Recommendations on stock tire, good AT & in deep snow (1 Viewer)

[Heckraiser]

I got curious.

In 285/60R18 on tirerack of the tires offered here are the "winter/snow" ratings 1-10 from customers for each tire

Defender 8.4 (good)
BFG Trail Terrain 8.2 (3-peak)
KO2 8.7 (3-peak)
General Grabber AT 8.7 (3-peak)
Toyo AT3 8.8 (excellent) (3-peak) (I concur with this rating)

Note that number of reviews for each tire vary significantly.

So at least some reviews show one 3-P tire being worse than the non-3-P defender. But those reviews also put other tires performing significantly better than the Defender LTX in winter conditions.

I found it interesting that what tirerack calls the OE tire for us, the bridgestone dueller D684, scores a 4.4 in winter/snow. Ouch.

I think @ace10 is on point about grains of salt. And that any of the tires with positive reviews on a broad scale will serve you well.

That's a pretty good frame of reference. In my experience, the Michelin LTX were significantly better than Cooper AT3 (3pms but still not a very good snow tire) and about on par with KO2.

 

[Adrenaline6]

I just saw a video of a guy reviewing the newer Toyo R/T Trail in the snow. They were in slippery stuff and inclines. He uses Toyo M/T's normally, but was looking for a better tire to go off road when it's snowing. The Trail's do not have the 3 peak rating, but, according to him, they performed great. He specifically mentioned him and his gang not using KO2's due to the snow performance. It is a sample of 1, but like mentioned here, this is real world use and observation, not a rating.

Edit: found the video:

 

[Heritage 2020]

I really like my Nitto Terra Grappler G2. They are great in wet. I live in Texas and spend quite a few highway miles in major down pours. They sale an LT in factory size and it has nice ride. At 80mph with radio at 8 volume I don't hear tires and can still talk with my wife. Sorry I have not tested them in Snow but they did great in Sand, some mild rock crawling and lot of back roads. I regularly tow a boat with no issues. I run them at 35lbs. Good luck with finding a tire.

Please note, I am not being critical. Just noticed your 35psi.

I had Nitto Terra Grappler G2s in LT285/65R-18 (prior owner installed) and I ran them at 45psi.

Previous owner ran them too low and they were very badly feathered/worn on the inner and outer edges.

I upgraded to LT285/65R-18 BFG KO2s which I also run at 45psi to compensate for weight.

My LC has several hundred lbs of bumpers, tire carrier, rock rails, and an LRA 24 gal.

If you are running stock sized LT285/60R-18 with no added accessories I’d recommend pumping up to 40psi bare minimum.

Again, not being critical—just sharing what I recommend from experience for daily driving.

 

[gaijin]

Please note, I am not being critical. Just noticed your 35psi.

I had Nitto Terra Grappler G2s in LT285/65R-18 (prior owner installed) and I ran them at 45psi.

I upgraded to LT285/65R-18 BFG KO2s which I also run at 45psi to compensate for weight.

My LC has several hundred lbs of bumpers, tire carrier, rock rails, and an LRA 24 gal.

If you are running stock sized LT285/60R-18 with no added accessories I’d recommend pumping up to 40psi bare minimum.

Again, not being critical—just sharing what I recommend from experience for daily driving.

Just FYI:

The RCTIP (Recommended Cold Tire Inflation Pressure) for LT285/60R18 tires on an LC200 is 46psi F/R.

The RCTIP for LT285/65R18 tires on an LC200 is 42psi F/R.

Any pressures one chooses to run ABOVE these recommendations is fine, but any pressure BELOW these recommendations is underinflated.

An LT285/60R18 tire @35psi is dangerously underinflated.

HTH

Edit to add:

Don't just take my word for these recommendations - anyone can do their own calcs for themselves using the information here: Guidelines for the Application of Load and Inflation Tables

Or use one of the online tire pressure calculators (such as found here: Tire Pressure Calculator) which will give results such as the following:

Happy World Bicycle Day

 

[TeCKis300]

I really like my Nitto Terra Grappler G2. They are great in wet. I live in Texas and spend quite a few highway miles in major down pours. They sale an LT in factory size and it has nice ride. At 80mph with radio at 8 volume I don't hear tires and can still talk with my wife. Sorry I have not tested them in Snow but they did great in Sand, some mild rock crawling and lot of back roads. I regularly tow a boat with no issues. I run them at 35lbs. Good luck with finding a tire.

And so you don't get strong armed by the internet thinking you must run 46 PSI... which would be ridiculous for a stock weight vehicle and have to suffer bad ride quality.

I'll agree that 35 PSI is a bit low especially if towing as you described. It's likely okay for day to day unladen use as the requirements for higher pressure is to protect the tire carcass from overheating, but that's assuming to be with max payload at max speed on a really hot day.

41 PSI derived from more sane assumptions will cover you for the amount of expected payloads that a 200-series could handle. Happy to share more how this is properly derived but the narrative above is far to simplistic and frankly wrong. Though it's also never wrong to go higher if you're towing are particularly heavy for added stability.

 

[ace10]

OP didn't return.


Here lies another thread on Mud for the next guy to "to read, but not get consistent answers" and then start yet another thread.

 

[gaijin]

And so you don't get strong armed by the internet thinking you must run 46 PSI... which would be ridiculous for a stock weight vehicle and have to suffer bad ride quality.

I'll agree that 35 PSI is a bit low especially if towing as you described. It's likely okay for day to day unladen use as the requirements for higher pressure is to protect the tire carcass from overheating, but that's assuming to be with max payload at max speed on a really hot day.

41 PSI derived from more sane assumptions will cover you for the amount of expected payloads that a 200-series could handle. Happy to share more how this is properly derived but the narrative above is far to simplistic and frankly wrong. Though it's also never wrong to go higher if you're towing are particularly heavy for added stability.

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus​

HTH

 

[TeCKis300]

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus​

HTH

Thought you'd say that. Too proud of your perfect narrative even as there's been plenty of data to the contrary and feedback from others showing how you've mislead them.

 

[Tanaman]

Every time there is tire pressure brought up there is a debate between y’all. Can we just agree to disagree and move the F on?

 

[TeCKis300]

Every time there is tire pressure brought up there is a debate between y’all. Can we just agree to disagree and move the F on?

No. It's one thing to give his opinion. But this matters because not only is he recommending too high of pressures, he's also advocating for things like 27 PSI. For the uninformed that comes to this forum thinking he actually knows what he's talking about, that type of advise will put someone's family in danger.

 

[Tanaman]

No. It's one thing to give his opinion. But this matters because not only is he recommending too high of pressures, he's also advocating for things like 27 PSI. For the uninformed that comes to this forum thinking he actually knows what he's talking about, that type of advise will put someone's family in danger.

I totally get that and understand where you’re coming from. I used to work in the tire business for several years (Discount Tire) and know that there can be many different ideas of what someone should and shouldn’t do. In most instances it’s dependent on the persons preferences, circumstances, and driving style. Other times it’s truly a matter of safety and with that I totally understand that recommending low pressures is potentially dangerous. But sometimes some sort of common sense has to come into play. Sometimes common sense isn’t so common and I get that too.

Darwin was on to something and I’ll just leave it at that

 

[Rigger]

There's a feature you can use where you can ignore any user's posts. Try it.

 

[rscoleman]

And so you don't get strong armed by the internet thinking you must run 46 PSI... which would be ridiculous for a stock weight vehicle and have to suffer bad ride quality.

I'll agree that 35 PSI is a bit low especially if towing as you described. It's likely okay for day to day unladen use as the requirements for higher pressure is to protect the tire carcass from overheating, but that's assuming to be with max payload at max speed on a really hot day.

41 PSI derived from more sane assumptions will cover you for the amount of expected payloads that a 200-series could handle. Happy to share more how this is properly derived but the narrative above is far to simplistic and frankly wrong. Though it's also never wrong to go higher if you're towing are particularly heavy for added stability.

I have about 35K miles on Nitto TG2 at 35lb cold. I would guess based on ware I have 15k to 20K left. At highway speeds they come up to about 40 to 42lbs ( I do a lot of travel at 75+). I arrived at 35lb using old school chalk test. I made a 4inch wide chalk line across the tire after getting them to operation temp. It wore even at 40lb operating. I agree I would need more air in rears for towing but I only pull a >3500lb boat about 70miles round trip about twice a month. So for those short trips I don't bother with air up. When I have had to tow it long distances I usually go to up 38lb cold for operation of 44 to 45lb.

I do not disagree with math and I did try higher 40lbs all around once. Ride was not as nice and it got kind of bouncy. If cold pressure gets below 35lb the ride gets real soft and it will wander in lanes pretty bad at 70mph or better. I live just North of Austin and visit my folks to take my dad fishing often. They live east of Houston. My primary options to get their are 290 to I10 or 130 toll to 71 to I10. Slow traffic on any of those highways is doing 75. Those of us living stupidly are in 85+ range (note 130 toll South of Austin is 85 posted).

When I wear these out I am thinking of going to Nitto Recon Grappler. Just not sure what size to run. The G2 are 285/60R18 120S XL I like that 120 load rate. The Recon closest option I can see is LT285/65R18 E 125/122R at 125 or 122 that is probably going to much stiffer ride. Oh well choices.

 

[Romer]

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus​

HTH

No. It's one thing to give his opinion. But this matters because not only is he recommending too high of pressures, he's also advocating for things like 27 PSI. For the uninformed that comes to this forum thinking he actually knows what he's talking about, that type of advise will put someone's family in danger.

Both of you stand down. You have made your positions clear. No one should take what they read here as gospel without some verification.

The thread is a user asking about good tires. Let us not detract from that anymore

Please follow @Rigger suggestion and put each other on ignore