Tire recommendation for Baja Mexico

Planning a 6 month trip down to Baja. For those of you who have been, what tires would you recommend? I am currently running the Yokohama Geolandar AT G015 and while they are great on the highway as well as wet or snowy conditions, I have not been as impressed by their off road capability. And judging by the tread pattern they are probably not going to be all that great in the sand. I don't think a mud terrain tire is in the cards given how much highway I will need to drive as well so probably just a more aggressive all terrain tire will have to do. I do plan on airing down in the sand and have a compressor for airing back up after. I will also be carry a pair of Maxtrax for when I inevitably get myself stuck. If it makes a difference I am currently considering the Nitto Ridge Grappler and the Toyo Open Country AT III. The new Toyo Open Country RT Trail looks interesting too.

 

Are you crazy? You are rolling the dice traveling in Mexico nowadays. The cartels have roadblocks/shakedowns on every block. Pluma o Plata
https://travel.state.gov/content/tr.../traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html

 

LOL, with the number of shootings that happened in the US over the long weekend I would probably be more concerned about that part of the drive.

 

@thegrandpoohbah may want to consider the BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2. Starting Friday the 7th of July till the 9th of July there is a $150.00 instant savings on the BFG brand.

 

It seems like the KO2 gets a lot of hate on this forum.

 

When making a decision take into consideration how available a replacement is, especially when it comes to size. You may be taking a spare or even two but do some research on sizes available and where available. There is a reason that around the world the KO2 is used as the bench mark that others are compared to.

 

I use KO2 and couldn't be happier with the tire.

Much success on your trip. I heard the cartel love stealing trucks

 

@thegrandpoohbah here is some good reading in regards to the BFGoodrich brand in if you have the time. The key word that I focused on was Baja. It may or may not seal your decision, but its worth a look. There are other brands that will deliver on your immediate driving needs, but BFG is a solid contender.

 

That's a fair point. I am running LT265/70R17 which should be easy enough to get. But I guess the KO2 would probably be easier to get a replacement for should the need arise.

 

The KO2 is a great desert tire, I ran two sets and they both made it 60k miles before replacement. Great puncture resistance and chip resistance. They are great in the sand and offer controlled and predictable handling on high speed washboard roads. wet quiet and well mannered on the road considering their off-road performance. If I still lived in the desert I would still be running them. I think they make a ko3 now as well.

 

@DRAWN the KO3 is a highly anticipated improvement on the KO2 for wet traction, but there is no official launch date as of yet. Just a lot of hype surrounding its release.

 

I have only seen two sizes so I suspect at this time it might be OEM only. One of being the Bronco. If anybody has any connection with BFG tell them to do a 285/75/17 in a "C" load rating and or a 35x11.5x17 in a "C".

 

E-rated for sure. Other than that, just any good AT tire

 

They don't get hate for sand/desert performance. They're impressive in sand.

 

Obviously, the natural choice would be the Baja Claw, afterall, it is the name of the tire. But seriously, the mentioned BFG is probably high on the list of being a good choice... And you're going to Mexico, so chances are not super high you are coming back, so it will be kind of a one way trip.

 

Any AT should do the trick. Down there there’s plenty of places that you can pick an extra tire or have yours repaired if your plugs don’t work. 33”s are the way to go. Ignore the panic comments honestly. Baja is chill. The cartels understand that tourist support local communities. They don’t want to hurt the poor people. They know the people they have issues with. As always it’s better to travel during the daylight to prevent mix ups and be chill(as you can tell this applies to any other place in the world). I was raised down there and go constantly. Oh and btw cartel have the means to secure raptors, luxury turbo diesels and so on. They are not looking to secure a 2nd gen Tacoma with 100+ K’s. They don’t want to stir the pot for a 2nd gen.

Ask @WormSquirts how fun it was.

https://youtu.be/1_9lykKcteU

Oh and pick up a dog down there and bring it along, get his shots done and give it a better life in Canada. Both of my dogs were picked up from the streets(one from Ensenada the other one from Mexicali)

 

Plomo*

that only applies if you are to take their money(plata) or get their lead(plomo). I don’t believe he’s trying to make deals with them. Cheers!

 

I don't get all the fear mongering about going to Baja, it's an awesome place full of amazing people.

KO2's are a fine desert tire, but I see you're in Terrace (I grew up on Haida Gwaii and lived in Terrace for a while), so I don't think they are a good choice for you. The Ko2 is bad in wet weather and down right dangerous in snow.

The Ridge Grappler is a pretty good all around tire, I ran them for a couple years. Not the best in snow, but not the worst either. I did a few big snow trips over the years with them.

I would recommend the Falken Wildpeak at3w which is a great tire and super good in rain and snow, while also being solid offroad. It has the snowflake. It is a relatively mild tread, so really good onroad. We sell a TON of these tires and run them on one of our trucks.

I think my current favourote tire that I've personally used is the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss at, which has the snowflake rating, is great offroad, great onroad, good in wet and snow. I'm running them on my Tundra and have done a couple really big road trips with them, including many winter drives through BC interior. They are very expensive though, and have a more aggressive tread that is definitely more suited to offroad than the wildpeak, while sacrificing some of its onroad qualities.

When we drove to Baja and back (the first of two videos was linked above by @Ricardo13x ) I was running Goodyear duratracs. They are a decent tire, pretty good all around, but not the strongest. I never had a flat with the e-load, but Ive heard people complain about the sidewalls.

Anyway, hope you have an amazing trip. Feel free to hit us up if you want us to put the new tires on and give your truck a full inspection on your way through before you leave the country. Our shop is just 15 minutes north of the border in Cloverdale, and we only work on offroad toyotas

 

Actually the next set I have in the cart are the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT 33”s good to hear they are delivering performance for the price paid. Cheers Braeden.

 

my tire of choice for my Baja trips is the K02 and surprising a lot of the tire shops have used k02s if you get a pinch and need to replace a tire , I’m assuming theyre getting these from the races and such …San Felipe especially.. and don’t listen to the dumbs dumbs bashing Mexico, rather get harassed or worse by actual thugs than some dude that can’t get laid or is mad at the government in the US…