New Tire Recommendations

After doing a ton of shopping to help my brother pick new tires for his 92 pickup on stock 15” rims (slim pickings), I also decided I’ll replace my stock tires with Michelin LTX AT2s and I’m kinda excited for the bubbly smooth sidewall.

Here in CO everybody and their mom has “aggressive” sidewalls so I’m getting in ahead of the next trend and going with the biggest name in the biz with a lame look haha! I can’t be bothered to entertain any tires with a higher load rating on my daily driver.

I want my Tacoma to ride well and I’m not even old hahaha. Then again I love keeping my truck as stock as possible so I’m definitely in the minority here, I’m also done over-thinking what should be an easy home run.

 

Honestly the Michelin's would be the best choice. I think the other options are potentially out for now for various reasons, but still looking at those Cooper AT3 4s'.... They are fairly similar to the Michelins to where I probably wouldn't notice much of a difference (other than potentially longevity).

 

Over 45k or so and still had quite a bit of tread depth when I replaced them. Similarly, if I can get a couple of years out of a set of reasonably-priced tires, I have no issue selling the used ones locally and getting some fresh rubber before the tread wears all the way down - esp heading into winter when the tread depth is the difference maker in snow or mud

Tread wears super slowly though. I find they'll wear down to 10/32 in the first few months, then hardly wear at all for a long time after.

 

4S - specific thread I started when they first launched:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cooper-discoverer-at3-4s-review.557727/

honestly the ONLY potential downside is that they will start out with no road noise whatsoever, like many tires, but as the tread wears down, with the wider channels you will get a slight bit of highway hum from them (for me generally after about 30k miles). it's not mud terrain loud or anything close, and doesn't bother me, but it's really the only potential "negative" I could see anyone finding in these though practically any AT will be likely to present some road hum at some point

 

Those may be my choice! They aren't as aggressive looking as what I had imagined, but at this point they look good and are very similar to the Michelin MS! Plus they're considerably cheaper than the Michelins and other options!

 

I’ve drawn on the quiet wisdom of the minority around here. I have no experience with the Michelins but I’m set on them, so there’s your grain of salt. It also gets overwhelming and I’m just not that into tires to go overboard, so I had to accept where all roads were pointing for my needs, no pun intended!

The only time I put “cool” tires on a vehicle was a new Dunlop tire model somewhere between an AT and MT (long since off the market), and it was a 20 year old 90s Pathfinder. Obviously there was no chance at noticing any difference in ride quality or fuel economy haha, but damn they were fantastic in snow and I put nearly 50k on them and sold it with them installed with life to give.

I also disregard all reviews of freshly installed tires because longevity and performance over the lifetime of the tire is extremely important to me. Again, Michelin for the win. Now I’m rhyming wtf...

 

Adding 5 lbs per/20 lbs total weight with new shoes obviously isn't that much but adding ANY weight to your taco is going to affect gas mileage. If you're going from a stock 40-lb. P rated tire to a larger size LT rated tire like around 55-59 lbs. you're adding 60 lbs. of weight. That adds up.

 

Yeah that was one of the largest downsides. I'm leaning towards the Cooper 4s currently.

 

Give the toyos a look. I loved my Falkens but the Toyo tire rides much better, and they were cheaper than Falkens.
https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/toyo-tire-open-country-a-t-iii

 

I've run Cooper Tires on cars before and they are great.

 

Michelin and BFG are the same company, both great quality in my opinion. Toyo and Nitto are also the same company and great quality.
Goodyear also makes great tires. Michelin's are made buttery smooth, but here in AZ I find they dry rot before the tread is used up (LTX MS2 from Costco). I don't care for Cooper tires.

I like the Yokohama Geolander MT's for a mud tire and the Toyo AT3 for an all terrain.

I'd compare the weight, tread life, wear rating and warranty of whatever size tire you want and then go off of price. Toyo AT3's would probably be my pick. You'd get a slightly aggressive sidewall, good off road manners, and good commuting highway manners from them.

https://www.toyotires.com/product/open-country-at3

 

had ridge grapps on my previous ride ('14 tundra) and now on the taco in 265/70/17. SL load range, gas mileage took a hit. Still getting 20mpg tank average according to instrument cluster, before calculating for bigger tire diameter. Nothing but good luck with the ridge grapps, and IMO they look better than the others.

 

I am a big fan of the Michelin LTX A/T2. They are pricey but worth it. I'm on my second set and got 90k miles in 5 years on the last ones. I probably could have gone another year on them as they still had 8/32nds but had started cracking. Not as aggressive as some of the other all terrains but are great on highway with occasional off road.

 

Wish i could claim the same on those michelin's. Had them on my tundra...they were over $200 per tire, and didn't last 30k miles before they became totally useless. Would never buy them again. Had better luck with walmart crosswinds at half the price.

 

My brother just got a set of coopers for his rave4. So far less than 1k miles on them....seem a really decent tire. I've been toying on a set of firestone destination A/T's when my goodyears are done. Heard nothing but good things about those destination a/t tires. Should work fine where i am.

 

Toyo at III

 

I routinely see Michelins go 120k km on pavement. Freaking AMAZING highway tires. I won't run anything except them on my onroad stuff. Set on my dads Venza went 145k km , but were basically slicks by then.

 

I’m leaning toward those same Michelins. I drive cross country on some of my trips so highway performance is pretty important. I’m also looking at the AT2 since I’ve read they stay quiet for the full tread life. Not as aggressive as some tires but should be better than the stock tires on my SR5.

Here’s a positive review of the Michelin Defender for off highway use: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/perfect-off-highway-tire-ltx-what.206567/

 

That's unfortunate. I've had Bridgestone Duelers, Dunlops, Goodyears, etc. and none of them ever got over 60k. I was amazed that I got 90k on the last set so I went with them again. As little as I drive they will rot before the tread runs out.

 

Just went down to Big Brand this morning and ordered a set of 5 Discoverer AT3 LT's (265/75/16R). I bought the "C" load rated version. E is too much sidewall for a Taco. I have C rated XTR's on my '98 Ranger SCab 4x4 that currently has 230k. I'm on the second set of Coopers on that rig and they SMOKE the crap BFG's for ride quality on/off road and out of all my sets of Coopers (also F150SCrew4WD), I haven't had any out of round or balancing issue that finally forced me away from BFG.

I'm just bummed I can't get a set of the XTR version as they don't do a 265/16. My taco is brand new and a lift to accommodate the available 285 isn't going to happen right now...if ever. Jury's still out on that mod. Anyone that has a Big Brand Tire nearby, the C rated AT3's have an instant $200 discount or $50/tire. Saved me $250 on 5 and the reason I'm doing this now.