Best tires for gravel roads?

[Boatcephus]

Just got my wife a new Equinox and the worthless 4 ply Michelin tires have already stranded her once. I can't find anyone who makes an 8 or 10 ply in the size I need - 225 65 R17.

There's a ton of 10 ply tires in 245 70 R17. Wondered if anyone knows if that size would fit without rubbing? Anyone have one of these small SUVs you have found D or E rated tires for that can endure gravel?

 

[shelshy]

They should fit, but remember that the 10-plys are going to weigh more. That coupled with the larger size will screw with your gas mileage as well.

 

[dennishoddy]

I'm not understanding your question.
I live in the country and drive on gravel roads daily. Everything from a Nissan Sentra with 4 ply, Jeep Grand Cherokee, to my Toyota truck with a 6 ply rating that is actually 4 ply.
The only problem I have is with the heavy lug tires on my Tacoma truck picking up the rocks and whacking the fender wells.

 

[plissken]

We are 4 miles from pavement in Logan County. The absolute best All Season tire we've had is the Michelin LTX.

 

[Okie4570]

You'll want the hardest rubber you can find. The plies won't matter on the wear of the gravel. I drive on gravel everyday run 10 ply on a Super Duty with 275,000 miles and between the weight of the truck and gravel, I haven't found a tire that will last over 27,000 miles. Yours should last longer though with a lighter weight vehicle. E rated tires are 10 ply. Firestone transforce have been the best for me.

 

[Boatcephus]

I'm afraid I will have to go up a size to get something thicker. I can deal with nails, but it's the rock cuts that send me into a cussing, kicking frenzy. Every ******* time my wife calls me at work while she is stranded, it ruins my day. It's terrible that people that live on gravel have to drive full size trucks just to get a tire that can get them to town and back. She doesn't want a full size, she likes her small SUV and I enjoy having one economical vehicle.

Unfortunately I have never seen hardness of the tires advertised, so I have to go by Load Rating/Ply. I have spent THOUSANDS over the years on different 4 ply and Extra Load tires that various tire shops SWEAR are good for gravel. I don't believe any of them anymore. What I think they mean is that they are good for people who occasionally drive on gravel to visit someone. Not folks who drive on gravel every friggin' day to work and school and back.

 

[-Pjackso]

Road-hazard warranty?

 

[RidgeHunter]

Tire ply ratings are a holdover from buggywhip days. They don't actually have that many plies nowadays; that's just a correlation to the load rating (letter rating) that the industry uses now.

An Equinox is not a truck so you may have a hard time finding a really tough tire for it. Commercial tires are tough as balls, eg. Toyo M55 or BFG Commercial T/A. They're also (especially the M-55) expensive as balls and noisy. I'm too lazy to look, but you probably won't find those to fit your application. BFG All Terrains (I've ran them several hundred thousand miles before I switched to KM2's) are also tough, but again, not really a tire for an Equinox.

Until you go to a commercial LT tire or an offroad tire, you're not gonna get out of soccermom tireville.

I'm not understanding your question.
I live in the country and drive on gravel roads daily. Everything from a Nissan Sentra with 4 ply, Jeep Grand Cherokee, to my Toyota truck with a 6 ply rating that is actually 4 ply.
The only problem I have is with the heavy lug tires on my Tacoma truck picking up the rocks and whacking the fender wells.

It looks like he lives out east. You get into a lot of flint roads in Mayes/Cherokeee/Adair/Deleware counties and surrounding areas that can be hell on tires. Knife blades. Gravel roads easy of 69 are a different animal than those west of 69. Gravel roads by me come out of the back of a truck that was ground at a quarry and it's not sharp at all. Dollars to donuts this cat's wife is getting her day ruined by shards of flint.

 

[shooterdave]

FWIW, my wife got almost 60K on the original set of BFG AllTerrains on her H2. We live three miles down ROUGH gravel roads and most of her miles were local. Needless to say, when I replaced them this spring, I put the same thing back on. The are kind of high, but that's a lot of miles on a really heavy vehicle traveling gravel roads...

 

[Boatcephus]

I am running BF Goodrich E-rated Land Terrains on my Silverado. No flats and main thing ya look for after some time on gravel - they aren't chewed up. They make the same tire basically in a 245 70 R17...IF it will fit the 'Nox without rubbing. I could have bought a Traverse for the same price that takes that exact tire, but it was so stripped vs the Equinox package I talked myself out of it.