Help Me Pimp My 4 Banger

I'm looking for new shoes for our '07 2.7L 2wd.

I've been researching day and night for about a month. Every time I think I've got it figured out, I read some negative review. Too slick in wet. Sucks in snow. Too heavy. Too loud. Wears out too fast...etc., etc. I'm having one hell of a time figuring this out, so I'm turning to this forum for help.



Scenario:

• Daily driver with 133K
• 60 mile r/t commute 4x week on highway/street
• Current tires: stock 215/70R15 (probably need replacing within 3-4 months)
  
• Upsizing to 235/75/R15
• Upgrading wheels to 7" (Cragen steelies or XD Enduros - 0 to -6 offset)
• 95% paved road
• 5% offroad (Baja dirt roads and some fairly remote areas w/ unknown conditions)
• Main location: Phoenix, AZ (mostly dry w/ occasional heavy monsoon rains)
• 2nd location: Flagstaff, AZ (7,000' elevation with occasional snow conditions)

Tires researched and considering:

• Goodrich KO2 and KM2
• Falken Wildpeak AT3W
• Yokohama Geolandar A/T GO15
• Hankook Dynapro AT-M
• Kumho Road Venture AT51
• MT Deegan 38
• Michelin LTX A/T² - Discontinued

What do y'all think would be best for our scenario?

P or LT?

Load rating?

Other tires to consider?

Full disclosure:

After reading and watching MANY reviews, I've pretty much given up on the Deegans. I'm not wild about the looks of the Geolandars or the Kooks, but they are not terrible and I could live with them if they fit the performance need best.

I like the way the Kumhos look and most of the reviews were very positive EXCEPT for the way they wear. I was almost sold on those (quiet, good in wet & snow, price, etc.), but then read several reviews of how they wear out by 20K...

Also, many good review on Hankooks. The one knock seems to be they are slick in wet due to a harder rubber compound.

The Falkens are decent looking (not as nice looking as the KO2s...) and don't seem to have a lot of downsides. It's almost like they win by default. Not because they do any one thing better, but that I haven't read about any major flaws (except some early batches being jacked up)...

I'd pay the extra $$ for the BFG KO2s or KM2s (and I like their looks the best) if the performance warranted it. But, from reading reviews, they have some major weaknesses including being louder initially and worse as they wear, slick (some say downright dangerous) in wet/snow conditions...But probably the toughest tire for off-road conditions...

I know one tire cannot do all things well and that I am going to have to sacrifice some characteristics to get others...unless I buy a set of street and off road tires. I don't think the budget can handle that right now. So, I may have to get lighter duty AT tires for better on road performance and just be careful and take my chances off road and have tire patch kit, inflator, etc. at the ready....As much as I want the super gnarly KO2s or KM2s, I can't seem to justify it for the 5% max of off road use they will likely see.

 

Michelin Defenders

 

love my wildpeaks. great in snow, wet, beach, and dirt.

 

I would go with Michelin LTX, best ride best tire, long life

 

No toyos?

 

OK found the tire I would like you should look into. BFG Rugged Terrain tires. It comes in a 235/75-15, New tread design and good reviews so far

 

Like bill mentioned above, michelin defenders are hard to beat with as much highway driving as you do. If you want something that looks a little more aggressive, you could also look into a michelin ltx a/t2, which is their all terrain. Ive got about 20k on my set and they still look like new

 

REALLY wanted those after reading the many positive comments about them. Discontinued in size I need. Looked high and low... even called Michelin twice about them. Done. Gone. Over. Don't exist and I am bummed about it...They are like the mythical unicorn. Every time I'd seen them online, I'd contact them and they would vanish from inventory immediately. First at Simple Tire. Just recently at Discount Tire online...I called. They checked their entire database. None.

Just saw a sweet set of 245/75R17s on a dually when returning some Pro Comp rims at 4 Wheel Parts. I was drooling. Wish Michelin would have produced a new AT like the LTX AT2 before or soon after discontinuing current model...

Michelin said they only continue to produce LTX AT2 in certain sizes to fulfill OEM contracts with certain car / truck makers... If anyone has a bead on five in 235/75R15, please let me know.

 

Been reading that they are heavy...already concerned about 4 banger lack of power...

 

@rjbiii I've got Michelin Defenders now. Great tire coming to the end of its useful like. Really want an AT tire with good road manners. LTX A/T2 discontinued in the size I need (235/75R15). If you have any leads on a set of five, please let me know. Thanks for your recommendation.

 

Firestone destinations mine have been terrific

 

I'll check them out. I did not look into those...Thanks for your recommendation.

 

I'll check them out. Thank you. I worked at a plaintiff's law firm that handled product liability back around 2000. There was a huge deal going on regarding Ford Explorers and Firestone tire blowouts causing roll-overs. Hard to get that out of my mind, even though it was so long ago. Kind of ruined the brand in my mind. Still, I will check them out...

 

@Clearwater Bill The M/S version?

 

Whichever looks best to you. You're 2wd w/lots of pavement miles and a slightly underpowered vehicle. (like me)

The 235 size will look nice (it's what I went to) but it will impact drivability a little, by changing the effective gearing.

Costco has a 70 off 4 Michelin sale right now. They don't care to up size tires, but you can buy them and have them mounted elsewhere.

 

1) if you end up going with steelies make sure to have small spacers on hand to clear the brakes. I needed a 10mm or .4 inch spacer to clear mine word to the wise. It's not the offset here that matters, alloy wheels have a hub built in whereas steelies are basically flat at the hub so you have to space the hub out yourself

2) I have KM2s and they're definitely not dangerous, but they definitely aren't afraid to let the tires spin either. Its a predictable slip and you learn pretty quickly to account for it. FWIW they made it really fun to snow drift They are pretty noisy though not sure how they stack up against other MT tires as I had Michelin street tires before but they're loud though. The thing about these tires is they will last a LONG time. Supposedly 80k miles from some who had them. More importantly, if you do wheel on them you really won't have to worry too much about popping one of them unless you're going really fast off-road. They're tough af

 

I have the Kumho Road Venture At51 in P rated, and I have to say that they do wear weird. I like them, and they are cheap, but I don't think I'll buy another set.

Couple numbers to maybe help.

Stock dunlops 2.0 on a 4wd in 245/75/16 weight 32lbs

Same size in a P rated Toyo Open Country AT2 are 34lbs (according to what I saw in tires websites)

I'd give a look at those AT2 tires since they have a good reputation, and maybe available in the size you look for and with a reasonable weight.

 

I went from stock rims with 265/60/15 nexen roadan tires which weighed 55pounds to Scs f5 and toyo att2 p265/75/16 which weighted 61 pounds. I thought that was a pretty reasonable weight gain for how much of a bigger tire I got. Checkout toyos website they have the weight of each tire on there. I must say also after taking my truck off-road for the first time this weekend I was really impressed with the toyos performance.