Well, my offroading this weekend finally trashed the tires that were on my '99 SR5 when I bought it in January. I knew it would happen sooner or later, as they were wussy street tires and definitely not up to the rocks and cactus of Southern AZ. There are big chunks of tread missing all over the place. Time for new tires.

My vehicle takes P265/70/R16's, so the Nitto TerraGrapplers are out. I want a full-sized spare and don't have a lift, so upsizing seems out.

Revos are an option, but seem expensive overall, and I live in Southern AZ, land of the permanent sun, so the wet pavement functionality is far less important to me. I don't really know if they're worth the money.

My friendly neighborhood tire store (who's also my mechanic, and I've had a good relationship with them for a couple of years now) has recommended the Maxxis MA-761's. The six-ply version apparently has a significantly sturdier sidewall which should add a bit of peace of mind for me given the terrain and plants around here.

Anyone have any experience with these tires?

Thanks!

you can upsize to a 265/75/16 on a 99 4runner. 6 ply is WAY too many for a DD. if you must, get some super swampers, but i have punished my BFG MTs all over rocks and the 3ply has held just fine, no chunks missing. dont have any experience with those tires, but you should know that you CAN go to a 75 aspect ratio... i would recomend the mud terrains if you want a sturdy tire, if you need more then go with a swamper with up to 11 plys

six ply...do you mean Load Range C?? Load Range C used to mean 6-ply tread. If so, then it should be OK for your 4runner.

I would recommend either BFG AT KO or Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor, both comes in your stock size. I prefer BFG AT KO. Both are expensive...so beware.

yeah, I have to assume that's what he meant. I'm not really all that into spending super big bucks on a set of tires at this point, if I can avoid it all.

My 4Runner gets used for weekend climbing, mtn biking, and hiking trips, which around here means there's bound to be some off-road involved. But I'm definitely not heading out looking to see how stuck I can get. :-)

I don't really see the point in getting mud tires. The chances of this vehicle touching mud more than once a year are pretty much nil.

What's DD?

Thanks all for your responses. I really appreciate it!

DD = daily driver.

I would recommend you stop by your local tire shop. They can give you more info on the cheaper tires.

Yeah, I did that (as mentioned in the first post :-). He suggested the Maxxis tires as a good compromise. I guess they're kind of new, tho, so nobody's familiar with them?

Oops, sorry. I need to go back to Hook-on-phonics!

For everyone else, here is the official info on the tire mentioned above:

http://www.maxxis.com/products/autom...ail.asp?id=246

It looks very similar to Bridgestone Dueler AT (non-REVO). It sounds decent on paper. Remember, the 3-ply sidewall ONLY applies to Load Range D & E. So, in YOUR stock size, the sidewall is only 2-ply (like most passenger tires).

I have not heard of this brand of tire...although that may not mean much. Is COOPER tire available at your local tire stores?? I would trust Cooper over Maxxis.

Cooper: http://coopertires.com/Flash/index.aspx

Cooper makes several tires in your stock size. They are fairly reasonably priced.

Yep. these are the ones I'm looking at. They still come out a decent savings over the Revo's, which are jsut passenger vehicle rating. My concerns out here are much more sharp rocks and sharper plants than anything else...

Grip is rarely a problem, as evidenced by the fact that I made it up some pretty gnarly (to me) stuff on those street tires.

You're out of luck unfortunately. If you are scared of sharp rocks, then there are only a few all-terrain tires (BFG AT KO, Goodyear SilentArmor) out there that have a thicker sidewall on all their sizes. Notice that Maxxis tires only have 3-ply sidewall on their heavy duty tire sizes.

Good luck in finding a solution. It looks like you may have to spend some $$$$ for a good solution to sharp rocks.

Yeah, I realize that without shelling out some big bucks, I won't be able to get something totally impervious. And even then, probably not really. That's life, I suppose. I'd just like to not totally rip up the tires right away if it can be avoided. Hopefully these'll add a little bit more peace of mind on that at least.

I appreciate all the info. Thanks!

From my experience, I have had BFG AT KO over some sharp rocks (see my videos and off-road photos)...and i am amazed by it's sidewall strength. You will notice this most when you air-down to 20 psi...then you will really appreciate the strong sidewall. Over the past few months, i was really interested in the Goodyear SilentArmor. However, after comparing sidewalls, BFG is clearly the stronger of the two. Now, don't get me wrong, Goodyear SilentArmor's sidewall is stronger than Bridgestone REVOs so it's still a durable tire.

Think of it this way...if you buy a cheap tire, then you may spend more in the end because you will need to replace/fix it frequently. You may spend more now on BFG, but it will last a long time. Pay now or pay later...your choice.