Need Help--Suggest Tires for Sharp Rock & Gravel

Question--what tires are good for sharp Rock and gravel/stones?

I have the stock Goodyear Wranglers w/Kevlar 265/70/16 on my 2020 Offroad. Looks like I maaaaaay get 20,000 miles on them (and about 2000 miles of that off road) before they are dust.

The tire tread is being sliced off in small pieces by the rocks. Right now I have 5/32 left out of the original 11/32 tire tread and what is left has chunks missing all over. It's not because I am spinning my wheels over this stuff--you just naturally get slippage of one tire or another as one hits a less grippy spot than the others. Basically, I drive sloooow over this stuff.

What is really chewing them up is the sharp rocks and gravel (see pics) that I am doing my off roading over. I have about 1000 miles off road out of a total of 12,500 miles on these tires. Of those thousand miles about 500 are over this type of sharp gravel/stones.

And yes, I do air down--generally between 18 and 20 psi

So help me out--does anybody have recommendations on tires that will not be sliced and diced by these sharp rocks?

Sharp stones/gravel


Sharp rocks.


What will last me longer than a few thousand miles over these rocks?

 

We are brothers from another mother it seems. Also have an armored 20 OR and I play around in the desert all the time, sharp jagged rocks and all. I'm running 33" E-rated KO2s and haven't had a flat yet (Can't say the same for others in the local off road group I belong to). 27k miles of roughly 60% cement and 40% offroad, and they are holding up great. Expecting 50k out of them. Yea they are heavy and ride a tad rough, but its what I would recommend in your case.

Bonus - they look way more aggressive than stock size tires, as evidenced by this pic of us below

 

I like ko2 tires on sharp rocks. No flats yet.

 

Agreed

 

I've been looking at the KO2s because everyone seems to love them, but hadn't heard whether they were holding up to the conditions I am encountering. Looks like they do! Thanks! I'm willing to put up with the rough ride on the pavement, because I got my Taco for hitting the desert trails, not riding around town.

 

I would also get something in load range E 10ply.

I'm running the Thunderer Trac Grip MT's in load E.

Cheaper cost to purchase, but I believe they wear slightly quicker.

 

I live out here too, and the thought of taking on those conditions with my stock tires scares me. I too want a different set to handle this
environment but can't justify it until the stocks need replacing. Keep me in mind and let me know what you end up with and how you like
them. I will fess up that I rarely drive in this environment but would like to. I want good pavement manners as well so the combo of good
pavement manners and reliable off-road conditions is what I'll be looking for.

 

E-load tires

 

Where Have You Off-Roaded Today? 3rd Gen

Running Falken Wildpeaks E rated and havent had any issue yet losing tread on AZ rocks

 

I'm waiting for new tires too until mine wear out. If I had known how quickly my tread would be sliced off I probably would have sold my tires right away and put on new ones better suited to our sharp rocks----but I didn't know the stock tires would be sliced up so quickly then. I haven't had any problems as far as flats go. Just a gradual (actually pretty quick) slicing of my tread off by the sharp rocks.

Not too worried about flats (haven't had one off-road yet). I would head off road without much worry as long as you have a spare, on-board air of some sort to air up again when you get back on the pavement (I air down to about 18 to 20 psi off road) and a tire repair kit something like this. (Get a kit with sturdy all-metal tools (the "t"-shaped tools in the kit). The kits that seem worth while appear to cost in the $30+ range. Airing down really does make a difference both in comfort over the rocks as well as resistance to puncturing. And take a look at a few YouTube videos to see how to use the tire repair kit.

$35 Boulder Tools Heavy Duty Tire Repair Kit - Flat Tire Puncture Repair Kit - Professional Tools for Quick and Easy Repair - Suitable Tire Plug Kit for Car, Truck, RV, Motorcycle, Tractor, and Trailer

https://www.amazon.com/Boulder-Tools-Motorcycle-Trailer-Puncture/dp/B01E635PGA?crid=1PR4S6PA2IYZ7

 

I'm in Arizona as well and have been using the K02's in 285/75/16 E-rated size. I go on a lot of trails that look similar to your pictures of worst conditions. So far, the K02's have worked out great.

 

Great to hear! Looking at those too. How many off-road miles do you have on them?

 

Agree with the consensus, any Load Range E tire will meet your requirements. General A/Tx has worked well for me in similar conditions.

 

Believe it or not, not all of WA State is Evergreen. In the Central/Eastern WA desert/dry forests on sharp basalt I run Toyo AT2's (AT3's are next) in the LT/E rated version. Check your tire of choice, but typically the LT/E tires have greater tread depth (esp. Toyo). If you do carry a heavy load or haul trailers over 2k lbs, you'll thank yourself for going E rated.

Never had a flat with Toyos and I don't bother airing down.

 

ko2 for sure,,

 

My preferred on and off road tire is the Toyo At3. For something more aggressive I have chosen the STT Pro, a bit chunkier compared to KO2's or At3's. My experience with trying out multiple tires is that the Ko2's last a long time, but they're not as comfortable on the highway compared to Duratracs, Dyanapro ATM's or Toyo's. You really can't go wrong with any of those tires as long as you get load range E.

 

E load rated is the common them. As much as I hate E for the ride it gives, they do give a lot of protection. I exclusively used them when I ran socal desert near 29 palms and all the dam cholla bushes, which I hate more than the rocks. The most evil plant ever created

 

E rated anything for sharp stuff.

 

I agree with you on those Cholla's. I brushed one with my passenger rear tire and I got about half a dozen spines through my sidewall which gave me slow leaks. They are definitely awful. I'm hoping an E-rated sidewall will be more resistant to them.

 

E Rated love the Yokohama x-at in a 32” for me