Goodyear LS2 upgrade for moderate towing

Move Over · October 2, 2018

Good morning all, first post here. I just traded my Ram 1500 (2012) in for a 2018 Sierra 1500 NHT with the 6.2, man it is a beast. Love it so far. Feels so much more planted, stable and nimble than my dodge, and the 6.2 just screams, same motor as my SS 1LE.

I tow a 20' open car hauler with a camaro on it about 10 times a year, weight is around 5500 lbs loaded up with tires, fuel etc. Bed typically has about 200-250 lbs in it.

With my dodge, everyone and their mothers told me, you gotta get E rated, gotta get E rated to get rid of the squishy, wallowing feeling from the stock Goodyear SRA's it came with. So, I did. They weighed 17LBS heavier per tire, absolutely trashed my fuel mileage, could never get them to balance and didn't really offer that much better stability than the set of Nitto G2 XL rated tires i put on after i got rid of the E rated tires. So i can't say my first experience with E rated tires on a 1500 was a good one. I followed Toyo's P to E rating PSI chart to a T, obviously half ton's don't need to crank the PSI to 80, but around the 55 mark for our max loads.

My question for you is this, for those that tow moderate loads ( less than say 6500-700) what are you guys using for tires? Do we TRULY need an E rated tire, as we would overload the payload and rear axle long before we even sniff the capacity of an E rated tire. With my past experience, I am timid to try another set of Erated tires as i really like the way the truck drives.

Is there a specific tire you guys can recommend that does well on this truck? Maybe some Michelin LTX/AT2, Terraincontact, Grabber APX? I do a little bit of "trailing" so would enjoy something with a more aggressive tread. I may add a 1" level/lift in the front, and a set of airbags in the rear to help with squat. I am looking at some XL rated tires, like i wound up with on my Ram, but the Nitto Terra Grapplers were nothing to write home about in the rain.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Move Over · October 2, 2018

Delete, duplicate

Rukus · October 2, 2018

I run P rated on my 1500. My trailer is 3500 #s and I haul (2) full dressed Harleys. (2000 #s) plus about 300-400 #s of gear and etc... I added air bag load assist and run them at 55 psi when loaded. (35 unloaded). I run Goodyear Duratecs,

Rukus · October 2, 2018

Also.. I have 4" lift up front and 2" in rear.

Kubs · October 2, 2018

It is a common misconception to put E rated or LT metric tires on a 1/2 ton truck. Not needed at all. If you look at the load index of your stock tires, you will see that the truck will reach max GVRW well before you max out the load on the tire.

To help with some of the stability, increasing pressure when loaded is always a good thing. The max COLD inflation noted on the sidewall is what is needed to reach the MAX load rating. I usually run 40-44psi when loaded vs 35psi when unloaded on the rear.

If you are looking to change tires out, sometimes a good A/T type tread pattern can be a little more stiff and offer better stability as well. Some regular highway tires are designed more towards lightweight and fel mileage, where A/T types might be slightly more robust. I have an '18 with the NHT and I still use the stock Michelin Fuel Saver tires to tow my car hauler and race car. I bump the pressure up and the truck does not feel squishy at all. I had Firestone Destination A/T tires on my last truck and they towed great as well. I will probably buy those again when the OE tires wear out.

I also have Bilstein 5100 shocks which helped tremendously with stability while towing.

Move Over · October 2, 2018

It is a common misconception to put E rated or LT metric tires on a 1/2 ton truck. Not needed at all. If you look at the load index of your stock tires, you will see that the truck will reach max GVRW well before you max out the load on the tire.

To help with some of the stability, increasing pressure when loaded is always a good thing. The max COLD inflation noted on the sidewall is what is needed to reach the MAX load rating. I usually run 40-44psi when loaded vs 35psi when unloaded on the rear.

If you are looking to change tires out, sometimes a good A/T type tread pattern can be a little more stiff and offer better stability as well. Some regular highway tires are designed more towards lightweight and fel mileage, where A/T types might be slightly more robust. I have an '18 with the NHT and I still use the stock Michelin Fuel Saver tires to tow my car hauler and race car. I bump the pressure up and the truck does not feel squishy at all. I had Firestone Destination A/T tires on my last truck and they towed great as well. I will probably buy those again when the OE tires wear out.

I also have Bilstein 5100 shocks which helped tremendously with stability while towing.

Good to know. I read on here the 5100’s were not recommended for the NHT trucks and the foxes are better. Really loved the 4600’s on my ram and was looking forward to running 5100’s

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Roscopcoletrain · October 2, 2018

I always ran E tires on my 09 Silverado because I tow'd.

New truck came with General Grabber APT4 XL. I have to say I've been very impressed with the XL tire. I see no reason to go to a E at this point.

Move Over · October 2, 2018

I always ran E tires on my 09 Silverado because I tow'd.

New truck came with General Grabber APT4 XL. I have to say I've been very impressed with the XL tire. I see no reason to go to a E at this point.

I was eyeballing them this morning. What size?

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Roscopcoletrain · October 2, 2018

mine are just the factory 275/55/20

https://www.quattrotires.com/tires/grabber-apt/24768

Kubs · October 2, 2018

30 minutes ago, Move Over said:

Good to know. I read on here the 5100’s were not recommended for the NHT trucks and the foxes are better. Really loved the 4600’s on my ram and was looking forward to running 5100’s

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Some places will say they do not fit, but the Bilstein website makes no reference to package options. They seem to be handling the load and extra rear spring rate just fine for me.

truckguy82 · October 2, 2018

I use sumimoto encounter ht tires, absolutey love them for a DD/highway tire and they are dirt cheap. Words cannot describe how much better they are at literally everything than the stock sra’s.

but if I was doing some off roading I’d probably get the falken wildpeak (sp). They just look cool.

Move Over · October 2, 2018

I use sumimoto encounter ht tires, absolutey love them for a DD/highway tire and they are dirt cheap. Words cannot describe how much better they are at literally everything than the stock sra’s.

but if I was doing some off roading I’d probably get the falken wildpeak (sp). They just look cool.

They look awesome. Wanted to try them on my ram, but DT didn’t have my size. Wish they were an XL rated in our size

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Ozer · October 2, 2018

I dont know the answer but bad ass setup you have back there!

Move Over · October 2, 2018

I dont know the answer but bad ass setup you have back there!

Oh thanks [emoji38][emoji38]

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djsmooth56 · October 2, 2018

I tow a 6k lb boat a dozen times a year and have no issues with my Duratrac’s with normal inflation. Size is 275/60/20. I do have a leveling block in the front only. All other suspension is stock. When it’s time for new shocks, I’m planning on The Billstein 5100’s. I hear air bags are helpful with sag, but I don’t have too much of an issue unless my bed is full and the boat is loaded, then it’s slightly leaning back, but still tows great. Probably something to do with the 6.2 under my hood too... it’s a crew cab 6.5 box if that matters either.

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