Upgrading Trucks

[New Englander]

32 minutes ago, redneckchevy9 said:

Thanks for the input...that's why I put this post out there. I'm aware of the fuel friendly aspect, as I've drove a 6.0 for one week & did notice the difference in the drinking of gas instead of my 5.3.  I may or may not have orginally mentioned, the main reason I want a 3/4 ton is just to be a bit different I guess.  I have always had Chevy 1/2tons (88, 94, 95, & 2003).  I don't plan on going any newer than 06 or 07 probably, I still think most are good looking trucks & my wallet only can open so far.  

I'm not a fan of the wheels, but I really like the GMCs

 

Those tires may be a bit loud. My wife's Yukon had some aggressive Chinese tires that I couldn't wait to remove. Put some Michelin tires on and nice and quiet. Michelin on my PU as well. Wearing like iron but I took one out on a piece of scrap in the yard and have to decide what to do as 3 are down to 7/32 and one is near new. 

[redneckchevy9]

6 minutes ago, New Englander said:

 

cheap all or mud terrains are noisy & wear bad...they are a cheap for a reason.  I've had BF All-Terrains on all my other trucks & have Firestone Wilderness on my truck now...all have worn nicely & pretty quiet.

[DR.EVIL]

40 minutes ago, redneckchevy9 said:

cheap all or mud terrains are noisy & wear bad...they are a cheap for a reason.  I've had BF All-Terrains on all my other trucks & have Firestone Wilderness on my truck now...all have worn nicely & pretty quiet.

Nothing cheap about any of the mud terrain tires I've looked at. At least 10% more than a similar all terrain.  Had a set of BFG Radial All Terrain TA's on my '78 F-150.  Wasn't really overly impressed.  Best set of tires I Ever had was a set of 255-85R-16 Wilderness' on my F-250.  Put 127,000 miles on them.  I only rotated them front-to-back about every 40,000-45,000 miles when the rear tires wore more than the fronts.  Finally had one vibrating, out of balance,  needed new tires before winter so just replaced them with about 3/16+" of tread left.  Could have run them another 10,000-15,000 miles.  The Bridgestone Dueler AT's with Revo didn't wear as good,  only have 82,000 and needs tires by fall.  I was going to put Kelly Springfield Safari TSR Mud Terrains on it, quiet, long wearing for a mud terrain, lots of siping, and great traction according to the reviews.  I got 93,000 on the 235-85R-16 Firestone Steeltex tires on the F-250 when I got it.  They were wore out.

I put a set of Firestone Destination LE 2's on Wife's Ford Edge last fall,  had them on her old car too for 40,000-50,000 miles. Quiet, good in snow, slush. Would not recommend them for busting thru deep snow, but good on slick slushy roads with tracks to follow.

[brewcrew]

16 hours ago, DOCTOR EVIL said:

Nothing cheap about any of the mud terrain tires I've looked at. At least 10% more than a similar all terrain.  Had a set of BFG Radial All Terrain TA's on my '78 F-150.  Wasn't really overly impressed.  Best set of tires I Ever had was a set of 255-85R-16 Wilderness' on my F-250.  Put 127,000 miles on them.  I only rotated them front-to-back about every 40,000-45,000 miles when the rear tires wore more than the fronts.  Finally had one vibrating, out of balance,  needed new tires before winter so just replaced them with about 3/16+" of tread left.  Could have run them another 10,000-15,000 miles.  The Bridgestone Dueler AT's with Revo didn't wear as good,  only have 82,000 and needs tires by fall.  I was going to put Kelly Springfield Safari TSR Mud Terrains on it, quiet, long wearing for a mud terrain, lots of siping, and great traction according to the reviews.  I got 93,000 on the 235-85R-16 Firestone Steeltex tires on the F-250 when I got it.  They were wore out.

I put a set of Firestone Destination LE 2's on Wife's Ford Edge last fall,  had them on her old car too for 40,000-50,000 miles. Quiet, good in snow, slush. Would not recommend them for busting thru deep snow, but good on slick slushy roads with tracks to follow.

FYI: I wore out a set of Kelly TSR mud terrains in less miles than your rotation schedule....

[SMiller]

18 hours ago, redneckchevy9 said:

Thanks for the input...that's why I put this post out there. I'm aware of the fuel friendly aspect, as I've drove a 6.0 for one week & did notice the difference in the drinking of gas instead of my 5.3.  I may or may not have orginally mentioned, the main reason I want a 3/4 ton is just to be a bit different I guess.  I have always had Chevy 1/2tons (88, 94, 95, & 2003).  I don't plan on going any newer than 06 or 07 probably, I still think most are good looking trucks & my wallet only can open so far.  

I'm not a fan of the wheels, but I really like the GMCs

 

 

Have you thought about looking in the south for a truck like that? There are lots of them down here that are clean with no rust.

[DR.EVIL]

2 hours ago, brewcrew said:

FYI: I wore out a set of Kelly TSR mud terrains in less miles than your rotation schedule....

I really haven't got a rotation schedule,  I can't really remember ever rotating the Bridgestone Duelers in 82,000 miles, I might have, once.  If the tires have no odd wear patterns front to back or side-to-side I let them run. And I only rotate front to back, never side-to-side, that makes one pair of tires rotate backwards at high speed with high wear.

I would expect a mud terrain to wear faster than an all terrain.  Most people who reviewed the K-S on-line got 40,000 to 50,000 miles on them. The other tires the reviewers used wore out in 20,000 -25,000.  Son's '14 Ram 2500 came with some Firestone Trans-Force something, had perfectly straight grooves, like you see on a semi-tractor steer tire. On a 4wd with the Cold Weather package that would probably get a plow on it?  Had two replaced with cord breaks bulging out the sidewalls, and around 18,000 miles replaced them with $1500 worth of Toyo all terrains that are below 1/4" tread depth in less than 17,000 miles.  And because of his tire pressure monitors he HAD to run 80 psi, so it's not like they squirmed around.  I ran 50-60 psi on my F-250.

Not sure what I'll put on my new truck when it needs tires.  It has 275-55x20's, GY Wrangler SRA ,  kinda like the Firestone Destination LE2's I have on wife's car.  I pulled up the driveway one day last winter in 2wd with inch of snow on the concrete, stopped for a car, almost got going again, had to engage 4wd and drove right out. But they would not work in 6 inches of fresh snow at all.

The half-ton doesn't have the ground clearance to handle deep snow like I've driven the F-250 in. Think it was Febuary 2008 I was the last to leave work one afternoon they closed our plant due to heavy snow.  All the way from Waukesha to Waunakee there was just two tracks as wide as semi duals in right lane, no track in left lane, saw two state DOT snowplows stuck on I-94!  Had to rescue SON from his work. Once I pulled off Rt. 19 just east of Waunakee I hit a pile of snow that was over the top of my frt bumper,  city snowplow had pushed up a windrow and went on.  I finally got home, pulled in driveway till snow 2 ft deep stopped me, couldn't back up, couldn't go forward until I pushed snow with Super H.

One advantage I DO HAVE now, days like that I stay home now.

[redneckchevy9]

7 hours ago, SMiller said:

Have you thought about looking in the south for a truck like that? There are lots of them down here that are clean with no rust.

I'm not totally against that idea. I know several have done that would good results.  I'm honestly sick of buying a "clean truck" only for the rust to begin in a year or so.  

[brewcrew]

On 6/5/2018 at 9:54 AM, DOCTOR EVIL said:

I really haven't got a rotation schedule,  I can't really remember ever rotating the Bridgestone Duelers in 82,000 miles, I might have, once.  If the tires have no odd wear patterns front to back or side-to-side I let them run. And I only rotate front to back, never side-to-side, that makes one pair of tires rotate backwards at high speed with high wear.

I would expect a mud terrain to wear faster than an all terrain.  Most people who reviewed the K-S on-line got 40,000 to 50,000 miles on them. The other tires the reviewers used wore out in 20,000 -25,000.  Son's '14 Ram 2500 came with some Firestone Trans-Force something, had perfectly straight grooves, like you see on a semi-tractor steer tire. On a 4wd with the Cold Weather package that would probably get a plow on it?  Had two replaced with cord breaks bulging out the sidewalls, and around 18,000 miles replaced them with $1500 worth of Toyo all terrains that are below 1/4" tread depth in less than 17,000 miles.  And because of his tire pressure monitors he HAD to run 80 psi, so it's not like they squirmed around.  I ran 50-60 psi on my F-250.

Not sure what I'll put on my new truck when it needs tires.  It has 275-55x20's, GY Wrangler SRA ,  kinda like the Firestone Destination LE2's I have on wife's car.  I pulled up the driveway one day last winter in 2wd with inch of snow on the concrete, stopped for a car, almost got going again, had to engage 4wd and drove right out. But they would not work in 6 inches of fresh snow at all.

The half-ton doesn't have the ground clearance to handle deep snow like I've driven the F-250 in. Think it was Febuary 2008 I was the last to leave work one afternoon they closed our plant due to heavy snow.  All the way from Waukesha to Waunakee there was just two tracks as wide as semi duals in right lane, no track in left lane, saw two state DOT snowplows stuck on I-94!  Had to rescue SON from his work. Once I pulled off Rt. 19 just east of Waunakee I hit a pile of snow that was over the top of my frt bumper,  city snowplow had pushed up a windrow and went on.  I finally got home, pulled in driveway till snow 2 ft deep stopped me, couldn't back up, couldn't go forward until I pushed snow with Super H.

One advantage I DO HAVE now, days like that I stay home now.

I think my kelly’s Ran 30-35k. I replaced with a cheaper mud tire that was half done in 12k when I sold it. I’m gonna get a set of nitto exo grapplers next, which will be basically as soon as I get time as my tears are worn out.

[db1486]

Well I'm a little late to this party lol, but was in the same situation as you. I ended up pulling the trigger on a 08 duramax. Really happy with it so far. Still got my 02 1500HD 6.0 that I'll never ever get rid of. Mileage is pretty much the exact same between both trucks. Pulling is much nicer with the duramax, which is why I went diesel. We already got 2 6.0l on the farm, and i wanted a good diesel for the long trips. I do miss not having the hvac vents though going to the rear seats. We got a '15? 3500HD at work with the 6.0 and I'm really not impressed with it. My 02 will out pull it any day no problem. Good luck on your search