I finally got some new tires on the Tahoe and wanted to share my thoughts, reasons, and experience. My wife's DD is this 2011 Z71 Tahoe. When we first got it I put on a 2.5" level kit on the front and then added 1.5" and Air lift 1000's to the rear. I've been waiting for the BFG A/T's to wear out to go to a slightly larger tire. After a lot of research I decided that I wanted to try a 275/70/18 tire. I found a few guys who put this size on GM trucks but found very little info on this size on GM SUV's. This size measures just over 33" tall and a tread width of 8.7", section width of 11" on an 8" rim. So basically it's a narrow 33. I liked the specs on this size because it had the height I was looking for but had a narrower tread. Of course I like the look of a wide tire but since it's a DD for my wife I didn't want the added weight, drag, strain on the front end, or potential loss of traction on snow and ice by having a really wide tire. Plus this size is about $50-$80 cheaper a tire than 285's.
I narrowed it down the 3 tires. The new BFG A/t's, Hankook Dynapro AT-M and the Goodyear DuraTrac's. I've had several sets of BFG A/T's in the old style and it's a good tire, it's what was on the Tahoe previously and served well but I haven't seen enough reviews on the new tread design and although they are good on snow and ice in any type of mud they load up and become slicks. My only experience with the Hankook Dynapro AT-M's is they are currently on my DD, A 2011 Tundra and so far appear to be a great tire. They are wearing very well and from what I can tell are very similar to the BFG A/T's but at a lower price. I originally wasn't going to go with as aggressive of a tire as the DuraTrac's but I've had several set's of these and my experiences have been great. I guess that's why I keep going back to them. They wear and ride great, they are quieter than most AT tires and they provide great traction off road but still have very good traction on snow and ice because of siping that most aggressive MT tries lack. I think in the end sealed the deal and made me go with the Duratrac's again was that in the 275/70/18 size I wanted to avoid the pizza cutter look as much as possible and figured that the Duratrac would have the appearance of a wider tire because of the more aggressive tread and side lugs.
So I pulled the plug and ordered a set of DuraTrac's and couldn't be happier. The size worked out just as I planned. I had a little bit of rubbing in the front bumper inner fender area which is normal for a Z71 due to less clearance than a non-Z71. I ended up removal the black bumper bottoms one each end of the bumper and now have plenty of clearance after pulling the inner fenders in with zip ties. Originally I was going to leave the black bumper bottoms on but after looking at it decided to just completely remove them and am glad I did. It gives the truck and even more aggressive look.
The only other area that rubbed was at the rear of the front wheel on my mud flaps. I have a set of universal mud flaps mounted to the plastic trim that surrounds the Z71 running boards. The rubbing was minimal and was only in reverse when turning almost full lock and was only because of the mud flap. I took them off for now and the rubbing is gone. I have ordered a different set of mud flaps and am going to trim the front of the running board trim pieces and the remount the new mud flaps to the actual inner fender. This should eliminate all of the rubbing in this area.
Close ups of rubbing areas before any trimming
After Trimming
I narrowed it down the 3 tires. The new BFG A/t's, Hankook Dynapro AT-M and the Goodyear DuraTrac's. I've had several sets of BFG A/T's in the old style and it's a good tire, it's what was on the Tahoe previously and served well but I haven't seen enough reviews on the new tread design and although they are good on snow and ice in any type of mud they load up and become slicks. My only experience with the Hankook Dynapro AT-M's is they are currently on my DD, A 2011 Tundra and so far appear to be a great tire. They are wearing very well and from what I can tell are very similar to the BFG A/T's but at a lower price. I originally wasn't going to go with as aggressive of a tire as the DuraTrac's but I've had several set's of these and my experiences have been great. I guess that's why I keep going back to them. They wear and ride great, they are quieter than most AT tires and they provide great traction off road but still have very good traction on snow and ice because of siping that most aggressive MT tries lack. I think in the end sealed the deal and made me go with the Duratrac's again was that in the 275/70/18 size I wanted to avoid the pizza cutter look as much as possible and figured that the Duratrac would have the appearance of a wider tire because of the more aggressive tread and side lugs.
So I pulled the plug and ordered a set of DuraTrac's and couldn't be happier. The size worked out just as I planned. I had a little bit of rubbing in the front bumper inner fender area which is normal for a Z71 due to less clearance than a non-Z71. I ended up removal the black bumper bottoms one each end of the bumper and now have plenty of clearance after pulling the inner fenders in with zip ties. Originally I was going to leave the black bumper bottoms on but after looking at it decided to just completely remove them and am glad I did. It gives the truck and even more aggressive look.
The only other area that rubbed was at the rear of the front wheel on my mud flaps. I have a set of universal mud flaps mounted to the plastic trim that surrounds the Z71 running boards. The rubbing was minimal and was only in reverse when turning almost full lock and was only because of the mud flap. I took them off for now and the rubbing is gone. I have ordered a different set of mud flaps and am going to trim the front of the running board trim pieces and the remount the new mud flaps to the actual inner fender. This should eliminate all of the rubbing in this area.
Close ups of rubbing areas before any trimming
After Trimming