3PMSF Rated Tires for Shoulder and Summer Seasons

85% daily driver, with the remainder on all manner of roads, with lots of ruts full of water and mud, lots of gravel and scree on some inclines, and occasionally airing down. But nothing technical for now, and pretty much improbable I have to worry about sidewalls tearing. And in Northern Ontario, my daily drive is liable to encounter light snow and lots of rain in the shoulder seasons. Before the studded tires go on, adjust your driving accordingly.

I've been a K02 man for the last 3 sets of ATs. With their 3PMSF rating, and otherwise having treated me right, I came to think my all-terrains need the logo. But I've more often found I needed a bit more traction in mud ruts and loose stuff, where speeds are below 60-70 kph in any event. And its a short window of maybe a few weeks in the should seasons where the roads are liable to be slick and I'm not yet on the studded winters.

Now that I'm shopping for a new AT, am I limiting myself too much by insisting on 3PMSF?

Other than seemingly being all LT tires and god-awful heavy for my taste, some of the "rugged terrain" variants might fit the bill and the noise doesn't bother much - not with toddlers in the cab.

In my use case, should I consider an RT like a Ridge/Recon Grappler or similar?

Thanks in advance folks!

 

What size are you looking for ? Load range?

 

255/75-80 on 17s - hopefully standard load.

Had several sets of C-rated K02s.

LT not for me...

 

In any event, definitely skinny tires and in the 32-33" range...

 

What about the General Grabber ATX? I ran them a couple years ago for about 50K miles and they were phenomenal in every type of terrain, and I took them through everything you can imagine.

They are a very underrated tire for some reason.

 

Looked at Grabber ATX but they don't offer the sizes I am aiming for - tallest 255 is only a 70 so actually a half inch shorter than my aging KO2. Otherwise was on the list though...

 

What about the Maxxis Razr AT? Another underrated tire in North America. Very popular in Australia with many serious off roaders saying they have similar off-road capabilities to the average mud tire. They would probably serve you very well in the mud and loose stuff.

I used to run their mud terrain and it was an incredible tire.