Well, I pulled the trigger and bought a sweet 2002 4wd Dakota w/60k on the clock. Club cab, 4.7, all the bells and whistles, silver with matching fiberglass shell.

It's going to need new tires soon. Has Goodyear Wrangler TD 265-75-16 on it now, and they are thin.

I found the window sticker in the glove box, so I know it came with 265-70-16.

Any suggestions on new tires? Which size to go with? Most of my driving is on roads. It's not my daily driver, but I will daily drive it in the snow and ice, and it's will see the occasional mud on the way into the fishing hole... I'm interested mostly in handling and wear, although it'll only see 5k a year. Price is also a consideration.

What say you, Moparts?

Got Michelin Cross Terrains on '01 Durango R/T. Size is 275/60-17, but maybe they make 'em in your size. Great wearing, good handling, quiet, and really good on wet pavement. Don't know how they'd be in mud or snow, as I have separate rims/tires for skiing. Like yours, car only sees 6-7Kmiles/year. Tires aren't cheap, but $70 off coupon for a set of four comes out about 4x a year for a month or so. Got 'em from Costco, but Tire Rack has 'em also, IIRC

I had a set of Firestone Destination A/T's on my Cherokee, they were great tires! I wanted Bridgestone Deuler A/T Revo's but I couldn't justify the price difference.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. That'll give me a few to start looking at. Keep 'em coming...

You are doing the right thing here. Research.

This tire thing is getting completely out of control. Price pressures and constantly changing products allow a lot of inferior tires to come to market.

I see more and more tires break cords and become un-useable while still having plenty of tread. A lot of tires are not even round. Issue after issue, some up front and some later on down the road.

I change a lot of tires for my friends and neighbors. Last week a neighbor brought me a new set of Kumhos that he wanted put on his Dakota. They were the same size as the Uniroyals that he was replacing, but the tread surface was 1 1/2" narrower. He was unhappy.

Last February, I put new set of BFGs on a buddie's TrailBlazer. We changed them off a couple of weeks ago after only 31,000 miles. They were worn out. He uses the 'Blazer for his sales job and usually gets 50,000 to 60,000 miles out of a set of tires. Not this time.

Do your homework on tires. It is a jungle out there!

And don't get me started about valves stems. I'll just say that many people are much better off keeping the old ones rather than installing new ones.

Have you thought about calling the local salvage yards to find a good used set? Often $125-$200 buys a nice set of tires. Of course you have to have someone that can mount and balance them. Just a thought.

We do have a Truck and 4x4 section.......
Regarding BFGs, I put a set on my wife's car, and was careful to always keeo it in alignment. Tires were down to the wear bars in less than 20K miles. We took it back to the store and used the warranty money to buy a set of Michelins, which are still going at 50K. The tire shop guy said that lately BFGs have been spotty, with some wearing well and some wearing quickly.

The funny part of this is that Michelin owns BFG!

I got good service out of BFG Radial All-Terrains on my '64.

R.

If you can get Michilin LTX they wear great, but not sure if available in that size. Stay away the Uniroyal Laredo tires I had three fail from side wall just crumbling about 3 years ago. Great traction are the Pep boy Definity AS3 {Cooper} Not sure of tire life

I like using Cooper Discoverer HT in 235/70/16 on my Dakota 4X4 with 4.7 3.9 gear. I use the shorter tire to more utilize my gear as I tow a lot. Driving 65 MPH on decent days I can still get 17/18 MPG and more if I drop to the 55/60 range. Am very happy with the ice and snow traction with them and also I have had great longevity with them. and they don't cost me an arm and a leg.

From my experience, I can you what tires NOT to buy...

Goodyear Wrangler RT/S. Worst Goodyear ever!

Switched to Generals on my 93 Dakota. Still have them on my 02 Durango (2nd set, first set OEM deteriorated badly), it's only a matter of time and $$ before they go.

The thing I hate most about them, is they literally throw water up and over into the windshield! People say that's nuts, but to me, it's true. Tires are supposed to channel water away!

Go with stock size if you are unsure of what you want 265 70.

Michelins often get the vote as best tire but they have one big drawback. They last SO long they are often hard and cracked before they are worn. Especially in a car not driven alot, everyday.

If you want some bite in the rain and are willing to sacrifice a bit of long term wear. Get a lower treadwear rating. A 400 will have alot more bit than a 700, especially after a few years.

After reading what you plan on doing with your truck. I recommend either Nokian Rotiva's or Bridgestone A/T Revo2.

I got 78,000+ miles out of these GoodYears. I'm a very easy driver. So I put the exact same tire on.

265-70R-16

It's a 2008 Raider, a rebadged Dodge Dakota.

I have these R/T rims For sale ($1000.00) if you want to go with a bigger rim and tire...These have 1000 miles on them but shipping might be a little steep...

5 rims and 4 tires

265/70/17
Goodyears with the Kevlar
Rims are the R/T rims which are 17x9

For cars and SUVs I've had good luck with Cooper in a mid price tire and Michelin in a higher price tire. In your application, I'd suggest the Coopers with a good tread for road/offroad. Original tire size.

http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Light-Truck/DISCOVERER-A-T3.aspx

I have hankook dynapro m/t's on my truck and I have had them for 2 1/2 years and probly 10-15 thousand miles on them, they are just now starting to show that they are beginning to wear a little bit.
But for 2 years they still looked brand new, and they still have a ton of tread on them right now. I bet I get 35 to 40 thousand miles out of them, judging by how much they have worn with the miles they have.
They are great in every aspect except for ice or icy roads, then they suck. If I were to buy brand new tires today I would probly go with BFG mud terrain Km2's, or toyo m/t's or cooper discoverer stt m/t's.
I don't know if you like mud terrain tires, but where I live and what I do I don't even think about going with a street tire or an all terrain tire. But I live in the middle of no where in Idaho with hundreds of mountains and we get nasty winters and springs here, plus I go off road in my truck every fall to go hunting. So I like to have a good mud terrain tire. I would give the hankook dynapro m/t's a B+ for an overall grade, in mud I give them an A+.
I have had dean mud terrain tires and wild country rvt mud terrain and wild counry txr tires and the hankooks out perform all of them.