Best Tires Chevy Tahoe

The Chevrolet Tahoe is a popular, well-known sport utility. The Tahoe is large, family-friendly, and very capable. Most models of current-generation Chevy Tahoe include 20-inch and 22-inch wheels. Your Tahoe may have come with smaller wheels, but tires for sizes between 18-inch and 20-inch are largely the same in this category. The original equipment tires may suit your needs just fine, that many owners find that their needs are more specific than the general-use scenario OEM tires are aimed towards. Read on to find out more about the best tire choices for your Chevrolet Tahoe.

Best Tires for the Chevrolet Tahoe 18- or 20-inch Two-Wheel Drive:

• Nexen Roadian HTX RH5 - Best budget tire
• Continental Terraincontact H/T - Best mid-priced tire
• Michelin LTX M/S2 - Best superior tire

Best Tires for the Chevrolet Tahoe 18- or 20-inch Four-Wheel Drive:

• Cooper Evolution H/T - Best budget tire
• Hankook Dynapro AT-M - Best mid-priced tire
• Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure With Kevlar - Best superior tire

Best Tires for Chevrolet Tahoe 22-inch:

• Kumho Crugen HP71 - Best budget tire
• BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport LT - Best mid-priced tire
• Firestone Destination A/T 2 - Best superior tire

Original Equipment Chevrolet Tahoe Tires

The current-generation Chevrolet Tahoe is sold with three tire sizes, depending on trim level and wheel size:

• Tahoe models with 18-inch wheels have Michelin Energy Saver A/S in size P265/65R18 112T. Four-wheel drive models will have Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac 265/65R18 114S.
• Tahoe models with 20-inch wheels and four-wheel drive come with Goodyear Wrangler ST-A tires in size P275/55R20 111S. Models with 20-inch wheels and two-wheel drive come with Continental Crosscontact LX20 with EcoPlus Technology in size 275/55R20 111S.
• Tahoe trims with 22-inch wheels are equipped with Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza tires in P285/45R22 110H.

Top Replacement Tire Brands for Chevrolet Tahoe

We’ve recommended three replacement tires in 18-, 20-, and 22-inch sizes, in budget, moderately priced and cost-no-object varieties. Whatever your wallet size and expectation, we’ve got you covered here.

18-inch Tires for Chevy Tahoe

• Budget: Kumho Crugen HT51 - These highway all-season tires are excellent all-around tires with long tread life and a severe snow rating.
• Moderately Priced: Continental Terraincontact H/T - These are long-life tires with good ability both on and off the road.
• Cost-No-Object: Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure - These excellent on- and off-road tires are made to handle whatever is thrown at them. With good tread life and a high consumer rating, they’re a top choice.

20-inch Tires for Tahoe

• Budget: Nexen Roadian HTX RH5 - These are not quite the lowest-cost tire on the rack, but they’re a great balance of value for the price. These have good overall ratings and customer reviews.
• Moderately Priced: Hankook Dynapro AT-M - These on-/off-road tires are designed for true all-terrain use, have a good tread life, and are severe snow service rated. Consumers rate them highly.
• Cost-No-Object: Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure With Kevlar - As with our 18-inch choice, these tires in 20-inch are excellent in most conditions and have good tread life and high ratings.

22-inch Tires for Chevrolet Tahoe

• Budget: Kumho Crugen HP71 - These all-season touring tires are made for SUVs that need good on-road performance. They have a long tread life, good ratings, and high customer ratings.
• Moderately Priced: BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport LT - These all-season touring tires offer a comfortable ride, are severe snow ready, and have long tread life alongside their high consumer reviews. A solid mid-priced choice.
• Cost-No-Object: Firestone Destination A/T 2 - These all-terrain tires are also severe snow service rated. They offer strong capability, good tread life, and an excellent reputation.

When Should You Replace Tires?

Two things are the harbingers of change for your Tahoe’s tires: time and wear.

Because most drivers cover between 12,000 and 15,000 miles per year, most Tahoe owners will go beyond the tires’ wear limits before they reach their “use by” date.

It’s possible to predict the rough expected lifespan of your tire in mileage (wear) by using the manufacturer's Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) rating. These are applied by the manufacturer and are voluntary, but have become universal. They are a good general expectation, but usage will mean that your mileage may vary. (Get it?)

The UTQG gives information on the tire’s expected treadwear, wet traction rating, and temperature. These are given with a three-digit number and lettering. For example, a rating of 500 A A is a common option on SUV tires like those found on your Tahoe.

You can glean a bit of info from the tires by reading that rating:

• 500 - This is the durability rating for the tire. It’s a comparison to a control tire with a rating of 100. Tires are run on a 640 kilometer course for 11,520 km. Every 1,280 km, the tread depth is measured, to provide a projected tread life. The higher the number, the longer the predicted treadlife.
• A - This is the wet traction rating for the tire. It’s a measurement of how much traction the tire has, coming to a stop on wet pavement. The best rating is AA, followed by A, B, and C.
• A - This second letter in the UTQG is the Temperature rating, which indicates how well a tire holds up to extreme heat. A is the highest, followed by B and C.

Time, of course, is the other consideration for tires. If you are not driving on your Tahoe’s tires for at least average mileage annually, you’ll likely reach the “use by” date for the tires before you wear the tread too thin.

Every tire made for sale in the United States is required to have a raised date code on the sidewall. The number begins with the letters “DOT” followed by 12 digits in three four-digit groups. The date code is the third group of four digits. To decipher the date of your tires, the first two digits represent the WEEK the tire was produced, and the second two digits represent the YEAR.

So, for example, if your tire’s date code is 3217, that indicates the tire was manufactured in the 37th week of 2017, or sometime between September 11 and 17th that year.

Once tires go beyond five years old, it’s time to consider replacing them. Tires are made up not just of rubber and steel or Kevlar belts, but chemicals that help the tires resist UV rays, temperature changes and a lot of other environmental hazards. Those chemicals start to break down after five years or so, and the tires aren’t doing the job that they need to do. At that point, it doesn’t matter how good they look. It’s time for replacements.

Why Not Replace with Original Equipment Tires?

The tires that came with your Tahoe are a good, generalized option, but they may not fit your specific needs. Chevrolet chose the tires based on several criteria, including its relationship with the manufacturer, costs, expected fuel economy returns, and so forth. Many of these reasons may not apply to you.

Tire replacement only happens every three or four years for most Tahoe owners. This makes it a big investment that will last for a while. Replacing the original tires that came with the SUV may come as a need due to wear and tear, as an upgrade, or as an essential requirement because more capability is needed.

Perhaps you need a tire that is better in the winter, has more off-road prowess, or that stops faster than the OEM option.

Changing Chevrolet Tahoe Tire Sizes

Sometimes, replacing the tires comes because the wheel is being replaced as well. Perhaps you want a smaller wheel and more sidewall to add extra road cushion for a more comfortable ride? Or perhaps you want the bling of bigger wheels and thinner profile tires? Or maybe the tires you really want on your Tahoe don’t come in a size that will fit on the wheels that came with your SUV?

Depending on the year and model, you may be shopping tires to fit anything between 17-inch for older models to 22-inch wheels with various widths and sidewall sizes along the way. It is possible to change the wheel and tire sizes, but a general rule of thumb is to keep the total diameter of the wheel and tire the same. Thus if you downsize an 18-inch wheel to a 17-inch wheel, there would need to be a proportionate upsizing of the tire sidewall to compensate.

Downsizing wheels has its advantages. Benefits include:

• Better ride quality – More rubber means more cushion for poor road conditions.
• Cost reduction – Big tires are expensive, so moving to a smaller wheel size will mean less costly tire purchases.
• Seasonal changes – Winter and snow tires are available for a larger selection of smaller wheel sizes and the narrower footprint will provide better traction.
• Off-road – Many people choose to downsize wheels for off-road use to increase the vehicle’s shock absorption capabilities and bump traction on loose surfaces.

On the other side of the coin, going up in wheel size has its benefits:

• Better handling – Slimmer profile tires makes for less rubber to move around.
• Better looks – This one’s subjective, but many people feel that larger wheels look better than smaller wheels with more rubber.
• Better braking – Larger, wider wheels provide a bigger patch of rubber on the ground to slow the vehicle, reducing braking distance.

How to Read Tire Sizes

When reading tire sizes, it’s important to understand what the numbers mean. The Chevrolet Tahoe’s 18-inch wheels come with P265/65R18 112T touring tires:

• 265 - indicates the width of the tire from one sidewall to the other in millimeters. This tire is 265 millimeters wide.
• 65 - indicates the aspect ratio, or sidewall height, as a percentage of the tire’s width. In this case, it’s 65 percent or of the tire’s width (172.25mm).
• R - means radial tires. Radials are the most common type of automotive tire and have metal and/or fabric woven in at various angles with tread that is strengthened with additional layers of rubber.
• 18 - indicates the wheel diameter.
• 112 - is the tire’s load rating, the higher the number, the more load the tire can carry.
• T - is the tire’s speed rating, which can be found on a chart common to all manufacturers.

Now that it’s understood what might come on a new Tahoe and how to read the size numbers on its tires, let’s look at the different types of tires available to you. Depending on the type of driving you’re doing, where you live, and the weather, you have a variety of choices for tire types:

• Touring and All-season tires - provide a smooth ride, good wet and dry traction, decent winter traction, and longer tread life. These tires are acceptable for winter use but can’t be expected to provide the traction and stopping power that a dedicated winter tire can.
• Performance tires - are focused on providing confident handling, better wet and dry traction, and a sporty feel. Their higher grip and speed ratings come with a tradeoff of shortened tread life and reduced ride quality.
• All-terrain tires - are built to maximize off-road traction and provide good durability overall. Their construction means more noise and less comfort on the road, but winter traction and tread wear is acceptable.
• Winter and snow tires - are made with special rubber compounds that maintain grip and pliability when temperatures drop. They are also built with special tread patterns to maximize the vehicle’s ability to start and stop on very slippery roads.