tire choice for long highway and extreme offroad

[Tec548]

I have been using the T4R for about 11 years and get new every 3 years. Great truck for my type of work. It can take everything I need, get everywhere regardless of weather conditions, its comfortable and DEPENDABLE. I commute about 2500 miles and drive 1500 miles of hard off road every month.

I use the Toytech 3" lift and Method N09 wheels. I have been using BFG KM3 285/75/17 for years many, many 100k miles. They are great off road and impossible to stick, loud as he11 on the highway. I air down to 27psi off road and air up to 42psi for the highway drive.

Here is my question. After logging several 100k miles I am looking for a quieter tire for the highway... if that even exists. I have been thinking about the Toyo Open Country M/T in the same size. Reason is I just took delivery of the new GX550 overtrail + with the Open Country A/T. The tire is great on this truck but its also the A/T and not the M/T. Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of the Toyo M/T? How does it do off road, aired down and how noisy is it on the highway? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[honda250xtitan]

toyo mt's are baller. they wont disappoint for anything except road noise.

i had great luck with the cooper at3 xlt for what we do in arizona/mexico. pretty quiet, didnt chunk out at all. they did eventually cup but thats not a tire issue.

 

[Tooly]

Have you thought about the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail? They're kind of middle ground between an AT and MT. I bought them to replace Toyo AT3's. The R/T's are a little noisier on the highway then the AT's but have served me well offroad though I wouldn't call what I do extreme offroading.

 

[2000m2]

Cooper AT/3 C

I’ve been very happy with Cooper AT/3 in load range C. I was pleasantly surprised how quiet they are on-road highway when we first mounted them. Great performance off-road and in snow. On my second set of them.

 

[fkheath]

I have the BFG KO2 tires. No louder than the OEM Dunlops that came on my RAV4, and great for off road and snow. I never air down; too much hassle. The stock suspension is rather soft anyway, so there would be no gain in comfort by airing down.

Before the 4Runner, I have had several Jeeps over the years, all were really harsh riding when going over rocks; the 4Runner is so much better.I never aired down the tires on the Jeeps either.

 

[ejesauer]

With all those years of driving on those kinds of tires and with those kinds of needs/expectations, I think you know by now there is no free lunch. You have to decide what is more important to you; road noise or performance off-road, then live with the decision. Less noise and less performance off-road= A/T. More noise and more performance off-road= M/T. It is just that simple.

 

[Tec548]

Thank you all for the reply's.

I know that there is no free lunch and you have to give to get. I was hoping that a new unicorn was developed that I was not aware of.

I have tried several other A/T's, while being very good on the pavement.... overland, sand, mud and rock they leave me in a bind. I can take the extra road noise but it gets tiring... MT3 is quiet next to the KR on the Rappy.

I have not checked out the Coopers though... I look into those for sure.

If you have not tried airing down... give it a try, I promise you will be a believer (as long as tire and rim permit)

 

[CutthroatSlam]

I’ve been very happy with Cooper AT/3 in load range C. I was pleasantly surprised how quiet they are on-road highway when we first mounted them. Great performance off-road and in snow. On my second set of them.

Cooper AT3 are even better in Load Range E. There is no discernible difference in ride quality or road noise and you will get 75K miles out of them vs 50K to 55K for load range C.

 

[honda250xtitan]

Thank you all for the reply's.

I know that there is no free lunch and you have to give to get. I was hoping that a new unicorn was developed that I was not aware of.

I have tried several other A/T's, while being very good on the pavement.... overland, sand, mud and rock they leave me in a bind. I can take the extra road noise but it gets tiring... MT3 is quiet next to the KR on the Rappy.

I have not checked out the Coopers though... I look into those for sure.

If you have not tried airing down... give it a try, I promise you will be a believer (as long as tire and rim permit)

have you seen the HD terrain?



airing down is a game changer.

 

[2000m2]

Cooper AT3 are even better in Load Range E. There is no discernible difference in ride quality or road noise and you will get 75K miles out of them vs 50K to 55K for load range C.

Good to know about the E performance.

To the OP, this review is what lead me to the Coopers. 10 yrs old at this point, but maybe a good starting point for you.
Where the Rubber Meets the Road - Expedition Portal

 

[srsrogerissrs]

Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs are a more aggressive AT tire that I thought worked extremely well. They worked really good when aired down cause of their aggressive sidewalls. My last set took tons of abuse w/o showing signs of much wear (no chunking or anything).

or something hybrid-esque seems to be right up your alley. Falken RT, Toyo RT Trails, Goodyear Duratracs, etc etc.

 

[RichN]

I have been running Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires for years. I just put their new Duratrac RTs on my 2019. Initial impression is that they are even better than the previous series. Of course, I haven't had them in the snow, yet.

I get the standard P rating, not the LT tires.

My experience over the years.
Very little road noise.
Great in the snow.
Good in the rain.
Great dry handling (for what it is). Can be a little skittish in back if over inflated.
Does everything I need it to do off-road, but I'm not a serious off-roader.

 

[Tec548]

have you seen the HD terrain?



airing down is a game changer.

Tell me more about it.. who make this?

 

[Tec548]

Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs are a more aggressive AT tire that I thought worked extremely well. They worked really good when aired down cause of their aggressive sidewalls. My last set took tons of abuse w/o showing signs of much wear (no chunking or anything).

or something hybrid-esque seems to be right up your alley. Falken RT, Toyo RT Trails, Goodyear Duratracs, etc etc.

Going to check these out... thanks

These look like they might be the unicorn I was looking for. Very interesting the more I read about them.

 

[daronjh]

Going to check these out... thanks

These look like they might be the unicorn I was looking for. Very interesting the more I read about them.

I think I've boiled it down to these as well.
Here's my post with some other reviews & options.

Looking into tires

 

[mbumpus11]

I've had BFG KO2s on my 4Runner since the 2k mile mark on the ODO, and I now sit at 197k+. I'm only on my second set of BFG KO2s as well - the first getting about 93k miles, and these current tires are at end of life around 102k miles and right at 3/32" remain (getting new tires on Friday).

Going to be taking the plunge for some KO3s, I believe, and will run them in 275/70R17 range E as my last two sets of the KO2s have been.

KO2s have gotten pretty loud depending on road surface, and highways tend to make them sing like the crescendo of an opera. I hadn't noticed excessively loud road noise until about 15k ago, which an AT tire getting to ~90k miles before getting really loud is impressive to me.

I have occasionally found a little slip on urban roads after a fresh rain during a turn, but otherwise have continued to feel planted on the ground during rainstorms and other general driving despite running 40psi in all four tires.

My driving is probably 75-80% highway/city streets and the remainder being dirt/gravel/small river rocks/etc when on hunting land/construction sites/dirt-sand-gravel roads. I could probably use a less aggressive tire on the highway, but when I go out in the sticks it is typically rough and unpredictable. Have driven down to and through many a river and the KO2s have never failed to get me out of the silt and sand that accompanies those locations. I also have never had a puncture from cactus thorns/sticks/etc when driving around the ranch.

Excited to take a swing at the KO3s and see if they are truly an improvement like it appears they are.

 

[honda250xtitan]

Tell me more about it.. who make this?

bfg makes them. for HD trucks.

BFGoodrich HD Terrain T/A KT | BFGoodrich

 

[///AIRDAM]

I have been using BFG KM3 285/75/17 for years many, many 100k miles. I air down to 27psi off road and air up to 42psi for the highway drive.

Here is my question. After logging several 100k miles I am looking for a quieter tire for the highway... if that even exists.

Kinda weird, i run less pressure than your "aired down" ON THE HIGHWAY...
Have you considered the General Grabber X3, i have a friend with them and they are not nearly as loud as the KM3 and Toyo M/T.
I run General ATX all terrains and have for many hundreds of thousands of miles, i have owned BFG KM3 and TA and TA K/O, and i much prefer the General all terrain tire much better. After having such great luck with them a buddy decided to also try the General Grabber X3 MT on his very heavy work bed F250 and hes having great mileage and they seem quieter than most mud tires. I cant say about the coopers or falkens or any of those, i dont see them much around here.

I get very very high mileage out of my General tires, my current General Grabber ATX on my daily driver 4runner has DOUBLE the mileage on them as the most i ever got out of a set of BFG tires and my Generals still have life left in them.
This picture i took when they had 102,000 miles to send to all my buddies, these tires are going to go to 125,000.
Oh, i run 28psi up front and 24psi in the rear. Kinda weird you air up to 42psi to run the road, seems like the tire would be ballooned up and riding on the center of the tread. I run cross country a lot, pull trailers a lot, have been to the tip of Baja mexico and back and chased multiple desert races in Baja, been from San Diego to Miami to Mississippi pulling a trailer in less than a week. The mileage of these is unbeatable, they are uber quiet, handle exceptionally well, i would suspect their mud tires would be just as good and better than everything else on the market.

 

[Tec548]

Sorry, I kind of did not qualify my answer better. My aired up/down are hot pressures so cold they are 4 to 6psi less than that.

 

[_LCW_]

I had KM3s on my Bronco and did a 5000 mile road trip from MN to Moab and back. Wheeled 3 days in Moab. Decently quiet for as agressive as they are. And the rubber is definitely better in the rocks than what's on KO2s. Highly recommend BFG KM3s.