunately). Granted the tread depth qualifies as "shaved" at this point, but I don't think that would have helped. 4x4 may have, but that's not happening--it does have a Detroit TrueTrac in the diff through and I now make two tire-swallowing craters instead of one, which is a notable improvement added last year.

Among deliberate choices and favorites, what are y'all running and why? Tire and wheel size shall remain same as first option, though I might be open to a wider profile. Priorities are #1 reliability (see: Michelin), #2 real all-season capability on- and off-road, and #3 stability under load. I don't care so much about longevity since it doesn't see a whole lot of miles. Not going to any super-chunky mud-terrain brodozer howlers either; I'll not have the tires trying to sing a song over the glorious motor noise, demanding to be rotated every tank of fuel to avoid feathering and cupping. Qualified and/or quantified comparative performance data on this market segment seems to be elusive, including Tire Rack unfortunately.

I love the BFG All-terrain KO2, but the last set on my truck only lasted 20K miles. But they were great tires! Excellent in snow, not noisy at all at 75.

Bridgestone Dueler was good also. Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor was the best ever, but discontinued years ago. Avoid the new Adventure SA.

I'm shopping now, but going more aggressive. The new Goodyear Duratrac RT looks promising.

No direct experience as I am still shopping as well but I plan to get the Nokian Outpost when I wear my current highway tread tires out. Based on the reviews and my previous experience with Nokian snow tires they look like a good option. 

https://simpletire.com/brands/nokian-tires/outpost-at#curationPos=none&curationSeq=none&curationSource=none&itemId=216293&mpn=T431877&pageSource=PLP&productPos=none&region=r5&tireSize=lt265-75rr16&userRegion=5&userZip=43228&zip=43228

Hard to believe the BFGs are still in the ring after 30 years, but clearly that says something. I've never towed on them, but they did fine on an old pickup in the desert for me years ago. I bet the shoulder edges on the Duratrac will work well in snow and mud. How was towing on the Duelers?

Nokian is a new one for me, thanks for sharing. Tread design looks like it may be just the right compromise. Anyone have experience living with Nokian in general?

I was very happy with the falken wild peak at3w on my last truck.  Great traction and wear, LT265/70/17 E rated.  

I've been blessed to not have had to drive any Light Duty trucks (one ton and below) in enough snow to matter. 
Mini trucks, cars and Semis, yes, but not applicable to LR E tires. 
I've had friends tell me DEFIANTLY not MTs for snow, and AT, not ideal. 
I've never liked the BFG AT , since they first came out, off road or on. Great in sand, but other than Nags Head, not my thing. 

Last time I was looking at A/T E range tires, I ended up with GY Duratracs.  They had better reviews than BFG A/Ts for snow, and I never had any complaints.  They went on a Ram dually that carried a 4000lb camper while pulling 7k of trailer, and I never had any issues with stability.  They did not sing like a lot of the M/T bro tires do, but they did make more noise than the highway tires like the LTX, but that's the price you're going to pay for real A/T tires. 

More recently I switched to Bridgestone Duravis M700HD.   Again, perfectly stable with the same heavy loads as above, and whisper quiet on the highway.  They're not a true A/T like the Duratracs, but they're a better highway tire for the 98% of the time I don't need A/T.  No complaints in light snow, but I haven't had the opportunity to try them in heavy snow.  The truth about snow in the mountains, is there comes a time when chains are the only answer anyway...

I've got Vredstein Pinza ATs on my Suburban 2500. They are quiet and I've been happy with them unloaded, but on-center feel isn't great and towing 5000ish lbs you can definitely feel the tread blocks moving around. They feel like they take some lateral load/slip angle before they start generating any cornering force. Coming from Cooper HT3s, I miss the stability of the old tires. My little toy hauler is also a major wind sail, and the drive tires have worn pretty significantly putting down power dragging that trailer around the country. I'd buy these tires again if I wasn't towing so much. Because I tow a lot, I will probably try AT3s or something next time in search of a bit more firmness.

Falkens A/T3W. By far the best AT tire on the market. I switched from BFG to the Flakens and there really isn't any comparison. The Falkens are so much better they aren't even in the same class. 

Nockenwelle said:

Hard to believe the BFGs are still in the ring after 30 years, but clearly that says something. I've never towed on them, but they did fine on an old pickup in the desert for me years ago. I bet the shoulder edges on the Duratrac will work well in snow and mud. How was towing on the Duelers?

Nokian is a new one for me, thanks for sharing. Tread design looks like it may be just the right compromise. Anyone have experience living with Nokian in general?

Nokian has made excellent snow tires for years. I had a set of their WRC tires (unfortunately not THAT WRC) on my Vanagon, nice and stable. That's a vehicle that requires fairly stiff sidewalls and high load ratings, similar to what you need for towing. I've never tried off-roading in them.

I've never felt the LTX to have a squishy sidewall, I always found them very stable when towing fairly heavy and long loads. More so than the Kumho Crugens that replaced them. Of course, I'm also running 60/70 psi in them. 

Keep in mind that mud tires are not good snow tires. For snow, you want the snow to adhere to the tire for best traction. For mud, you want the tire to clear. For ice, it's mostly tread compound. Light snow on an icy surface is a very difficult surface.

EvanB said:

No direct experience as I am still shopping as well but I plan to get the Nokian Outpost when I wear my current highway tread tires out. Based on the reviews and my previous experience with Nokian snow tires they look like a good option. 

https://simpletire.com/brands/nokian-tires/outpost-at#curationPos=none&curationSeq=none&curationSource=none&itemId=216293&mpn=T431877&pageSource=PLP&productPos=none&region=r5&tireSize=lt265-75rr16&userRegion=5&userZip=43228&zip=43228

Watch out when shopping from Simpletire. They're just a front end for a bunch of random warehouses. Last set of tires I ordered from them had mismatched dates and the older ones were over 7 years old. They took them back but it was a hassle to reship AND it caused a significant delay in the replacements. The sales people at Simpletire have no visibility into the actual dates on tires in the random warehouses.

I've had general grabber at2's on a few trucks and really liked them.  Great towing and general road manners. Last forever. I've not had them in snow however. They do great in sand. 

In reply to Rodan :

No complaints in light snow, but I haven't had the opportunity to try them in heavy snow.  The truth about snow in the mountains, is there comes a time when chains are the only answer anyway...

haven had my 350 in anything heavy, but that's my thoughts. 
I was quite happy with the michilien LTX on one of my trucks, for the little bit of off road I actually need

BFG M/T (mud terrains) are not winter tires. They don't have sipes in the tread block. The A/T (all terrain) tires are rated for winter weather and have sipes (thin slits) in the tread block. The sipes create edges to grip snow or ice. They also work better on wet pavement. The sipes tend to cause mud to stick to the tire, reducing traction.

If your primary use is muddy trail or logging roads, them M/T is probably the right answer. In snow or ice, an A/T or an even more road centric tire tread will be better. 

I was blown away with how good the AT3/W did on snow. Truly amazed especially compared to my usual use of true snows.

I didn't realize it but the tires I have on my Ram 1500 are load range e. Continental terrain contact a/t. They were difficult to find, but I'm glad I searched for them. Previously had Falken Wildpeak AT3W. 
 

Falkens were more focused on off road than my Conti's. Falken seemed more confidence inspiring on the highway in the rain. However, no one could ever get them balanced to stop the vibrations (Google it, it's everywhere).

If Falkens were a 9 in the wet and 9 in light off road service, the Conti's would be an 8 with the benefit of being a nicer ride, quieter, and equally capable of towing duty. Since realistically 95% of my driving is on road, it's nice to have the contis and know that if I got caught in a storm or some light mud I would be able to get through it.

In reply to Hoppps :

Interesting to hear you had balance issues. I've had or have 6 sets of Falken AT tires on everything from a Samurai to a Suburban. Only two of those sets have been E-rated. I balanced all of the tires at home on a Mayflower 680 balancer. I haven't had any issues with them being out of balance. I wonder what the difference is. 

They will flat spot after sitting a few days in cold weather, but that's usually gone after the first 4-5 miles of driving in the morning. 

It may seem out of left field, but the Atturo Trail Blade is excellent.  I've had a few sets, done towing and many a firewood run fully loaded up steep dirt hills.  Grip is good in loose stuff, and they are oh so quiet.  More importantly, they ride about a million times better than the Firestone clodhoppers that come standard on so many 3/4 ton pickups . . .

grover said:

I've had general grabber at2's on a few trucks and really liked them.  Great towing and general road manners. Last forever. I've not had them in snow however. They do great in sand. 

I've had really good experiences with the Grabbers in snow and ice. Very predictable behavior, even when they slip.

The Falken AT3W is getting replaced by the AT4W FYI. The new model was released like a month ago. 

I had Duratracs on a SRW F350 that saw towing and "off-road" in higher than average proportions to its highway use. Had Toyo ATs on a DRW F350 that saw towing, but not much off the highway. No big complaints about either, but not apples to apples. The Duratracs were definitely noisier. But better self clearing in muddy situations. 

Edit to add: the Toyo's sucked in the few snow situations I had them in. Then again, an unloaded dually might just suck in the snow, independent of tire selection, I don't have the winter driving experience to know*

I've had good luck with Firestone Transforce a/t

Why not get the Michelin AT?

Keith Tanner said:

EvanB said:

No direct experience as I am still shopping as well but I plan to get the Nokian Outpost when I wear my current highway tread tires out. Based on the reviews and my previous experience with Nokian snow tires they look like a good option. 

https://simpletire.com/brands/nokian-tires/outpost-at#curationPos=none&curationSeq=none&curationSource=none&itemId=216293&mpn=T431877&pageSource=PLP&productPos=none&region=r5&tireSize=lt265-75rr16&userRegion=5&userZip=43228&zip=43228

Watch out when shopping from Simpletire. They're just a front end for a bunch of random warehouses. Last set of tires I ordered from them had mismatched dates and the older ones were over 7 years old. They took them back but it was a hassle to reship AND it caused a significant delay in the replacements. The sales people at Simpletire have no visibility into the actual dates on tires in the random warehouses.

Good point, I've had similar experiences with them but also some good ones. I figured with the Outpost being a new design in the past couple years it was a safer bet for new stock.