Best “AT” tires for my bone-stock 2023 GX?

[Patassa]

I ditched my Toyo AT IIIs due to vibrations from day 1 and bad cupping issues after only 20k miles. The Nitto Ridge Grapplers have been superb AT tires for me, I do religiously re-balance and rotate them every 5k miles, they are holding up incredibly well and perform as good as I could have hoped for off road. Pretty sure I'll be buying them again when these finally wear out.

 

[HVLA]

I have had ALL of the top AT tires on many different trucks and suvs. Hands down the best tire I have ever had are the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss a/t. I will never buy any othe

If i was going to abandon the Wildpeak, that (or the very similar Cooper version) is probably what I would pick as it's a great looking tire and a bit lighter than the Falkens in 285/70R17. What is keeping me in the Wildpeak camp is just how good they do in the rain and while towing, which are the majority of the miles for my GX currently. Not sure if the more aggressive Baja Boss would be a bit worse in those conditions....but it is a very attractive option.

The wet traction for these is light years ahead of any tire I have had in the past. Drove over Donner Pass on Thanksgiving. Road was pretty wet, had a couple heavy downpours and I felt glued to the road. Complete confidence in them. I researched the heck out of them and over and over again I saw and heard great things. And now I am seeing it first hand. Cant wait for the snow.

 

[HVLA]

Also I switched to 17 inch Methods when I went with the Baja Boss.

 

[WBrown999]

I just went though this complete exercise a week ago on my new to me 2019 GX460 that I've had for 2 weeks. The dealer put brand new Michelin Defender LTX M/S tires on it. Pulled into the driveway which is a long steep paver brick and slid in the fresh snow. Twice, once in the morning again in the afternoon. I've had a lot of tires in the 50 years that I've been driving. The one thing that scares me the most is losing control due to snow and ice. Seeing how all of the tires you mention are snowflake 3PMSF tires I'm guessing that is also in your needs analysis as well. Certainly is at the top of my list of needs. Maintain positive control at all times in all conditions. At least as close as possible.

In my search I expanded it to 17" wheels and in the end that is where I went. The TRD Pro wheels are 25 pounds, the stock Lexus wheels 32 so you save 7 pounds. Which I made up in a heavier tire but star of end result is the same weight as stock or close to it. I also went up an inch to 265/70/17, one inch shouldn't require a recalibration from all accounts I've read, if it does so be it. Will hopefully know in a week or so. My main concern is fitting it in the spare tire location.

Tirerack as mentioned above is a good repository of users real life evaluation of tires. Not the only one I use but it is a start.

The BFG Trail Terrain T/A you are thinking as your primary tire at this point is an On-Road All-Terrain tire and Tirerack puts groups of tires from the same category together so that you can compare them. The BFG Trail Terrain doesn't rank very well in snow and ice and is in the middle of the On-Road AT tires category.

The other tires are Off-Road All-Terrain and while you may think they are overkill I would say it depends. As long as they aren't too heavy and aggressive they can be decent for highway comfort with good manners and quiet, well somewhat. They will vary a lot based on the tire. The rankings for Tirerack and Off-Road AT tires is here.

The Falken Wildpeak A/T3W seem to be a clear leader and choice even with other reviews such as at Discount Tire. Also in those rankings is the KO2 which you listed as well and came stock on my Taco Baja T|X and I agree with the reviews. Great all around tire except for comfort and noise on highway. Also in Off Road AT category is the FIRESTONE DESTINATION A/T2 I had the original A/T and agree with the reviews again, it was terrible in the snow and ice.

I ended up going with the FALKEN WILDPEAK A/T3W 115T SL 31.7” and 17" TRD Pro wheels. Which are only 7" width so could be just a touch taller when mounted. Weight will be ~1 pound from stock tires and wheels. Still waiting for the wheels to come in so have no actual experience with them. But I am cautiously optimistic after researching the hell out of them. And the reviews on here as well.

I am so sorry to hear you have had a bad experience with the Defenders. I am running them now, but I am in Austin so snow is not a concern 364 days a year. They are EXCELLENT in the rain and dry, which is 99% of my driving. I have wheeled them too, and they are fine for my needs. Just gotta watch out for the extra-pointy rocks

 

[Rednexus]

I have had ALL of the top AT tires on many different trucks and suvs. Hands down the best tire I have ever had are the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss a/t. I will never buy any othe

The wet traction for these is light years ahead of any tire I have had in the past. Drove over Donner Pass on Thanksgiving. Road was pretty wet, had a couple heavy downpours and I felt glued to the road. Complete confidence in them. I researched the heck out of them and over and over again I saw and heard great things. And now I am seeing it first hand. Cant wait for the snow.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll add these into the mix and see if they are cheaper than the Wildpeaks when it's time to buy late next summer (currently the MTs are around 10-20% more).

 

[HVLA]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll add these into the mix and see if they are cheaper than the Wildpeaks when it's time to buy late next summer (currently the MTs are around 10-20% more).

Yeah they are most definitely more expensive and I was hesitant because of that, but I have always been of the belief that I want the best I can afford when it comes to tires and brakes. I will definitely be buying these tires again when the time comes.

 

[Cold Iron]

The Michelins might have been over-inflated. We have the crossover/sedan versions of the Defender on my wife's Highlander and have had them on a past Subaru and another FWD car - they are usually very good in the snow for both FWD and AWD vehicles (they also easily last 70-80K miles). In fact I'd say they perform a bit better on AWD vehicles than my GX does in the snow (at normal inflation pressures) with Wildpeaks.

If they are at 42 psi or something they are going to suck in the snow regardless. I usually run them at more like 30-32 psi.

Made me go out and check even though in less than 48 hours they will be in the back of the Taco. DF 28 psi and DR is 35 psi. Quite a bit of variation from a vehicle that just came off a Toyota lot. Haven't checked the Passenger side yet and likely won't. Did I say less than 48 hours to change out?! Feel like a kid at Christmas!

I've been running standard load (P rated) Pirelli Scorpion AT+ in 265/70/17 for the last 2.5 years and ~30,000 miles and they have been phenomenal. The GX is my daily, our road trip car, and for my off road shenanigans for I've encountered pretty much every terrain. On road they are quite, comfortable, and handle great in the dry and wet. 30k miles looks to be about half the tread life and within the last couple of months they have started making a little more on road noise however it is only noticeable if you are attune to that sort of thing (I have noticed, my wife hasn't). The on road handling is much more confidence inspiring than the "highway SUV" tires I replaced - the Pirellis feel responsive and stable vs the old tires which felt squirmy/squishy if you had to do any kind of emergency or enthusiastic turning or braking.
They work quite well in winter weather on and off road. The only area I feel they really lose out to a dedicated winter tire is on sheet-ice where a snow tire will have better braking and turning performance. This has included driving through everything from slush to foot+ deep snow drifts.
For general off road use they also work great. I've had the sidewalls smeared across rocks when aired down and no issues with punctures/tears (so far). I find that pretty impressive for a p-rated tire. Traction on everything except deep mud is also very good.

*Forgot to add that I would actually go up one size when replacing the tires (265/65/18 if keeping the stock wheels, or 265/70/17 and get some 17 inch wheels). The extra inch of tire has no noticeable impact on gas mileage or performance on road, but it gives you a little extra clearance and sidewall offroad and likely corrects your speedometer. More importantly, that extra little bit of tire goes a long way towards making the GX look like an off-road capable truck instead of a tall minivan.

On my Taco

Got them when they first came out and there weren't many reviews on Tirerack for them. At the time they were at the head of the pack in user reviews for Off-Road All-Terrain tires so I took a chance on them. The numbers of miles reported in the user reviews is critical, the higher the better and more accurate the rankings is what I know now.

Currently out of the 9 tires in that category they are dead last. Falken Wildpeak AT3W are first.

Not so sure I would put the Scorpion dead last in my personal rankings and experience. They were much better than the Firestone Destination tires that they replaced. They are not a great tire, especially in the winter, but I've had a lot worse.

Haven't even put the sandbags in the back of the Taco for winter yet. Going to use the Taco to bring home the 5 take off Defender tires on Wednesday so double trip to the 4x4 shop. Then keep them in the back and list them on FB Marketplace Wednesday night. Should be cleaning the Tacoma up to sell but going to miss her if I do, been a good ride for 10 years. But will cost me $63 a month in insurance to just sit in the driveway. The ride in the GX is just so nice in comparison. Think I liked it better when I didn't know what I was missing. Just put bilstein 5100 shocks and OME leaf springs on the Tacoma this summer and thought it was about as perfect as it could get.

 

[Cold Iron]

Thank you all for your great feedback. So many options and considerations! One poster said it best: “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”. For me, upon further reflection, it’s probably “Rocky Road”. Coming from a Gladiator Mojave with somewhat worn KO2s and a bunch of crap up top, I’m guessing the incremental noise from inside the otherwise tomb-like GX460 won’t be much of an issue for me, so I might as well go “full AT”. Cold Iron, I’ve seen a few other threads referencing the 17” TRD Pro wheels with 265/70/17 and that does seem to be an intriguing option. Are yours OEM? Any special considerations (including lugs) when mounting them on the GX or just bring them in and say “mount them”? Looks like they might rub on the front bolt but I assume the flat bolt replacement would fix that. Is that your expectation? Also, will you be replacing the spare and if so, do you expect it to fit fully inflated? I’ll be installing an aftermarket hitch - not the OEM - as I’ll never be towing more than 3k, so hopefully this gives me some additional wiggle room. Finally, AT3Ws seem like my best option, but there are so many other good suggestions here. Baja Boss (which weren’t even previously on my radar) seem to be a close second. If cost were no factor, if noise difference on highway were relatively comparable (which it seems to be) and considering that I’ll be doing plenty of snow driving in the Rockies, which would you all recommend between those two? TIA

Rims and tires just came in, will know more on Wednesday! Yes to 5 tires and rims plan on putting the spare into rotation. Hopefully it will fit in spare location I have the factory hitch, fingers crossed. And zip tie will work if it rubs. Waiting on AC condenser skid plate to come in then will be chopping that low hanging chin off it anyhow.

Lot of knock offs and look a likes on evil bay and FB Marketplace so went through Toyota online sales. Timing was perfect for me and hit the Black Friday sales with 25% off plus free shipping and the dealer already had lower than normal prices.

TRD Pro black wheels PTR56-89210-F2
TRD Pro Center cap new red ring PT280-89210-F2
Lug nuts black PT076-60200-02

Summary
Subtotal
$1,450.00
Shipping
$359.28
Tax
$0.00
Total Savings
$746.18
Black Friday Cyber Monday Sale, Nationwide Free Shipping
$501.27
Dealer Discount
$244.91

Total
$1,063.10

So ~$200 a wheel. I went with the matching black lug nuts because I had the same question about fit as you. But decided it would be a better look to go all black anyhow. Though it was tempting to go back to white wagon wheels like I put on my 77 FJ55 Iron Pig back in 1979.

Ultimately decided that was too 70's even for me LOL.

Center caps can be had in the original SEMA style but I went with the newer caps with the red ring around the TRD

Mainly because white wagon wheels to be correct should have a red pinstripe around the top inside of the rim. Just personal preference of course.

Good luck and have fun with it! Any issues with fit or anything else I will let you know.

 

[jdam]

I have had ALL of the top AT tires on many different trucks and suvs. Hands down the best tire I have ever had are the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss a/t. I will never buy any othe

The wet traction for these is light years ahead of any tire I have had in the past. Drove over Donner Pass on Thanksgiving. Road was pretty wet, had a couple heavy downpours and I felt glued to the road. Complete confidence in them. I researched the heck out of them and over and over again I saw and heard great things. And now I am seeing it first hand. Cant wait for the snow.

By "these", you mean the MT Baja Boss? I regularly do Donner as well, so like looking at my options. Currently on Kenda Klever AT, and previously Falken Rubitrek, and neither of these tires gave me issues (even with the winter we had last year), but always looking to optimize.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

I ditched my Toyo AT IIIs due to vibrations from day 1 and bad cupping issues after only 20k miles. The Nitto Ridge Grapplers have been superb AT tires for me, I do religiously re-balance and rotate them every 5k miles, they are holding up incredibly well and perform as good as I could have hoped for off road. Pretty sure I'll be buying them again when these finally wear out.

Ditto. As soon as I need to swap back to non-winter tires I'm going to replace my Ridge Grapplers with another set of the same.

 

[WBrown999]

Rims and tires just came in, will know more on Wednesday! Yes to 5 tires and rims plan on putting the spare into rotation. Hopefully it will fit in spare location I have the factory hitch, fingers crossed. And zip tie will work if it rubs. Waiting on AC condenser skid plate to come in then will be chopping that low hanging chin off it anyhow.

Lot of knock offs and look a likes on evil bay and FB Marketplace so went through Toyota online sales. Timing was perfect for me and hit the Black Friday sales with 25% off plus free shipping and the dealer already had lower than normal prices.

You may have said this already, but what tire size did you end up going with? 265/70/17?

 

[Cold Iron]

You may have said this already, but what tire size did you end up going with? 265/70/17?

Yes, I did.

Defender 265/60/18 37 lbs. 110T SL 30.5”
AT3W 265/70/17 46.5 lbs. 115T SL 31.7”

I do tow often but only ~3K pounds. Polaris Ranger Northstar Trail Boss on a Floe CargoMax 13' And usually 20 gallons of fuel in containers especially in North Western Ontario where a gas pump is a rare sight.

 

[GrizzlyClint]

Yes, I did.

Defender 265/60/18 37 lbs. 110T SL 30.5”
AT3W 265/70/17 46.5 lbs. 115T SL 31.7”

I do tow often but only ~3K pounds. Polaris Ranger Northstar Trail Boss on a Floe CargoMax 13' And usually 20 gallons of fuel in containers especially in North Western Ontario where a gas pump is a rare sight.

Good idea posting the weights. If anyone is interested the Ridge Grapplers in 265/70/17 weigh 40.21lbs

 

[Cold Iron]

Good idea posting the weights. If anyone is interested the Ridge Grapplers in 265/70/17 weigh 40.21lbs

If I hadn't finally settled on the AT3W my next choice would have been a Ridge (or Recon). I like Nitto and also find their drivingline articles to be very well done and informative. If the AT3W don't work out as well as I hope this winter then Ridge Grapplers will be my next tire. I came VERY close to pulling the trigger on them...

 

[WBrown999]

Yes, I did.

Defender 265/60/18 37 lbs. 110T SL 30.5”
AT3W 265/70/17 46.5 lbs. 115T SL 31.7”

I do tow often but only ~3K pounds. Polaris Ranger Northstar Trail Boss on a Floe CargoMax 13' And usually 20 gallons of fuel in containers especially in North Western Ontario where a gas pump is a rare sight.

Awesome, thank you. When are you expecting to have everything mounted and rolling? Would love to hear your continued assessment.

 

[Rednexus]

The AT3W's are a bit heavy but they have really, really good flat resistance and sidewall strength. Zero flats on mine, outside of getting some sand in the bead doing donuts on a gravel bar at 18 psi. We have lots of very sharp chert and volcanic rock around here as well and the Ozarks are known for being hell on tires. Very impressed with that attribute for a P-rated tire.

 

[r2m]

Good idea posting the weights. If anyone is interested the Ridge Grapplers in 265/70/17 weigh 40.21lbs

Regarding weight, I sometimes worry that a very light tire has to compromise it's weight for something.
Sidewall thickness, more prone to sidewall punctures? Less steel belts? Less tread? Rubber compound material?
Don't no for sure, but there has to be a compromise somewhere.

 

[Rednexus]

Regarding weight, I sometimes worry that a very light tire has to compromise it's weight for something.
Sidewall thickness, more prone to sidewall punctures? Less steel belts? Less tread? Rubber compound material?
Don't no for sure, but there has to be a compromise somewhere.

Tires can be light, strong, or cheap. But you only get to pick two of those .

FWIW I'm staying in the P-rated camp from here on out due to how well the P-rated Wildpeaks have been. I like light tires and dislike the reduced acceleration/braking that comes with E or C rated tires.

 

[masturv8]

I don't know why anyone other than HD truck owners who actually do HD work run E rated tires.

They ride like s***, have no flex, are heavy as balls, and wear out your suspension and drivetrain faster. When they inevitably start to wear unevenly, the noise is more pronounced. Might as well have skateboard wheels on your rig. At like 12 PSI you get the same flex as like 25 PSI in an SL or P. They puncture on sharp rocks just the same. There is literally no upside to running 10 ply tires for a vehicle the size of a jeep/GX/4runner.

 

[Rednexus]

I don't know why anyone other than HD truck owners who actually do HD work run E rated tires.

They ride like s***, have no flex, are heavy as balls, and wear out your suspension and drivetrain faster. When they inevitably start to wear unevenly, the noise is more pronounced. Might as well have skateboard wheels on your rig. At like 12 PSI you get the same flex as like 25 PSI in an SL or P. They puncture on sharp rocks just the same. There is literally no upside to running 10 ply tires for a vehicle the size of a jeep/GX/4runner.

C or E rated tires are also considerably more expensive. I tow with my SLs too - and they do just fine at 42 psi (relative to the 32 psi I run unloaded). Some have called me crazy for off-roading with SLs, but I've had zero issues. I notice the same things on flex, the SLs have a ton of it and deform around rocks very well and give great traction.

I personally use the same approach on my bicycle tires - both road and gravel. Light, supple, expensive tires are all I run. It takes a lot of extra effort to push heavy, flat-resistant tires (which also ride like crap and have poor traction) and it's worth the tradeoff of dealing with occasional flats to run the lighter tires. Just like my GX, I carry an extra air source and flat repair items.