The OE tires on my 2021 F350 6.7L CCSB are Continental Contitrac 275/65-18 at almost 30K with barely legal tread but not enough for the upcoming NE winter, so looking at new options. I tow a 10K 5th wheel 5-6 times during the summer and some highway other than 10 miles back and forth to work on back roads but not much off road. I would like to get a little more grip in the winter (now I use 4wd in winter to get to the main road) without sacrificing unloaded ride, noise or tread wear. I'm looking at Continental Terraincontact H/T (not sure about snow grip) or their A/T (concerned about noise & wear) also looking at Michelin defender LTX M/S 2 and their A/T 2 with the same concerns as the continental.

Anyone have experience with either of these or other suggestions?

Thanks

 

The Michelin LTX AT/2 is likely a good candidate for your uses. I had them on a previous truck and they rode well and wore well. Using 4WD was dependent on the snow itself, not so much the tire capability. The newer Michelin Defender Platinum has gotten good reviews, but not sure it comes in 18" sizes yet.

 

Cooper AT3 had a much better ride when I replaced the Continentals on my now gone 2016. Will put them on my 2023 when the time comes. Live in the Lake Michigan snow belt and the Coopers did good in the winter.

 

Everything I read about the continental ht is good but not sure about snow.

Personally would suggest the yokohama g015 in 275/70/18. Small increase wont mess up your speedo and gets you a higher load rating. Factory optional size.

It has all the snow ratings and its very quiet and wears well. I run them and can contest to that.

 

I have the Michelin Defender LTX M/S 2 on my F250 and my honest opinion is they are awful in the snow. I live in the just outside of Buffalo New York and any time it snows I constantly have to use 4x4 to get around. From just a couple of inches to a couple of feet. When these are gone I'm looking to put something more snow friendly on the truck.

 

The oem continentals absolutely suck.
I replaced mine with General Grabber HTS60's in the LT275/70R18 and they are great.
The slightly larger diameter screws the speedo by about 2 MPH at 70.
I have a new set on order right now, will be here tomorrow.
General has a $100 rebate going on through the end of this month.

 

I hear you about 4wd, I'm south of Syracuse. Any idea what you would consider? I keep going back and forth between HT and AT's and the price is about $30 more for the Michelin AT's compared to Continental AT.

 

I had the LTX AT2's on a prior Super Duty in the Southern Tier (near OP). 3 season road manners and wear characteristics were good and they were decent in the winter. I actually used them for plowing for a couple seasons, and although not as capable as dedicated snow tires, they were not bad at all.

 

I'm not a big fan of either of those brands. But if you must pick one of those two, go Michelin. Continental tires are trash. Poor wear, sometimes hard to balance, etc. Michelin has their own issues with the rubber compounds dryrotting prematurely, but at least the tread will last longer and won't try to kill you in bad weather.

If it was me, I'd go with an all-terrain tire that has the severe snow (mountain snowflake) rating. The minimal increase in noise is well worth the added toughness, traction, and longevity. I also would go 275/70R18 at minimum. The 275/65 looks ridiculous on such a large truck.

 

I think I am going to give the Falken Wildpeak AT3 a try when it's time.

I have tried the Wangler DuraTrac which was great tire but they got really loud at about 25,000 miles and probably where shot by 40-45,000 miles

Everyone around me swears by the BF Goodrich KO2's. The redesign was suppose to address all the wet weather complaints. These are in a strong second place consideration. I never liked the originals because they constantly spun on wet pavement.

 

I think you nailed it here. The Falken's are some of the best overall rated tires on pavement/snow/rain/off road. I'm looking at BFG because of the weight and it's just a classic tire. We don't see much snow in central/east TX so I'm not worried about the peak rating in snow. I'm looking at BFG A/T's and the Nitto Recon Grappler. But if I was in a snowy area, the Falken's would already be on my truck.

 

Other suggestions ? I'd say lean more towards an aggressive AT. It doesn't sound like you do enough highway miles to worry about saving with a summer road oriented all season tire. If you travel NY backroads regularly in winter, that usually means less snow plowing. As for more tire sound, sure, but that's the sound of good tire for crappy road traction you'll wish you had on snowy unplowed roads. Tire sound is also based on tire width, so if you don't go too wide, it won't be too loud. For your use, I recommend Cooper ST Maxx in 295/70-18, a good commercial grade all purpose agressive AT and at that size will rate 4000lbs max per tire. Another good tire for your use is the BFGoodrich KO3, also rated 4000lbs in that size. Don't sacrifice winter snow driving safety for summer road tires.

 

One brother and one friend both run Wildpeak AT3W and both recommend them for all season and general plowed road snow conditions. I have never tried Falken. I ran several sets of Duratracs on a Chevy HD2500 and two Expeditions, and I thought winter snow traction was surprisingly poor. I ran several sets of BFG KO2 on the Expeditions, and they were good for deep stuff but sketchy on hardpack snow/ice. The new BFG KO3 looks to have improved both on road rain/snow traction and and offroad traction, so I recommend KO3 over KO2.

 

Ahhh yes the KO3's is what I was thinking about being new and improved for wet traction.

 

I have the Toyo AT3's on 2 of my trucks and have been super pleased with them, snow, wet snow, rain and highway, had the Toyo AT2's on my F350 4x/DRW and they wore great, almost 40k out of them. I'm not one to worry about tire noise, and these never seemed to be loud or noisy at all, especially compared to the Coopers I have on my F350 now.