Total Miles Expected From My Ram 1500 Tires

[Old Moparz]

I'm a little disappointed with the the total amount of miles I've been able to get from 2 sets of tires I've had on my 2004 Ram 1500. The odometer just turned 50,000 miles, & I am due to buy the 3rd set of tires for it already. The truck is a Quad Cab 4x4, that has a 5.7 with an 8 foot bed & fiberglass cap. I don't do any off road driving & all the roads I am on are paved except for my own 300 foot driveway. It's not a work truck, but I do tow with it about 10 to 12 times a year, & never near it's tow capacity.

The tires get rotated roughly at 6000 or 7000 miles, & I check the pressure to keep it where it's supposed to be. (32 to 35 psi, I forget the exact number offhand) I don't smoke the tires, ever, & the alignment is fine. I had it aligned right after I got the 2nd set to be sure that it had nothing to do with the 1st set not lasting very long. The original set of Michelins, P245/70 R17's that were on it only lasted about 22,000 or so, & about the time it was due to be rotated the 3rd time, I said the heck with it because they weren't going to last until the next rotation.

I then bought a slightly larger set of Good Year Wranglers, P265/70 R17's that I managed to get a few more miles on, about 28,000 right now, but I know I should buy new ones before I tow in a couple of weeks. It's not a drastic increase in miles from the 1st set & the Good Years weren't cheap. There is no unusual wear to indicate over, or under inflation, & the inner & outer tread isn't uneven either. The owner at the place I bought the 2nd set of tires said that the truck is just too heavy for the manufacture's recommended tire & size & that I should be buying a different tire next time.

The truck weighed in somewhere around 5500 pounds when I bought it & I have added the cap, but I don't know what is considered too heavy if that is true at all. The LT tire makes sense, so I think that's what I'll be getting.

Anyone have any idea what tires I could get that would last longer than 22,000 to 28,000 miles?

[69 OUR/TEA]

Old Moparz,my 04 ram 4x4 QC has the factory 20'' with Goodyear wrangler HP's 275/60/20,when I bought it they put 2 new rears on it,I never rotated them and put 22k miles on them and they still had at least 50% left.BTW,the load range of these tires is 2,680 lbs.,if that helps.

[resq302]

Well, the only body style of that pick up that I had, I had to have all 4 tires replaced at 1500 miles due to bubbles in all of the sidewalls.  The Goodyears that were replaced with it didnt wear much better till they took the truck back with under 6000 miles.  I will say that with my 97 ram 1500, I had good luck with the BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A ko's.

[Domino]

Nitto terra grapplers: 34" in load range E on my '05 cummins.  They're ready to replace now with ~35k on them, but about half of that is towing mileage.  The torque from the smarty tends to wear 'em out too. 

I had 33x12.5 BFG All terrains on my '98 1500, those lasted over 35k.
switched to 35" Wrangle MTRs, but got gravel punctures like the stock goodyears.

[dodgeboy67]

goodyear wrangler silent armour

[Old Moparz]

Nitto terra grapplers: 34" in load range E on my '05 cummins.  They're ready to replace now with ~35k on them, but about half of that is towing mileage.  The torque from the smarty tends to wear 'em out too. 

I had 33x12.5 BFG All terrains on my '98 1500, those lasted over 35k.
switched to 35" Wrangle MTRs, but got gravel punctures like the stock goodyears.

Yeah, I think the P designation & the fact that I haven't had a heavier duty tire with a better load rating is my problem. When I had my 1995 F-150 I got more miles out of P tires, but that truck wasn't a 4x4 & I towed a much lighter load.

Time to start tire shopping......again.   

Thanks for all the replies.   

[TK73]

The truck is a Quad Cab 4x4, that has a 5.7 with an 8 foot bed & fiberglass cap. I don't do any off road driving

Here is a problem...  seriously, WTF?

[resq302]

because if you live up in our neck of the woods and need to get anywhere when there is 2 feet of snow on the ground, the 4x4 really comes in handy!   

[Old Moparz]

The truck is a Quad Cab 4x4, that has a 5.7 with an 8 foot bed & fiberglass cap. I don't do any off road driving

Here is a problem...  seriously, WTF?

Getting this truck was a no brainer when I bought it. I was looking at used trucks & figured on a 4x2, not a 4x4. When the dealership advertised this one, it was $13K off the $36K sticker. I got a new truck for less money than a used truck, so I see it as getting 4WD for free.   

And Brian is right, it was nice having it this past winter with all the snow we got.

[GPULLER]

One good thing is you have 17" rims.  There are more choices in sizes that are reasonably priced in the 17's rather than 20's.  I would suggest getting a set of LT's this time around rather than the P metrics.  The LT's will have a higher load rating and from what I've seen they last longer. 
I've personally had good luck with Firestone Destination A/T's.  The last time I heard Bridgestone/Firestone recommended tire rotation every 3000 miles.
At work we sell a small amount of car/truck tires, the popular tires are always in short supply.  With the demand for tires so high new tires don't sit in the warehouse and cure.  When the customer gets them they are fresh out of the mold and are soft, and wear out quickly.
Living in a farming community we see that with farm tractors.  Rear tractor tires cost 2 grand a piece or more and only last 1000 hours when they should last 3x that long.  Some farmers are buying tires a head of time and leaving them in the shed to cure for a year or more before putting them on a tractor. 
That is my theory on why tires don't last any more.

[Cooter]

"That is my theory on why tires don't last any more.".......That and I see people driving these big, heavy, giant, big wheeled, SUV's like they are in a Honda and wondering why the tires wear prematurely...

[firefighter3931]

Bob, definately go with an LT tire...they will wear better/last longer. 

I really like the Cooper skins on my dually....nice and quiet and even wear. The original tires were Generals and i got 54k miles out of them. 


Ron

[Old Moparz]

Bob, definately go with an LT tire...they will wear better/last longer. 

I really like the Cooper skins on my dually....nice and quiet and even wear. The original tires were Generals and i got 54k miles out of them. 


Ron

Thanks for the tip, Ron.   

I was just on the Cooper website last night & will stop at a local tire shop that I know sells them. I've had a couple of Cooper sets in the past with no complaints. One set was on my F-150, & 1 set was on my wife's Mustang GT.

[ITSA426]

The 20" OEM tires on my RumbleBee went to 52,000 before I replaced them.  They had plenty of tread left but the sidewalls were breaking down.  I have my trailer on the truck at least a third of the time and thought safety the better choice.

[firefighter3931]

Bob, definately go with an LT tire...they will wear better/last longer. 

I really like the Cooper skins on my dually....nice and quiet and even wear. The original tires were Generals and i got 54k miles out of them. 


Ron

Thanks for the tip, Ron.   

I was just on the Cooper website last night & will stop at a local tire shop that I know sells them. I've had a couple of Cooper sets in the past with no complaints. One set was on my F-150, & 1 set was on my wife's Mustang GT.

Hey Bob, have a look at the 265/70/17 Cooper A/T3's or the HT's ; both are available in load range "E" which is what you want 


http://www.coopertire.com/html/tireselector_bySize.aspx?twtd=265&artw=70&rd=17


I have the HT's on the dually and they are real smooth and quiet on the road....much nicer than the Generals which came OEM on the truck. The A/T3's have a more agressive tread which might be better suited to your driving conditions (winter).

FWIW, i don't drive mine when the snow flies....strictly a 3 season truck (2wd) 



Ron