Some tire advice?

[dbbowen]

Ok fellas, y'all have A LOT more experience with tires than I do. I have had so far km1s on a pickup, toyo open country MTs on my brodozier avalanche on 35s. And ko1s on my 4Runner. I'm looking for 35s (maybe 37s) for my firstgen 4Runner. I was hoping to get yalls input and advice on tires. A lot of y'all have had more rigs than I've had vehicles. And some of y'all even own shops. So far this is what I'm thinking of going with:

BFG KM2
MTR Kevlar
Cooper STT pro
Toyo open country MT

I'm mostly going to be wheeling hot springs, and when I can get more vacation time I hope to get out to Moab and the alpine loop in Colorado. They will see quite a bit of road use for the first few years until I "inherit" our Hundy to DD.

Thanks in advance y'all.

 

[jynx]

I know they aren't as agressive as you'd probably like, but a set of 37's ain't cheap. How many miles you talking bout and if alot are you prepared to buy another set in a couple years? I put 60k on a set in 2 years, so had to go KO2s on the 4runner, 80 probably sees less than 2k annually, so the cooper stt's (original style) are going on 4 years old and still look relatively new. @BMThiker and @woody have wheeled their ko2's pretty hard and have been pleased as far as I know.

The Toyo's will be heavy, especially if you go 37s, might strain the little 22re even when regeared. I'd say for serious wheeling my guess is the km2's will get the most votes. I've never been a fan of the goodyears, just not my cup of tea. The STT pro's you list are probably the best all around tire you have on your list in my opinion, they are an MT, but with some siping for wet weather traction. I don't have any idea how they will weigh (literal weight) in.

No personal experience with the pros, but I put about 60k on a set of old STT's and other than getting loud toward the end, they wore fine. Rick ran km2s on dig dug until his last set and he DDs him, so perhaps he can offer some info on how that went.

My $0.02, if you expect to DD it for any significant amount of miles for more than a couple years, I'd go a little less aggressive. If you don't drive many miles or will be short timing it, then I'd probably look at the km2s.

 

[dbbowen]

Thanks for the detailed reply, I'm really looking at the STT pros. The major drawback of the km2 is the lack of siping and they seem to wear pretty fast. The MTR isn't really my cup o tea either. I included it because @Fireman runs them and his 4Runner is the bomb. So with the ultra heavy Toyos off the list. And the MTRs at 3rd. I'm really looking at the coopers or the km2s. I'm running ko1 ATs now and they are great on the street. Just want something a little more aggressive. I think the bfg AT looks a little weird in 35+ inches personally. At least the old style ones that I have now. The ko2 has a much more aggressive sidewall that's for sure.

 

[OGBeno]

@wct49

 

[cyberfalco]

I like my KM2. I couldn't ever see buying a different tire. They perform very well in Hot Springs. BTW, you can have siping cut into them. I wouldn't buy a mud tire and expect it to last 60K miles. 30-40K in my opinion is great for a mud tire.

 

[Fireman]

I'll weigh in and say that even though the MTRs do ok for me on the road and off, I think that there are much better choices. I've had the biggest problems with them in the sidewall area from airing down to below 10 psi and wheeling. They simply aren't made to do that. They daily drive ok without too much road noise. You may DD yours for quite some time so take that into consideration. 90% of the time you will probably be on paved road or gravel.

 

[Clutchee]

BFG
On my old 85 4Runner i ran them- TONS road miles.... no issues. Rotate regularly; 3k -5k and keep up with it.
Mine had tons life left and were mostly quiet.
Oh and WCT49 for tires!

 

[offr0adlim0]

Put a set of KO2's on it and be done. Best of both worlds and BFG lists them as having the same off-road performance as a KM2.

 

[BMThiker]

I ran two sets of km2's and got about 40k out of each set, daily driving and hard wheeling a few times a year. I went to the ko2's about a year ago and love them. They haven't slowed me down on the rocks and have much better road manners. They are quieter but also were about $100 cheaper per tire vs the km2's.

 

[dbbowen]

Okay, so its looking like the KO2s will be added to the list. I drive about 7 or 8 miles a day to work, but really like the look and function of a MT tire. If I got the KM2s I was going to see if I could get the center lugs siped, The STT Pro look to be siped already. I think the STT Pro is a compromise between the km2 and k02

 

[Jordan7118]

37" Trail Grapplers or walk. Those are my two options for ya...

Only kidding. Siped aren't going to be the deal breaker for street grip. MTs notoriously suck in ice and rain. An AT is going to perform far better in ice and snow than a MT.

If this is something that sees substantial street time, I would consider dropping down to a 35" MT. Money savings, weight savings, less potential for destruction. If you can't make an obstacle because you have 35s instead of 37s, there's a good chance that's something you don't wanna put your DD / streetable Toyota through.

 

[dbbowen]

37" Trail Grapplers or walk. Those are my two options for ya...

Only kidding. Siped aren't going to be the deal breaker for street grip. MTs notoriously suck in ice and rain. An AT is going to perform far better in ice and snow than a MT.

If this is something that sees substantial street time, I would consider dropping down to a 35" MT. Money savings, weight savings, less potential for destruction. If you can't make an obstacle because you have 35s instead of 37s, there's a good chance that's something you don't wanna put your DD / streetable Toyota through.

Yeah, We dont get much snow in memphis... haha I think the 35s are a better choice too, Im not sure, but i think I might have to move the spring hangers forward a littel bit out front to fit 37s without rubbing. Maybe ill do the 37s down the road when im not DDing my 4runner. The KM2 says it weighs about 60 lbs per tire, and the STT Pro weighs in at 67 lbs per tire. Each are advertised as 34 inches tall :/

 

[Bodean]

Running BFG KM2's on my buggy but have GY MTR's on my 40 that I love. That's my .02 but what do I know?

 

[jynx]

At 7 to 8 miles a day for work, it sounds like wearing them out on the street isn't going to be a concern, and even though we don't see much snow, it will rain again and siping will be nice to have if you are in traffic much. Nothing worse than hitting the brakes on a wet street and feeling the front end lock up and start sliding. But given the short commute, I would say you can pick whatever suits you and let-er-rip. Also agree with @Jordan7118 if you can't make it on 35s, then chances are 37s would just result in a bigger mess to clean up. Locked on 35s should take you about anywhere you want to go within reason.

 

[dbbowen]

At 7 to 8 miles a day for work, it sounds like wearing them out on the street isn't going to be a concern, and even though we don't see much snow, it will rain again and siping will be nice to have if you are in traffic much. Nothing worse than hitting the brakes on a wet street and feeling the front end lock up and start sliding. But given the short commute, I would say you can pick whatever suits you and let-er-rip. Also agree with @Jordan7118 if you can't make it on 35s, then chances are 37s would just result in a bigger mess to clean up. Locked on 35s should take you about anywhere you want to go within reason.

I think yall are right about the 35s over the 37s. Maybe ill go to 37s once im not DDing the truck anymore. Maybe ill be able to get some bias ply tires then. Ive narrowed it down to the STT and KM2 now. The STT looks to be more siped. I still havent seen any STTs in person though. The KM2 looks like a Krawler which is extra fancy and bling bling haha

 

[wct49]

KO2 has been doing great on most vehicles.