Disclosure: TireMileage is independent and sells nothing. Retailer links are plain links today; if we join affiliate programs later we may earn a commission, marked on the page, and it will never change a ranking.

255/70R16 tires ranked by treadwear

Quick answer: NHTSA's UTQG data has 19 tire lines with a treadwear grade filed for 255/70R16. The highest grade is 700 (tied by 2 lines, including Blackhawk HISCEND-H HT01); the median is 500 and the lowest is 300. The highest-treadwear line that also has traction A or AA is Blackhawk HISCEND-H HT01 (700).

Ranking: 255/70R16 tire lines by NHTSA treadwear grade

Sorted from highest to lowest treadwear. Ties share a rank. If a line has several records for this size with different grades, the lowest is used for ranking and the range is shown. Enter your own price and expected miles in the last columns; nothing is pre-filled because price and warranty data are pending a feed.

RankBrandLineTreadwearPercentile in sizeTractionTemp.Price / set ($)Expected miles$ per 1,000 mi
1BlackhawkHISCEND-H HT0189Traction ATemp B—
1NexenTOUR CUV A/S89Traction ATemp B—
3AmericusTouring CUV74Traction ATemp A—
3SumitomoCUV74Traction ATemp A—
3ThundererR60174Traction ATemp A—
6AmericusA/T63Traction ATemp B—
6ThundererR40463Traction ATemp B—
8BridgestoneDUELER H/T 68553Traction ATemp B—
8NexenROADIAN HT53Traction ATemp B—
10AmericanPROSPECTOR A/T LT26Traction ATemp C—
10ComancheRADIAL H/T26Traction ATemp B—
10HankookDynaPro HT (OE)26Traction BTemp A—
10YokohamaGeolandar A/T-S26Traction ATemp B—
10YokohamaGeolandar H/T-S26Traction ATemp B—
15BridgestoneDUELER A/T 6935Traction BTemp B—
15CycloneRadial SUV5Traction ATemp B—
15NationalTrail Guide AP5Traction ATemp B—
15NexenROADIAN 5425Traction ATemp A—
19BridgestoneDUELER H/T 684 "T" Spd Rtd0Traction BTemp B—

Click a column heading to sort. Treadwear bar shows the lowest grade filed for this size.

Percentile in size = share of the 19 lines for 255/70R16 with a lower treadwear grade. Cost column: price per set ÷ (expected miles ÷ 1,000), calculated in your browser from your inputs only.

How the 19 lines spread across treadwear bands

Treadwear bandLinesShare
300–39915%
400–499421%
500–5991263%
600 and up211%

The median line sits in the 500–599 band: a high treadwear grade; the manufacturer rates this tire to wear slowly relative to the government control tire.

Best treadwear grade by brand for 255/70R16

BrandHighest grade for this size
Blackhawk700
Nexen700
Americus560
Sumitomo560
Thunderer560
Bridgestone520
American500
Comanche500
Hankook500
Yokohama500
Cyclone400
National400

Reading this page

FAQ

Which 255/70R16 tire has the highest treadwear rating?

In NHTSA's UTQG data the highest treadwear grade filed for 255/70R16 is 700, shared by 2 lines. This covers only lines whose NHTSA record names this exact size.

What is a typical treadwear grade for 255/70R16 tires?

The median treadwear grade across the 19 rated lines for 255/70R16 is 500. Across all sizes in the dataset the median is 420.

What is the cost per mile of 255/70R16 tires?

We have no licensed price or warranty-mileage feed yet, so cost per mile is not computed. Use cost per 1,000 miles = price per set ÷ (expected miles ÷ 1,000) with your own quote; the table below has inputs for each line.

Guides that explain these numbers

Last updated: · Data: NHTSA tire ratings (UTQG) API, pulled 2026-10-25. 7,628 records.