trd off road stock capabilities

Soooo, what you are saying is you have no experience whatsoever with Rugged Fails yet feel qualified to call those who do, and hate the tires, "full of shit." Lol, my irony meter is frigin pegged right now!

 

They are very very different tires. When I went up a hill in 2wd with the Toyos that took 4lo and a run in the Nittos... I'm sure tire companies are lik batteries not a lot of separate companies but big differences in what they have been spec'd out to do

 

i have a duratrac wheelset i use in the winter and the stock rugged trails on the oem wheels for summer. Both are good in their own way. the duratracs look cool and exel in the snow, but i really think they are overkill on normal day to day use. the stock bfg ride smoother, are quieter, and use less fuel. they dont hook up as well in the rain and are more likely to hydroplane. that is a drawback, so i am more careful with the stock tires. The litle midwest off roading i do is mostly sand and bfg do pretty well on a trd or.

 

And maybe not the best price around but for Toyos tire deals 4 less.. I think it redirects you to a new name though is pretty well priced. 151 for a 265/65/17 to my door

 

huh. Same truck? I have driven in work vehicles that had the Toyo's and was told my the tech at KalTire that they are the same company and same tire with small aesthetic differences. My father-in-law hated the Nitto A/T's on his 1 ton diesel for both snow traction and tire wear.

 

That was the big issue I had it took way to much wheel speed to get the lugs to clean out. and same truck it was on my 03 Tundra

 

I would suggest that a summer/hwy tire that doesn't hook up on wet roads and is prone to hydroplaning does, in fact, suck. When you could spend a grand on Michelins that will last for 5 years and make your truck sooooo much safer and comfortable to drive, why wouldn't you? I trust my MS2's on wet/flooded roads to be able to find traction to get me through an emergency stop or a high speed lane change and they save me gas, last forever, and absolutely stick to the road. People who say stock tires are good are setting their standards too low.

 

What he said!! A stock Tacoma is VERY capable in the hands of a skilled driver. You can spend a lot of dough on this tire or that and not make it any further down the road than the guy who did. There is no substitute for trail experience.

 

I bought my truck used with a fresh set of Cooper Discoverer AT3s. Wasn't real excited at first about them but I have been very impressed. To give an idea of my driving; Midwest, drive gravel every day, lots of snow and ice on commute through neglected country roads, my driveway requires 4LO due to steepness mush of the year, road trips out west, real smooth and quite on interstate, lots of greasy clay on my property…
An a review with some data;
http://expeditionportal.com/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road/

 

well, thats fine for you, but it's all relative. i drive tractor trailer 320 days a year, so i can get by with a bobtail tractor in winter and rain. Anything else is child's play by comparison. If you think those stock tires are unusable, then you just have a higher expectations for speed in adverse conditions than i do. i drive this tacoma 1,000 miles a year. There is just no sense buying another set of tires for my usage in the summer.

 

My first post.

Been driving 4X4 trucks and SUV's since the early 1970's. I used to think I had to have the most aggressive mud tire I could find. For playing in mud they are beneficial. But for 99% of drivers a decent AT tire will get where you need to go. You'll have to hunt for a place bad enough that your stock tires won't take you and a mud tire of the same size will. I bought my 07 new and wore those tires out before replacing mine. I had no problems for moderate off roading.

I did upsize slightly to 265/75/16's and am now using Cooper AT/3's. Couldn't be happier. They are a little more aggressive, about 1" taller than stock and after rebate only cost me $470 OTD. They are a 55,000 mile tire. I've used them in the past on other vehicles and have always been pleased.

I don't have a photo of them on my Tacoma, this is a good shot of the same tire on my Wrangler

 

You kind of missed my point. You can drive on stock tires. I know that. You drive your truck 1000 miles a year and don't want great performance from the tires. It's not because you are a professional driver, it's just because you don't want improved performance or safety from your tires. You just want something that holds air and is manageable. I said I agree the stock tires are fine for that. What I am saying, is that does't make them good tires. It just makes them tires. If you want good tires (yes - there are benefits to having good tires) buy something else which is much better. If you want to save a buck, stick with shitty tires and don't expect anything great from them.

 

i recognize your point that there is a better tire available. in a perfect world, everyone would be rolling fresh grips with max tread depth. in reality tho...how do my 4k mile rugged fails compare to someones half wore out "good" tires? Every one makes individual choices on risk versus reward and how they spend. we can agree to disagree

 

No. We don't disagree. Just different priorities. Stock tires will do. Upgrades are better if you want to spend the cash. I traded in my "new" stock tires to a tire shop for $375 and bought some new Michelins but a Tacoma on stock tires is still a great truck and super-capable.

 

The Mickey Thompsons and Dick Cepeks don't do too bad either. Used to work at a tire shop and we personally had lots of issues with Coopers. They may have changed by now. The other one that was a love it or hate it tire was goodyears. And I had a set of Parnellis on a lifted Dodge 3/4 that lasted around 45k miles... Not bad for a mud tire

 

I had no idea Cooper was adding a new STT tire to their line up. I'm obviously behind the times in the tire game but it's good to see the rest of you are keeping up.