Too many tire options, need some real world feedback and ideas. (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

94 Triple locked, 5.29's, etc. Currently has 255/85/16's that do ok, but looking for more. I had set of 35/12.50/16 BFG KM3's that I disliked in the snow and ice.
View attachment 2339275I drive it a lot during hunting season here in Montana, and occasionally it gets pretty deep. Steep mountains and slick roads when its crappy out, and long drives on beat/crappy dirt roads at high speeds the rest of the year. I also have to drive 35 miles one way on the highway quite often just to get to the dirt roads to get up into the hunting areas. I cleared the 35's easily, and with 5.29 gears I'm not afraid to go up to a 37.
I've owned several sets of Swampers on various rigs, and feel like they would not do well on icy roads, or the highway. I know different rigs do better with different tires, I had the exact same size Toyo's on a lifted/locked/geared Cherokee and they were unstoppable, but not so much on the cruiser!
I really like my Super Swamper trXus radials. These tires do well for what you mentioned and don’t make horrible noise on black top. The first half of their life they are amazing. I’ve run them on most terrain ; deep sand, snow, ice, rocks, gravel, mud but really kick ass in snow when aired down. I recently grooved and siped them by hand because they are worn down to the point the factory siping was about gone. They stick quite well still but not as good as new, no tire does. Also worth mentioning, as you probably know, Interco tires are tough as nails.
 
I'm a big fan of the Cooper S/T Maxx. They are a relatively aggressive AT so they work well on pavement, wet and dry. I'm in Texas so no opportunity to test them on snow but they are very well siped. I'm on my 5th set; 285/70-17 (33" x2), 285/75-17 (34"), 35x12.5-17 and 315/75-16 (35"). They are E rated, so if you are not looking for a stiff sidewall this is not the tire for you. However, they are smooth and relatively quiet on the pavement and tough as nails on the trails.
 
I've had three sets of tires on my Cruiser:
Hankook Dynpro MT - The dynapros had descent grip but were hard riding for a C-rated tire. Offroad they didn't have the best grip and expansion joints in the road were a hard hit to the vehicle. I didn't have chipping or chunking issues but all four tires developed strange uneven wear across the treads. Would not recommend.

Cooper STT Pro - This is a true MT that's much softer riding than the dynapro even though they are E-rated. The STT Pros were incredibly quiet for several thousand miles and really clawed at the offroad terrain with amazing grip. The clawing action became a problem at the beach and would often dig holes quickly even when aired down. The Coopers developed cupping which caused a dramatic increase in noise and a decrease in ride smoothness. This was mainly my fault since I didn't rotate them regularly. Driving slowly on asphalt was the worse with a rhythmic noise like tank tracks. I sold them for $400 with 12/32nds still left.

Cooper ST Maxx - This is an older design with an AT carcass with MT lugs. It's softer and quieter than the Cooper STT Pro. Offroad the Maxx feels smooth and effortless but still has tenacious grip. I'm loving the road manners for now but we will see after 10K miles. We didn't get any snow this year but I imagine the ST Maxx would do better than the Pros and I'm hoping to take them to the beach soon for some R and R. These tires will be rotated in a clockwise fashion every 5K miles.

I wouldn't hesitate to get the ST Maxx again.
 
I've had three sets of tires on my Cruiser:
Hankook Dynpro MT - The dynapros had descent grip but were hard riding for a C-rated tire. Offroad they didn't have the best grip and expansion joints in the road were a hard hit to the vehicle. I didn't have chipping or chunking issues but all four tires developed strange uneven wear across the treads. Would not recommend.

Cooper STT Pro - This is a true MT that's much softer riding than the dynapro even though they are E-rated. The STT Pros were incredibly quiet for several thousand miles and really clawed at the offroad terrain with amazing grip. The clawing action became a problem at the beach and would often dig holes quickly even when aired down. The Coopers developed cupping which caused a dramatic increase in noise and a decrease in ride smoothness. This was mainly my fault since I didn't rotate them regularly. Driving slowly on asphalt was the worse with a rhythmic noise like tank tracks. I sold them for $400 with 12/32nds still left.

Cooper ST Maxx - This is an older design with an AT carcass with MT lugs. It's softer and quieter than the Cooper STT Pro. Offroad the Maxx feels smooth and effortless but still has tenacious grip. I'm loving the road manners for now but we will see after 10K miles. We didn't get any snow this year but I imagine the ST Maxx would do better than the Pros and I'm hoping to take them to the beach soon for some R and R. These tires will be rotated in a clockwise fashion every 5K miles.

I wouldn't hesitate to get the ST Maxx again.
Had a set of ST Maxx before and agree with everything you said. Truly a solid tire, would run again. Currently have MTRs and they are probably the best tire I've ever had off road (in my limited experience) but aren't great on road and are really hard to balance. Will likely go back to some sort of AT once these wear out.
 
Falken AT3W. Had excellent performance in every kind of conditions...especially snow (Minnesota here) and traveling to all parts west. They wear extremely well, stay quiet throughout their life and overall just a great tire. 285/75/16 They are the stock tire on the Gladiator but don't hate them just because of that ...haha
 
Nitto trail grapplers without a doubt the best tyre i have ever had.
 
My bfg mt's and nitto mud grapplers were both horrible in the snow and ice. My current set of tires are toyo open country rt's and I am very impressed. They have performed extremely well in the ice, snow, sand, highway, and even mud. For straight rock crawling they might not be the best but they also performed really well on sharp loose rocky mountain roads. I use my rig for a lot of hunting and scouting and I feel like they were the perfect tire.
 
Cooper S/T Maxx have been outstanding on my 80 series.

Haven't had them in snow but I can't imagine they would do poorly.

Excellent all around AT tire IMO.




cooper-discoverer-st-maxx.jpg
Cooper1.jpg
Cooper 6K.jpg
 
Another win for Cooper ST Maxx at the beach today. A wide range of vehicles were getting stuck in deep loose sand. As the sand dried out, conditions got worse. I helped 5 vehicles get out of deep sand while aired down and running everything from highway tires to Nitto Trail Grapplers. When it was my time to pack up and head home, I drove out with little effort and no wheel spin. The combination of AT tire, 35" size, 16" wheel, and aired down to 18psi gave me an advantage over the rest. The STT Pro when aired down doesn't present as large of a foot print at the ST Maxx due to stiff sidewalls and would have dug itself straight down with little throttle in similar conditions.

fort_fisher.jpg
 
My choices;
BFG KO & KM2's
Falken Wildpeaks
Toyo M/T's
Yokohama Geolander
Nitto who makes a 11.50 wide for a 17" wheel.

And 529's? Why? That is easily 40" rubber gears.

Cheers
 
My choices;
BFG KO & KM2's
Falken Wildpeaks
Toyo M/T's
Yokohama Geolander
Nitto who makes a 11.50 wide for a 17" wheel.

And 529's? Why? That is easily 40" rubber gears.

Cheers
5.29's were in it when I got it. It had been running 37's as a mostly mountain rig. I have been considering going back to stock gearing, especially with the Ls swap thats planned, and also going to ARB lockers. Which means I would probably sell whats in it currently if I could find stock replacements.
I will more than likely end up with Toyo M/T's, I've probably owned 15 sets over the last 10 years and besides being a little noisy they have been good to me
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom