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New tires and a comprehensive review (so far)

6K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  joeaguiar 
#1 ·
I was getting pretty sick of my Michelin LTX M+S tires. Nice and quiet, but sideways in the rain and always slipping at the boat ramp. Had to use 4WD a lot with them in the winter as well.

After reading some interesting reviews and a lot of recommendations, I picked up a set of General Grabber AT2's. Got them for $180/tire along with a $65 rebate from General Tire.

The tires I ended up with are Load Range E, 265/70/17. I do a lot of towing and had to ditch the P-rated tires. The sidewall squish and bounce were driving me crazy. I probably could have gotten away with a load rating somewhere between the P and the E ratings, but I do not know if they are available in this brand, size, etc.

Anyways, I had them mounted on Wednesday morning and I have put on roughly 800 miles of various terrain since then. Did some wet roads, dry roads, 75mph highway, highway with towing, launch ramp, mild offroad (through a field of wet grass), and I even let my gal loose behind the wheel in an empty field - she didn't get stuck in 2WD.

The E-rated tires have a nice, firm ride. I currently have them aired up to 45PSI. Cornering was the first noticeable difference - there is no "squish" and squat when taking a corner. That little "sidewall bounce" when halfway through a corner has gone away completely and the truck turns completely level and firm. This was my biggest beef with the P-rated tires.

At speed, these tires are VERY quiet and smooth. Every review mentioned that they were surprisingly quiet, and I took that with a grain of salt. I assumed they would be similar to a BFG AT in terms of noise, but they are only moderately noisier than my previous highway tires. Very impressed.. They are extremely smooth, even at 45PSI on a half ton truck.

They held up well in the rain, no slipping around. Jammed on the brakes on a few occasions and the ABS did not come on like it used to. The Michelins would lose traction fairly easily during a hard stop in the rain. These tires shed the water well - I noticed because everything that was picked up on the road ended up all over my truck.. I hate mudflaps, but it might be time to bite the bullet. I have my rockers coated with 3 layers of gravel guard, and I've already noticed a few little chips.

They are a very "grabby" tire. If you have any looseness in your front end components, I can see these tires highlighting it. They go where you point them, with vigor. No sneezing behind the wheel :lol:

Hooked up the boat and took it down to one of the buildings for storage - it was a 2 hour ride from 45mph roads to 75mph highway to driving through a wet grassy field. A few gravel roads as well. Smooth ride all the way, no sidewall squat or tire bounce with the boat hooked up. There is quite a bit of tongue weight as well.

The only element I normally face, and haven't tested yet, is snow. I will update when I have a chance to put it through the paces in the Northeast winter climate.

Overall - the reviews I read were spot on. I like the tire a lot and I like the price when compared to others. It's a good value and they reportedly hold up very well in terms of mileage. I'm excited to see how they hold up in snow. The tread pattern looks like it will shed snow well and there is a nice sidewall pattern that should help.
 

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#2 ·
Those look pretty good on your truck.. Thank you for your review of them also..:)
 
#5 ·
That's the tough part about online reviews...you usually see both ends of the spectrum (the people who are passionate about a product, and the people who passionately hate a product).

I think I gave a pretty real-world experience review on these tires. I've put them through a fair bit of terrain already and they have exceeded my expectations. So far, so good!
 
#6 ·
Alright! I've put about 5,000 miles on these tires so far and I figured I'm due for a bit of an update.

Driving has been a combination of highway, around town, long distance towing, mild offroad, and a bit of snow.

They are still very quiet. I took a road trip to pick up a boat with my father. He is a die-hard Michelin fan and he made the comment that these were exceptionally smooth and quiet - he has quite an ear for tire noise on the highway and always seeks out quiet tires.

I am still running them at 45 PSI and haven't felt the need to play around with the pressure yet. They handle well in wet conditions and were great in the little bit of snow we had recently. This winter will be the real test.

I plan to rotate them with each oil change in order to get the most life out of them. I still feel like I got great value with these tires and will continue to recommend them.
 
#7 ·
Well, we got a foot of snow last night. First real snow storm of the season!

These tires EAT the snow and throw it everywhere. It was actually a lot of fun putting it through the paces last night and this morning. Towed my gal's carpool ride (Chevy Malibu) down the street with my chain onto some cleaner pavement.

Haven't put the winter weight in my bed yet (usually 3-4 bags of construction sand).

I know all new tires are good in snow, but these a definitely more capable than my Michelins were when they were new. The lug pattern likes to discharge snow and bite in. So far so good. Looking forward to see how they work in freezing rain.
 
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