Nitto Ridge Grappler Review

Yea, for sure, sitting at a light hurts. No question. Multiple start and stops in traffic or at lights are the absolute worst. All I can suggest is to keep the pressure light on the go pedal and try to let the struck move itself before you apply the pressure. On a hill, fugetaboudit.

Fortunately for me, I can offset the cost associated with the poor MPGs with my Hybrid commuter. It gets 35 mpg's on a bad day. Of course it cost a lot more than the Taco. After a while it's all relative.

Really want to be sick. When I first started buying gas in 1973, it was for my dirt bikes and then in 1978 my hand me down 1968 Ford Fairlane Station Wagon. When I started it was under 50 cents a gallon. It rose to like 1.28 when I was actively cruising for chicks and going to the ocean. In 1993 it was the highest I had ever seen it. Diesel was less. I bought a diesel. Now diesel is more.

Last night a diesel tried to keep me from blowing by him in my hybrid commuter. I had a little head start and caught the light at the right moment, but it was obvious he didn't want to let me pass. He was likely getting 14 mpg at the time and I was still getting 34. It's all relative.

If you're interested. Check out the race videos of the Tesla in Ludicrous Mode dusting a Dodge Hellcat. Mine's not a Tesla but it does have Sport mode, and it is all torque. If you can, get a small 4 cyl beater for that commute and leave the truck at home. Then you can put whatever size tires you want on there.

 

Well I do have a commuter car for now; it's a 2003 A4 that gets decent mileage back and forth to work. Not to mention, keeping the overall miles down on the truck. But after buying my daughter an older Camry for her first car, I told my 14.5 yr old son that he can have this one in another year or so, so my truck will be my DD when that happens! (and now he's worried about "ALL" the miles I might be putting on this car! LOL. I told him to do the math: 16 mile round trip X 3 days a week X 52 weeks is only 2500 miles! Kids are funny)

I am just going to have to bite the bullet and get a set when I find a good deal. Problem is that Costco will have their $70 sale in another month or so, and the KBro2's will be a pretty decent price. Must. Stay. Strong. Thanks again!

 

Funny. Kids are too much! Nice he cares though. Most are clueless these days. Yea, I mean, they are great tires and I honestly have to admit I am super pleased with them. I looked at the trad again today when I parked it. Looks brand new still after 15k miles. When take it in for the 20k mile service they will have 18k miles and I will measure them again. At like 13k miles there was zero wear. Literally. When I drive normal speeds in town they are completely silent.

The BFGs are nothing to sneeze at though. I bet they are on more vehicles than any other tire. I ran them on a Dodge a long time ago. Like maybe 2004 or so....and in the snow they just loaded up. I spun them and it didn't matter. I am sure the tread pattern is different now. My cousin has them on his 4R and loves them.

Here are the Nittos though in a little snow on my steep driveways.



This is all uphill, about 100' long, and a 20' difference.

There are no spinouts anywhere.



You can see how the tire picked up the snow but it also ejected half of it.



I am sure you will like the BFGs. At least they have improved on the sidewall design since I had them.

 

Olive these tires !! Have nitto’s on 4 rigs these and Trail grapplers ....I’m all about Nittos now.

 

Yeah, he's even checked the fluids and such, as he's anxious to learn. Of course, the A4 has a manual transmission, just like the truck, so he's not getting off without learning to drive stick!

Back to the tires, please remind me, so I don't have to scroll back 30 pages or so, did you go straight from the TRD OR Goodyear tires to these? And the ride difference is noticeable, but not uncomfortable?

 

I went from the OEM Sport tires. I forget what they even were but basically not even an A/T just a radial tire. Smooth as glass, wasn't even gonna trust them in the snow.

I have 265/70r17 E Load Grapplers and I am not shittin you, they are my favorite tire to date. It is a truck, these are towing tires. Combined weight is 80+ lbs. In the city, over rough streets though, they are not harsh. I have not been off road with them but plenty of guys wheel with these tires. I am always a little skeptical about the misery loves company aspect of reviews. But this is not the case with these. Are they super grippy in the rain on wet paint lines? No. I break traction on stop bars from a dead stop all the time. But I feel confident at highway speeds in the rain. Naturally no tire will work on black ice but these do pretty damn good. I honestly think the Duratracs I had on my 4Runner might have a little more traction but I got a bad batch and I was soured by that and tried these. I will replace these with the same tire. Unless I get steel wheels. Then I will put these these on those and I'd like to try the Terra Grapplers for non wheeling and summer use. See if I can get more MPGs. But seriously this is with the Ridge Grapplers on a trip to the Ocean from my house at an average speed of 70 mph. No major hills though.



That was with a fully loaded bed (up to the tonneau cover), two adults and some cargo in the back seat. My best to date. Haven't had the chance to beat it yet.

 

Excellent. Keeping them involved and schooled will save you some grief and worry when he's alone out there.

 

I just realized that your DIS shows TANK average, not trip average! LOL. I was stoked because I had no traffic tonight and nearly every stop light cooperated with me, and I drove 40mph and with three 5 mile trips, I averaged 23, 24 and 24! But my tank average is 15.2

 

That was before I knew how to scroll down in the display. It has always been set to reset after filling up. I filled up before I left, drove 144.2 and that is the average at that time. When I got home after the vacation (not filling up the whole time) the average was the same and the tank was almost empty. No racing the entire time there and even though we used it, it was mild driving because we were on vaca in a resort town that is known for handing out traffic violations if the wind blows the wrong way.

If I wanted to really skew these numbers I could say that this is actually a lower number because of the larger tires. Or I could guesstimate at the gas I used by looking the gauge (21.1 gal tank x .245 = 5.1695) and do the math: 144.2 miles driven divided by 5.1695 = 27.89 mpg.

But I am happier with the 22.1 mpg because I know that is more logical number.

Thoughts?

 

That'd be awesome if you got 27!! But I'd say 22 is really, really good in a 4wd truck with nearly 32" tires.

 

Yea, I'm definitely not an expert in any of this so that's why I wont try to disagree with someone that disputes the numbers.

The only true way to determine the correct numbers, for me, since the tires are taller than stock would be to measure distances with a GPS based device, like with an app on a cell phone. Then fill the tank, drive and record the distance, then fill again and record the amount filled. Of course you would have to let the pump nozzle shut off automatically and not add extra.

Then take the distance traveled and divide it by the amount of gallons you refilled with.

Last night after filling up I scrolled the display down to show the "current mpg" bar graph. Above it it still has the tank average number but I think that is now the current tank average at the given time.

In 44 miles to was reading nearly 19 mpg when I got home. I was doing 80 mph on the interstate and at speed everywhere else.

I'm happy, especially taking the current tire setup.

Oh, I have checked my speed on the speedometer against the Waze app GPS speed reading and at all speeds it is dead on. If that's dead on then I would have to believe that the odometer is accurate too. I wish the truck had a digital fuel gauge then we'd be set.

 

Did you pull the trigger on these? I too also just saw that and am very interested in getting them. I like how their like 49lbs.

 

I went ahead and put on the c rated ones. Had a nail in one of my sidewalls and couldn't wait for them to be released. Keep us posted if you get them. I probably would have got the lighter ones if i could have waited

 

Not the greatest pic but 285 70 17c on trd pro rims.

 

That’s a nice looking rig right there.

I’ll keep you posted once I get them in the coming month.

 

265/70/17's tore up the snow here in Minnesota this past winter. I was blown away with the diff between OEMs. Milage seemed to take a dive by 1-2mpg and long haul trips maybe more.

 

Thanks for that

 

I've had the Nitto Ridge Grapplers on for about 11,000 miles. I was stupid and didn't get the warranty (it was not offered) and did have to replace one from a sidewall blowout on the trail.
Performance wise these tires are incredible, from soft sand in Pismo dunes, snow/icy roads, mud, and hill climbing they have never given me cause to doubt my decision.
I usually run them on the street at about 37 psi. (17 psi off road). They seem to be wearing pretty quickly though (at least 35% tread gone.) Any one else notice this?

 

Can't see the tread in your pics Fred!

 

I know I need to take pics. I have the 2 rear tires are less then 500 miles while the fronts have about 11000. I will post them after lunch. Just wondering what is the average tread/mile expectancy?