Buying Tires, What Are Your Suggestions?

i have a 379exhd new king pins, the goodyears belong in the garbage, i have roughly 12-14/32ths left and the shoulders are all chopped up and causing a vibration, im going to rotate them to a drive axle and run them out, from all the info i have gathered from guy that live in there trucks and run from N.Dakota to Mc Allen Tx they say they like the Michelin xza3 on there T800 and they do a lot of 100k# lowboy oversize work, i haven't found any good info on a good drive yet, but from what i have heard and read i think that Michelin has a lower rolling rate then bridgestone

 

Bridgestone 726's are ### kicking drive tires, I love them. Steers, I don't like Goodyear or Dunlop, using 16 ply Yokohama's now, so far so good. On my trailer (spread) I love the BFG ST230 tires, Stay far away from Kumho, Ohtsu and any other chinese junk. Im currently running a mix of Sumotomo ST727 (made in Japan) and BFG ST 230 and soon will probably go with all Sumotomo ST727 eventually, they are about $100 less than the BFG's and I am very impressed with them, I can wear them down to nothing without a problem, same as the BFG's.

 

the 726 el are the ones that can last 500,000 miles.

 

Well, they ought to last 500,000 miles. They have enough tread on them for two tires. And they have a rolling resistance that is downright criminal. I always got well over 400,000 miles on the BS 720's, which have the same tread design, though a different compound, and have a much better RR.

 

Old thread found via search. Kind of like waking the dead when seeing some of the names going back to 2008.

Anyway, getting ready to purchase steers again. Have Michelin XZA3's 16 ply. But my question is am I throwing away money buying 16 vs 14 ply if not needed for weight? Was having an alignment issue that shops were not finding, which is why I went with the 16 ply last time. Alignment issue is now taken care of. Not sure what the price spread is yet, was just curious what most run.

Edit: What are good Michelin casings worth at tire shops(more than likely at Loves)? Cannot transfer the tire anywhere else on the truck, so cannot use.

 

I would only go with 16 ply if running heavier than 12,200 up front. Extra plies can also generate extra heat, which is not good either. Follow Michelin's load pressure chart on what to run in the tires for what you are doing.

I got $150 each for my last set of Michelin steer tires. They had 225,000 miles on them and between 8-9/32 tread left. I have a great dealer in Des Moines, Allied Oil and Tire, a full Michelin dealer and retreader. For my steers and all 4 wide based Michelins (447,000 miles on them) when I changed them all out last September, I got $1200 for all the old tires. As long as they have 8-9/32 or more, they can then resell them for used tires instead of sending them to the retread plant. They pay more for my used tires that way.

 

Had wondered about extra heat & running a 7 car trailer, steers are generally light. As in 9-10k weight range.

& my tires now are in the 5-6/32. Loves gave me $135 for both GY 399's last go around. One was wearing weird, but the other was good. Pretty sure I gave them away, which is why I was asking now. Thanks.