New Toyo Open Country A/T III tire

so these are fn countersteer type x wheels. stock offset i believe. have light racing uca's on who knows setting but with a bracket lift its just fine for road driving. final clearence will be checked soon.

 

Was your floatation tire made in US or Japan?

 

They definitely don't look any different. Maybe it's an extra line or something like on the "aggressive vs non-aggressive" side of the same tire.

 

Made in USA.

 

What air pressure is everyone running? When I had my SLs mounted, the shop filled them to 32psi. I guess optimal pressure for other loads may/will be different?

 

wet weather driving was good this morning. freeway speeds with pouring rain and no hydro traction issues.

 

Simple question - how is the noise & balance after 15-20k?

I was thinking about pulling the trigger - then I saw this : https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/tire-recommendation.1179760/post-13038915 Hard to ignore this...

Great thread - Tacoma guys really seem to research the hell outta stuff. I am looking at these - but will be doing many many miles on hardtop crossing mountain passes in the winter....How is the noise after several thousand miles? I've seen reports talking about initial hum - but have seen few if anyone post what happens after 15-20k. I have been a devout Duratrac user (6 sets across 3 vehicles), but I'm done with them - the noise at 20-30k miles is killing me (I'm also tired of the out of round/excessive need for balancing behavior). Is the Falken a better tire for snow & noise?

 

i had falkens on a full size. very quiet imho.

 

Yes, the Toyo AT3's were getting great marks except for one... winter conditions. Since they were introduced last March, no one had any experience with these in winter conditions... that is until now. And it's not good, according to that review you've linked.

I've spent hours reviewing and studying the best options and I'm really back to the drawing board (as they say)... either KO2's or Michellin Defenders. Weight is of paramount importance to me.

 

I have no experience with the Defenders, but KO2's are horrible on ice compared to other AT's, and decent on packed snow. I have had horrible experiences in icy conditions, as have many others with the KO2s. KO2s are great in dry climates. Hard, long lasting rubber and good off-road. For mixed weather with snow and ice, avoid them.

My wife got stuck on a slight grade hill during an ice storm in her 4Runner running KO2s. I was able to take my old 2003 4Runner with cheap General Grabber AT2s (tread was molded after original KO, but softer with more siping) and had enough traction to pull her up a hill where the KO2s were getting no traction at all, even with airing down. She was about to slide down an embankment, and people were out trying to push her (a guy fell and got hurt, it was really icy). I have since moved to Falkens, which are amazing on snow and ice, and they are priced better. Caused us to buy a second set of wheels for my wife's rig and run Blizzaks (awesome tires). My wife was so freaked out by the incident, she will only run Blizzaks in the winter now (even with Falkens as her main running tire now, she refused to go to any AT again, which is a pain in my rear as I have to store and swap her tires every year--thanks BFG!).

My first set of Falkens went 50k miles before replacing (still had decent tread, but I tend to replace early). I know have Falken's on my FJ40, FJ62, 84 Pickup, 2020 4Runner and 2016 Land Cruiser. They are amazing tires.

Having seen the clear traction differences between KO2s and others, I highly recommend avoiding them. Falkens are heavy, as they use a heavier/cheaper steel, but you get what you pay for, and they run a lot less than other competitors. I don't have experience with the General AT2 replacement, but I'd get those, Toyos, Coopers or Michelins before I ever touch KO2s for winter driving again.

 

Everybody loves the Falkens, but they are heavy tires. I'm concerned about ride and mpg. I've heard the KO2's are like strapping ice skates on in certain conditions. I had been favoring the Duratrac for a while, but that tire seems to have lost much favor due sidewall weakness.

But, it also sounds like the ideal tire for my use. Lots of highway driving, but find ourselves running high-altitude mountain passes in the middle of a snow storm several times a year. Summertime, love doing the less challenging passes around Telluride/Gunnison.

 

There are rumors and reviews saying Falken quietly changed their rubber compound sometime around spring and the newer ones are not as good. Still waiting to see how it falls out. FYI.

They were great price to performance tires and looked pretty good too, so hopefully they haven't gone downhill.

That's very strange because what drew me to these was the good reviews they were getting in the winter in snow and ice. Being in Minnesota, snow and ice performance are important if I decide to run year round (I might go back to snow tires in winter, but not sure so like the option just in case). There was still snow and ice for testing back in March, especially the guys in CO and other mountain states. I watched quite a few reviews back then and they all agreed they performed very well in all conditions - wet/rain, snow, ice, etc.

 

Yes, I watched some of those video reviews too, but found them kind of infomercial-ally. I've found experience on these forums is usually second to none when it comes to mods and tires. And one review should not be an overriding factor. I'm thinking the same, snow tires during the winter months, LT-rated ATs for the trails after the thaw. But, I hope more Toyo AT3 owners chime in as the snow starts to fall.

 

There is a Youtube Video with a guy showing his alignment specs on his Rav4? (damned if I can find it now) - stating that the Falkens are cupping, wear pattern is like crap, etc. JoeBacal posted a response and he heard/had a source that said Falken was playing games with the formulation. It seems he was doing some tire testing on new Falkens and their performance was abysmal - the difference was so stark, that he had to re-check/validate some of his previous testing results. I believe he said the current Falken ATW3 XYZWTF performance took a nosedive (from the previous results) and dropped to the bottom of the pack. These will be going on a heavy Sprinter 4wd 2500 Van (weight in close 9k lbs) and running a 35/12.5 or 285/75/17 or similar size.

 

Not alot of snow reviews yet. This guy is the only one I've seen in this thread so far and it's pretty much the opposite of the one on mud you linked. I'm hoping to see more reviews as the snow starts to fly this month. I've loved my duratracs in the snow and if these new Toyos are comparable I'll give them a shot. Snow performance is very important to me.

 

I'll be going up to my local ski hill (74mile round trip) every single weekend starting at the end of November (assuming there is enough snow!) so I'll be sure to post up my ongoing thoughts and experiences regarding winter performance.

My review so far: Japan Made 265/75/16 SL

I'd say that road noise around town is pretty much non existent under 45mph. Once you get up into the 55mph range and over, the noise is on the higher pitched hum side rather than a deeper roar. But, it actually doesn't seem to get any louder the faster you go. To me, the sound level and pitch was pretty much the same at 55mph as it was at 75mph. Different road conditions (new vs old pavement) also changed the sound volume (lower not really any louder) and pitch a bit.

They are super smooth around town and on the highway. (Similar feeling to my previous Grabber ATPs)

Zero balance issues so far. (Had to get my Duratrac's re-balanced 3 times when first installed)

Only one drive in the snow so far but performance IMO was great. They are likely not going to be as good as Duratrac's in deep/loose snow because the Duratrac's have much wider lug spacing. But compact snow roads were no issue and were predictable and progressive when I made an effort to slip/break traction. The 24inches of loose snow I had in my flat driveway wasn't a problem either. (We had a GLS 450 with dedicated winter tires get stuck in my driveway trying to reverse out)

Also keep in mind, SLs have more siping and a different rubber compound than LTs which gives them an advantage in winter. So I don't think you can totally compare apples to apples of winter performance between SLs and LTs. (I guess tire size will also play a factor in snow/winter performance.)

My tire experiences has been:

3 years on LT rated Duratrac's: Really like them brand new but 3rd year/season got loud and winter performance dropped significantly.

2.5 years on P rated Grabber ATPs: Basically a road tire they call an A/T. 1st year winter experience was disappointing. 2nd year winter performance sucked. But on-road performance was great.

I picked the ATIIs because I think they'll be right in the middle between the Duratracs and the ATPs in terms of overall performance and comfort.

 

Got my Toyo's installed today. 265/70/17 on Methods. No rub on stock height

 

Just following up, I've had no luck finding a US made LT265/75R16. Tire shop I bought them from can't find any, called a second tire shop and they couldn't confirm it existed either. I might try Toyo one more time to see if they can point to a specific vendor but looks like I'll have to either live with them or pick something else.

 

Is there a difference between US made and whatever alternative other than the obvious wanting to support the American workforce?

 

The US made ones have a more aggressive sidewall tread