Help me select tires...

+1.
Me too, I actually have left my wheels with KO's on them off the truck for the meantime and "GASP!" replaced the Destination LE's on my second set of wheels with General Grabber HST 60's. (Very similar tread pattern, apparently better in the snow). The mileage is better, way better, with the P rated tires (my KO's are "E" rated LT's), and the truck feels great. I'll use these for the majority of the time/
If I go off roading, sure, I'll put the KO's back on, but for the majority of my driving, I'll stick to P245/75 R16's
Horses for courses!

 

I love the idea of two sets of wheels and tires, I'm just afraid my "off-road" set would dry rot before they got their full use lol. I'll see if I can last long enough to wear these ko2s out and then go back to the stock size in a P.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. As for the Michelin's, I have zero interest in them. I had a set of Michelin Defenders on my Hyundai Accent and they were absolute garbage. I know they're not exactly the same but I won't be going that route. Besides, I kind of want the AT look. It looks like Coopers and Generals are my best choices from them.

David

 

what was garbage about the Michelin Defenders? They get so many good reviews on here....

 

BFGoodrich KO2 All-Terrain, BFGoodrich KM3 Mud-Terrain, or Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac.

 

These make absolutely zero sense to someone who's truck is a pavement driver primarily with zero offloading. Loud, heavy tires - great tires, but not right for OPs needs by a mile.

 

Mind if I hijack this thread since I'm in a similar boat? I'm looking to drive basically the same and figured I'd go with the Coops from what I've read - what wheel size is recommended here - 16 or 17? I'm hearing mixed reviews on which is good for now, but might have to be switched out later if I end up making my way further off road (e.g. few years out on a lift / bigger tiers / more gear).

Not too concerned with reusing the same wheels, but wouldn't mind doing that if I could! Mostly wondering what wheel size is best in this scenario.

 

My cooper at 3's are by far the best on/off road tire I've ran on my taco yet. My neighbor talked me into them he runs them on his 4runner, FJ and Taco.

 

First, these most likely were not the same design. But with that said, they were horrible in the rain and snow. The sidewalls were very soft and it felt like the car floated through the turns instead of steering through them. Lastly, under braking, the traction was terrible. They were crap.

David

 

Looks over function ! Get it together man.

 

You sure it wasnt the car that was crap, we are talking a hyundai accent here

 

Who said anything about looks over function? Virtually any other tire I will select will be 100 times better than the god awful tires my Tacoma came with. The question we're talking here is, whether you're selecting the absolutely best or something that's maybe second best. In this case, second best thing will be light years ahead and look good to boot.

Make fun all you'd like, but my Accent is probably quicker off the line and better through the turns than my Tacoma. And it does it while getting 30mpg and cost 1/3 the price.


David

 

Primarily driving pavement with stock tire sizes, 17" wheels with the standard tire size (265/65/17 I think) will likely provide slightly better handling on the road. For me, I'm not sure the difference would be enough to warrant buying new wheels if I was already running 16" wheels. If you are lifting 2-3" and wanting bigger tires, going with 17" will likely give you better tire options down the road.

 

I'm a 100% Mall-Crawler, and I use KO2's. They're quieter, and smoother than my previous Firestone AT's.

 

Doesn't matter if you off road or not, atleast make it look badass.

 

I put 265/70 R17 Michelain LTX-AT/2 tires on my 2010 Prerunner, and they cancelled out the speedometer error exactly!

They're excellent at dry, wet and snow, but I don't know of a damn thing that's good on ice.

Charlie

 

I have the Michelin LTX M/S2 and I live in upstate NY. We get a lot of snow. The tires are fantastic in anything BUT snow. They turn fine in snow, so it's not like I fishtail or lose control. But they are pathetic at the going & stopping part. I have to use 4wd to get up my moderately sloped driveway if there is any snow at all. Going back down is downright scary. I usually put it in 4 lo and stay off the brakes, because if I brake at all, the truck will slide all the way down the driveway and into the road. It's a wooded driveway so I can't see if the road is clear before heading down. It's a miracle I didn't get t-boned last winter.

Just look at a pic of the M/S2 tread and this will make sense. Thick sipes going around the perimeter but not as much across. They are also terrible on ice. Not worse than any other highway tire, though.

I love the M/S2 in the other 3 seasons. Quiet, smooth, truck feels peppy with them on. I've had heavier tires and they really did make the truck feel sluggish. Good in the rain. I'll keep buying them for non-winter use. But this year I got some Firestone Winterforce snow tires to put on the truck in the winter. Looking forward to that.

 

What made you pick the Winterforce over say Blizzaks?

 

That is about what I would expect for any tire. I have run about every tire out there, and even monster mudders with huge tread won't help you much in snow because the stuff builds up in the tread and pretty much cancels it out.

When we have snow on the roads I stay in 4-WD unless I encounter bare pavement. We had a moderately sloped drive at my parent's house, and the same situation applied.

This is a pic of the LTX-AT/2. I couldn't find a pic of the MS/2 variety.

Charles

 

I need Load Range E due to plowing and filling the bed to capacity fairly regularly. Had P rated Cooper Discoverer AT/W snow tires a few years ago and the traction was amazing but way too spongy under heavy load.

With Blizzaks the only E rated options in the 245/75/16 size are the "LT" or the W965. The LT is brand new so few reviews existed when I bought the Winterforce during a labor day sale on simpletire.com. At $200 a tire I didn't want to risk the unknown. The W965 is a heavy ass snow tire for big, heavy full size trucks and vans. Too much for a Tacoma. Would likely ride like a dump truck based on what I read about them.

I have driven a minivan with the Firestone Winterforce in the snow and they are legit.