NOISY OFF ROAD TIRES! Let me know your experience.

[Benski]

I live on the Delaware shore and there are a lot of 4 wheel drive vehicles around here mostly for beach driving and some trucks to get around the many farms around the area. I walk, bike and drive a lot with my windows down because it's Summer. I like the look of big aggressive tires like everyone else, but I can't believe how loud some off road tires are! A Jeep rode next to me yesterday and all I heard was his Goodyear Wrangler tires. I had to turn my radio up to hear it, and I rock pretty good! I just mounted some new BFG KO2s and a long drive down the beach highway. They ride smooth, stable and quiet. I'm not saying noisy tires are bad. They are probably awesome off road. I'd like to know what experience you people have had with loud tires. Thanks!

 

[mnofpeace]

I have a nice 'whine' while driving at mid level speeds, 35-55mph. its not too bad, but much more noticeable than the stock tires that they replaced. I can live with it.

Im not running huge mud tires, like some jeeps and T4Rs i have seen...they do seem to make alot of noise...but hey, you know why you want them, so you take the good with the bad i would think.

 

[fourwd1]

Moving to wheels and tires section.

 

[wadle5]

Usually depends not just on which tire, but also how much tread they do or don't have left on the tire. Also feathering and cupping generates noise because as the tread surface is no longer smooth.

 

[Airmapper]

I've found that if my Duratrac's are howling I put off rotating them too long.

 

[Inv4drZm]

Add some sound deadener, a loud exhaust, and crank up the music. You won't even be able to hear the tires.

 

[Nashvillerunner]

I just put on a set of Falken Wildpeak MT01 mud tires. They drive smooth and have quite a bit of a hum to them but it isn't bad at all. My previous tire was the GY Duratrac and they were a lot less quiet when I first purchased them then as the more miles I drove the louder they were. I opted for a true mud tire since the vehicle isn't driven as much and I frequent the North Georgia Mountains for trail riding and camping.

 

[RAD4Runner]

... Also feathering and cupping generates noise because as the tread surface is no longer smooth.

I've found that if my Duratrac's are howling I put off rotating them too long.

Exactly same happened with my Duratracs. Waiting for them to wear out, and will replace with 31's (235/75-15's now), that will put more rubber between road and truck, and promise to rotate and balance more religiously

 

[RonJR]

The KO2's are whisper quiet-as good as any straight passenger tire I've ever run. I couldn't believe the change from previous versions of the BFG KO's. People who ride in my truck express their surprise that it is so quiet given the aggressive look of the tire.

 

[N55_6MT]

I bought a '05 recently, and it came with Wrangler Duratracs that were in pretty good shape but holy hell did they hum. Because the truck was new to me, I just couldn't shake the thought that there was something wrong with the wheel bearings or differentials even though I was almost certain that I was just hearing the tires. I ended up finding a good deal on a set of '11 SR5 take off wheels that came with some Duelers that had maybe half their life left. Installed them and was able to enjoy the silence on a small road trip with the wife and doggos. All my other vehicles that have had aggressive tires on them were not exactly quiet vehicles so I guess that I just never noticed.

 

[gdvan01]

I have a nice 'whine' while driving at mid level speeds, 35-55mph. its not too bad, but much more noticeable than the stock tires that they replaced. I can live with it.

Im not running huge mud tires, like some jeeps and T4Rs i have seen...they do seem to make alot of noise...but hey, you know why you want them, so you take the good with the bad i would think.

How do you like the Coopers?

 

[mnofpeace]

How do you like the Coopers?

They have been good to me so far. they arent the most robust AT out there, but i didnt need that for what i do with my T4R. I do about 3 'trips' a year where i need their off-rd abilites. Usually something daily, or a week where i go fall foliage watching. Then plenty of snow driving from Wash DC up to Ct. And then a few road trips a year, all pavement. Add to that my summers spent pulling a bike trailer to various racetracks on the east coast. The tires are very comfortable on-road, and handle all of the bad pavement of the wash DC area, and there's alot of that. Im about a year into ownership, and with regular rotation, they are wearing very well. I hope to get about 50-60K miles out of them. For a Pep Boys variant of the Cooper AT3, I am very pleased so far.

 

[Golfcart]

I have a set of Falken Wildpeak AT3 on mine and like it. obviously a little more noise than a highway tire, but after a minute or two when i first put them on, i forgot about the noise.

Would recommend em

 

[nevada]

I live on the Delaware shore and there are a lot of 4 wheel drive vehicles around here mostly for beach driving and some trucks to get around the many farms around the area. I walk, bike and drive a lot with my windows down because it's Summer. I like the look of big aggressive tires like everyone else, but I can't believe how loud some off road tires are! A Jeep rode next to me yesterday and all I heard was his Goodyear Wrangler tires. I had to turn my radio up to hear it, and I rock pretty good! I just mounted some new BFG KO2s and a long drive down the beach highway. They ride smooth, stable and quiet. I'm not saying noisy tires are bad. They are probably awesome off road. I'd like to know what experience you people have had with loud tires. Thanks!

the KOs are an excellent choice, and as you discovered, run nice and quiet.

the heavy lug mud tires will by default be louder. but usually what happens is a lack of tire rotations. once the tread gets uneven wear, they will get VERY loud. instead of rolling onto the pavement, its as if each treads smacks it. the bigger the lugs, the more often you'll need to rotate.

 

[SlimmyJimmy]

My Kumho's sure like to sing ound:

 

[xj4play]

Ive ran a ton of different tires, recently am on procomp A/T sports and their xmt2 tires. Both quiet and was very surprised on the mt's low noise level and good mileage. Last set were the xmt gen 1 and got over 50k out of them. Most of the new tires are pretty quiet from BFG , procomp, toyo and cooper. some get noisier when worn such as my old bfg mt's ( before KO).

 

[kcdehart]

My General Grabber AT2s are pretty quiet. I get maybe a little hum at low speeds when my windows are down, but it quickly gets drowned out by wind noise as I speed up. With the windows up they're really quiet.

 

[Th3B3an]

My tires aren't huge or anything, but I've got 31/10.5/r15's Goodyear wranglers. They are fairly knobby. I first got a set of these tires for my 94 Cherokee 4x4 (it was my very first car) I was pleasently surprised with how "quiet" they were. Definitely not silent, but I was really expect that loud roar that knobby tires have. Especially at highway speeds. Here I am years later, and I picked up a other set of them for my bucket runner. For a knobby tire that's quite capable off road. The on road deiveability is nothing short of amazing in my opinion.

 

[TRD/OR]

Going to run cooper STT’s again when factory
Tires go. They are very quiet for being as aggresive as they are.

 

[BackOff]

I have had quite a few mudders over the years.

These 285 Kenda Klevers have to be the loudest tire yet.
Vibrates the whole T4R at low speeds.
Deer/animals go running at the sound.

They really hook up...