Determining how to choose tires for a truck can be a heavier load than the truck itself will ever need to carry.
To make it easier we’ve put together a breakdown of the types of truck tires available and the conditions under which you might want to consider each one.
There are three basic types of truck tires:
- Highway truck tires (also known as H/T tires)
- All-terrain truck tires (also known as A/T tires)
- Max-traction or mud-terrain truck tires (also known as M/T tires)
It is crucial to select a truck tire with the proper handling capabilities and attributes for your vehicle and driving needs. Let’s take a closer look at the information you need.
GET TO KNOW TYPES OF TRUCK TIRES
HIGHWAY TRUCK TIRES
Consider highway truck tires if: You want tires specifically developed to enhance highway performance. H/T truck tires provide ride comfort, deliver low road noise and offer long wear. Additionally, they typically get better gas mileage than all-terrain tires.
Consider another truck tire if: A gravel driveway or grass field tailgate is the closest your truck will get to adventuring away from paved roads. H/T tires are built for crossover and sport utility vehicles, as well as pick-up trucks and full-size vans.
The key point: Most H/T tires provide all-season traction in dry, wet and winter conditions. It’s a performance level that covers a lot of ground, literally and figuratively.
The tire to consider: To cover that ground, check out the Dueler H/L Alenza Plus. It could be the perfect tire to help provide your CUV or SUV with a quiet and comfortable highway ride.
ALL-TERRAIN TRUCK TIRES
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Consider all-terrain truck tires if: Your days sometimes require traveling off-road and under some challenging conditions. All-terrain truck tires feature a more aggressive tread design, which promotes increased traction when venturing off the pavement. A/T truck tires will usually feature deeper tread depth, wider tread grooves, and larger tread block elements than a highway truck tire for increased traction capabilities when driving off-road or on unpaved surfaces.
Consider another truck tire if: You want to help maximize your gas mileage. The bold design and construction of all-terrain tires is great if your goal is to push your truck to its off-road limits. But if your commute most often has you traveling to and from an office building, consider a great highway truck tire instead.
The key point: All-terrain truck tires are generally made with tread compounds optimized to withstand chipping and tearing from rough road and hauling conditions while still providing on-road wear and traction characteristics desired by versatile drivers.
The tire to consider: If you want truck tires with good on-road wear and off-road capability, the Dueler A/T Revo 3 is an impressive tire with considerable all-terrain capability. It provides good handling and a smooth ride in even the harshest road conditions and can handle heavy loads. Its well-balanced tread design makes the road less traveled more comfortable than ever before. Check out additional all-terrain truck tires here: Dueler Truck Tires.
MAX TRACTION TRUCK TIRES (MUD TIRES)
Consider max traction/mud truck tires if: You take on soft, muddy or rocky off-road terrain. These truck tires typically come in larger sizes and feature tread lugs that grip into muddy or loose surfaces to provide maximum traction on damp, difficult terrains. This feature of the tire helps propel your truck through muddy ruts and over slippery rocks.
Consider another truck tire if: Your road trips keep you on clean, even and typically dry paved roads, the rough sound and aggressive look of M/T truck tires don’t match your personal or professional life, or you’re looking for the best possible mileage. Max traction tires are specially designed to spend the majority of their time off the beaten path. If that’s also where you spend the majority of your driving time, too, then these tires will be a perfect match.
The key point: They’re not just about “max” traction. M/T tires also offer max performance on the most challenging terrain. When it comes to on ground cover capable of bringing practically any other vehicle to a standstill, M/T tires shine brightest.
The tire to consider: There are multiple options, so begin your search for max traction truck tires here. Dueler™ truck tires from Bridgestone offer an unbeatable combination of peace of mind and practically unstoppable off-road traction.
KNOW YOUR TRUCK TIRE SIZE
There are lots of truck tires out there, but not all of them are made to fit your vehicle. Putting the wrong size tire on your truck would be like wearing the wrong size shoe all day. You'd probably have trouble comfortably (and safely) walking, running and getting around!
Check your tire size once you're familiar with different types of truck tires. Your tire size can be found in your owner's manual or in one of the following places:
- Inside your glove compartment door
- Inside the driver's side door jamb
- On the inside part of your gas tank door
Find your truck tire size? Narrow your search and shop for Bridgestone truck tires by size.
STEER CLEAR OF COMMON TRUCK TIRE ISSUES
In your quest to identify how to choose tires for a truck, a couple of topics may arise. To help ease your tire shopping, we’ll address them below.
PASSENGER TIRES ON TRUCKS
As the term “load rating” suggests, this information quantifies how much weight that tire can support. To get the full weight load of a particular tire type, you multiply a single tire’s load rating by four. The load rating you want for your truck will depend significantly on how you plan on using the truck.
But what happens if a driver with a light truck uses it more like a people-mover and less as a power tool and seeks the smoothest and quietest ride possible? This makes the load rating less critical to them. In fact, they may even move from a truck tire to a passenger car tire.
We caution against this approach. Today’s truck tires feature the best technology available and provide a very smooth and quiet ride. Additionally, such drivers will be spared the potential headaches involved with finding precisely the right passenger tires for their trucks — which still won’t live up to what a dedicated truck tire may deliver.
TRUCK TIRE SPEED RATINGS AND SAFETY
A tire’s speed rating refers to the tire’s ability to dissipate heat or prevent heat from building up. Driving long distances can create a lot of heat, so it’s important to have a tire with a speed rating that meets the requirements listed in your owner's manual.
The speed ratings do not imply that the vehicle can be safely driven at the maximum speed for which the tire is capable. This is especially true when adverse weather or road conditions are present.
Another critical factor: the speed rating addresses the maximum speed capacity of the tire under controlled conditions and is not applicable if they are underinflated, overloaded, worn out, damaged or altered. Always maintain a safe and legal speed regardless of a tire’s speed rating.
Consult your owner’s manual or tire placard for the original tires’ correct size and speed rating. To avoid reducing the vehicle’s speed capacity, replace a speed-rated tire only with another tire having at least the same speed rating.
BRIDGESTONE DUELER H/L ALENZA PLUS
The Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Plus tire is designed to deliver a quiet and comfortable highway ride. This tire delivers improved fuel efficiency (compared to the Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza tire), year-round performance, and an up to 80,000-mile treadwear warranty.*
*80,000 mile limited warranty for H, T & V speed rated tires; 55,000 mile limited warranty for W speed rated tires. Conditions apply. See BridgestoneTire.com/warranty for details.
FIND THE BEST TRUCK TIRE FOR YOU
Wondering how to choose the right tires for your truck? Start by looking for the Bridgestone name. Whether you seek an all-terrain tire with an aggressive tread capable of handling an off-road adventure or a comfortable ride for your daily commute, we engineer Bridgestone truck tires to keep you rolling. Visit an authorized Bridgestone dealer for help picking the best truck tire for you.
