Tires....what should I get??

I have a 2011 Tacoma 4x4 currently with 315/75/16 Nitto Terragrapplers (which I do not like at all) and Im looking to get new tires in the next two weeks. Here is what im considering.....please give me your thoughts. Yes I do offroad and like to use 4wd as much as I can and will be moving up to shasta county CA here in the next 4 months. you can list pros and cons of each tire youve had...

TOYO Open Country M/T
GOODYEAR Wrangler M/T Kevlar
NITTO Trail Grappler
BF GOODRICH A/T ko2
YOKOHAMA Geolander M/T
HANKOOK Dynapro M/T
TOYO Open country R/T

I have had the Hankooks before and for the price I thought they were great. If you have any other tires I didnt mention please feel free to mention them.

 

Big fan of Cooper STT's

Been running their last rendition of tread on my rigs for at least 9 years with lots of praise. I get anywhere from 45-60,000 miles out of a set of tires used for weekend off roading, and M-F daily driving here in the great white north.

I rotate and balance religiously. Tread is soft, and gripy.

Once they wear they are LOUD. Keep pressure right or they will cup and wear unevenly. They do not need a lot of PSI for road use.

The old tread design cleaned out very well in mud, and did well in deep snow. Also I can report decent traction on on wet, mossy rock faces / climbs.

They have just come out with a new tread pattern that looks even more promising. So far the reviews from my friends have been positive.

Waiting to see the deep snow and winter driving reports this year. If as good as previous deign, I will be putting these on my Rig for next year.

 

Just took a look at them and they are really nice. How is the road noise when you first get them? Ive never seen anybody running these at all. I usually see everyone and their mom running toyo MT.

 

The previous tread pattern would hum slightly as new, but they will progressively get louder as they wear like any MT. After 50% life the hum is LOUD.

On my Jeep I couldnt tell the difference form tire noise to wheel bearing noise and drove with a bad wheel bearing for a while till I paid attention to my gas mileage one day... oops, yes, that loud at the end of its life.

I'm used it and have run M/T's for years so it does not bother me. YMMV

My family had a Garage in Upstate NY and we sold a lot of Cooper Tires. They stood behind my family's business with their warranty practices. We always had a great experience with them.

 

Got Cooper st maxx and I really like them and I'm coming from hankook MT the hankook sucked ass in rain and in snow and loud these coopers are really quiet

 

I definitely dont mind the humm at all... I actually like it. what do you know about the goodyear kevlars and the toyo mts? I see alot of people with toyo mt but i have never asked about them.

 

Also do you know anything about these yokohama geolander Mts? i have seen them once and they looked great but i know nothing about the performance and wear.

 

GOODYEAR Wranglers are notoriously hard to balance and in my experience do not do too well off-road. I never had a good set of Wranglers.

BF GOODRICH tires have become my goto tires after years of trying different tires on different trucks. Currently I run BFG KM2's. They are very good off-road and on dry pavement, but a little slippery on wet pavement. Everyone I know has liked their K02's on the road, but as soon as they see mud, they cakeup and tread gets pretty clogged.

The others you listed I do not have a whole lot of first hand experience with so I can't really comment.

 

I think geolander's started out as a 'snow' tire and folks started using as a mud tire (if i remember right). I have never had any experience with them, but last time I was at the tire shop I did happen ask the guy about them, he said from what he has seen, for the price, they seemed to be doing well for people.

 

Skip KO2's.....Useless in mud. Mediocre in snow. Highly over-rated

KM2's are soft compound. Stay away from sharp rocks. Cutting and chunking can be a problem on the tread area. Avoid wet roads. Do NOT attempt to haul heavy loads with KM2's. Had 'em once. (On a 3/4ton Dodge) Not again. Wear fast too....

I'm on Goodyear Duratracs. Have nothing but good luck with them. Excellent snow/wet road traction. Have been on a lot of sharp rocks and mud with nothing but good things to say. Wear great, just keep 'em rotated. Balanced well once I learned to keep 'em inflated to a higher psi than I first thought.

Good friend has Goodyear M/T Kevlar. Tougher'n a $2 steak. Good traction in all conditions. Justa tic noisy.

Bought my truck with Yokohama Geolander M/T's. Could not wait to take them off. Did OK ON road. Off road? not so much.....

Nitto good for mall parking lots.

 

I have a set of Toyo Open Country R/T's..wouldn't buy them again honestly. I had BF Goodrich A/T's before and it seems like they handled a lot better. I feel like in the Toyo's I slide more often and there isn't as much grip especially on dirt.

 

Good thing you made this thread. I don't think this topic has ever been discussed before!

 

Let's add a touch of originality to it! What SIZE tires should I get to go with my 3" lift?

 

Michelin defender ltx ms ftmfw

 

I have 33x10.5x17 Toyos with a 3" lift on a 2010 AC..looks nice but not much wiggle room. Newer models have a different front end and seems to be easier to put a larger tire in.

 

I ran Geolanders for 1 winter. They were great on a dry highway but sucked in the rain. Winter N.E. snow traction was horrible especially in deep snow. Could not wait to take them off. I gave them away with about 50% tread left at only 8k miles of use. I'm becoming a huge Cooper tire fan.

 

I agree with you on the KM2's being soft, for sure would not put on a heavy truck. I havent had any puncture issues. It will be 2 years in march since i put them on. By then they will need to be changed. So they dont last incredibly long. (I do alot of highway driving) But have been good tires. Wish BFG still made the old school Mud Terrain, they were bullet proof and lasted forever on a light truck!

 

X2

The Mud Terrain radials were what brought me to the KM2's. I had a couple sets of the originals. Better tire IMHO.

 

So with all this great input I am also curious what your guys' thoughts are on the General grabber red letters? And the Toyo MTs?

 

Toyo M55 for the win