Pickup trucks, Jeeps, SUVs, and crossovers have come a long way in the last 20 or so years. Every generation and model year of trucks seems to get a little more refined and sophisticated, with more comfort features, more power and torque, better handling, improved braking, and more advanced 4WD systems. Light truck tires have had to keep up with that evolution; the best light truck tires are designed in conjunction with automakers as the perfect complement for what their trucks can offer in terms of performance on or off the pavement. If you’ve got a light truck that doesn’t go off the pavement very often, highway-terrain tires like the Grabber H/T from General are a great choice. Highway-terrain tires are the counterpart of all-season or Grand Touring tires for sedans, minivans, and crossovers; they’re designed with the same objectives of muted road noise, ride comfort, capable handling, solid road manners, and great wear properties, but with a tougher tread compound and beefed-up internal construction that can handle the extra weight of a truck (and the occasional towing or hauling duties).

General Tire is one of America’s oldest tire manufacturers, founded in Akron way back in 1915. Today, General is one of the most respected premium tire makers around, and the General Grabber H/T is a great example of what a next-generation all-terrain tire is all about in terms of design, construction, performance, and value. Let’s go in and take a closer look at this General Grabber H/T tire review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the great design features and innovations you can expect with the General Grabber H/T:

• Highway-terrain all-season tread design with wide circumferential, and angled grooves that resist hydroplaning by routing water away from the tire’s contact patch on wet roads
• Damage-resistant, long-wearing tread compound for a longer tread life
• A dense network of sipes multiplies the tread’s surface area, and traction with hundreds of hair-thin edges to slice through snow, slush, and standing water
• General Tire’s DuraGen technology package enables long, even wear, durability, stable high-speed road manners, and handling
• The redesigned contact patch is optimized to put more rubber on the road for enhanced braking, handling, control, and long, even wear properties
• Visual Alignment Indicators molded into both shoulders of tread, giving drivers an early heads-up to potential alignment issues and uneven wear
• Replacement Tire Monitor molded into tread blocks
• Tread pitch is randomized, and computer-tuned to cancel certain frequencies and overtones, helping to keep road noise to a minimum
• Up to 70,000 miles limited manufacturer’s tread wear warranty coverage (depending on tire size)
• The symmetric tread pattern features a continuous center rib for enhanced straight-line stability and steering response, and angled tread blocks toward the shoulders

Pros and Cons

When it comes to the General Grabber H/T, this is a tire where the Pros definitely outweigh the Cons:

PROS:

• The durable tread compound is designed for long, even wear
• Ride quality, noise levels, handling, and road manners rival the best automotive Grand Touring tires
• Dependable, confident traction in dry, wet, or light wintry conditions
• Optimized for use with EVs, and hybrids
• Generous limited manufacturer’s tread life coverage

CONS:

• Not good off-road
• Not good in heavier snow
• Can be noisier on some pavement surfaces

SimpleTire’s view on General Grabber H/T tires

Here at the SimpleTire team, we’ve been pretty impressed by General’s lineup of tires for some time, and the Grabber H/T is an object lesson in why we feel that way. The Grabber tire family has been a resounding success for General, with innovations and forward-thinking features aplenty, and the Grabber H/T is no exception.

Let’s talk for a minute about the Grabber H/T’s alignment indicators. This feature is found on several of General’s tires and consists of squares molded into the tread at the inner and outer shoulder; with proper alignment, the squares should show even wear on both sides, but with an alignment issue they would wear at an uneven rate, giving drivers an easy-to-spot indication of a problem. We’re also impressed with General’s Replacement Tire Monitor, with the words REPLACE TIRE in bold capital letters molded into the tread so that they’re only revealed when the tread reaches a minimum legal depth of 2/32”.

On the highway, the General Grabber H/T shows road manners that are sedate and solid, with confident straight-line tracking on the interstate. That solid feel doesn’t mean sluggish, though, as the steering response is light and quick without being overly sensitive or jumpy. Handling and cornering are predictable and accurate, if not quite up to what you’d expect from a performance tire on a sports sedan. Ride quality is refined and accommodating, with the Grabber H/T soaking up pavement irregularities with ease and not losing its composure over rough patches.

A 70,000 mile limited manufacturer’s warranty on a highway-terrain tire is pretty close to best-in-class, thanks in part to the optimized contact patch and General’s long-wearing DURAGEN tread compound and internal construction tech. The General Grabber H/T’s system of grooves, sipes, and tread blocks does a great job of evacuating water away from the tire’s contact patch for confident performance and braking on wet roads.

All in all, it’s our take here at the SimpleTire team that the General Grabber H/T would make a great value and great performer for any light truck or SUV that needs a set of highway-terrain tires.

Vehicles The General Grabber H/T is a good replacement tire for

The General Grabber H/T is a great candidate for a replacement tire for vehicles such as:

• Chevrolet Colorado
• Ford F150
• GMC Acadia
• Honda Passport
• Jeep Compass
• Mazda CX-9
• Nissan Rogue
• RAM 2500
• Toyota Highlander