Your truck's tires could have a major impact on your safety, downtime for repairs and total cost of ownership.
Choosing the right tire will improve your truck's performance and is one of the best ways to stay safe out there on the road.
RealTruckers has your back and put together the information you need to make the best decision for your fleet.
Quick Tips to Find the Right Tires
Understanding the size tire your vehicle requires is the first step to buying the right tires. You can find your vehicle’s tire size in the owner’s manual for your truck or on the driver-side door frame.
Your choice of tire should reflect your typical driving conditions (rain, snow or high temperatures) and preferences such as how long you would like the tires to last before replacement and how they handle quick turns and stops.
Tire longevity is depends on the fleet’s operation, what region you drive in and miles driven per year.
Long haul and/or regional over the road fleets get about two to three years out of most brands of tires. If there are visible signs of tire wear, it is a good idea to start looking at tire replacement options.
How much tires costs are important to owner operators, but cost per mile is the best way to make the decision about which tires to purchase. Tire prices range from $250 to $600 per tire.
RealTruckers Tip: If you drive your vehicle 60,000 miles and are considering premium long-wear tires at $100 each, or economy tires costing $60 each, you may be surprised to find out that the cost of the premium set costs just six cents per mile, while the economy set costs 0.5 cents per mile.
RealTruckers Tire Experts Make Their Pick:
For trailers and drive tires (located on the truck cab's rear axle), RealTruckers.com recommends Double Coin, Ironman and Hankook brand tires. Hankook tires are a good choice for steer tires (front axle). Goodyear and other brand name tires are more expensive, but do not provide significantly better performance and longevity than the tires mentioned above.
What's your favorite brand and model tire? RealTruckers wants to hear from you at 'The Truckstop.' This truckers-only Facebook group offers weekly giveaways, trucking discussions, memes and general trucking-related content. Join here!