[dmc]

Originally Posted by dmc

I'm going to go through each item one at a time and try and elaborate in some decent detail.

6- Toyo 285/16/75 Open Country MT



So I am well aware of the weight concerns regarding the Toyo Open Country MT. I'm not going to enter into that debate here because I am not smart enough to understand the sprung vs. unsprung debate and more importantly I really don't care.

the reality is this. In the last year I have run 3 sets of tires on my 80. Maxxis Bighorn 315s, The Bridgestone Revo 285s and now the Toyo Open Country MTs. I bought the Maxxis for Moab and other rock crawling trips. I ran the Revo's as my daily drivers and for exploration through the deserts of Utah. I love the Maxxis but I only had 4 and didn't want to run a 35 for the trip. The Revo is a great road tire and I have been pleasantly surprised with the off road performance, including a trip to Baja in March. So much so I was ready to purchase a 6th until I came across the Toyos. I'll be honest up front. They were a sponsorship but I will be very candid about their performance. Like most owners I like them. They have handled the weight just fine, the slick wet roads, the mountainous mud and soft beach sand. Have they performed better than any other Mud terrain. i'm not sure. Over the course of my off road experience I have run Dunlop, Goodyear MT's (back in the mid 90s) MTRs, the Maxxis, BFG Mud and All Terrain, Swampers (bias and radial) Revos and now the Toyos.The most surprising thing about the Toyos is how quiet they are on road. Second only to the Revo in my experience. They have 15k miles on them most of which have been winding 2 lane mountain and costal roads and a couple thousand miles of dirt and gravel. They are holding up very well. Like I said, I can't say,since i've never even aired down, that they are a far better Mud tire than others i've owned. however, the road manners are excellent and i've been extremely happy with them so far.

yep i'm now quoting myself. So over the weekend I had a chance to really put the tires to use. I have to say i was VERY impressed with them. I also think I impressed a few Colombianos as well. As you can see above Alvaro took me out with some buddies into the hills west of Bogota. It was muddy and slick. Me and the trail leader (blue fj40) were the only two trucks NOT to use our winches. Although i'm not 100% sure about the rover. he was at the back and seemed to do very well for himself. I used mine to help a Patrol get out of hole but not for self recovery. And truth be told the rain hit as we approached the hardest section of trail. Only the 40 made it before we turned around. The Toyo's cleaned themselves well, i had good traction and they pulled my heavy ass truck up the hill better than all the others. Lockers helped considerably. Having now used the tires in actually muddy terrain I am sold on them. Up next (well after more glorious Colombia) are the Andes of Ecuador and Peru then come the deserts. back to my roots.

for now you can all the pics of the wheeling trip here
dmc