Thanks. I'll probably go for the 275s, and have also been looking at the Firestones.
FWIW.
Over the last 10 tears we have bought and built more than 30 Toyotas. I have ran every tire you can imagine, from BFG, MAxxis, Hankook, Toyo, exc.
Then one day I got the chance to go to a tire training class with Hankook tires.
I do not run Hankook tire any more, for no particular reason. But I did learn something important.
Some tires (including BFG) use a tire compound with a very low silicate percentage in the compound. Instead they are mostly natural rubber. Why does this matter? Glad you asked; If you remember the old BFG ATs you may remember them lasting for ever. You may also remember seeing them crack pretty bad between the tread. The natural rubber is harder, it last longer thus you get more mileage out of them. The trade off is more noise, more cracking and hard rubber that does not grip very well in the rain.
even the BFG KM2 (an awesome tire by every standard) is a compound tire. However the version that is avail to the general public is less than 5% silicate. You will get ALOT of road noise with them as well as poorer traction on wet ground. They do offer a high silicate version of this tire called the "red label" but you have to be special to get them. Same story with the old MTRs.
For the general public the higher silicate tire are found in brands like Cooper, Hankook, and ProComp (made by cooper).
you will get a few thousand less miles, but in return you get a more quite, better grip, and softer tire. Interco makes a tire called the Irok, it is also I high silicate tire, but it is VERY high and does not last long on the road.
if you have questions or want more details, please feel free to PM me. I am not trying to hijack your thread, and if I keep going on about how to find out what compound you want it will do just that.
