Anybody have significant mileage with these in snow yet? I actually ran Nitto Exo Grapplers on my JKU in 285/70/17 due to the mountain snow flake rating and found them to be a killer tire for snow use (and pretty good for offroad usage in the Southwest since they were so burly for cut protection). This was after running through a set of Trail Grapplers that were great tires, but definitely a bit of a compromise for highway driving (which I do more of than I wish).
I'm thinking about sticking with Nitto when I pull my stock Bridgestones off in a week or two, but am very tempted by the Falken AT3W given the mountain snowflake rating and the super competitive price...
I make several trips a year into the mountains for ski trips. Not worth having a dedicated snow tire living in AZ, but still like having something that'll be pretty decent in gnarly road conditions.
Craig,
Apologize in advance for the long post.
I have direct experience with all of the Nitto tires you listed above in 285/70-17 size. Variety of conditions including 5 trips to FJ Summit in Ouray, Mexico, all conditions in AZ, and more.
Trail Grappler: Ran on FJ Cruiser for several years. Load Range E only
(*corrected - Now available in C and E*). Noisy after about 10K miles. Excellent dry performance and on gravel over hard pack. Excellent in mud and soft conditions. Very good in soft sand (Mexico) while aired down. Ok in wet conditions - wet pavement and snow. I siped mine and the wet performance improved.
Exo Grappler: Currently on FJ Cruiser. Load Range E only. Noisy after about 10K miles. Excellent dry performance and on gravel over hard pack. Excellent in snow, wet, and soft conditions. Very good in soft sand (Mexico) while aired down. OK in mud - pack quickly, which is to be expected. Nitto now markets this as a "Commercial Traction" tire - think Oil Field service, Chase Trucks, Border Patrol, etc.
Ridge Grappler: Currently on 4Runner. Available in Load Range E and C. Excellent dry performance and on gravel over hard pack. Very good in snow, wet, and soft conditions. No experience in soft sand yet. Super quiet - more so than most "All-Terrain Tires"!
Biggest advantage of Nitto products is their uniformity. Their quality control is first class and their products mount, balance, and ride well consistently.
My suggestion: Ridge Grappler in LR C.
Source: Tire Industry Professional