20 Inch Tire Recommendations

Just sold my 06 Sierra Z71 and bought a 2013 Tahoe 4WD LTZ, low miles. She's a beauty. Drives like a dream, BUT, I'm not crazy about the tires. They appear to just be normal all weather street tires, possibly even stock (P275/55R20), and are near end of life. I am thinking of upgrading to an all terrain tire but have some questions and could use some recommendations.

1) The truck has the stock 20 inch wheels. This doesn't leave much room for tire in the wheel well. What will fit without a lift?

2) As I mentioned, this thing really drives REALLY smooth, which is great since I travel a lot. How will all terrain tires impact the handling and performance on the street? Any personal experiences?

I'm currently running BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A K02 285/55/20 and it does rub when i lock it on the passenger side. These all terrains are almost as quiet as the previous 275/55/20's I had running the Highway All Season General Grabber's. I personally think the all terrains are better overall, with just the smallest slip when it's raining - only because the T/A KO2's are a harder tire compared to the Highway All Season Grabber's I had. After saying all of this, I wouldn't hesistate buying the T/A KO2 when I need my next set. They do more than enough in your typical city/highway driving but are meaty enough to tackle gravel, stone, soil, snow, etc.

I also forgot to mention I used to run the stock 265/70/17 on Firestone Destination LE's when I first bought my yukon and they were quiet as a church mouse lol - now they didn't handle as well in snow, gravel etc, but in all honesty i'm not 'offroading' my yukon on a daily basis, so the Destination LE's or the ones I mentioned above, general grabber, got the job done.

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I went with Cooper Zeon LTZ. It is available in the stock size but I went with 305/50r20. Love them. They rub in the front on the sway bar and in the rear on the liner--until I got the Spohn adjustable track bar. I'm lowered in the rear2" also.

I wanted a tire to more fill out the fenders; the stock size looks too small. The Coopers definitely fit the bill.

Otherwise you can go with stock size, 285/50r20 for smaller diameter, 285/55r20 for larger diameter, or 305/50r20 for stock diameter & wider. But just about anything not stock and no lift will probably rub somewhere depending on wheels and offset.

275/60/20's should fit with zero rub, I believe you have just enough extra room to clear them. Will be the same width, but about 1.1" taller overall. Cooper makes a couple options, haven't heard anyone say anything negative about them.

I have 275/65/20 Falken Wildpeak AT's on my '06 Yukon XL, Sierra 20x8.5 wheels, with 1 1/2" spacers on the front and 2 1/2" spacers on the rear. I do have my torsion's turned up about 3", with 2" coil spacers and Z71 springs. Zero rub, after trimming the plastic on the lower valance and the lowermost portion of the fenderwell liners in the rear of the front wheelwells.

I have a 2012 Tahoe LTZ 4x4 and I replaced the Goodyear tires that were on it with Hankook Dynapro HTs. They're quiet and smooth, but they're also great in snow and ice.

I just purchase my 07 Denali, but it has newish Bridgestone Duelers on it and they seem to be a great overall tire for this SUV. I have been very happy ride quality and traction on dry, wet, ice, and light snow(<4"). Haven't been in any real deep snow yet. They are quiet on road, and have more then enough lateral grip for as hard as I'm going to chuck this pig into a corner. They look more like a street tire then an AT tire, so if you want something that looks aggressive these are not tire you want. Although, they also came as the factory tire option on my friends 13 Jeep Wrangler Sahara. He has taken his Jeep offroad several times, and actually had better traction then I did in my beater Explorer with M/T tries. So, I know they can manage just fine in the mud and rocks as well.

nadthomas said:

I just purchase my 07 Denali, but it has newish Bridgestone Duelers on it and they seem to be a great overall tire for this SUV. I have been very happy ride quality and traction on dry, wet, ice, and light snow(<4"). Haven't been in any real deep snow yet. They are quiet on road, and have more then enough lateral grip for as hard as I'm going to chuck this pig into a corner. They look more like a street tire then an AT tire, so if you want something that looks aggressive these are not tire you want. Although, they also came as the factory tire option on my friends 13 Jeep Wrangler Sahara. He has taken his Jeep offroad several times, and actually had better traction then I did in my beater Explorer with M/T tries. So, I know they can manage just fine in the mud and rocks as well.

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The stock Bridgestone HL's are borderline horrible. They are an all around highway tire that dont excel in anything. Not really sure why GM uses them. They came on a few trucks I owned and always replaced them. Just bought a new 17 Escalade and took them off 2 weeks later! lol I wound up going with the Defender LTX and you cant believe how much of a difference it made. SUPER QUIET and much better handling.

My last truck I had the Continental Terrain Contacts and for an AT tire they were quiet! Not aggressive like a Duratrac of course but a great tire for a daily Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade.

Stresst said:

The stock Bridgestone HL's are borderline horrible. They are an all around highway tire that dont excel in anything. Not really sure why GM uses them. They came on a few trucks I owned and always replaced them. Just bought a new 17 Escalade and took them off 2 weeks later! lol I wound up going with the Defender LTX and you cant believe how much of a difference it made. SUPER QUIET and much better handling.

My last truck I had the Continental Terrain Contacts and for an AT tire they were quiet! Not aggressive like a Duratrac of course but a great tire for a daily Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade.

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Really, what part of the country do you live in, and what are your driving conditions that you found the Duelers to be that awful. I am generally really picky about tires since I autocross my BMW, and off road my Explorer. Tires can really transform a vehicle. Of course any all season tire is not going to really excel at anything, so I guess I should have put that as a qualifier, but I find the Duelers more then competent for most applications. I'm sure there are better tires, and Michelin general makes great tires (I love the MPSS on my BMW), but there is no way I could say that I hated a tire so much that I would drop the coin on a new set of tires that were only 2 week old. Unless I was doing that to also upgrade wheels, or buys tires for a specific use (track, off road, summer/winter, etc).