Michelin's will be the longest wearing. LTX M&S2 should be better than the LTX AT2's at wear I would think. The LTX AT2s wear like iron though anyways. Got 50k out of them on our 2011 Dmax. Hated the traction in snow though, terrible. Now we run snow tires in the winter though so that doesn't matter. We put a set of Dueler 695 ATs on it for this summer as we have had good wear and traction with them in the past. They were gone in less than 30k, but that's about all we get out of the other trucks. This truck sits on big trailers alot (34' flatbed, 31' cattle trailer) and the power from the LML doesn't help tire life. We're actually going to go back to the Michelins simply for the wear. They are slightly cheaper than the 695s and wear twice as long. Traction is worse but thats why we run snow tires in the winter. Nothing gets good traction in the winter compared to what snow tires will give you. We actually get decent wear out of them too.
Michelin has been great to deal with from my experiences. We run them on everything, tractors, semis, skid steers, you name it. They always have the longest wear and also have the best traction and ride comfort. They do have their downsides though, the upfront cost is big, and some people don't care for the thinner sidewalls they have on the tractor tires but that thinner sidewall is what gives them the nice ride on the road and allows them to flex in the field.
Firestone transforce seem to be the choice around Minnesota for commercial pulling with a pickup.
The HT's are okay for wear, but the AT's suck. Firestones are a middle of the road brand generally. Bridgestone is the premium line, kind of like BFGoodrich and Michelin. Michelin has all of the latest and greatest tech, BFG does not. However that doesn't mean they don't make a great tire, it just wont have the best mix of everything.
With tires you have fuel efficiency, treadlife, wet traction, cold weather performance, cornering performance, load performance, mud traction,noise, ride comfort, etc etc.
With every advantage you engineer into the tire, you loose performance in other areas. Lately OEM's have been just simply trying to make tires that can be advantageous without as many side effects. Thats what I mean when I say latest and greatest tech. Many OEM's make a tire that wears great, or a tire that gets good grip, but its finding the right balance that takes time and money.
michelin is best, or a G rated tire 12 ply if you can find one
x2 Michelin's wear like iron.
sounds like you would be a good candidate for a 19.5 swap, rock hard Michelin tires would last forever and roll easy.
and the reason you dropped a little mileage with the michelin silent armor is because they sacrafice slight mileage for comfort and longevity, i got a set of michelin's on my old 96 dually to go 80k with a camper or trailer or both on half the time.
A conversion to 19.5's would allow him to get into commercial tires that will last 100,000-250,000 miles. Traction will be poorer and ride will be stiffer, but if ultimate wear is what he is after they would be the way to go. Be prepared for the price though, you wont touch any decent ones for less than $300 much less $400. If you want Michelin's set up an advantage account as an owner operator and you will get a decent discount.
