Need Help Buying Tires - Please!

[dablonde]

I'm having a very difficult time deciding which new tires to buy for my 1999 Suburban. Here's what I'm looking for. First, I need a load rating of D or E. I haul a lot of very heavy musical equipment. I need great snow traction. I live in a very steep, hilly section of Connecticut and we're supposed to get hit heavy this winter. I also do a lot of highway travel while hauling the heavy loads. Our band plays all over the east coast. I've kept Michelin LTX on the vehicle, but I've never been terribly happy. They get good tread wear, but they don't have the proper load rating (they're ballooning out) and are so so in wet and snow conditions. I'm leaning towards either Avon Ranger TSE's or Kelly Safari Trex. Then again, I'm not sure whether I should try the Revo's. I can't find any reviews on the Kelly's though. Mavis claims they got a better rating in Consumer Reports then the Avon's. Obviously, I want what everyone else wants: great tread life, great traction, quiet. I'm confused. Please help. Thanks.

[curtis73]

The hands-down favorite in the 4-wheeling magazines is the Toyo Open Country AT. They are hailed for their incredible traction without sounding like a tire with incredible traction... ya know, humming on the highway. If you think you need more traction, step up to the MT. Still quiet for what it is but overkill to say the least on the tread pattern.

I've heard great things concerning traction with the BFG All-terrain T/A. If you keep them rotated, they stay very quiet.

I've been very happy with a set of Kumho Road Venture AT on a pickup. My dad swears by the Pirelli Scorpion ATR, but I can't stand the noise.

[KiwiBacon]

Originally Posted by curtis73

I've heard great things concerning traction with the BFG All-terrain T/A. If you keep them rotated, they stay very quiet.

Completely different size to the suburban, but I've got those BFG AT KO's on my truck and am quite happy with them. Plenty of traction in the wet (never really tried them out in snow) and with almost 70,000km on them they're still far from worn out.
The only downside I find is the tight centre belts mean I need to run high pressures to get them to wear evenly, this makes them ride hard. I can run them softer but they chew the corners off.
Strangely other people running different sizes don't have the same issue. Maybe a one-off issue, maybe just my particular size (225/85R16).

[dablonde]

Thanks guys! I'm getting some good readings from folks on the BFG Commercial T/A's. They might ride a bit rough on a Burb, but what they hey. Can't have everything, right?

[dablonde]

Oh, by the way, Curtis. I completely understand the hair thing. If my hair was shorter and not blonde, I could be your sister.

[curtis73]

I like my white-man's 'fro