SUV Tires - Light Truck Tires Reviews

Part of our three-part series on tires, this report covers all-season and all-terrain tires for SUVs and light trucks. See our separate reports for information on tires for cars and our report on snow tires , which includes winter tires for all vehicle types.

Consumer Reports has conducted the most recent testing of SUV tires and light-truck tires, assigning scores based on performance in braking, handling, snow/ice performance, resistance to hydroplaning, ride and noise. Consumer Reports also tests tires' rolling resistance -- the amount of drag created by the tire. Less drag means better gas mileage, but often at the expense of traction. Consumer Reports' tire reviews are fairly thorough, but tires tested sometimes don't seem to belong in the same performance groups. For example, a recent test of all-terrain tires included the BFGoodrich Rugged Trail T/A, which is classified as a highway all-season tire, yet the test did not include the BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO, a true all-terrain tire.

The Tire Rack conducts rigorous tire tests and hosts head-to-head comparisons, using roads, racetracks, highways and even ice rinks to grade tires. We were extremely impressed by the editors' depth of knowledge and by the fact that they release even negative results about the products they sell. However, The Tire Rack does not test as many SUV tires and truck tires as it does car tires, and staffers don't perform any off-road, mud or loaded truck testing. However, this source does separately rank SUV and truck tires based on reader surveys. These rankings are more up-to-date and comprehensive than their expert tests, covering highway and all-terrain tires, but not mud tires. We found excellent reviews of mud tires from 4 Wheel & Off Road magazine, as well as from Four Wheeler magazine. Editors there test mud tires in swampy, hilly mud pits. See our Alternative Considerations section below for more on mud tires.

Unless otherwise noted, our price estimates for truck tires and SUV tires are based on a tire size of 235/70-16 (or the next closest size, such as a 245/70 or 235/60 when 235/70 is not available). These common sizes are found as original equipment on popular SUVs such as the Honda Pilot and trucks like the Ford F-150.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

The Hankook DynaPro AS RHO3 gets high scores for handling, but its lower snow and ice scores keep it from functioning as a true all-season tire. Experts say the Goodyear Fortera SilentArmor is a better premium all-season truck or SUV tire -- though for considerably less money, the Dunlop Rover A/T all-season tire performs almost as well in tests. Among all-terrain tires, the Hankook DynaPro MT RT03 is the favorite of 4x4 truck owners and reviewers, with all-around good performance on rocks, mud, snow and dry pavement. The Pirelli Scorpion ATR is the best budget all-terrain tire, delivering as much off-road traction as most pickup and SUV drivers will ever need.

For serious off-roading, reviews say the BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM 2 is the best all-around mud tire.