Looking for input on tires - 315's, Mud Terrain

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Arizona Jeff

Arizona Jeff

10 Year
Joined
Feb 4, 2014
Threads
68
Messages
719
Location
Fountain Hills, AZ
Hello Arizonians- I just got a 2.5" OME lift. Looking forward to putting it on this weekend. Then on to tires. I've decided on 315's, factory wheels, and 1.5" spacers from Metal Tech. I'm hoping to get some input on tires best suited for the desert climate (Phoenix area). I drive my Cruiser as a daily driver, and will do moderate off roading on the weekends. The reality is that an AT tire would probably do me just fine but the cool factor of MT's wins on this one. I think I have it down to the following:
BFG MT KM2
Toyo Open County MT
Mickey Thompson MTZ Radial

Any comments on your experience with these or other MT's in the desert is appreciated. Also- how many miles did you get out of your MT's?
Thanks!
 
Hated my BFG AT's. Wobbled badly with 1.5" spacers on my 100. I hear results vary but mine was terrible. Trashed them after 2K miles and replaced with Nitto Terra grappler and love them!

Also run Toyo OC MT's on my 80. Third truck with them and every pair has been awesome. Heavier and noisier, but the best mud tire IMHO.

If you are doing a lot of daily driving I would go with the Nittos. That is what I am about to put on my LX450.
 
I would go with the toyo's out of your list. heavy, noisy, tough, and work well on heavy rigs.

I have 315 75 16 load range E cooper st maxx, I went through the same thing for about a month before I made a decision. I would have gone with stt's, but everything besides km2's and st maxx were backordered at the time. I'm glad they were, because I am extremely happy with the tires, the sidewalls are much better than km2's or mtr's, lighter than some, wear well, balance great, ride great, and are quieter than most all terrains. They pack mud pretty bad, but any tire does unless you are a lead footed hillbilly. I have heard they are excellent on snow an ice, though I have not driven on snow.

I have run just about every tire on the market on one vehicle or another, and the st maxx are the best all around tires for a 75/25 or higher pavement to trail ratio on a heavy rig.

My best advice is to stay away from goodyear duratrac's even though they aren't on your list. Of everything, the duratracs have the thinnest sidewall. Thinner than most passenger car tires.

Side note, but try the tire/wheel combo before you buy spacers. IMO there are no benefits to wheel spacers on an 80 besides looks.
 
we got Bighorn Maxxis on the 80 - no complaints - I also have them on the 40 (on 80 series wheels) - got really good deals on them at PepBoys and 4 Wheel Parts

they are noisier than the ATs that came off of the 80, but we like the look.
 
Also run Toyo OC MT's on my 80. There heavy and require a lot of weight to balance but are wearing nicely. I have about 25,000 miles on them and am projectng to get about 45,000 - 50,000 miles out of them based on current wear. I had 1.5 spacers and it will cause the front tires to rub the outer side of the inside of the wheel well when compressed. I took them off and no more rubbing.
 
I run the Firestone destination MT's they work really well off road on rocks and mud are reasonably quiet on the road and there are lighter than me Toyo MT's
 
Im happy with the Nitto Trail mt's on my 40
 
Nitto Terra Grapplers are well proven in AZ, good on and off road. If you want something more aggressive, look at the Trail Grappler. It's kind of a tweener between an AT and a MT. Not a big fan of MTs in AZ, we see little mud and they're not the best on rock.
 
I have the Toyo's. They do chunk and can take a lot to balance. Discount just did my rebalance and used 8.5 OZz on one tire! I have no real complaints but would like something a bit more agressive for use off road as I feel the tire is a mild mud terrain. I am strongly considering the Goodyear MT kevlars (stay away from their Dura Trac's, very soft sidewalls and a proven history of leaving you stranded) and the ProComp Xtreeme mud terrains. I ran the procomps on an expedition I pushed hard and really liked them, in fact they have been my favorite tire. They too chunked and got loud when old. The new design, they say, helps address the noise and they are more aggressive than the Toyos. The GYs are intreaging though. I have run Yokohamas MT, BFG AT and MT, Pro Comp XMT and the Toyos along with a few others. The procomps were the best, the toyo a close second. I don't think you can go wrong with the Toyos, not a bad tire at all.
 
Azca said:
I have the Toyo's. They do chunk and can take a lot to balance. Discount just did my rebalance and used 8.5 OZz on one tire! I have no real complaints but would like something a bit more agressive for use off road as I feel the tire is a mild mud terrain. I am strongly considering the Goodyear MT kevlars (stay away from their Dura Trac's, very soft sidewalls and a proven history of leaving you stranded) and the ProComp Xtreeme mud terrains. I ran the procomps on an expedition I pushed hard and really liked them, in fact they have been my favorite tire. They too chunked and got loud when old. The new design, they say, helps address the noise and they are more aggressive than the Toyos. The GYs are intreaging though. I have run Yokohamas MT, BFG AT and MT, Pro Comp XMT and the Toyos along with a few others. The procomps were the best, the toyo a close second. I don't think you can go wrong with the Toyos, not a bad tire at all.
Click to expand...

What model Toyo tire are you running now?
 
and yeah, make sure the tire store actually uses the types of weights that don't come off the 80 OEM rims :rolleyes:
 
Great input fellas and much appreciated. Im guessing that stick on weights are the best on factory wheels. Im happy to hear expected mileage for toyos is up to 50k miles. The guy at discount tire said the nitto mt's run 25-30k miles. I think i'm about sold on the toyos. Roughly $2k for 5 out the door incuding discount tires awesome road hazard at $45/tire. A little more than many but probably a decent cost based on the lifespan. AGREED?

Many thanks!
 
Discount will not honor the certs anymore if the tires appear to have been used "off road" so beware.

I got my 4 st maxx at discount for $1050 out the door mounted and balanced. Their regular price was around 1600, but if you shop around online, they will beat the total shipped price of online tire stores. Just make sure they match the out the door price. Sometimes they will try to match the price, then add tax.

I only go to the discount on 59th and the 101, the manager (bryan or ryan, somthing like that) doesn't give you a hard time about price matching, and he has helped me out several times in the past. He always breaks inner beads on beadlocks for free, and has mounted a few sets of tires for me for free.

I believe tirecrawler had the best prices last time I checked on toyos.
 
I know these are not on your list but the Hankooks Dynapro M/T are great. I had them on my FJ Cruiser, they look great, quiet, minimal wear for an M/T,
and easy to balance.
 
Going to throw out another alternative, General Grabber Red Letters:

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/tires/general/product/submitProductSize.do?pc=32841&tmn=Grabber Red Lettering&typ=Truck/SUV

I have a little over 15k on my set of five, and they are quite, staying balanced, performed well in heavy clay-mud, air down well, obviously do real well on loose sand (Continental designed them for their Baja racing effort). Zero chunking so far in rocks. Handled the recent rains well too, I didn't experience any hint of hydroplaning, but I'm not a crazy driver either.

Downsides, they are heavy and I'm sure they would suck on ice. But for down here in southern AZ, I think they are a great option as this is the type of country they were designed for. I DD my LX also and FWIW, I work for Discount so I could have gone with pretty much any tire. I'm going to check on the above comment about the certs and off roading. I don't think that is a true statement.

IMG_0459.webp
 
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My '96 sits on 315/75r15 BFG KM2s and I love them. No spacers. Don't know why anyone thinks a LC needs to be wider. I've had other shoes on other buggies (Wrangler MT/R...hated'em, Firestone Destination...didn't hate'm) but these BFGs are fantastic on this truck.
 
Seth Derrick said:
My '96 sits on 315/75r15 BFG KM2s and I love them. No spacers. Don't know why anyone thinks a LC needs to be wider. I've had other shoes on other buggies (Wrangler MT/R...hated'em, Firestone Destination...didn't hate'm) but these BFGs are fantastic on this truck.
Click to expand...

And they look cool along with sticking like glue
 
I have 35" KM2's on my '77 K5 and hate them. Not only are they loud, but as they wear loose their balance rapidly (same with the AT's I had on the wife's Wrangler). Store guys have confirmed this to be a problem anymore with the BFGs.

In mud, the KM2's are great for the most part going forward, but lateral grip is terrible. If you look at the tread design, the goo easily channels across the surface. I got myself in a couple of scary situations with them. Oh and then you have to consider the premium price that BFG charges for them.

Not again until they do some redesign of their off road offerings.
 
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