UPDATE
I have been terrible for updates lately. For some reason I have been getting a lot of questions about tires so I finally was able to sit down and write out some thoughts for a 2017 summer project that really has flown under the radar. Some backstory...
The world is evolving at a rapid pace and its creating very interesting times for young entrepreneurs… but specifically in the media creation world. There are so many players nowadays bearing the popularity and relatively low cost of entry – buy a camera, an extra lens, some memory cards, a drone, and a stabilizer and your off creating “productions” of some level. With me and my brother specifically, we’ve always had a pretty heavy eye on the automotive scene – tuner cars, exotics, 4x4’s, resto-mods, and vintage originals. As the outdoor adventure crowd and automotive modification crowd continues to expand around the globe it makes a valid case for development of a portfolio that showcases some of these types of lifestyles & products.
This year we had an opportunity to run some Cooper tires on both my 2005 Toyota 4Runner and Chase’s 2000 Tacoma. We put our minds together in expectation of creating a video concept that showed the tires offroading and what the capabilities are with a good set of tires. The closer we got to the proposed film date, our mindset become scattered and unfocused. We didn’t want just another 4x4 video. Another video following the trucks and showing them driving down the trail. There is a time and place for that, but we wanted to put our creative twist on the project to make it different and climb out of the box for a project that was pretty well, in the metaphorical box.
Chase works our media company full-time now and it has been amazing to see his hunger and passion for the film industry grow. Not only in a conventional sense, but what the trends and possibilities are. Remember, success in this industry is often based on creativity. Chase had been pushing the idea of “concept driven” marketing campaigns and how much more valuable they are – relating different things together and creating a common theme while simultaneously telling a story. Hopefully one that is remembered. So, for our project with the Cooper tires, we decided to create a commercial or concept driven video that we could later send to Cooper but also use as a creative piece in our portfolio. In our discussions on theme, we came to the realization that grip was essential. How could we relate tire grip and the overcoming of an obstacle or objective to… something else? Thus, the video below was born. Let me make this very clear; this is NOT an official Cooper Tires commercial. Simply our creative spin on a 4x4/offroad video project that would be otherwise routine. Hope you enjoy!
https://vimeo.com/244404230
The Tires.
I had the opportunity to test the Cooper STT Pro in a 295/70R17 variant. The first thing you will notice when looking at the tires is how aggressive the tread pattern is.
_DSC1781.jpg by
Addison Rickaby, on Flickr
_DSC0277.jpg by
Addison Rickaby, on Flickr
I wanted a tire that was very aggressive for those muddy days or the deep powder days of the winter. The active side lugs on the STT Pro’s were very appealing to me in this regard. Typically a tire this aggressive is terribly noisy on the road. I was pleasantly surprised by how quiet they were, coming from the last set of Toyo MT’s I had on my old Tundra. We also have a lot of sharp rocks and logs on our trails that can easily damage a sidewall, often at times when you do not expect the tire to be at risk. The ArmorTech sidewalls have a great reputation for toughness. I ran the Coopers for over thousands of highway kms and several weekend wars on the trail. I was happy to report not only excellent traction in all the wet, sloppy, rock conditions I encountered not even a single sidewall mark.
_08I0437 by
Tamarack Media Co., on Flickr
_08I0486 by
Tamarack Media Co., on Flickr
If I had one complaint, it was that the tires took more weight to balance than my previous Toyo’s. This could be in part due to the beadlock wheels I was running the tires on but a fact worth noting at least. Overall I was very satisfied with the Cooper STT Pro and would recommend them to anyone looking for an aggressive M/T tire that is still suitable for highway use.
