All Terrain or All Season?

A/T

 

I've also heard good things about the Michelin AT2s and the Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrains (which come stock on Gen 3 TRD ORs). Any opinions on these? Specifically, I'm curious about how people like the Goodyears.

 

Awesome response! I'm still leaning towards the Michelin LTX, but the AT2 but be a better compromise than the BFGs. Cheers!

 

Huh... I'm rolling on ko2 and recommended him to get the michelins. The ko2s haven't proven them selves to me yet. I need snow and longevity as well. Time will tell on those. I'm at 18-19 mpg. I was at the same with the Cooper AT3 load c. I used to use and sell michelins. They are great tires. They are pretty close in price to the KO2 so I was heavily weighing them as an option. The michelins would cover my needs as well, 95% highway.. off road is grass or dirt roads. With that said I haven't see where the KO2 is over rated, they ride well, right now are pretty quiet, I hydroplaned once driving too fast in about 3" of water during a downpour and small flash flood. I would expect any tire to do the same. Driving on wet roads for the past week waiting for this horrid wet traction.. since my old AT3 that got glowing reviews used to just spin on wet grass (I park in the yard) they would never actually hurt the grass, just spin, never tear it up..

Just because mama said the KO2 is the devil doesn't mean they the devil...

 

There is no such thing as a true all season tire for pavment pounders as yourself, regardless of what the labels say. There are summer tires, 3 season tires and winter tires.

I'd use the Miches on your new wheels for your commuting purposes.

I'd spring for real winter tires (Blizak, Nokian) on your OE wheels to use for your mountain snow adventures. It's a matter of spending 30 minutes to swap them over in the driveway.

 

I never owned a set of Michelins, but my A/T's can usually last around 70k easy. Im sure I can save on some MPG, but I like the versatility of the A/T. Also I am a pretty aggressive driver, so I need tires that will last!

Coot

 

Tires that last high mileage do so because of hard compounds. Meaning they have less grip on pavement, even new. Most compounds start a serious degradation by 2-3 years of age, and go downhill in a non linear fashion from there.

Aggressive driving and low grip rubber? Be happy to stay behind you.

Note: Before all the big lug 'my tires do xyz' folks jump on me, note these comments are for pavement, not off road. While compound does matter for off road too, tread pattern is a more important feature. The challenge is having a realistic view of your use of the vehicle.

 

Your points make sense from a material standpoint, maybe I should try out some Michelins to see what I am missing out on. Honestly though, on road I never felt that my tires were on the verge of loss of control. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Coot

 

Michelin a/t2 or cooper discoverer at3, the Michelin is a great compromise between true AT and dedicated snow. They are great in snow and wet, but still look kinda like car tires, Cooper AT3's have the combo tread and have the aggressive look you want.
But that's from my driving experience with them.
The bfg k/o on my work truck is great around town and killer off road, a little rough on highway.
In the end it's your truck and you have to drive it, so get what you feel most comfortable with.
Good luck with your decision.

 

I ran the AT2's for a short time on my Tacoma before selling it. I had gone from almost new 10 ply MS2 to a new set of take-off P rated AT2's so I was in a good position to compare them. (I needed to drop the 10 ply tires for a smoother ride for my wife).

I found the AT2's much louder in comparison and the wet traction wasn't nearly as good. The difference would be even more pronounced on ice. The zigzag siping on the MS2's is what gets you the phenomenal traction. The AT2's still have a great rubber compound but I didn't find that tire to perform at the same level as the MS2. I wouldn't ever buy an AT2 over an MS2 or LTX defender. When I bought the Sequoia the first thing I did was put on a new set of P rated LTX MS2 and I reaffirmed that they're a much nicer tire than the AT2.

 

This is the only thing going through my head as I'm reading this thread lol

 

Ive ran the Michellin LTX AT2 for 40k miles and they still have quite a ways to go. They are great on and offroad and even in the snow. They also look more aggressive than the defenders too and have deeper tread

 

Bahahahahaha!

 

Im still debating on what to do about my winter tires as wel.

 

I like my KO2s. They look good, they haven't hurt my mpg even though they are ten ply and they have yet to give me issues with off road or wet traction. Can't speak to snow yet though. However the LTX defender sounds good for what you want with a tire. A friend of mine had them on his 4runner and really liked them. Not as good as a dedicated snow tire but still good. He took them off road several times too and they were fine.

 

Welp, I've made a decision. I went with the Defenders (265/70r17) on black TRD Pro SEMA wheels... Thanks for all the input!

 

Looks sharp bud! I love my Michelins and I still average 19.5 mpg commuting without the 265/70r17 recalculation.

 

Please get the Michelin Defender LTX. It's a much better tire for your uses than the BFG KO2.

Quoting you:

99% paved highway -- Michelin Wins by far
Snowy Mountain passes -- Michelin Wins by far
Wet roads/freeway -- Michelin Wins by far
MPG is important -- Michelin Wins by far

Forest Service Roads and Beach -- K02 wins, BUT the Michelins can more than handle that light off the pavement trek for the 1% of the time EASILY.

There's quite literally no reason not to get the far superior tires here.

If you let the inner 18 year old you get the ones that look cuter the obviously sensible you who cares about things that matter like perfomance, traction, mpg and getting the right tool for the job will smack yourself in the head later ha.

Case closed. You answered your own question about 5 times in your OP. The updated LTX is supposed to be great! Enjoy! haha

 

Wow. Your decision wasn't showing when I typed all that. My bad . . . haha Good choice.

 

Thanks! I did the same math, and it came out for the Defenders. Now that I have them on, I kind of like the way they look. I'm going punk rock - Counter Culture by NOT having All Terrains! lol