Best Tires for a Dodge Dakota?

blast and cast · 11-27-2006, 01:33 PM

I am looking at new tires for my 04 truck. I have been looking at the following and what to hear your opinions on the tire ( I know that different stores will have better/worse experience), but I am looking for comments on the tire and its performance. Or convince me I should try something else.

The size is 265-70-16.

Les Schwab Wild Country XTX ~$690
Les Schwab Open Country A/T ~$606
Michellen LTX ~$585.

Thanks

jokester · 11-27-2006, 01:49 PM

b&c,

I'd look into the Cooper Discoverer S/T's also. They make them in a 265/70/16 or 265/75/16. I've got the 33x12.5x17's on my truck and love them. Good looking tire, aggressive tread, and not noisy on the highway. I think they run ~$650-$680 for a set of 4. PM me if you want more info...

-jokester

mike5097 · 11-27-2006, 02:13 PM

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

suckerfish · 11-27-2006, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike5097

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

These are great tires. We put some on my wifes Dakota and they performed well. We had our tires sipped for added traction.

suckerfish

roguesteelheader · 11-27-2006, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike5097

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires
.
Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

What he said!!!!!!!!! Those are great tires.
Pete

ICHTHYDEMON · 11-27-2006, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roguesteelheader

What he said!!!!!!!!! Those are great tires.
Pete

The problem with the M55s is that they are a heavy-duty tire made more severe use. I have them on my 2500HD and agree that they are an excellent tire,but probably not what hes looking for.

Of the 3 you listed I'd go with the Open Country A/Ts. I've ran a few sets on different vehicles and they are one of the best tires on the market. They have excellent wet/snow traction and offer a smooth quiet ride.

Mokai · 11-27-2006, 07:54 PM

Is the truck 4WD ??? I have BFG All Terrains on my Tacoma and love them...Quiet , smooth ride and grip on anything..Excellent winter traction..I have the exact size you do and paid $680.00 installed..Les Schwab special ordered them for me..

Chuckster · 11-28-2006, 12:12 PM

I have the same tires on my 01 supercrew with over 35K on them and still have about ~50% tread left. Wear great, are quiet and handle everything I throw at them. What ever tire you buy, get em siped. Seems to help wear as well as handling in our wet weather.

Chuck

Mokai · 11-28-2006, 01:26 PM

One thing I will mention and some might disagree .. Some people I know that have siped tires have had problems with chunking out pieces of tread if you drive on gravel roads allot..Just something to think of when you purchase your tires..I do allot of driving on gravel and did not sipe mine for that reason..I still seem to have great traction but if you are mainly on paved roads than I would have them siped..

Andrew

Coho Kid · 11-28-2006, 01:32 PM

I have an 02 Dakota and am running the Open Country. They seem to be doing well, and are quiet on the road. I like the way they clean themselves in the muddy roads

Coho Kid

RvW · 11-28-2006, 02:49 PM

I put toyo AT open country 285/75/16 on my f-250 and I like them for several reasons.
Of course the Goodyear tires I took off were junk to say the least (Which were stock on my dakota)

I got the toyos because they were rated #1 for like the last five years in road and driver tire review, and consumer reports gave them a #1 thumbs up too. I wasnt too keen on paying $800+, but the wear rating is 500, and the next best tire (yokohama geolander A/T) had only a 360 wear rating yet they cost exactly the same.

HOGGEMIN · 11-28-2006, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Row Vs. Wade

I put toyo AT open country 285/75/16 on my f-250 and I like them for several reasons.
Of course the Goodyear tires I took off were junk to say the least (Which were stock on my dakota)

I got the toyos because they were rated #1 for like the last five years in road and driver tire review, and consumer reports gave them a #1 thumbs up too. I wasnt too keen on paying $800+, but the wear rating is 500, and the next best tire (yokohama geolander A/T) had only a 360 wear rating yet they cost exactly the same.

I would agree with R vs W on the Toyo AT for a great tire but honestly think if you go on gravel roads the Toyo M-55 is the tire to have.

Tagster · 11-28-2006, 04:07 PM

I've got the Open Country ATs on my Expedition (8 ply) and on my F250 (10 ply).

I will buy them again.

I never considered the M55s...I may have to look at them next time.

SeanD · 11-28-2006, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckster

I have the same tires on my 01 supercrew with over 35K on them and still have about ~50% tread left. Wear great, are quiet and handle everything I throw at them. What ever tire you buy, get em siped. Seems to help wear as well as handling in our wet weather.

Chuck

I got schwab SXT mud terrains on my new tacoma, mud&snow rated tire. They come in a "C" range tire which is about right for a tacoma or dakota. Opted not to get siping. Dont know if it would have helped much when I hit the black ice, but I will get siping done next time for sure just in case, I will take every advantage I can get on ice.

RvW · 11-28-2006, 06:12 PM

Sipe is hype.

Siped tires wear faster, and void the warranty on many tires.

WAID · 11-28-2006, 06:41 PM

I've got the Open Country A/Ts(also siped although that wasn't my choice and I haven't driven without them siped so I can't compare) on my Toyota and I'm currently snow testing with a trip acrossed whitepass to Idaho for the last 3 weeks of school in Moscow, ID where we have several inches of snow. So far it is doing very well in loose snow, packed snow, slush, and ice.

ICHTHYDEMON · 11-28-2006, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Row Vs. Wade

Sipe is hype.

Siped tires wear faster, and void the warranty on many tires.

Ive heard the only benefit of a siped tire is on dry pavement.

Siping is hardly hype. The traction increase in wet/icy conditions is well worth it. I've had two different sets of Wild Country TXRs on my 2500HD. The first set wasn't siped and the wet weather traction was terrible. I figured it would be as the TXRs are a pretty aggressive big lugged tire. I had the second set siped and the difference was like night and day. The wet weather traction increased greatly.

I agree that siping a tire with significant factory siping is a waste of money. On an aggresive tire with big lugs (M-55s,Mud Terrains,ect) siping is definately worth it.

gottafish · 11-29-2006, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike5097

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

Toyo M55 Tires

This is a true statement if you drive at all on gravel.

DAB · 11-29-2006, 11:24 AM

ROUND

SlamminKokes · 11-29-2006, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Row Vs. Wade

Sipe is hype.

Siped tires wear faster, and void the warranty on many tires.

Ive heard the only benefit of a siped tire is on dry pavement.

Not sure where you got this info but the siping adds to tire life because it keeps the rubber cooler! It also allows the rubber to "expand" when on snow and ice to allow better traction! Who doesnt warrenty the tires if theyve been siped?

HntnFsh · 11-29-2006, 12:06 PM

I dont know about the other claims.But a recent Consumer reports article stated in their testing that siping was not worth the money.The difference was minimal if at all.

I'll have to look up the article and see what else they had to say about siping.

D.B.Cooper · 11-29-2006, 01:47 PM

I have siped Toyo A/T Open Countrys on my '06 F-250 Lariat FX4 and they handle excellent, even on compact snow & ice.

Also BF Goodrich's makes respectable truck tires.

Stay away from Les Schwab's Wild Countrys. They are noisy, wear very fast, and dont keep thier balance worth a damn.

Also Firestone, great if you want flats everytime you drive on gravel and want to deal with the "Those tires are illegal. We can't let you drive out of here with them on." which is what they tried with my wife. She called me on my cell and they changed thier tune and had her out of there before I could even get there to chew them out. Worst tires ever. Worst service ever.

RvW · 11-29-2006, 02:28 PM

Written by Mike Manges.

Major tire manufacturers Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire LLC (BFNT), Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Michelin North America Inc. discourage siping passenger tires. "We don't recommend altering a tire in any way," says a Michelin spokesperson, who adds that if a Michelin-made tire "becomes unserviceable due to siping," its warranty would be voided.
BFNT officials say that siping also invalidates its tires' warranties, "because you've altered the tires. Our tires are designed a certain way with certain tread patterns. Any alteration, in our minds, just doesn't make sense."
Goodyear's official policy states that "any tire, after leaving a factory producing Goodyear tires, (that) has been intentionally altered to change its appearance (e.g., white inlay on a black tire, regrooving or siping)" will not be covered under warranty.
That doesn't surprise Sprunk. "Most (tiremakers) say, 'We already make a good enough tire," he says.
Jeff Schroeder, director of product development for Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., also cites other reasons to discourage siping. Sipes "loosen up tread elements," he says. "As you put cuts into (a tread), suddenly you have blocks that are moving more independently," which leads to increased wear.
While Schroeder admits that sipes might be beneficial in severe winter conditions, a siped tire "won't perform as well in the dry. When you put a sipe in, you create a biting edge," which is not needed on dry surfaces, he says. "On a dry (surface), the texture of the tread is interacting with the road." Cooper and other manufacturers offer dedicated snow tires that have been siped at the manufacturing level via the mold process. "The need to sipe isn't that great," says Schroeder.

Clyde · 11-29-2006, 09:59 PM

To sipe or not to sipe...Consumer Reports tested tires before and after and their conclusion was pretty much that you should not do it because the differences were very minor.

As well, I used to love Les Schwab but now it seems it's all about the moolah...you can find better tires for less. Nonethe ess, my wife still loves going there because of all of the young men in uniform...

SlamminKokes · 11-30-2006, 02:52 AM

Les died?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clyde

To sipe or not to sipe...Consumer Reports tested tires before and after and their conclusion was pretty much that you should not do it because the differences were very minor.

As well, I used to love Les Schwab but since Les died it seems it's all about the moolah...you can find better tires for less. Nonethe ess, my wife still loves going there because of all of the young men in uniform...

D.B.Cooper · 11-30-2006, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlamminKokes

Les died?

Long time ago.

Tagster · 11-30-2006, 08:50 AM

If he is, I can't find an article about it...thought he was sick a few months ago, though.

SlamminKokes · 11-30-2006, 11:46 AM

Clyde and D.B Cooper, Les is not dead! Might want to check facts before telling the world on the internet someone is dead when they really arent!quote=D.B.Cooper;1339987]Long time ago.[/quote]

stilly bum · 11-30-2006, 08:14 PM

Either of the Wildcat tires from Les Schwab are great. I hade two sets of the all seasons before. Great traction and lots of miles. I have the all terrains on my new truck because they didn't have the AS in my size. My new truck is 2wd and I've been driving all over in the snow, doing much better than I ever would have expected.

MattPark · 11-30-2006, 08:21 PM

The M55s aren't just for gravel and off road (they aren't that aggressive anyways), they wear better and can handle more weight than any other tire I can think of.

98ramtough · 11-30-2006, 08:30 PM

On a lighter rig like that I would suggest the Toyo A/T. I don't think the M55 is the right tire for smaller trucks. Great on heavyier 2500s and up though...

Another great tire is the Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo. I have only had mine for 5000 miles, but have had them on snow, ice, mud and sand and they work very well.

As far as siping, it has to do with the tire. I ran through four sets of 255/85 TXRs siped and they got 80k miles out of a heavy 2500 diesel, well two different 2500s. To get 80k miles on a 7000lb truck is flat awesome. I really liked the TXRs, I had my truck many times in snow of 3ft or more and drove a lot on ice and they were awesome...

I have a video of me pulling a brand new ford diesel out of a 3' snowy road, but it wasn't the tires, he had m55s, he didn't have any weight in the back and it made all the diff in the world.

ET · 11-30-2006, 08:47 PM

I have the Michelen LTX ~$585 on my Honda Pilot. The tires are much better than the Goodyear OEM tires, but I don't know how they compare to the Les Schwab tires.

I do know that I much prefered the Michelin Hydroedge tires over the Toyo 800 ultras. The Hydroedge tires were the best tires I've ever had on a vehicle.

Clyde · 12-02-2006, 08:14 PM

I am so sorry...I was almost positive about this! I could have sworn that he passed away a few years ago...or did he just leave the company??? Apologies to all if I am truly wrong. What a terrible mistake on my part if I am.