Thanks for all your replies. Some very helpful information there.

I am having second thoughts about the P rated tire. Not the Michelin MS, just the P rating. Just today I loaded the crap out of my truck with a very heavy trailer and couldn't help wondering how it would have done with the P rating.

As far as shocks, it does have the origional OEM shocks. Would they be a gas shock?? Someone said it would be better to go with a hydraulic shock, although I have a hard time understanding technically just how a different shock would help. Seems like for a shock to help with the little bumps in the road, it wuld have to be able to "give" at the moment of impact instead of resist and transfer that impact through the shock and to the body. Is my thinking correct??

Thanks again for the info, I really need the advice.

 

They are gas shocks, but I replaced mine at 30k with Bilsteins. Ride is a little firmer, especially in cornering. I doubt if new shocks would make the ride softer, but it would improve stability. I never keep OE shocks past 30k. The Bilsteins now have 33k on them and ride almost as good as new.

 

Aftermarket shocks would be good. I like the Rancho RSX9000 as you can adjust how it rides to your liking, even change it based on your payload.

Check your driver's door sticker for the axle ratings. If a P-rated tire has 2500 pound load rating, then you're good up to axle ratings of 5000 pounds. That's probably close to your rear axle rating. BTW, 2500 * 4 tires = 10000 pounds, well above your 8200 pound GVWR. But, loading is not equal for pickups with usually a higher rear axle rating than front.

If you often use most of your capacity, then you might not like the P-rated tires for how well they handle the load. If you don't use the capacity often and mostly drive lightly loaded or empty, P- type would be fine.

 

The aftermarket shocks I got for my truck do that 'road sensing' thing and dampen the 'shock' accordingly to the road condition.... So, on rolling type of bumps the shocks 'stiffin' up more, but rebound less.. On the sharp bumps (pot holes) the shocks let the suspension take the initial shock then dampen the rebound more... Or something like that??

At any rate, when I added the rear overload springs to my truck, it stiffened up the ride, but I still had the OEM shocks on it and it did not handle the bumps very well... After I put on the new 'road sensing' shocks, the ride was much better... Can't give you all the engineering details on it, but it made a difference...

Sure, I only have "C" rated tires, but they are much better then the "P" rated tires that's spec'd for the rig....

I had the "P" rated tires at max cold psi and they still rolled over themselves on the sidewalls... The sidewalls would be literely 'scrubbed' half way up on the tire! This was just taking off ramps and loading up the thing on occasion.... My truck will never see a "P" rated tire on it, no matter what's it's max load cap is...

Just my experience with the deal over 100,000 miles of on the road testing!

Mitch

 

Mitch, thanks for the advice. So what were the brand of shocks you installed??

Figgy

 

They are not your 'name brand' kind of shocks... Got them at Les Schwab and they are branded as "Mountain Ryder 4x4" or something like that...

Mitch

 

+ 1 on the Bilsteins , I have 32 miles on these so far and there awesome

 

I will agree very much with Michelin LTX M/S, for what it seems you need them for. They seem even to look pretty decent on the trucks as well, and that's important too. Tread life? how about forever!

 

I am getting rid of some 265/70/17 Michelin LTX M/S's

They have about 4k for milage on them, the tread is still very good. Where you located?

 

I was reading the thread and thought I might ask a question. What is right for me?? I currently have a 2000 f-150 exteneded cab. 4x4 with goodyear wrangler rts p255/70/r16. I have 171,000 miles and this is only my second time replacing tires. really good tire but not enough bite for me. I don't do much offroading but I hunt,fish and we get tons of snow so I would like a little more tread. any help would be great. thanks

 

BFGoodrich AT/KO. Excellent in snow, decent mileage, not real noisy on pavement.

 

Huh? If he never goes off road, the Michelin LTX M/S will kick the BFG AT off the road in any driving conditions. The BFG sucks in the snow (and rain) with half tread life.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I don't do seRious off roading I do like to play around a little. Packed trails and stuff like that. i just looked at a Michelin site they don't have my size tire??? p255/70/r16 ??? is there another size that would work?

 

Sorry, but a p series will never go on my trucks, and I have yet to get under 40k with tread still on it from a BFG. And they are excellent in snow. If you are talking about a rugged trail you might be right, but not about the AT.

 

I have the BFG AT KO w/ 40k miles. Tread looks half worn. They suck in the snow compared to the Revos I had on my last truck. There aren't enough sipes and the compound is too hard.

FYI, the BFG AT LT265/70R17 Load C has lower laod rating, rides stiffer, and less on-road traction than some p-rated tires of the same size.