Choosing the Best Tires for Your Truck

When you bought your truck, you bought it for a reason. You had a purpose in mind for it to serve. Once you decided what you wanted from your truck and found the right truck for the job, you accessorized it based on what you wanted to get out of it. How much thought did you give to the tires? At the time, you may have picked out tires or decided the ones it came with were good enough.

Sooner or later, however, all tires must be replaced. No truck can realize its potential without the best truck tires, which means you’ll have some work to do to make the best selection. Keep reading to learn more about the various types of tires you can choose for your truck:

Highway Terrain Tires

Highway terrain tires are typically the default tires that trucks come with when they are first sold. As the name suggests, they are the best truck tires to use for a daily commute or general highway driving. Highway terrain tires are great light truck tires if you want a tire with a relatively quiet tread. These tires come with tread blocks in varied sizes, less space between tread blocks, channels with circumferential grooves, and semi-closed shoulders.

All of these features help the tires run more quietly. They work well for both wet and dry conditions, are quiet, and have a long tread life. For this reason, they are a great choice if you don’t intend to take your truck off the road.

All Terrain Tires

What if your truck doesn’t spend all its time on cement or asphalt? What if you’ll be on gravel or dirt roads from time to time, but still do a fair bit of highway driving? If that’s the case, all terrain tires may be the best tires for your truck. All terrain tires are durable with a long tread life. They are designed to grip better when you aren’t on asphalt, yet still be comfortable for pavement use. Features like more space between lugs and open shoulders both help increase traction, though they also make for a noisier tire.

The varied sizes of tread blocks are designed to help reduce noise to compensate. As a bonus, these tires offer a more aggressive look which can enhance your truck’s appearance. Because Utah is prone to wet, snowy weather during the winter months, choose all terrain tires built for all-weather, year-round driving.

Mud Terrain Tires

For those who bought their truck intending to spend more time off paved roads than on them (roughly 80% off paved roads, 20% on them), highway terrain or all terrain tires simply won’t do. Whether your preferred extreme off-road terrain is mud, rock, dirt, or gravel, mud terrain tires are the way to go. As a side note, they’re also an excellent choice for truck owners who simply love the more aggressive look these rugged tires offer, even if they never intend to take the truck off-roading.

These tires feature larger voids and tread blocks, as well as a more aggressively open shoulder, all of which allow mud terrain tires to offer superior traction. They are specifically designed for maximum durability and extremely rugged conditions. All of that extra traction requires some sacrifice in the noise department. These tires are noisier than their highway and all terrain counterparts because of their tread design. If you need the traction though, you probably won’t find yourself minding a little extra noise too much.

Passenger Tires vs Light Truck Tires

Tires come with different ratings. Some tires are passenger, or P-metric, tires, while others are light truck, or LT-metric, tires. Both can be put on trucks, but make sure you know which one is best for your truck before you buy them:

• P-Metric: P-metric tires are quieter and smoother, offering a more comfortable ride. They should only be used on paved roads and never for offroading on rough terrain.
• LT-metric: LT-metric tires are sturdier. Their deeper treads and more ridged sidewalls lend well to hauling heavier loads and handling harsher terrain. Just keep in mind that using them for highway driving could cause your fuel efficiency to decrease and cause the treads to wear down more rapidly.

If you have questions in regard to which tire rating you should select for your truck, feel free to ask any of our representatives here at Riverton Chevrolet.

Other Factors to Consider

There are a few other factors to consider when choosing the best tires for your truck. Make sure you choose truck tires that are the right size for your truck. Check the load rating on the tires to make sure that your choice makes sense with the loads they’ll be expected to haul. Once you know the load rating, multiply it by four to account for each tire. That’s the total load rating for your tires as a whole.

Pay attention to the tire’s speed rating and how it compares to what your truck’s user manual says your vehicle needs as well. That will help you understand how well the tire can dissipate the heat that builds up when driving long distances. Keep in mind that the speed rating doesn’t mean that you can drive at that maximum speed (especially during adverse road conditions). It also refers to the maximum speed that the tire should go under normal conditions when the tire itself is in good condition. Make sure you drive at a safe and legal speed, regardless of the tire’s speed rating.

If you want your truck to perform optimally, consideration must be given to the tires you put on it. Not all tires are created equal. Terrain, noise, and traction needs must all be taken into account when choosing the type of tires you’ll put on your truck. The right tires can make all the difference in your truck’s performance and safety, so choose the best truck tires you can afford any time you get them replaced.

Do you need new wheels for your truck? Riverton Chevrolet can help! Whether you need new tires or tire care, we’re here for you! Click here to learn more today!