sorry, but yes: another tire thread

[Nashvillerunner]

This Fierce Attitude MT looks like they have flowers on the side walls. Could it be a girl's tire?

Yeah I am not a huge fan of the barbed wire stuff but they have had great reviews and I could overlook that for a great tire if it performed well.

 

[Speedy Gomez]

I could overlook that for a great tire if it performed well.

Yeah, you're right.

 

[Speedy Gomez]

how many miles you got on them?

They are not mine, but my friend has them on his 2013 Pre-Runner, and he loves them! He's had them for 6 months already.

 

[AZ4runner08]

I am in the exact same boat. I am actually getting ready to buy tires as well, and I am stuck between the Duratracs and the BF AT's. I live in Phoenix as well and had a set of the Duratracs on my 2000 4runner and they were awesome. By far the best off road tire I have ever owned. They were great off road, pretty quit on the pavement and I did not have any wearing issue what so ever. In fact when I traded that truck in I had 52,000 miles of them and there was still plenty of tread left. Some folks may have wear issues, but you have to ask a few things. Did they just lift the truck and\or do an alignment? Usually when tires wear in a bad way, its usually the truck itself or the lack of tire rotations. If you do not rotate those Duratracs faithfully, then you will have wearing issues as with any other tire. I just replaced the suspension on my truck and I am currently running the stock 265/65/17's and will most likely move up to a 265/70/17. I know I can go with a 285/70/17 but I think it will be pretty tight and I don't want to have to do a bunch of trimming. I just put new FJ Springs in the rear, and replaced all 4 shocks with the truck leveled up in the front. Actually about a 1/2 higher in the rear but it will most likely settle. So as far as tires, I really love how the BF AT's look, but really like how the Duratrac's ride. The Duratracs are a good looking tire as well, but really love the look of the BF AT's. So I will most likely stick with the Wranglers as I had really good luck with them. Here is a pic on how my truck sits today, will do tires within next few weeks so let me know what you decide to do. But I give the Duratracs a thumbs up...

 

[AZ4runner08]

Yeah I am not a huge fan of the barbed wire stuff but they have had great reviews and I could overlook that for a great tire if it performed well.

See another great tire ruined with the funky sidewall design. That is one thing that I am not totally crazy about the Duratracs, and why I really like the BF AT's. They just have that really nice look to them but the Duratracs tread design is really hard to beat. These tires would be sweet if it wasn't for that stupid sidewall design....thanks for sharing.

 

[AZ4runner08]

Here is my 2000 with the Duratracs, man I really miss this truck. Bullet proof and it was pretty solid off road after adding these tires. Will be buying one of these 3rd generations in the next year for when my kid turns 16. Want to do some fabricated bumpers so if he gets hit he was some serious steel on his side.

 

[ddnww]

I am in the exact same boat. I am actually getting ready to buy tires as well, and I am stuck between the Duratracs and the BF AT's. I live in Phoenix as well and had a set of the Duratracs on my 2000 4runner and they were awesome. By far the best off road tire I have ever owned. They were great off road, pretty quit on the pavement and I did not have any wearing issue what so ever. In fact when I traded that truck in I had 52,000 miles of them and there was still plenty of tread left. Some folks may have wear issues, but you have to ask a few things. Did they just lift the truck and\or do an alignment? Usually when tires wear in a bad way, its usually the truck itself or the lack of tire rotations. If you do not rotate those Duratracs faithfully, then you will have wearing issues as with any other tire. I just replaced the suspension on my truck and I am currently running the stock 265/65/17's and will most likely move up to a 265/70/17. I know I can go with a 285/70/17 but I think it will be pretty tight and I don't want to have to do a bunch of trimming. I just put new FJ Springs in the rear, and replaced all 4 shocks with the truck leveled up in the front. Actually about a 1/2 higher in the rear but it will most likely settle. So as far as tires, I really love how the BF AT's look, but really like how the Duratrac's ride. The Duratracs are a good looking tire as well, but really love the look of the BF AT's. So I will most likely stick with the Wranglers as I had really good luck with them. Here is a pic on how my truck sits today, will do tires within next few weeks so let me know what you decide to do. But I give the Duratracs a thumbs up...

Thanks for your input, good local info. At the moment I'm leaning toward the dynapro Mt, my local discount tire quoted me 1500 for some mb tko 17s and some dynapro 285s otd. That may change over the next week though.lol.

 

[JustSomeName]

i think ive narrowed it down to

goodyear duratrac
bfg km2
hercules trail digger mt
hankook dynapro mt


i do mostly highway.. want good tread life, decent mpg,
do lots of wheelin . sand, lots of steep hills,some mud and some snow

and just want that aggresive 4x4 look.

why the duratracs over the wrangler kevlars? from my research, the kevlars are rated much higher for the road and for mud, theyre more readily available, and they look more aggressive!

 

[ddnww]

why the duratracs over the wrangler kevlars? from my research, the kevlars are rated much higher for the road and for mud, theyre more readily available, and they look more aggressive!

Really,I didn't know that,I didn't really consider them because they're
A little more pricey, the duratrac is as much as I can spend.I will read up on the kevlar.thanks

 

[AZ4runner08]

Just got an email from Discount and they have some rebate sale going on over the weekend. I am going to call tomorrow but it looks like up to $185 rebate. Will let you know what I find out. Why discount? Well I just happen to have a credit card through them and it is interest free for 6-12 months depending on the total price. I opened it a few years back to rebuild my credit. And it worked to, just bought a house at 3.25% 6 months back. Not bad being 2.5 years out of BK...

 

[Speedy Gomez]

Hmmm.. They look ok. :snacker:

 

[crashman]

Just got an email from Discount and they have some rebate sale going on over the weekend. I am going to call tomorrow but it looks like up to $185 rebate. Will let you know what I find out. Why discount? Well I just happen to have a credit card through them and it is interest free for 6-12 months depending on the total price. I opened it a few years back to rebuild my credit. And it worked to, just bought a house at 3.25% 6 months back. Not bad being 2.5 years out of BK...

I got the same email the $185 is all there rebates added up but you can't get all of them still it's like 75 back

 

[cgv69]

JustSomeName - nice post but I have to admit, I'm not following your logic?

as you know, not all tires are made the same, some are better at certain terrains than others, so you really have to figure out what terrain suits your driving habits best. I daily drive my car and it stays on concret 90% of the time so having good on road performance was my number 1 priority. Followed my tread life, price, and of course all the other terrains, I ranked myself from most to least important: Snow, Trail/Dirt, Sand, Mud, Rocks.

Having said that, I dwindled down my choices to:
GoodYear Wrangler Kevlar MTR
Hankook DynaPro MT
BFGoodrich T/A Mud Terrain KM2
Nitto Trail Grapplers MT
Toyo Open Country MT

Based on what you listed as your personal criteria, I can't understand why you were looking at mud tires? Generally speaking, an AT tire will have better road manners, longer thread life, lower cost, better gas mileage and do better in snow. They may not look as cool as a mud tire but I didn't see "looks" listed in your criteria?

Not trying to give you a hard time or call you out, I'm just not following the logic?

 

[JustSomeName]

JustSomeName - nice post but I have to admit, I'm not following your logic?

Based on what you listed as your personal criteria, I can't understand why you were looking at mud tires? Generally speaking, an AT tire will have better road manners, longer thread life, lower cost, better gas mileage and do better in snow. They may not look as cool as a mud tire but I didn't see "looks" listed in your criteria?

Not trying to give you a hard time or call you out, I'm just not following the logic?

yeah, a buddy of mine asked that same thing. So with my ATs, I was able to do a lot with them, trails, sand, snow, rocks, etc, etc. but the one thing that I always avoided was mud. i went into it a few times and I got stuck every single time. The ATs just ate up all the mud and wouldnt want to spit it back out, turning the tires into slicks. I had to get pulled out everytime. After a few times, seeing mud just worried me, I didn't want to get stuck and have to ask my friend to pull me out, so I would just drive around it and go elsewhere. The ATs were great in all types of conditions but almost impossible in the mud.

Having said that, I felt a need to get some MTs so that I can finally play in the mud! So instead of being very good at street/snow/sand but terrible in mud, I gave up a little traction from the street/snow/sand just so I can have a better chance in the mud. The MTs would make me average in all types of conditions, but at least I'll be able to hit the mud!

 

[CrimsonCountry]

Not to add anymore fuel to the fire or make you doubt your final selections so far, but I loved the Cooper STTs. I ran them in 285/70/17s. They were great on the highway, relatively quite, fairly light (by comparison at 58lbs) and have an attractive tread pattern (much like the Toyo MT). MPG-wise, I probably got around 16.5-17.5 MPG with the STTs...only 1-1.5 MPG better than with the 285 AT IIs. The were great in the mud and I felt the sidewalls held up to some very sharp rocks. However, I only truly tested them a handful of times so YMMV.

Having said that, there's no exact science beyond the common-sense decisions, AT=mostly Highway or MT=mostly off road, when choosing tires. 10 different people will probably give you 10 different "best" tires. Honestly, I did a ton of research and spent way too much time on the decision IMO. I am extremely (ie..overly) analytical and kept changing my mind so I just said screw it one day and went with my top choice at the time. Currently, I run the AT II, but the switch had nothing to do with the STT in particular. It was more based on MTs in general, me driving more miles each week and, unfortunately, less off road time. Who knows, my next tire may be another MT. :bounce:

 

[JustSomeName]

Not to add anymore fuel to the fire or make you doubt your final selections so far, but I loved the Cooper STTs. I ran them in 285/70/17s. They were great on the highway, relatively quite, fairly light (by comparison at 58lbs) and have an attractive tread pattern (much like the Toyo MT). MPG-wise, I probably got around 16.5-17.5 MPG with the STTs...only 1-1.5 MPG better than with the 285 AT IIs. The were great in the mud and I felt the sidewalls held up to some very sharp rocks. However, I only truly tested them a handful of times so YMMV.

Having said that, there's no exact science beyond the common-sense decisions, AT=mostly Highway or MT=mostly off road, when choosing tires. 10 different people will probably give you 10 different "best" tires. Honestly, I did a ton of research and spent way too much time on the decision IMO. I am extremely (ie..overly) analytical and kept changing my mind so I just said screw it one day and went with my top choice at the time. Currently, I run the AT II, but the switch had nothing to do with the STT in particular. It was more based on MTs in general, me driving more miles each week and, unfortunately, less off road time. Who knows, my next tire may be another MT. :bounce:

I second this. I'm very happy with my personal decision, but as Crimson said, everyone's going to give you different answers. Everyone's gonna say that their choice was the best choice, but if you think about it, most people haven't ever even used the other tire choices they discuss. They just give positive reviews of the ones they used, but without having used the other tires, there really isn't any relativity or a way to benchmark between their comparisons. it's really more like "x is better than y, through my research", but most of the times, Y wasn't ever even used by them, they just think X is better because that's the one they got themselves.

Bottom line, do your research and pick a tire you want with an educated guess. Like I said before, there really isn't a "bad choice" if you're choosing from all name brand tires.

 

[cgv69]

I do agree most AT's suck in the mud but you did list mud pretty low on the list.

Either way, if you are happy with the decision, that's all that matters! :cheers:

 

[JustSomeName]

I do agree most AT's suck in the mud but you did list mud pretty low on the list.

Either way, if you are happy with the decision, that's all that matters! :cheers:

yes, I did rank mud pretty low on my priority list, but I may have ranked it low cause I never had the chance to go in it! I hated admitting that my car wasn't "capable" in the mud, I want my car capable in all conditions, and I wouldn't mind losing a bit of grip on street/snow/sand/trails just so I can have grip in the mud, something I currently don't have any grip in .

Plus I got a size bigger to make the car taller. (Body lift coming soon too!)

Plus the MTs look way more aggressive!

 

[AZ4runner08]

Any thoughts on the Cooper Discovery ATP's? They would be over $350 less for the set then the Duratracs, and the guy at discount tire spoke highly of them. He did say they are not as of aggressive tread then the duratracs, but otherwise he said they are an excellent tire on the pavement. With Discount's rebate, the mail in rebate for the Duratracs would be a total of $125 and $100 for the Cooper Discoveries. He pretty much talked me out of the BR AT's. So the price they gave me for the Duratrac's without the certs would be $1096 (With the mail in rebate of $125), and the Coopers without the certs for $739 (With the mail in rebate of $100). These rebates are good from Friday - Sunday, he wasn't sure if it extended to Monday or not. What to do, what to do.. :help:

 

[ddnww]

Not to add anymore fuel to the fire or make you doubt your final selections so far, but I loved the Cooper STTs. I ran them in 285/70/17s. They were great on the highway, relatively quite, fairly light (by comparison at 58lbs) and have an attractive tread pattern (much like the Toyo MT). MPG-wise, I probably got around 16.5-17.5 MPG with the STTs...only 1-1.5 MPG better than with the 285 AT IIs. The were great in the mud and I felt the sidewalls held up to some very sharp rocks. However, I only truly tested them a handful of times so YMMV.

Having said that, there's no exact science beyond the common-sense decisions, AT=mostly Highway or MT=mostly off road, when choosing tires. 10 different people will probably give you 10 different "best" tires. Honestly, I did a ton of research and spent way too much time on the decision IMO. I am extremely (ie..overly) analytical and kept changing my mind so I just said screw it one day and went with my top choice at the time. Currently, I run the AT II, but the switch had nothing to do with the STT in particular. It was more based on MTs in general, me driving more miles each week and, unfortunately, less off road time. Who knows, my next tire may be another MT. :bounce:

im pretty sure i am misreading here, but did you state the cooper stt gave you better gas mileage than the at2

I second this. I'm very happy with my personal decision, but as Crimson said, everyone's going to give you different answers. Everyone's gonna say that their choice was the best choice, but if you think about it, most people haven't ever even used the other tire choices they discuss. They just give positive reviews of the ones they used, but without having used the other tires, there really isn't any relativity or a way to benchmark between their comparisons. it's really more like "x is better than y, through my research", but most of the times, Y wasn't ever even used by them, they just think X is better because that's the one they got themselves.

Bottom line, do your research and pick a tire you want with an educated guess. Like I said before, there really isn't a "bad choice" if you're choosing from all name brand tires.

:tea:


for the record, i thought my toyo at2's performed pretty well in mud, during the rainy season, i went to a local mudding hole to test my t4r performance in the mud and i was very pleased, this was in mud at least up to the frame. im still havent got it all cleaned out.:frusty: