Hi, part timers here. Planning a 5000-ish round trip this winter and need new tires on our van. Planning to stay on padre or similer gulf coast beach part of the time, check out some blm land/National forest between there and California, and of course lots of highway driving. Any recommendations on tire brand and kind (all terrain etc.) Two wheel drive chevy express. Also, has anyone used those traction mats? Thanks!
Tires
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Spaceman Spiff
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Currently have Falken Wildpeak AT/3 on a Ram 4WD pickup; very good in snow so they should be good on sand (air'd down).
Previous tires were Cooper Discoverer AT. Got 50,000 miles out of them; one started cupping at 40,000.
Previous tires were Cooper Discoverer AT. Got 50,000 miles out of them; one started cupping at 40,000.
With your stated use, I recommend a set of Firestone Transforce HT (HT2 now)
I've had a set on my 3/4 ton 2WD van and a set is currently on my 1/2 ton 4WD pickup.
They work well, a good balance between highway mpg, noise, treadlife, and the occasional dirt road, light snow, and rain slick roads.
They are NOT as good as A/T type tires if you plan to go off-roading, but with a 2WD van I can't see much of that happening.
https://www.firestonetire.com/tire/transforce-ht2/LT215-85R16/
I've had a set on my 3/4 ton 2WD van and a set is currently on my 1/2 ton 4WD pickup.
They work well, a good balance between highway mpg, noise, treadlife, and the occasional dirt road, light snow, and rain slick roads.
They are NOT as good as A/T type tires if you plan to go off-roading, but with a 2WD van I can't see much of that happening.
https://www.firestonetire.com/tire/transforce-ht2/LT215-85R16/
GoingMobile
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Currently looking for my Transit AWD. The Continental tires that came with it have sidewalls that are not holding up and look in danger of blowing out after 22,000 miles. Goodyear just came out with some that will actually fit in the OEM size and have a high enough load rating, which many LT tires don't meet. Wrangler Workhorse AT. I'm thinking of giving them a try as they will fit without any modifications or throwing anything off by being a different diameter than OEM. Reasonably priced for an AT tire from a major brand, so I imagine there are some compromises over the most capable AT tires. Transits have small tires for the size of the vehicle and also small wheel wells, I imagine you have a lot more choices with the size tires on your vehicle as that version of the Chevy/GMC vans have been made forever.
Back in January I bought a set of those Coopers for my van but haven't had them mounted yet. If I get 50k out of them I'll be happy.
They were $78 back then and $106 now at WM.
I've had budget Hankook Optimo AT tires on it for several years now and they have done surprisingly well. The tread is more for highway than offroad and the Coopers are more 'aggressive'. Row-r-r-r-r....
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I just went to Les Schwab and bought the heftiest truck tires that would fit on my van. Going on the third year (30K miles?), and they still have plenty of rubber left.
Not especially cheap, but boy am I ever glad I have them.
Not especially cheap, but boy am I ever glad I have them.
^If I win the lottery I"m going to put on Michelin LTX. I had them on my old Dodge van and they wore like iron.
I'd get AT's for the boondocking and sand. Coopers are inexpensive and work well. Traction boards haven't been all that great for me on 2wd vehicles. Airing down your tires when on soft surfaces helps a lot, just need a good air pump to reinflate tires after you get back to hardtop.
GoingMobile
Well-known member
I recently bought a set of Falken Wildpeak AT tires. So far mostly on roads and interstate. nice smooth ride. Can't comment about performance in mud, snow etc. yet, but reviews I read were favorable and they have a nice tread pattern that looks capable. They were also one of only 2 brands that made AT tires of the stock size and also recommended load capacity for my Ford Transit 250.
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