Prospective buyer with a few questions regarding tires

Hey, I'm shopping for a new vehicle and currently the Tacoma TRD Sport is at the top of the list. I live in Minneapolis where snow is a significant concern, so I like to keep separate sets of summer & winter wheels/tires for all of my vehicles.

Since this would be my first truck, I'm looking for some info on which snow tires (and in what size) are worthwhile and about how much a set would cost.

In addition, are the tires that come on the truck any good? My summer driving would consist of occasional commuting (I also have a motorcycle that I ride as long as it's not too crappy out), and some dirt/grassy trail driving around state parks when I go camping. Nothing too hardcore, so I don't want something like aggressive mud & snow tires. Would the stock tires be well-suited for my purposes or would I be better off asking the dealer to swap them out for something else?

 

Might get a better deal at a tire store. When I was in school in 1974, got a set of Pirelli radials taken off a brand new Fiat convertible cause the lady wanted white walls. Paid $30 total out the door, mounted and balanced on my Celica ($7.50 a tire). Father of a friend of mine owned the Toyota/Fiat dealership. Both Toyotas and Fiats were in short supply, other dealers would swap cars (ie for a certain color) rather than sell a new car outright to another dealership. Made a little money and drove a lot of miles swapping cars.

 

I would say to drive on the stock tires till they are worn. A lot of guys on here don't like them and say they don't perform well. If it were my truck and I had the money, I would swap out for an A/T tire. Once my original tires were worn I went with Cooper A/T3's. Good reviews on/offroad and good in the snow too

 

I'd suggest either a mild AT tire that you can use in summer and winter. I'm sure you guys get a lot more snow than Utah, but I plan on getting the Goodyear All Terrain Adventure w/kevlar (mild AT, won't lose MPGs).

 

Snow / ice tires.... i would go with a skinny 245/75R16 at max width in a proper snow/ice tire.


For a good AT tire.... Hankook Dynapro ATM RF10's or the Goodyear All Terrain Adventure w/kevlar

 

After having a dedicated set of winter tires I never want to go back. It's not so much the tread pattern, but the softness of the rubber compound. Winter tires use a softer rubber that wears too quickly above 50 degrees, but grips much better when it's -20 outside.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look more into those!

 

If the TRD Sport has the Bridgestone Duelers, they're not a bad tire in my opinion. If it has the Dunlop Grantrek tires, those things are terrible.

 

Duratracs

 

Toyota must use the Dunlop Grantrek cause they're cheap (Tire Rack sells them currently for $83.00). I am easy on tires, and at 37K they were well worn. Much happier with Michelin LTX MS2's, and expect 70k miles. Great in rain, don't have much in the way of snow in Memphis.

 

For plowed roads and compacted ice/snow, get Michelin X-Ice2 or Yokohama Geolander I/T G072. For deeper snow, get Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac.

Your stock tires are 265/65R17. If you want to run steel wheels with winter tires, consider stepping down to 265/70R16 or 245/75R16 to save weight. For prices check on TireRack or Discount Tire. Some tires may be harder to find until closer to winter.

Stock tires on the TRD Sport (Bridgestone Dueller HT) are OK for your needs. In my experience, getting the dealer to swap out tires is uneconomical - you end up paying full dealer retail price for the new tires while getting no credit on the takeoffs.

 

can't go wrong with the Michelin MS2's, I got over the rated 70,000 miles before I got new ones and probably could have gone another 15,000 without problems, but winter was coming....

 

Ah perfect, I see on TR that they actually make General Altimax Arctics that will fit. That's definitely the winter tire I will be going with. I'll have to keep poking around and decide on wheels.

If I were to just turn around and sell the stock wheels/tires, how much could I get for them?

 

265/70-R17 BF Goodrich A/T KO. Stock tires blow for any thing other than black top.

 

Stock tires will be fine for these condtions. No need to waste money there. Save it for the winter set.

 

This will vary by region and timing. Check Craigslist and the Buy/Sell/Trade section of this forum for existing listings to see how much you are likely to get.

There are three stock tires that come with various trims of Tacoma 4x4s:

1. Dunlop Gran Trek AT20 in 245/75R16 on base model and SR5
2. BFGoodrich Rugged Trail in 265/70R16 on TRD Off Road and possibly some SR5 trim with option pkg.
3. Bridgestone Dueller HT in 265/65R17 on TRD Sport

Out of these, only #3 is a half-decent tire. Don't be surprised if you see #1 or #2 discounted heavily on here (i.e. buyers just going after the wheels).

 

MS2's are phenominal in the snow and ice.... used to drive my chevy around on icy roads in 2wd with them and see when i would get stuck..... very rarely had to put it in 4wd.

 

Stock tires will be fine for what you are going to use them for. Just run them until you wear them out. Find someone selling used tacoma offroad wheels for cheap and slap your winter tire on them. Tons of people upgrade wheels and you can score some off road wheels for a couple hundred without tires if you keep looking around.

 

Go with a set of Goodyear Duratracs or as someone suggested the Wally World version. Try to get the dealer to give you a credit but good luck. I had a dealer that wanted to charge me $1000 for a set of MTs and they kept the OEMs. I told him to stick it. Fortunately I had a use for the take offs. Another time I drove straight from dealer to tire store and they have me cost for take offs. You might negotiate a deal with a tire store prior to purchase. If you run the Duratracz you have no need for 2 sets.

 

That's the tire I went with. Tirerack was more expensive with shipping, than locally at my Sears.

 

Sounds like a good plan. I'll stick with the stock wheels/tires for summer at least to begin with, and throw a pair of Generals on whatever wheels I can find for winters.

MN is a bit different than TX. No tire that performs well at 80 degrees will also perform well at -20. Just too wide a temperature range for one rubber compound to handle.

I have a set for my S4 right now, and between those and the quattro you'd think it had tank treads in the snow. Even better considering they are cheaper than many alternatives like the Blizzaks & Nokians. I have a friend with a TR dealer account so I can usually do pretty well through him.