The Adventures of Ash and Baby Taco

I had my ST Maxx on all spring on some decent trails and now just had them on the snow the other day. Honestly compared to the KM2's I had before I didn't notice any shortcomings offroad and they certainly are much better than the KM2 on icy or snow covered road. Time will tell how they are for tread wear. KM2s wore like iron for me. I had someone buy them from me after 25k and they still had like 3/4 of the tread.

 

I vote on the st maxx as well, I've never heard anyone complain a thing about them really. There quiet on the highway too.

 

X2 for the st maxx. I had them on my 07 Chevy. Fantastic tires, and wore like iorn on the road. Had great traction on the snow and ice. 30k miles and just about half used. Had the stt on my cummins, and I wasn't to impressed with them. Seemed real slippery on ice and snow.

 

I like the STT pro. Looks like it'll be better then the STT in snow and they were already pretty awesome.

Bob has the old STTs I think not the pros. He also isn't in co anymore.

 

Nice pup and truck!

 

Nope he got the new pros bro! yup he moved to the east coast.

 

Really when?

 

In August:

NYCO Build Thread

 

What the fuck Bob. You get new tires every year it seems...I hate you

 

haha right!

 

i put 40k on the STTs before i passed them along...it was a busy year

 

snow
duratracs>stt>=mtr

off road
mtr>stt>duratrac

road
duratrac>stt>=mtr

tread life
duratrac>stt>mtr

so far the pros are performing off road on par with the old STTs...no issues with durability or not hooking up when needed...still not up to mtr levels for off road..i think the mtr compound is stickier than both STT models

but chatting with the designer of the stt pro at sema, they put a lot of thought into the pro design and think it's a great product to replace the stt for sure...they were going to have a completely different name, but the stt already had a name for itself, so they just tweaked the name even though it's basically a new tire...just replaces the MT in their lineup

big issue i had with the mtr was the tread life...great tire, but short life

with the STT performing almost on the level of the MTR, and so far the pro keeping up with the STT...performance + tread life of STT & pro > mtr

i am very curious to the winter handling of the pro with the new tread design as its closer to a duratrac style center lug layout...just more aggressive..

it's close to a pitbull rocker design which i like too



on the mastercraft and other off-brand tires...if you wheel hard, i'd stay away from them as they do not use the same compounds and ply thicknesses and layouts as the parent tires...

that's another thing i spoke with the designer about was the mastercraft and the cooper MT designed for discount tire..he said they use a different compound (not as sticky) and 2 ply vs 3 ply sidewalls..the criss-cross ply layout of the cooper 3 ply will also be more durable than many other 3 ply sidewalls

also not all off-brands will offer simple things like the rim protector which offsets the rim edge behind the rubber for extra protection...



my $.02

 

here's some detail they put into the tire...


the asymmetrical offset lug cut outs gives a mud channel in either direction...forward or back, the mud will hit the channel then hit a wall on the next lug where there is a scoop design built into the lug wall

next level in there are angled mud channels to help propel the mud out in either direction

also to help the mud are the dimples which create air pockets to help prevent the mud from sticking to the lugs

the offset lugs in the center help with the on road noise and smoothness while giving resistance from sideways slipping

the rubber ridge in between the lugs is for rock protection..gives a little barrier to the tire when a rock gets jammed in there



the shoulder has a separation to allow the tire to form easier when aired down...the sidewall will basically fold down to widen your tread coverage...see below

 

Nice. Good stuff.

The only other tire I find intriguing to me is the dyna pro rt03

 

i had those on order until cooper finally got back to me on the STT Pros

 

Yea Jason seems to really like them. I know Frank will stay on MTRs as he isn't a dd and they are just too good Offroad. But my other truck..

 

i know a couple 4runners who run them and love them as well

 

Thanks for the input @NYCO , it's going to be a hard decision to make. Might be best to just suck it up this winter and run the tires dead next summer.

I have looked into those quite a bit. I ran them on my first truck (gmc sonoma) and found them to be pretty slippery on road in Kansas winters. That experience left a sour taste in my mouth but I believe much of the fault was on the truck itself and not the rubber. The countless great reviews I keep reading, price, and high mileage per tire make me want to give them another try.

I also really like the ST Maxx after it was mentioned in here.

 

My Dad and I went to black friday at cabelas. He won a vortex rifle scope and had planned to sell it to purchase a cooler (high end, like yeti). He decided to give it to me instead since I was planning on picking up a cheap rifle anyways. I want to now get him a cooler for christmas. Outside of yeti, does anyone have any experience with the other brands? He will most likely only use to keep his bbq warm while it rests and or is transported into town.

 

I picked up an ENGEL Deep Blue from Blue Ridge Overland Gear as part of a trade and have been happy with it. Since having an ARB fridge it is hard to give credit to coolers but the Engel is nice. There have been a few times where I have had drinks in it from a picnic or BBQ and when I get back I leave them in the cooler and just stick it in the garage cause we are in a hurry. 3-4 days later the ice has just barely finished melting.