Tire info needed about buying and tire facts

So i am currently in the market for new tires to go on my stock 17" alloys and while i was looking through the tire thread i saw way too many tires i wanted.

Anyways, when it comes down to tire tread design, is there a way to be able to tell what situations theyd excel in?
I know some tires are grooved to be able to repel water better, and some tires (slicks) are meant to have a larger contact patch so more grip.
(Let me know if im making sense or not.)
Some tires are better meant for city/highway driving than others that are better for offroad.
And how do tire sizes affect road noise?

Anyways, how do i go about determining which tires are best for me besides from looks alone?

 

It's not really tire size that affects road noise, its the tread.

As far as which tires, well that all depends on what kind of driving you will be doing. Is this truck your daily driver? Doing a lot of highway driving? Are you looking for a certain look for your truck?

 

The farther apart the spacing between "lugs", generally the better off-road traction they will provide. This spacing will also (generally) increase road noise. The small zig-zag pattern molded into the surface of the lugs is called siping and helps to increase wet and icey traction. The modern five rib design helps to give great highway stability. Shoulder lugs of a random and varying size is supposed to help decrease highway noise. Alternating shoulder lugs of an M/T help to bite in the mushy stuff, but generally increase highway noise.

 

Yes its my DD.
Its pretty much 50% highway, 40% city, and the other 10% for offroad.

 

Ah okay thank you for educating me.
Well my tires havent given me any highway noise so far, might be due to the low tread.
Does tread length also affect road noise?


@deevon:
Oh and as for looks, im not too picky, but some swamper tires would look sweet even though they wouldnt be what im looking for haha.

 

Well, I myself have an all terrain tire on my truck, but we also get snow here, so not sure if yours will need to be good in snow. But with that said, I would just Google, or you can check out discounttire.com, that's where I ordered mine from, and just see what you like.

Also, an All Terrain aka A/T is going to be alittle more noisy, but will give you pretty good traction off road and on. I don't even notice the noise from mine anymore, not that they are that loud.

 

An aggressively styled all-terrain is probably what you are looking for. In that category, the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac is highly favored among members here.

 

Oooh ill def check these out for next time.
Just picked up some Maxxis Buckshot with FJ steel rims for 450

And since i live in Ca and get no snow in the part im in they should do good.
Cant wait to do some mud slinging