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Best tire rating for 2500HD trucks

JohnnieMo

SM 2017
PM 2014
SM 2013
Full Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2011
Messages
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Location
Calgary, Alberta
Hey guys.  As you can see I drive a 1500, however I've recently come in to a 2006 Duramax from my dad.  This is pretty great as now my Avalanche can return to the easy life and not have to tow 7000lbs all the time.  

Only issue here is the new truck needs tires.  The rims are aftermarket 20" heavy duty wheels purchased locally (this was my dad's truck).  In the past he ran some BFG A/Ts on it, and then some Hankook Dynapros.  He was running a 275/50R20, which frankly, looked silly.  They were such a low profile tire they looked out of place on that truck.  The stockers are actually 245/75/R16's and those look even more silly.

I am looking for something around a 32" diameter as that appears to be the max for these Silverados before they start to rub.  I had my eye on about a 275/55R20... ironically exactly what my Avalanche runs.  Now here is where I start getting confused.  My local shop (Kaltire... who I generally trust) suggested a set of Multi-Mile Wild Country tires.  In the US these are under the Les Schwab brand.

Multi-Mile-XTX-Sport-4S-Angle.jpg

http://www.kaltire.com/en/tires/wild-country-xtx-sport-4s/284287.html

These tires are a 117 load rating, or about 2800lbs per tire.  The rear axle on a 2500HD is around 6000lbs (and research has taught me this was mostly the limit of the stock tires and not the axle itself).  So my gut says these tires are not up to the job.  

I also took a look at Nitto Terra Grappler G2s.  These actually do have a proper LT / Load Range E tire if you get the LT285/55/R20.

nitto_terragrapplerg2_bsw_74107_vary_jpg_s3_resize_x2000.jpg


http://www.nittotire.com/light-truck-tires/terra-grappler-g2-all-terrain-light-truck-tire/

So here is my question - do you need an LT / E rated tire for a 2500 truck?  The shops I've visited don't seem too concerned about it.  However I want to know I'm buying the right thing.

This truck will only be used for towing trailers.  The three I have are in the 6500/7000lbs range.  Obviously this isn't near the capacity of the truck, but I want a nice stable tow and stiffer tires.  In the past I've noticed my Nitto 421Q tires on the Avalanche are a bit squishy even with 50psi in them.  They are also rated at the exact same 117 load rating as the Wild Countrys.  The Silverado will only be towing in the summer and mostly on-road activities.  I might use it very sparingly in the Canadian winter, so the tire should not be a total waste in snow.

From my research, it appears that the terms LT, Load Range E, and 10 ply are all tossed around, but mostly don't even mean anything anymore.  The real number to look at is the max PSI, and the load index.  Those tell the story better.

Anyways, not an Avy question, but this is the forum I know, and I trust you guys.
 
Yes you need e load range tire on a 2500 truck if you are going to use it to tow.

Consider this a 2500 weights around 1,000 pounds more than a 1500. 

Does it have a diesel in it with a Allison transmission.
 
MS03 2500 said:
Yes you need e load range tire on a 2500 truck if you are going to use it to tow.

Consider this a 2500 weights around 1,000 pounds more than a 1500.  

Does it have a diesel in it with a Allison transmission.

Yes it is the 6.6L Duarmax with 6 speed Allison.  Only 215,000 km.  Old man driven.  Pretty sweet truck actually.  Now we can haul the camper and boat at the same time  (y)

The tire shops, despite their usual obsession with safety, don't seem at all concerned about putting an XL rated tires on a heavy duty truck.  I can't figure out why.  It might be because not many manufacturers make a Load E 20" tire.  Obviously, 20" rims aren't ideal for heavy duty applications.  However some do exist...
 
What you have there is a heavy duty truck with enough torque(600+) and weight to quickly overpower anything under a 10 ply E Load range tire. Now when you look at wheels make sure they are rated for the truck you can't just put on pretty 8 lug rims. I personally would look at wheels stock 2500 HD from a newer GMC Denali and paint them, I think you can go up to 2011.

You are not in SUV Land like the AV you are in Heavy Duty Truck Land, I've been in a couple of them and the ride is not the best.




 
MS03 2500 said:
What you have there is a heavy duty truck with enough torque(600+) and weight to quickly overpower anything under a 10 ply E Load range tire. Now when you look at wheels make sure they are rated for the truck you can't just put on pretty 8 lug rims. I personally would look at wheels stock 2500 HD from a newer GMC Denali and paint them, I think you can go up to 2011.

You are not in SUV Land like the AV you are in Heavy Duty Truck Land, I've been in a couple of them and the ride is not the best.

Yes it does ride like a main battle tank.  And that is on the lower load index tires.  It's only going to get worse.  However once it is loaded up I think it will ride alright.  They are terrible unloaded.

Wheels are a good question.  These were bought directly from the shop I am dealing with.  I am quite confident they wouldn't sell a wheel that was not up to the job.  As an update, I did call them back and talked to another person.  He was apologetic about recommended the Multi-Mile tires.  He called it a mistake.  When it comes time to install these tires, I will get them to check the rims as well.  These rims have been in use for 9 years already, so if they were going to fail, they might have done that by now.  I will keep an eye out for used wheels though.  I am a big believer in high quality wheels when towing.  

So as it stands, I am pretty sure I'll be going with the Nitto Terra Grappler G2 in load range E.

Here is a pic of the rims when first installed.  Those are the BFG KO A/T's on there.  I think they were a 305 and likely not Range E either.
 

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Nice looking truck what psi are you running in the tires
 
MS03 2500 said:
Nice looking truck what psi are you running in the tires

On the current tires (Hankook Dynapro HT) he is running 45 front and 35 rear I think.  When towing the rears likely go up to 50.  They are bald, hence why I am seeking new tires when I pick the truck up next month.  The existing tires are D rated, not E.

We had a bit of a situation where the truck got stuck in the boat ramp due to those stupid bald tires (and a malfunction in the 4x4 system).
 
How about shocks what brand. The bilstein 5100 really helped with ride quality
 
MS03 2500 said:
How about shocks what brand. The bilstein 5100 really helped with ride quality

Likely stock.  In fact almost certainly still stock.  It was one of the things I was pondering to clean it up.  Thanks for the suggestion!!  It's probably easier to swap than the Avalanche. 

The truck will need an assortment of things before I call it my own.... first needs a KPH speedo, a Bluestar Bluetooth system, new tires, some shocks, and then we'll assess the brakes, fluids etc.  Adding to my fleet was certainly not in the plan, but a free Duramax is a hard thing to pass up.
 
I would not have passed on it either a diesel has just started growing facial hair at 200,000.

One thing about a diesel if you never had one is the fuel system and filters (2)

You have to keep the water and air out of it, and never ever ever ever run out of gas.

http://www.gmtruckhq.com/Manuals/2006DuramaxDieselSupplement.pdf




 
Ya, this thing is barely broken in.  I see 2017 3500's selling locally with 100,000km on them already.  They are still worth over $70k.

The good news is my cousin was a GM mechanic and service manager.  He lives in the same town as my dad, so I know the truck has always been looked after.  However I need to learn a lot about it now.
 
So I picked up the truck this weekend.  Inaugural trip was towing home our new 2006 26 foot camper and a whole lot of "stuff" from my dad's place (he is moving in to a condo).  Typically I run the Avalanche at about 14,000 GCVWR.  I think this thing was closer to 16,000. 

First impressions - there is no drama.  The stability of the 2500 is unmatched.  With the Avalanche I'm left working the wheel and the gas the entire journey.  With this rig you set the cruise and drive with one hand.  There is simply no drama.  Towing through the mountains was easy.  Just all kinds of torque to climb hills. 

However I did find something very odd.  In a passing lane (often we have 2 lanes out here plus an optional passing lane every 10km or so) I pulled out to pass a big rig.  I expected it to be a piece of cake.  However going up that hill, I matted the accelerator and the truck just slowly overtook the truck.  There was no down shifting (it was in 4th) or fanfare.  It took forever to pass that truck.  In my Avalanche it would have kicked in to 2nd gear and passed like my hair was on fire.  So I'm left wondering if this is a diesel vs gas thing?  Is this the low RPM of the diesel causing issue?  Or is the truck not working right?  The rest of the trip was easy, but this one pass was pathetic. 

Maybe I'm asking too much, but if my supercharged 5.3 can pull circles around this thing on a hill, there has to be something wrong.  Granted the 5.3 is running 5000 RPM and this thing only runs a little over 2500.

 

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2006 Duramax only rated 360 hp at only 3200 rpm.  Probably less than 290 hp at wheels - your supercharged AV probably has almost 20% more power.  Downshifting may put the rpm at higher than 3200 rpm - if so not much reason to downshift.
 
enoniam said:
2006 Duramax only rated 360 hp at only 3200 rpm.  Probably less than 290 hp at wheels - your supercharged AV probably has almost 20% more power.  Downshifting may put the rpm at higher than 3200 rpm - if so not much reason to downshift.

My dad said exactly the same thing.  The Duramax has a great ability to maintain speed - almost at any load and at any grade.  However the gasser has breakaway acceleration and an ability to overtake other vehicles.  However it dances around a lot in the gears just to maintain like the DMax does.

This thing might need to visit the tuner.
 
Welcome to the world of Diesels :laugh:

They can pull anything just not fast. You are a brave man trying to pass a semi with a 26 foot trailer behind you.

Bully Dog or Banks make tuners

https://www.xtremediesel.com/chipsmodulesprogrammers_8.aspx
 
MS03 2500 said:
Welcome to the world of Diesels :laugh:

They can pull anything just not fast. You are a brave man trying to pass a semi with a 26 foot trailer behind you.

Bully Dog or Banks make tuners

https://www.xtremediesel.com/chipsmodulesprogrammers_8.aspx

I am learning that.  The good news was this was a dedicated passing lane.  So there was no risk to it.... however I'm sure a few people behind me were annoyed.  I learned my lesson and waited from then on.  Later on the hill the larger rigs were REALLY slowing down, but the truck kept 100kph or so throughout.  It wouldn't do much better than that though. 

I just need to learn more about this thing.  However I expect I will give it a better tune.  I have a local shop that supercharged my Trans Am and the Avalanche.  They do diesel performance also.  If nothing else, it sounds like you can put the LBZ tune on to the LLY truck and gain a free 50 ft-lbs. I don't want to spend much money on this truck, as I'm really pretty strapped just keeping this whole fleet operational.  (Note, I now own 60 tires).
 
Yup they are different
 
MS03 2500 said:
Yup they are different

Wow those $400 tuners can add 100HP and 200 Ft-lbs!!  That is insane!!!  The last thing I want to do is blow an engine screwing around with one of these though.  What a waste of a free truck :)

Any suggestions on a good diesel forum I should be joining up to? 
 
MS03 2500 said:
I personally would look at wheels stock 2500 HD from a newer GMC Denali and paint them, I think you can go up to 2011.

I did find a used set of 2011 2500HD wheels locally here.  They were just right but needed some TLC.  Sadly it looks like the bolt pattern changed in 2011, so the 2010 is the last model that would fit.  The 20" option appears to have been introduced in 2011 with the new 8x180 bolt pattern.  Aftermarket is the only option.  I think I'm going to stick with the current aftermarkets however they need to be blasted and painted.  The finish is in rough shape.

 

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Yeah the whole front suspension changed starting in 2011
 
JohnnieMo said:
I did find a used set of 2011 2500HD wheels locally here.  They were just right but needed some TLC.  Sadly it looks like the bolt pattern changed in 2011, so the 2010 is the last model that would fit.  The 20" option appears to have been introduced in 2011 with the new 8x180 bolt pattern.  Aftermarket is the only option.  I think I'm going to stick with the current aftermarkets however they need to be blasted and painted.  The finish is in rough shape.

Look up OE Wheels LLC.  They have the new style wheels in the old bolt pattern.
 
camaroz1985 said:
Look up OE Wheels LLC.  They have the new style wheels in the old bolt pattern.

Cool website!  However the point is not to get a wheel that looks like OEM.  The point is to get a wheel that I know is rated for the performance numbers of the truck.  For that, a true OEM (not made in China) is needed.

I've decided to stay with the wheels I have.  They are likely Chinese, but they have worked without issue for 9 years.  I assume they will continue to work with a little TLC.
 
camaroz1985 said:
Sorry I just skipped to the end and saw your reference to the new bolt pattern and thought you wanted that style wheel.

No problem.  I appreciate you stopping by.  And that website is still pretty cool and I'll bookmark it for future projects.  In reading their website it looks like quality is a big part of what they do.  The rims would probably be fairly good.  The aftermarkets I got are severely pitted and likely need a blast and a paint.  That in itself might cost what these new OE wheels would cost.
 
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