Rugged Fail tires OEM on TRD Off-road

I've been reading here about how bad the OEM Rugged Fail tires are. I've also seen several posts about them being discontinued a couple years ago, but my 2015 just came with them. Then I started wondering why a supposedly off-road TRD truck would come with, basically, street tires that are actually poor street tires. My Prius came with crappy Goodyear tires that lasted maybe 20k miles, but gave me 56 mpg. They were terrible on snow/ice. The replacement Michelin LRR high mpg tires got maybe 47 mpg but much better in bad conditions. My conclusion is all that matters to Toyota, and probably all car makers, is that published EPA mpg number, in addition to their cost obviously. Thousands of people probably base their vehicle purchase on mpg and Toyota knows that. However I think they should hire somebody other than bean counters regarding tires on their off-road vehicles. Any other opinions?

 

Most people buying the TRD Offroad will never take it off pavement

 

EPA numbers are important as recently proven by Kia who got slapped with fines for publishing wrong EPA data.

As for any company installing tires on a new vehicle, it's about cost and about "what's good enough for most people most of the time".

Even with Jeeps, a vast majority don't take their vehicle off-road let alone even see dirt. To many off-road is a gravel road and serious wheeling consists of a fire road leading to their cabin. As such, installing a more aggressive tire cuts down on MPG's and increases cabin noise.

 

my 2014 sport came with tires prob just as bad. Had BFG TA KO's on my 05 that handled night and day better than stock tires. My guess is toyota looks at a few different factors when selecting OE tires such as (brand, price, MPG, ride, road noise for DD). The same things we look for when buying tires but we have a more focused purpose.

 

I never even thought of the number of metrosexual trucks never going off road. That might explain it. Go figure. Hopefully I won't get stuck rock hounding with the OEMs. I usually take a come-along and shovel

 

Yep. Same reason why people lift a TRD, swap bumpers, relocate shocks, etc. The truck, while still extremely capable in stock form, will need to be upgraded if serious trails are your intentions.

 

Hey! dirt trailhead parking lots count as off pavement, doesn't it?

 

I took mine of my truck within a month and sold then within a week on CL for $400. That money can go a long way towards some nice new AT's, and now I have the certs with a full warranty on my new tires.

 

I have some FANTASTIC new Rugged Trail tires for $400, u pick up in Albuquerque. PM me. LOL!

 

I have a non-TRD so mine came with the dunlop at20s. The rugged trails are at least a step up from that...though I agree with everyone who says dump 'em fast and buy something else.

I swear to you a small pebble punctured this tire in Arkansas. Good teaching opportunity, though. The wife learned to change a tire! This gave me good reason to upgrade to AT3s, too.

 

I was lucky, my OEM tires developed deep cracks in the tread after a year. BFG deemed it warranty and said I could replace with any of their tires, I just had to pay to prorated difference. I have AT KO's now. Third truck I've had with them.

Missed the AT KO2's by a few months though.

 

Same here, I had less than 1k miles on my Rugged Fails when I sold them for 400 bucks, which I used to buy my ST Maxx's. SO new tires for 440... On my '09 I sold the Rugged Fails for 400 bucks as well. 9k Miles

 

I still to this day do not get why a pre runner TRD offroad is even made.

 

E locker = better than nothing when desert running.

But yeah its kind of arbitrary to make an off road model that isn't that capable off road.

 

I have 6000miles on my 2015 and I'm just trying to figure out which tires I should get.

I'm on my 5th brand new vehicle in the last 9 years and all of the OEM tires were shit. OEM tires and OEM brake pads equal shit in my book!