POLL: Help me pick my next tires...

If you care to take advice from a 60yo man who has bought lots of tires, Michelin LTX M&S are the longest lasting tires I have had.

 

Ive had the Grabber at2 on my 4runner and was incredibly surprised that the tire wasnt priced at a more expensive price point. I live in a major snowbelt and these things were stout. i mean i couldnt get stuck. im not runner the cooper st maxx on my taco and ummmmm love!

 

Wrong.

Good comparison review here....

http://expeditionportal.com/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road/

 

Do all the AT3's have one side white lettering and one side black and you can just choose which you want out?

 

something much more aggressive with a more open tread. My main concern in Texas is mud. If you are going to get in trouble here it is the soil that will get you. Then there are rocks, cactus and mesquite thorns. Now if deep sand was my primary concern I would call the AT/3 a decent off road tire.

 

I think I'm leaning towards the Cooper AT3. Discount tire direct has them right now for $552 with $145 in mail-in rebates! $407 is less than half the price I'd pay for the KO2s.

 

Get either the Michelins ATs for Off Road or The MS2s as I got for On Road and all Season and ONLY Have Nitrogen Filled,not reg air !

 

i've been thinking about the Michelin LTX AT/2. They are OEM on the Tundra TRD Pro, and on-road performance is stated to be good.

 

Granted I'm new to this 4x4 stuff, however I have had my AT3' in some mud here in south Texas that my buddy's with MT' and KO2 where having issues getting through. I walked right through the stuff while they were having to get a run or really goose it while coming through. One was in a Jeep and the other a 4x4 Cheby, so maybe its not the tires, maybe the Taco is just that much better. Either way, the AT3' have done me right so far. Just my .02 as I'm a new kid on the block.

 

So if I'm looking to spend more time off road in mud, should I look toward the MT tires instead of the ATs?

 

I offroad the hell out of the OEM GoodYear Kevlar Adventures over every condition you listed above plus Snow & Ice and they hold up and perform just fine. People are just looking for an excuse to spend more money here is all I can figure. Thorns, Sharp Rocks in AZ Canyon Country and mesquite as well as cactus have no impact on the OEM GYs.

 

Bigger meatier tires will serve to decrease gas mileage, worsen your ride comfort/quality, increase road noise, vibrations and take more time /effort to keep balanced. Take it from someone who has had many sets of aftermarket tires on various 4x4 vehicles (including Ford, Toyota, Jeeps and GM). Of course they "look better" when it's parked...so there's that. But you can shove a rolled up tube sock down your shorts to get the same effect.

 

Only the BFG's don't, the Coopers, Generals (my recommendation) and Toyo's do...

Cooper AT3
Tire Size Service Description UTQG Load Range Sidewall Approved Rim Width Measured Rim Width Section Width Overall Diameter Tread Width Max Load Tread Depth (1/32")

265/70R17 115T 560 A B STD OWL 7 - 9 8 10.7 31.42 8.27 2679 14

Toyo Open Country AT2

TIRE SIZE LOAD / SPEED LOAD ID SIDEWALL CONST. PRODUCT CODE APPROVED RIM WIDTH RANGE (IN.)

P265/70R17 113S SL BSW - 352000 7.0-8.0-9.0

General Grabber AT2

SIZE UTQG MAX.
LOAD MAX. INFLATION PRESSURE TREAD DEPTH TIRE WEIGHT RIM WIDTH RANGE MEAS. RIM WIDTH SECT. WIDTH TREAD WIDTH OVERALL DIAM. REVS. PER MILE COUNTRY OF
ORIGIN*
265/70R17
115S SL 640 A B 2,679 lbs. 44 psi 16/32" 42 lbs. 7-9" 8" 10.7" 8.2" 31.7" 636 US

 

just go with a set of these and call it good. You might have a slight reduction in gas mileage, but oh well

 

Different tire requirements in AZ versus all but west Texas

 

If mud is your main concern I would go with Goodyear Duratracs as a good compromise between weight and road manners. I would get Cooper STT Pros if they were not so dang heavy.

 

If you want an All-Season Highway tire the Michelin M/S or M/S 2 (now called the LTX Defender) are fantastic. I had a set for close to a year. Loved... them.

But I wanted a real off-road tire so I gave them up.

 

My employer has Cooper A/T3's on all our Dodge Ram and Chevy 1500 delivery vehicles. Each vehicle is 4x4 and drives through icy, snow packed, loose snow, muddy roads through the winter. They seem to do okay. Granted that's not the same as "off-road". But they're not just a standard street tire either.

Guess that makes my Cooper ST Maxx street tires then. LOL The vast majority of my driving is on paved roads.