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TIRE TIPS // TRUCKS

Choosing Truck Tires for the Foothills

THE SHORT ANSWER

A highway tire is right for a truck that lives on pavement, an all-terrain suits gravel range roads and a mixed week, and a rugged or mud tire only makes sense if you spend real time off pavement. If the truck tows, protect the load range first and pick the tread second.

BY THE RIM2RIM CREW PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2026 4 MIN READ

Four families, and what each is for

Highway, HT. Quiet, long wearing, good on wet pavement, and the right tire for a half-ton that commutes to Calgary and hauls a load of lumber twice a year. Highway tires are usually the longest warranties on the shelf, often 100,000 km and up, and they are the cheapest to run.

All-terrain, AT. The default in the Foothills, and for good reason. An all-terrain gives up a little quiet and a little tread life for a tougher casing and a tread that handles gravel, mud and snow. Many current all-terrains carry the three-peak mountain snowflake, which makes them a genuine year-round option on a truck that sees cleared roads in winter.

Rugged terrain, RT. The in-between class, more aggressive than an AT and more civilised than a mud tire. Real capability off pavement, more noise on it, shorter life.

Mud terrain, MT. Big blocks, big voids, built for mud and rock. On glare ice they are the worst tire on this list, because the tread has no siping and the blocks are too stiff to conform. Anyone buying a mud tire for an Okotoks winter is buying it for the look.

Load range is the number that protects you

The letter, C, D or E, describes how the tire is built and what it can carry at pressure. It is the specification to protect if the truck tows, hauls or carries a camper.

Dropping to a lighter tire because it was available, or because it was cheaper, is how people end up with a sidewall failure on Highway 22 with a trailer behind them. The load index on the placard is a floor, not a suggestion, and on a three-quarter-ton it is usually the whole conversation.

The related habit is pressure. A loaded truck wants the pressure the placard specifies for a loaded truck, which is usually higher than the empty figure, and an underinflated LT tire flexes, heats and fails. Check them before a trip, and check the trailer tires too, since those are the ones that spend nine months sitting still.

What a Foothills winter asks

Three different trucks, three different answers.

The truck that lives on pavement, commutes and tows in summer: a snowflake-rated all-terrain will carry it through the year, or a highway tire in summer and a dedicated LT winter set for the cold months if the winter driving is serious.

The truck on the range roads west of town: an all-terrain, and if the roads glaze over, a studdable winter set. Studs are legal year-round in Alberta and on a gravel hill in February they are the difference between climbing and sliding.

The working truck: load range first, then a tread pattern that suits the sites you drive into, then everything else.

Snowflake is not the same as winter

A lot of current all-terrains carry the three-peak mountain snowflake, and it is worth understanding exactly what that certifies. It is an acceleration test on medium-packed snow, requiring a traction index of at least 110 against a reference tire. It says nothing about braking on ice.

So a snowflake-rated all-terrain will pull away from a stop on a snowy road and satisfy winter tire rules where they exist. It will not stop like a dedicated winter tire on the polished ice a chinook leaves at an intersection. On a heavy truck, with more mass to stop, that gap matters more, not less.

If your winter is highway and cleared streets, a snowflake AT is a reasonable single-set answer. If it is dark mornings, hills and gravel, buy the winter set.

Sizing, lifts and the honest trade

Bigger tires look right on a truck and cost you something everywhere else: acceleration, braking, fuel economy, speedometer accuracy and often rubbing at full lock. Going up a size or two on a stock truck is fine when the overall diameter stays within a few percent and the load rating holds.

Beyond that you are into levelling kits, rubbing and a recalibration, and it is worth having the conversation before you buy rather than after the tires are mounted.

The other trade is weight. A heavy E-rated tire on a half-ton that never tows makes the ride harsher and the fuel economy worse for capability you are not using.

Wear, noise and getting the life out of them

All-terrains are more sensitive to rotation than highway tires, because the blocks wear unevenly if they stay in one position. Rotate every 8,000 to 10,000 km, or at every changeover.

Noise usually means neglect rather than tread pattern. A cupped, feathered all-terrain got that way from missed rotations, a worn shock or an alignment nobody did.

And keep the pressures honest. Trucks lose the same 1 psi per 5°C as everything else, and an empty truck running loaded pressures wears its centres out.

Quick answers

Do I need LT tires? If you tow, haul, or run gravel regularly, yes. A half-ton that commutes is fine on a P-metric tire.

Are all-terrains loud? Modern ones are much quieter than their reputation. Noise usually comes from uneven wear, not from the tread design.

Can one set do the whole year? A snowflake-rated all-terrain can, for a truck on cleared roads. For hills, gravel and ice, buy a winter set.

What about studs on a truck? Legal here year-round and very effective on gravel and glare ice. They need a studdable tire, fitted new.

Do bigger tires hurt anything? Fuel economy, braking, speedometer accuracy and sometimes clearance. A modest step up is fine, a large one needs planning.

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