new guy, tire opinions

First and foremost hello. im a knee dragger "race bikes" not so much a off-roader, but my truck has been, and will see more off road duty fishing, hunting, ect ect.. Im sure its been covered enuff times on this forum that all the senior members scoff at this topic but i havent seen any directly related topics to my specific questions.. so lets get started I have a 06 silverado purchased this summer, came with 4 ply goodyears passenger tires on it.. I HATE THEM. i wanted to put BFG AT/KO's on it but i have the factory 20' gm rims. so.. I put a leveling kit on it to get the front end up a tick and then started looking for suitable A/T's. BFG KO'S only come in 305-55-20.. and im not really wanting to start trimming fender parts or lifting my new truck.. so a 305 50 20 is what im looking at. so i have it down to Terra Grapplers, or Toyo open country's .. deffinately like the look of the grapplers better.. So this is a street truck that occasionally goes off road. suggestions ? pros/cons ? as i haul bikes in the bed i really dont want to lift the truck as it would make loading a challenge. 305-50-20 0r a 285-50-20 ? just cant be any taller than a 50.. thoughts or opinions are very appreciated.

[The_Kid]

you couldnt beat 20s on me.

i think if you want to waste your money on 20 inch tires and wheels thats your deal. you may also want to de crank the t-bars and take few leafs out of the rear to, ohhh wait your going off roadn.

id recomend cooper sst's first, mtrs second along with theyre look alikes sized 265 75s to 285s 75s 265s will fit with no mods,. 285s will regure minor trimming.

you have 17 wheels i think so id stick with them. i wouldnt not have them siped, siped tires will chunk when takn down gravel roads alot. if you have to have them siped for snow wet conditions dont have them siped very deep

if you run 20s just get street treads in my opion

[Shorts]

Well, I think 20s are becoming a stock option more more often so we'll be seeing them for a long while.

Personally, I would not want 20s. The 16s have been going the way of the dinosaur and 17s (and up) are very common on these younger model trucks. Makes for some darn expensive tires! Especially if you look for tires labeled 'BFG'

I think since you go offroad a little bit and the truck is a daily driver, stick with ATs(all-terrains). While more expensive than straight street tires, they would wear and perform better on the truck.

Evan made some good suggestions with the Coopers (I've ran STs several times on the old Ramcharger 4x4) and they are more affordable. The tires I have on my 3.1TD Isuzu 4x4 right now are stock Dunlop Grandtrek (snow/all terrain) that do alright. On the '99 2dr Tahoe I ran 285s Toyo Open Country ATs and they did well. I also ran BFG AT/KOs 33s on my '94 K1500.

Honestly, between all these tires the only difference was the price and brand. They all perform pretty similar to each other. So in regards to performance, you're not gaining anything by limiting yourself to BFGs. If you absolutely must get them for the name, well I understand. But you'll end up paying more for it in price per tire.

[dallas2241]

hay man to be honest im with the guy to go with a smaller rim if u keep the 20s u will have to spend an arm and leg tryn to get a set of good tires. ive got 97 gmc sierra which is a daily driver that i take off road. i recomend personlly if your lookin in to off road tires like bfg i would recomend firestone perticurly firestone destionation m/t there cut just like bfg m/t but half the price and all my friend got the bfgs and paid over a grand and they already had to get new one cause they wear quick but my fire stone m/ts still look brand new even after a year and a half. they have a lil bit of noise like most m/t tires do but man ive bein through holes in 2wd that my friends with super swampers whent through in 4wd. so look in to firestone destination m/t there awsome mud tires and not bad for a daily driver and with ur truck id recomend a three inch body lift it will put u up there above the crwd but you can still load ur bikes. i wantd to go high but i load my four wheeler and all my other play toys in my truck and if the body lift isnt over the top i dont have any problems. well good luck with the tires and have fun on and off the road

[alexis29v]

I agree with dallas get a three inch body lift its not that big of a difference but you can fit bigger tires and just go with like a 16 or 17 inch rims not the 20. I would reccomend getting the BFGoodrich AT/KOs