Tire thoughts wanted

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JohnVee

JohnVee

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10 Year
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I'm going to need tires on the 80 in the next couple months. I want to post here for opinions of people local who ride the same places as I do. I have read other threads on the subject and, of course, have my own opinions anyway.

I currently have Hankook Dynapro MT 295/75/16. They functioned great in the dirt and rocks and minimal wet red clay I've traveled. Sidewalls held up well until recently. They behave well on the street. Downsides are how fast they started wearing once they hit about 60% (by my eye, compared to the unused spare), terrible in our winter slush, and that they're at 30% with 25k miles.

Reality is that the 80 has become my daily driver. We don't thrive on tackling the hardest trails. We're smart enough to stay off the wet clay trails to avoid damage.

I'd like to be well prepared for the worst case scenario but I'm thinking that AT's might be more appropriate for us.

The 80 is getting heavier all the time. ARB front bumper, 4x4 Labs rear, ARB full length roof rack, the inevitable winch, tools, spares, gear, etc.

To make things worse, we'd like to move up to 315/75/16 or a true 35. Stock rims. Stock gears. Gears might have to change with all the new weight and tire size but nobody wants to pay for that.

I have my own ideas about what I want and won't mention any of them so I don't influence what you say. Lemme have it....
 
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From my tire dynamics class, I have learned that as tread depth decreases, rate of wear decreases as well because the tread block does not deform as much when it contacts the road as when it is a full tread depth. Also, the more you change the direction of wear (rotating tires), the rate of wear also decreases.

35s with stock gears is manageable. I am starting to notice the tolls of the 37s and stock gears. As for AT vs. MT, choose what will suit your needs the best. However I have noticed that my MT (Kumho Road Ventures) have saved me numerous times whether it was around town, pulling people out of slick lawns, and muddy areas or at uwharrie when a rainstorm popped out of nowhere. Those tires got me about 35k miles, I could easily get another 5k. 40k for MTs is very good I think and I was not easy on them. With all that said, have you looked into the Nitto grail grapplers?
 
It's no secret that I'm a fan of the Toyo Open Country MT's. They wear like iron and take very little weight to balance. They are as quiet as any mud tire I have owned. They have super strong sidewalls...hands down stronger than a BFG. Much more beef to the tire carcass as compared to a BFG or any other tire I've run. I got 50K out of my last set of 35's. I just bought another set a month ago. The two downsides to these tires are their heavy weight and the $400 (ea.) price tag. I liked them enough to buy them twice. At that price that is saying a lot because I'm a cheap ass.
 
roadstr6 said:
It's no secret that I'm a fan of the Toyo Open Country MT's. They wear like iron and take very little weight to balance. They are as quiet as any mud tire I have owned. They have super strong sidewalls...hands down stronger than a BFG. Much more beef to the tire carcass as compared to a BFG or any other tire I've run. I got 50K out of my last set of 35's. I just bought another set a month ago. The two downsides to these tires are their heavy weight and the $400 (ea.) price tag. I liked them enough to buy them twice. At that price that is saying a lot because I'm a cheap ass.
Click to expand...

Toyos are another good option. Nitto is owned by Toyo so you are getting a high quality tire either way. Nittos are just a tad bit cheaper than Toyos. If you plan on getting them from Discount Tire, you can find cheap(er) deals on Ebay and they will price match it for you.
 
I have been pretty impressed with my 33 in Hercules MT John. They get me everywhere so far. Now, if someone dropped 35's in my driveway under a tarp... Who knows? I hear things like that can happen.
 
@JohnVee , if you're unsure about what to buy, why not go with some used tires from someone either on mud or on nc4x4?
 
From what I've learned, tires are a personal preference.

From working and being a manager in the tire industry for a while I would recommend toyo mts, BFG KM2s, MTR's, Firestone destination MT's. They all had good industry ratings (on customer feedback) and from the testing data I saw all wear and perform well. For a MT on a DD they are all fairly good. There are of course better off road options out there like Maxxis and Pitbull to name a few but they wear very fast and don't have the best on road characteristics.

Although if you aren't ever planning on doing anything tough like Daniel or above in it a god set of AT's may be your ticket... or as Johnny suggested you may want to buy a used set of AT's to see if they do tickle your fancy.

Destination AT's or BFGs are pretty good.

Also if you are going 35's.... consider 37's.

It sounds funny but from years in the 80's series section I've seen tons of people sad they got new 35's instead of just going 37's. I don't believe I've ever seen it the other way around.

Military take off's at $175 per tire only help with that (although new wheels will be required)

Don't sweat 37's and stock gears too much..... I did it for years and I had a 3FE not a 1FZ :eek: and yes I was DD it at that time.

I only went 4.88 because I did the ARB's same time and I knew I was going to get a bigger tire eventually.


But for now I would shop the used market so you can try some AT's and see if they are your thing and if not sell them again and get some MTs
 
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Good advise, Al hit the mark well.

Yet, I'd disagree with his assessment on re-gearing... I find the stock gears and my tires "manageable", but barely tolerable. My tire/wheel combo weigh 105lbs each, getting those things moving take a lot of energy. Mostly, freeway on-ramps, merging and maintaining speed at NC highways (70+ mph), cruise control kicks down with a strong headwind, let alone any change in gradient (=freeway overpass).

I'd advise budgeting a future re-gear if you plan on staying with a 35"+ tire. I went through the same issue with my FJC, it wasn't until I regeared that I realized how much I'd lost with the stock gears and staying the the designed powerband of the engine. I'm still driving on stock gears now until I do my axle swap in the coming month, I'll offer a ride/drive so you can do a before/after comparison.
 
We have settled on 35" for Heather's 80. She uses this truck a lot and does not want it " too big" for street use. Right now we are on the fence between AT and MT as well. We are leaning to the new BFG AT with the though of maybe getting a set of MTs just for off road down the line if we think we will need them.
 
Keep the thoughts coming, folks.

AT vs MT is the big question.

35's are the max as long as Sarah has to climb in it; and my gimpy body has occasional issues getting in the thing as it is now.

I'm not against used tires.

I'm already tired of the lack of oomph, so gearing will happen one day after a tire size increase.

I like hearing brand thoughts and reasons. I'll still keep quiet on my thoughts for a while longer.

Thanks, everybody.


...via IH8MUD app
 
I agree with Al that tires are definitely a personal preference. I hardly ever see my Kumhos being wheeled, only 1 or 2 other rigs. I always see them as low profile tires on 20"+ rims being mall crawled. I don't think even they are being ran on any professional offroad racing rigs. However, they are holding up very well for the beating I put on them. I didn't think they were going to be any good offroad. I only got them because I traded a guy my "33s" KM2s about 80% for these brand new. BTW, BFGs run a lot smaller than they are advertised. I still have my kumhos mounted on my old 80 rims if you wanna try them out John.
 
Nobody has mentioned them yet, but for an AT tire, I really like the Toyo Open Country AT2s I have on the 200. I have been quite pleased with their overall performance. I have not had them on clay based mud yet (and I have no doubt they will suck in it) but on every other surface they have been great - sand, grave, wet roads, snow, mud, rock .....
 
Really need to look at the KO2's. Have a really good aggressive look and so far from the reviews performed very well. Had I been able to get the 35"s in a 15" rime I would have them on my 40. Very impressed with the KM2's though.

Also might look at the Duratracks. I've got over 40k on mine on the 80 and at least another 15-20k to go on them. Yet to find something that the tire was the limiting factor. I usually push all my customers to them. So far no complaints.
 
The prevailing tires in KC seemed to be KM2s for rock crawling or also Duratracs for overland and light crawling.
 
Hey John, I will be looking for new shoes shortly. Here is my short list with pros and cons.
  • Goodyear MTR (excellent performance but expensive and unknown treadlife)
  • Nitto Trail Grappler (good treadlife and performance but same price as Gdyr MTR)
  • Toyo Open Country (excellent treadlife and good performance but expensive and heavy)
  • Hankooks Dynapro MT (Cheap! with no complaints on performance but marginal treadlife and disappointing snow performance)
  • Cooper STT (??? Jason has them and they get good reviews but no idea on price or treadlife)
  • BF Goodrich KM2 (good performance and light but expensive with thin sidewalls and marginal treadlife)

Just remember, my Cruiser is not a daily driver.
 
Jonathan,

You brought up a tire that I have been hearing a lot of good things about...the Cooper STT. Supposedly they are great tires for the money. Good looking tire too. The tread pattern is nearly identical to the Toyo Open Country MT. They are about 35% cheaper in price. You don't get quite the tread wear of the Toyo or the bulletproof sidewalls, but they are excellent tires at their price point. When it comes to the bargain mud tires, these appear to be the leader of the pack. John, if you are considering this tire, price it at Tire Country in Pageland on Hwy 601. They deal exclusively in Cooper tires. They have the best prices I've found in our area. I have Coopers (not STT's) on my pickup, my wife's Envoy and my Airstream camper. All came from Pageland. When they quote you a price over the phone, it's an out-the-door price. No hidden bull**** and no surprises. Good folks to deal with (843) 672-6563.
 
I put 15,000 miles on the Cooper STTs I had on my old Jeep JK Unlimited and they are really great tires. If you want something a little less aggressive, look at the ST Max tires. They are also really good tires.
 
I think the Fierce Attitudes come in the size you are looking at. They are technically a MT, but boast some AT characteristics with the tread design and siping...Look like a Duratrac on steroids to me.. A local NC guy was running them in 35" on his Tacoma and had good things to say. Were apparently whisper quiet compared to his replaced MTRs. They went up Daniel dozens of times lol

random find: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/315s-installed-fierce-attitude-m-ts.379139/
 
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