Help needed with A/T tire decision.. (1 Viewer)

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My eyes are bleeding from all the posts and threads I've read on tires..both here and other forums. Need help deciding which of below will be best for comfort and noise, 90% DD...10% in fields, hunting, etc. In short, the most most comfortable, quiet, solid gripping A/T tire.

I will keep size mostly the same...285/65/18 or similar. Right now I have Grand Treks and they are too squishy. I've ruled out KO2's.

1. Cooper AT3s
2. Cooper AT3 LXT
3. Nitto Grappler
4. Falken AT3

Would love to hear any comparisons from users on comfort, noise, and handling aspects. Thanks..John
 
I have Toyos open country AT and while they are great tires, they are less grippy in dry sand and noisy on highway driving. I am looking to replace them with Nitto Grappler or KO2 as I heard that these two are the quietest of the bunch and relatively perform the same. Curious why you ruled out KO2?
 
I have the Falkens and they are excellent, they also cost less which is a plus. All those tires you mentioned are good though, the only tire I'm really not a fan of is is the KO2.
 
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I ran Cooper AT3’s on my heavy-ass 4Runner prior to going to STT Pro’s. I had about 27K on them at the time. Plenty of tread life left, not sure of actual depth though.

I’ve been running Cooper AT3’s (285/65 R18 E) on my stock LC for the last DD 28K miles. They have 12/32nds of tread remaining. As was my experience when the 4R was my DD, they’re understated, quiet, and more capable off road than they would appear.

Haven’t driven on them yet but based on my review of experiences posted here and elsewhere on the interwebs I decided to go with Nitto Ridge Grapplers (285/70 R17 E) over BFG’s. They’re litterally being mounted/balanced on Rock Warriors as I type this.

The Cooper AT3’s are on close out now and pretty inexpensive if you’re looking for a deal. The new AT3 XLT’s look cooler with their updated sidewalls, but you can’t go wrong with the originals.
 
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I am running Cooper Zeon 285/60/18 on both my Cruisers and my Colorado.
I have 305/65/18 AT3 XLT's on my RAM 2500.

I too had the Toyo's and hated them horrible in the rain or wet pavement, and as mentioned noisy.
I swapped all over to Coopers this past year.
Very happy so far in all conditions with the Coopers also happy with noise level on them.

I am not 100% that the Cooper zeon's are still available in that size, however I liked them enough that when it looked like they might be hard to get moving forward I bought an extra set for later.
 
I'm trying to determine the same. For similar usage, DD + trail rides, I'm looking at the Continental TerrainContact A/T. I don't hear much about them, but they look great for DD-first/occasional off road use. Sizes aren't great, but the 275/65-18 would work.
 
I'm trying to determine the same. For similar usage, DD + trail rides, I'm looking at the Continental TerrainContact A/T. I don't hear much about them, but they look great for DD-first/occasional off road use. Sizes aren't great, but the 275/65-18 would work.

When I was looking for tires for my LX470 the 'Continental' was on my short list of 3 tires. I ended up going with the Yokohama Geolander GO15 but definitely considered the Continental. My vehicle sees mostly DD use, but occasional forays off-road happen too.

Tire Geolander GO15.png
 
I am running the new Cooper AT3 XLT in 285/60/20 and really like them so far. I’ve ran both KO2s and ST Maxx and these AT3 XLTs are much better on the HWY. They are silent at HWY speed (60-80mph) with wind noise being louder than the tire. Sometimes I think I can hear them around 50mph but I’m not completely sure it’s not the crappy asphalt that’s part of my commute. I haven’t had them off-road, and I probably won’t, that’s what my 470 is for. They LOOK very capable though, at least as capable as a KO2.

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When I was looking for tires for my LX470 the 'Continental' was on my short list of 3 tires. I ended up going with the Yokohama Geolander GO15 but definitely considered the Continental. My vehicle sees mostly DD use, but occasional forays off-road happen too.

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Those Yoko's are another really good tire, I run a lot of that exact tire on my business fleet, they have a fairly economical price point and offer very good year around traction as well as good tread wear. Also very quiet on the highway. I have had the older version of those on my 11 200 for several years prior to going with custom wheels and the Coopers. I was always happy with the Yokohama AT/S's.
 
I usually avoid buying close-out tires because I'm afraid of slicing one prematurely and ending up with a missmatched set. If you buy 5 and do a 5 tire rotation, you're somewhat insured against this, but just keep that in mind if you go with the AT3s. A year from now, finding matching replacements will be nearly impossible.

I'm sure you can't go wrong with any of those.
 
Thanks guys....I'm really liking what I'm seeing about the AT3 XLT's and am also considering Geolander G015's.
 
I was debating the same thing a few months, after countless hours it came down to General Grabber GTX, Nokian Rotiva, and Falken Wildpeaks AT3.
I wanted a daily driver tire that met the 3PMSF for heavy snow falls and offered good comfort and long wear. Fuel economy wise I lost 1.5 MPG compared to LRR Michelins. I am require to go in to work no matter the weather and these tires should get there take a look General Grabber ATX.



AT-X 275-60-20.jpg
 
Those Yoko's are another really good tire, I run a lot of that exact tire on my business fleet, they have a fairly economical price point and offer very good year around traction as well as good tread wear. Also very quiet on the highway. I have had the older version of those on my 11 200 for several years prior to going with custom wheels and the Coopers. I was always happy with the Yokohama AT/S's.

I've been happy with the G015's... very quiet tire.

My main criteria for the tire were:

1. Must be good rain tire (open shoulders and good tread depth).
2. Must give decent tread wear.
3. Must be serviceable for light off-roading.
4. Prefer a U.S. made tire.
5. Must be able to find a replacement fairly easily.

I live where we get a lot of standing rain on the highways...so an open shoulder tire is a must...but ALSO it is important to have adequate tread depth in order to accept standing water and channel it away. The tire I chose for my LX are 285/75-16 with 18/32nds tread depth (9/16").

So far tire wear has been excellent.

I haven't had them in any deep mud yet, but they get me around the ranch just fine.

IF I can support a U.S. tire company (while getting all that I want), I will always do so.

There is a virtual cornucopia of good A/T tires out there these days. So even if you narrow your choices down to 4-5 different brands/types....you'd be hard pressed to go wrong unless you got WAY outside a certain price tier.

Otherwise, competition for market share pretty much insures that 'similar' tires will give 'similar' service.
 
I have run both the Falken AT3 and the Cooper XLT. Falkens were great and very quiet. Great wet road traction.
Just recently installed 275/65r20 Cooper AT3 XLT on my 570 and my expereience is very similar to the Falken AT3. Quiet. Great tread life and warranty. Wet weather performance is top notch as well.
For me it came down to price between going back to the Falken or swapping to the new cooper variant. both tires function well for my needs, which are are mix of crappy Louisiana roads and dirt/gravel/mud farm roads.
 
Ok...I'm getting close. If most of driving is pavement and I probably tow a 2000 lb trailer/boat about 20 times a year, am I better off comfort and handling wise staying with a P series size or due the stouter LT sizes actually help the LC? Thx
 
Ok...I'm getting close. If most of driving is pavement and I probably tow a 2000 lb trailer/boat about 20 times a year, am I better off comfort and handling wise staying with a P series size or due the stouter LT sizes actually help the LC? Thx

I like the more rugged construction of a LT tire. I went from Michelin's on both my 80 series and LX470 to a 10 ply LT tire and have NEVER had a flat or any issues from them. I drive on ranch roads every day.
 
Ok...I'm getting close. If most of driving is pavement and I probably tow a 2000 lb trailer/boat about 20 times a year, am I better off comfort and handling wise staying with a P series size or due the stouter LT sizes actually help the LC? Thx
 

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