Baby Tires on a GMC 1500

Logan Lanfear · November 28, 2017

Recently I was changing my grandfathers tires on his 2014 or 2015 GMC 1500 Z71 4x4. I noticed when I removed these tires that they were extremely wimpy. They were the original factory tires and he got about 40k out of them. I think they were only a 2 ply tire. You could push down on the bare tire and flatten it almost in two. He decided to replace them with an E range Cooper M+S (10 ply). It was a complete difference. These new tires are real truck tires that are stiff and meaty. If anyone is going to tow or load their truck, ditch the stock tires. It changes it into a completely different animal. We loaded about 2300 lbs in the bed (water tote for cows) and the truck felt 10x more confident with this load. I was wondering if anyone else has had trouble with stock tires or similar?

Edited December 3, 2017 by Logan Lanfear

2017SierraSLT · November 28, 2017

The factory tires are selected based on three core principles:

Low cost
Quiet
Fuel economy

So, almost any name brand aftermarket tire will far surpass anything that comes on these truck straight from GM, with the exception of the Duratracs on the All Terrians.

I surely bet those heavy 10 plies will affect your fuel economy numbers. Everything is a trade off.

aseibel · November 28, 2017

I think most people understand that the factory tires suck. That's why there are 8,000 posts on this forum about replacing tires with bigger size, off-road tread, etc.

If you are using your truck like a truck, not a boulevard cruiser, most people would rather change the rubber. Some are like me though, and can't stand to waste $600 by throwing away usable tires. I'm counting down the miles til I can justify a purchase of some Cooper A/T3's

Logan Lanfear · November 28, 2017

2 minutes ago, aseibel said:

I think most people understand that the factory tires suck. That's why there are 8,000 posts on this forum about replacing tires with bigger size, off-road tread, etc.

If you are using your truck like a truck, not a boulevard cruiser, most people would rather change the rubber. Some are like me though, and can't stand to waste $600 by throwing away usable tires. I'm counting down the miles til I can justify a purchase of some Cooper A/T3's

I have had very good luck with those tires in the past. Have fun with them!

Donstar · November 28, 2017

1 hour ago, Logan Lanfear said:

Recently I was changing my grandfathers tires on his 2014 or 2015 GMC 1500 Z71 4x4. I noticed when I removed these tires that they were extremely wimpy. They were the original factory tires and he got about 40k out of them. I think they were only a 2 ply tire. You could push down on the bare tire and flatten it almost in two. He decided to replace them with 10 ply Cooper M+S (load range E I believe). It was a complete difference. These new tires are real truck tires that are stiff and meaty. If anyone is going to tow or load their truck, ditch the stock tires. It changes it into a completely different animal. We loaded about 2300 lbs in the bed (water tote for cows) and the truck felt 10x more confident with this load. I was wondering if anyone else has had trouble with stock tires or similar?

I usually replace factory tires early because of their poor traction. The load rating of the stock tires exceed the GVWR of the truck and switching to a better tire with the same or slightly better load range is all that I need. E rated tires far exceed the limits of these trucks and add a significant amount of unsprung rate. I do like the brawn of the 10 ply tire and bought them for my last truck. However the impact on mileage was very noticeable and have since decided not worth the added cost.

99SSCamaro · November 28, 2017

I could never understand that. My '15 Sierra A/T came with "P" rated tires. Why would an "all terrain" truck come with passenger car tires. Lame.

Donstar · November 28, 2017

I use to get hung up on the P designation but now focus on load range. There is a lot of misunderstanding created by the various rating and sizing of tires. I use to buy C or D rated tires for my trucks and B for my sedans. The construction of tires has also progressed and ply rating is a means of comparison. It doesn't mean the number of plys used in construction.

Krusty · November 28, 2017

18 minutes ago, Donstar said:

I use to get hung up on the P designation but now focus on load range. There is a lot of misunderstanding created by the various rating and sizing of tires. I use to buy C or D rated tires for my trucks and B for my sedans. The construction of tires has also progressed and ply rating is a means of comparison. It doesn't mean the number of plys used in construction.

Exactly - My NHT is rated at 4,300 GVWR at the rear axle. The OEM Good-for-a-year are rated 2,403 each @ 44 psi.......... Do the math - they make the grade. I scaled my truck too - it scales 2,500 over the rear unloaded - which is 99.9% of the time for me.

And I don't find the OEM tires bad at all - approaching 8,000 miles and it's tough to even slip around in the rain with this rig - the stability control certainly the main factor there........

Edited November 28, 2017 by Krusty

aseibel · November 28, 2017

2 hours ago, Donstar said:

I usually replace factory tires early because of their poor traction. The load rating of the stock tires exceed the GVWR of the truck.

bingo. P rated tires will support as much load as your truck is rated to carry. Will your truck handle better with E tires when you are maxed out? Sure, but unless you drive with 2000 lbs in the bed every single day, I would not want to ride on those tires all the time.

Logan Lanfear · November 29, 2017

We decided to upgrade to the 10 plys because of the added stiffness. It helps with controlling trailer sway and load sway. Water can be a tricky thing to haul but I can understand why the stock tires are what they are.

redwngr · November 30, 2017

On 11/28/2017 at 2:19 PM, 2017SierraSLT said:

The factory tires are selected based on three core principles:

Low cost

Quiet

Fuel economy

So, almost any name brand aftermarket tire will far surpass anything that comes on these truck straight from GM, with the exception of the Duratracs on the All Terrians.

I surely bet those heavy 10 plies will affect your fuel economy numbers. Everything is a trade off.

Missed one.

4. Load rating higher than the load rating of the vehicle they are installed on.

No 1500 needs 10 ply rating tires.

There are lots of LT tires out there that are not 10 ply.

mestupmonkydude · December 1, 2017

Chances are its not 10ply tread rating. Its most likely 7ply tread and 3 ply sidewall, 10 total. Thats what my k02s are. I've found about 32psi provides a comfortable ride. Once the tires heat up they the psi will rise to about 36ish. If i tow/haul something heavy ill bump the rear tires up to 37psi.

m3n00b · December 1, 2017

My SRAs are great on a dry highway and suck everywhere else.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

tnchevy · December 1, 2017

12 hours ago, mestupmonkydude said:

Chances are its not 10ply tread rating. Its most likely 7ply tread and 3 ply sidewall, 10 total. Thats what my k02s are. I've found about 32psi provides a comfortable ride. Once the tires heat up they the psi will rise to about 36ish. If i tow/haul something heavy ill bump the rear tires up to 37psi.

Your psi is way too low and can lead to the tire over heating and possible blowout. LT rated tires actually handle less weight at the same psi as a P rated tire. You should probably be around the 45 psi range to be able to carry the same load as the P rated tires at 35 psi. Do some research on going from a P rated tire to a LT and/or larger tire when it comes to load capacities, you will be surprised.

mestupmonkydude · December 2, 2017

12 hours ago, tnchevy said:

Your psi is way too low and can lead to the tire over heating and possible blowout. LT rated tires actually handle less weight at the same psi as a P rated tire. You should probably be around the 45 psi range to be able to carry the same load as the P rated tires at 35 psi. Do some research on going from a P rated tire to a LT and/or larger tire when it comes to load capacities, you will be surprised.

https://tirepressure.com/tire-size/p255-70r17

https://tirepressure.com/tire-size/lt275-70r17

While yes one would run 45psi to get the same load as the original p tire. On the lt tire even at 35psi load rating is is 2000lbs per tire so more than the gvwr anyway so its fine.