Anyone running Cooper ST Maxx LT285/70R17? (1 Viewer)

[John E Davies]

I plan to get a set of 17 inch Evo Corse Dakar wheels and new tires. Everybody seems to like the BFG A/T KO2, but I am no fan.

I would keep my 18 inch wheels for winter use with snow tires.

I have run Cooper STT and A/T3 on my dead LX450, plus the A/T3 on my Ram 3500. I like both models but really want an in betweener for my 200. The A/T 3 is way too skittery on loose gravel, flings stones, and the STT is just too heavy, harsh and loud, but it is stellar offroad. I do not plan to do any hard core wheeling, but will be on very rocky ranch and forest roads in ID and MT, so cut and flat resistance is a priority. I also plan to avoid mud whenever possible I H8 Mud.

Who has tried the ST Maxx and do you like it for the 200? It gets good reviews and I think it would hit the sweet spot for me. How is the ride on the highway? I would really prefer a Load D tire but there are not many choices in this size. I know I will lose that cushy factory ride, how much stiffer will it be, and will the taller sidewall help a little?

Thanks,
John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[John E Davies]

STT Pro or ST Maxx???? - Expedition Portal

 

[Brett19648]

In general reviews seem to be very positive for the ST Maxx. I got them for my sister in laws XTerra and it's relatively quiet for being a pretty aggressive AT MT hybrid style tire. Can't comment personally on off road performance as I've only had the XTerra out on some fireroads in the pine barrens. I'd assume the 200 is soundproofed better so perhaps it would be more quiet. I currently have a set of the evocorses on order. The ST Maxx were on my short list but I ended up going with Ridge Grapplers.

 

[RS6tofj80]

I ran them prior to the Ridge Grapplers - very solid tire, quiet and smooth..... I ran 305/70/18's.

E

 

[4gotalot]

If you only drive on dry roads and trails you will like them. We have a few rigs in our local off-road club that like them for just that.

E rated 10 ply w/kevlar or what ever extra they are using now. The Cooper carcass is weak and needs protection. I ran ST, AT and AT3 on the 80 series. I had constant flats with the AT3's and tread separations with the ST.

I know you were asking about the ST MAX and from what our tire shop told me trying to get me into them is that they are using the same carcass but better tread cord material and more of compared to the AT3, no sale. AT3's were removed with 80% remaining.

You did mention you will be running snow tires in the winter so make sure you switch them out before the fog freezes on the road this fall. Pullman is my home town (PHS class of 83) go Greyhounds!

 

[DeckerT4R]

I personally wasn't a fan. I had a set when they first came out on my Tacoma. They wore out stupidly fast on me.

 

[sPaulp]

I had the ST Maxx on my 100 series and had no complaints. Very compliant, fairly quiet, but seemed to wear slightly quicker than other hybrid/AT tires I've had. I HIGHLY recommend the Nitto Ridge Grappler. I have had almost every AT tire on the market at one time or another, but none have performed as well as my Grapplers. NO hydroplaning during torrential down pours, great in snow, and seem to be wearing like tanks. Also, they are very quiet for a hybrid tire. They also balanced with very little weight. Ok, enough bragging...can you tell I really like the tires?

 

[John E Davies]

I HIGHLY recommend the Nitto Ridge Grappler.

Thanks, I am definitely thinking about those. They seem to be a very similar design as the ST Maxx, but with a newer design and construction.

They make a C and an E rated version in the size I want. I wish there was a D.... Maybe the C is for Wranglers and such? The warranty looks good but they explicitly disallow any tire that has been run on reduced air pressure. That seems problematic for a 4wd truck, but I don't know how they would know unless you told them.

http://www.nittotire.com/media/226931/nitto_plt-warranty-owners-manual_2015.pdf

They are definitely good looking tires. Woohoo! I bet Discount Tire could order me a set.... where did you get yours? Found this:

"The reality for many is that the off-road rig on the weekend also doubles as a daily driver during the week. The Ridge Grappler doesn’t require a huge tradeoff for truck and SUV owners, proving you don’t need to compromise having a bumpy, loud ride around town for the sake of a tire with great off-road performance. Marketing pitches will always appeal to our every want and need, but in Nitto’s case, we’re happy the Ridge Grappler actually delivers on its promise."

Nitto Ridge Grappler Tire Review





LOL, that Canadian reviewer says he will never get stuck with these tires. That is a huge benefit, so I can leave behind all my heavy recovery gear and emergency supplies! Or maybe not ....

Thanks again.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[lxid]

I put the E rated grappler and rock warriors on my LX and have been running a lot of really nasty rocky roads here in northern Idaho. Drove up to lunchbox lookout last weekend and it was terrible. They are proving to be a really a great tire I have only lost traction a couple of times and I don't find them any stiffer then the 20" that came on the the LX. I am skeptical about how they will perform in our winters though. They don't seem to have a lot of siping so I can't imagine they will deal well with the icy hills. I am going to try them, but I suspect I will be looking for winter tires.

 

[sPaulp]

Thanks, I am definitely thinking about those. They seem to be a very similar design as the ST Maxx, but with a newer design and construction.

They make a C and an E rated version in the size I want. I wish there was a D.... Maybe the C is for Wranglers and such? The warranty looks good but they explicitly disallow any tire that has been run on reduced air pressure. That seems problematic for a 4wd truck, but I don't know how they would know unless you told them.

http://www.nittotire.com/media/226931/nitto_plt-warranty-owners-manual_2015.pdf

They are definitely good looking tires. Woohoo! I bet Discount Tire could order me a set.... where did you get yours? Found this:

"The reality for many is that the off-road rig on the weekend also doubles as a daily driver during the week. The Ridge Grappler doesn’t require a huge tradeoff for truck and SUV owners, proving you don’t need to compromise having a bumpy, loud ride around town for the sake of a tire with great off-road performance. Marketing pitches will always appeal to our every want and need, but in Nitto’s case, we’re happy the Ridge Grappler actually delivers on its promise."

Nitto Ridge Grappler Tire Review





LOL, that Canadian reviewer says he will never get stuck with these tires. That is a huge benefit, so I can leave behind all my heavy recovery gear and emergency supplies! Or maybe not ....

Thanks again.

John Davies
Spokane WA

I got mine online, and had them shipped to me as the pricing was more aggressive than at a local shop. Again, if you choose the Cooper, it's a great tire. However, in my own experience, the Grappler has been the superior tire to anything I've owned to date. If I got a killer deal on a set of Coopers, I would consider them again but price wise they are up there close to the Grappler price. Good luck either way as I don't think you can go wrong.

 

[lxid]

I would also mention the ridge grapplers E rated are almost the same weight as the C. It's just a little extra insurance in my opinion. There are so many nasty rocks and even on the forest roads I have ran into some of this lately due to all the rain/snow this year.

 

[John E Davies]

That's a very familiar sight, but the stuff I worry about is not the semi rounded rocks down in the streams, but the sharp blade-like stuff you run into when you get into the high ridges. It really can ruin a soft sidewall....

The worst I have run into was in western MT. It was like the forest service road crew decided to use the nastiest sharpest gravel they could get. I was in an Outback and had to drive 120 miles on a space saver spare to get to a tire store. That taught me the need for real tires and a real spare for any vehicle that goes off pavement.

Where do you live in ID?

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[Toyoland66]

I wanted to chime in on ST maxx wear.

I have 33k on mine on my Tacoma dcsb. I just measured them with a tread gauge and they're at 9/32 to the wear bar. For me they have worn great, I also do a lot of highway driving and keep them rotated, they have big lug blocks so they have potential to cup if they aren't rotated.

I would be interested in the ridge grapplers but they don't make them in 16 rims. I am running nittos on our other vehicles; terras on our gx470 and suburban and trails on my fj40.

 

[lxid]

That's a very familiar sight, but the stuff I worry about is not the semi rounded rocks down in the streams, but the sharp blade-like stuff you run into when you get into the high ridges. It really can ruin a soft sidewall....

The worst I have run into was in western MT. It was like the forest service road crew decided to use the nastiest sharpest gravel they could get. I was in an Outback and had to drive 120 miles on a space saver spare to get to a tire store. That taught me the need for real tires and a real spare for any vehicle that goes off pavement.

Where do you live in ID?

John Davies
Spokane WA

I live near Sandpoint. Lunch peak lookout was nasty sharp rocks all the way up. It seemed like 20 minutes of shaking my teeth out going over it.

Fourwheelparts in post falls had good pricing on the ridge grapplers, but I ended up ordering them from amazon prime. It was cheaper then any place around here I found and only a couple dollars more then anywhere else I found online. They arrived very fast from amazon and I figured it was safer then the cheapest random tire dealer online.

 

[repey3]

Late input...but I have these tires in the 255/85 16 (33x10.5) on my 80 series, no experience on the 200 so my experience may or may not be relevant. I drive mostly desert forest roads that are covered in sharp loose rock and these tires have held up fantastically well. Very minimal chunking and never experienced a flat.

However, I'm not sure I would buy them again for a rig that would see a lot of highway. As they are wearing, the noise level has gone up significantly to the point where they sound like a full on mud tire and that is with less than 10,000 miles on them. I think they would be a great "industrial" tire for oil patch or mining trucks but I wouldn't buy them again for a dual purpose rig. One more thing, I thought they were excellent in the snow. My 80 was also my "ski bus" so I had lots of snow miles with them. My $.02 anyway.

 

[John E Davies]

Late input...but I have these tires in the 255/85 16 (33x10.5) on my 80 series, no experience on the 200 so my experience may or may not be relevant. I drive mostly desert forest roads that are covered in sharp loose rock and these tires have held up fantastically well. Very minimal chunking and never experienced a flat.

However, I'm not sure I would buy them again for a rig that would see a lot of highway. As they are wearing, the noise level has gone up significantly to the point where they sound like a full on mud tire and that is with less than 10,000 miles on them. I think they would be a great "industrial" tire for oil patch or mining trucks but I wouldn't buy them again for a dual purpose rig. One more thing, I thought they were excellent in the snow. My 80 was also my "ski bus" so I had lots of snow miles with them. My $.02 anyway.

Are you talking about the ST-Maxx or the Ridge Grappler?
Please clarify! And thanks for the info.

John Davies
Spokane WA

 

[RS6tofj80]

ST's based on his signature - I'm surprised, wonder about how they were rotated an/or lift angles etc ? My set were very quiet.

 

[repey3]

Yeah, sorry ST Maxx. I rotated them at 5000 miles, they only have about 10000 miles on them and are quite loud. My buddy had them on his gx470 and they were crazy loud as they wore. His were also the 255 variety, so maybe that's the common denominator? That's really my only complaint - and they were super heavy on the 80 - but i'm sure you wouldn't feel it as much on the 200.

When I first got them they were very quiet. Again, that's really the only complaint, other than that it's one of the most durable tires I've ever run. I work in mining and some of the light duty trucks run them because they hold up so well.

 

[Toyoland66]

Mine aren't loud, they're 265's. They are definitely heavier than the BFG rugged fails they replaced, but they're also E rated not p metric.

When I rotate them I bring the rears straight forward and the fronts go diagonally to the rear so they reverse direction.

I am planning on 255s when these wear out, my friend has 255/80/17 on his 4Runner, I'll ask him if they're loud.

 

[GoISU]

I've got them in a 295 and they're great so far. About 9K miles on them. They seem quiet to me but I came from an FJ Cruiser so this 200 is a Cadillac as far as I'm concerned.