Hi folks,
Yet another tire question. You've been warned.

Gonna lean on the collective wisdom of this forum. Been browsing old threads but still wanna get some feedback.

Looking at new tires. Running 265/70 R17 currently and staying with that size. But contemplating the jump from an AT to a MT. Probably the Dick Cepek Extreme Country if I go that route.
EXTREME COUNTRY | DICK CEPEK TIRES AND WHEELS

If I stay with an AT I'm looking at the Goodyear UltraTerrain (ok, and maybe BFG's) Goodyear Wrangler Ultra Terrain AT - Exclusive Special | America's Tire

I love the look of the Cepek, have seen some positive reviews, and pricing is good given the current rebates being offered. ($175 from Jegs after rebate, free shipping) It also comes it at 50lbs which for an E load MT appears good. (E is the only option) For comparison, the UltraTerrain is 44lbs in SL and a BFG KO2 in C load is 46lbs.

These tires will see occasional off-road use but the 4Runner is my daily driver. Mostly gonna see a low speed in-town commute. Drive about 10K a year. However, do make a couple trips a year to AL, five hours each way. And a few to GA as well, three hours each way. Live in FL so no snow or ice, but plenty of wet roads from rain.

So my questions:

For those who have gone to a higher load rating, particularly from an SL but even C to an E load, does on-road ride quality degrade to the point of it being a nuisance? (Assuming tire pressure is set correctly. I'll chalk test them).

Is the noise increase from an AT to a MT at 70MPH enough that after 5 hours on the interstate I'm gonna want to be sedated? I realize every MT is different, but I'm thinking the less radical end of the spectrum here, these aren't TSL boggers.

MTs in the rain? Again, I realize MTs vary but I'm I'm hoping for some general impressions.

I also realize the increased rolling resistance and rotational mass will effect MPG/braking/acceleration to some extent. Can only make guesses based on what others have seen when they switched.

Feedback appreciated!

I went from AT to MT then back to AT. I hated the MT’s. For the terrain I hit here in Southern California, the traction advantage really wasn’t there and the drive to and from the trails was miserable. Much more road noise and a rougher ride. Going back to AT’s made my 4Runner tolerable again.
And while I didn’t hit much rain with the MT’s, their snow performance was terrible (so I assume any wet weather) while the KO2’s are great in both rain and snow.
I’m sure I’ll get flamed for these opinions and your experience may vary but that’s mine...


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>"For those who have gone to a higher load rating, particularly from an SL but even C to an E load,
does on-road ride quality degrade to the point of it being a nuisance? "

Tire contact with the terrain is the first part of your suspension. Stiffer tire usually equals more vibration and less contact with the ground.
If you're not running in nasty 'tear-up-tire-terrain' or rock crawling (like Death Valley, Black Rock Desert yada) you
probably won't need the stiffer rated tires.

Mud terrains... most always produce ear-grinding noise... (You may need to be sedated.)
MT's are pretty useless until you are going in deep mud.

IMHO: Just pick an AT with a bit of open tread.

On my last GMC I made the switch to an MT and hated it for the most part. The low speed vibrations and noise were not worth it to me. These were the Cooper STT Pros that were reviewed as quieter then most MTs.

Now yesterday I just installed a set of the Goodyear Duratracs 285s on my 4Runner and so far I love them. Very aggressive look for a "hybrid" tire but ride and sound like a regular AT. They are much quieter then my 41K mile stock Nittos and ride really good for a D Load LT tire. GY wasn't my first choice but couldn't pass up the deal. Glad I didn't now. I posted some pics at the end of my 6112 lift post over on the 5th Gen forum if you are interested.

For me - I have two sets of wheels/tires, one for highway/daily driver duty and one set for offroad trips. My offroad set are Cooper AT3s. I chose them on purpose because I didn't want to deal with the noise of MTs on long highway trips. Even when they're not my normal wheel/tire combo. So I'm very much in the same boat as you. I've never owned MT tires that were quiet as they wore down. Often they're reasonably quiet new, but after a few thousand miles they get considerably noisier. When I lived in Montana I always ran MT tires. The typical terrain was full of mud, wet logs, soft gravely rocks, and loose dirt. So the MT tires were pretty useful. On my FJ40 I have TSLs that work very well in that type of terrain. Now that I live in the southwest - I have no need for MT tires and the rare cases where they might be a benefit aren't enough to offset the highway mile discomfort to me.

good luck

I love my BFG KO2's. They make no road noise but get me through NC snow and muddy mountain roads with no problem.

Moving this tire thread to the Wheels and Tires section.

Thank you to everyone who has weighed in. Appreciate the insight!