Tire choice

[ebg18t]

I would not want to run the Hankook AT in wet road conditions. But with that being said tires are very personal preference.. I won't run khumo, hankook or falken tires again, just had to many failures over the past few years.

 

[ddnww]

Yes four , I'm getting them tomorrow

 

[Fleethammer]

OP, FWIW I bought my 'runner with brand new General Grabber AT2's on it and I really liked them. I drive mostly on road as well and do quite a bit of towing between March-November. Those tires left little to be desired- they look virtually identical to the BFG KO's you are considering except they're cheaper, they rode well and were quiet. Winter performance was excellent, they rocked in snow but ice was just OK (winter tires are always the best choice). Wet weather/hydroplaning was good as well. I got 20-22 highway and 17-18 DD to work everyday. They are also lightweight, which helps in a lot of ways. I put a solid 17K on them and they have at least that much to go. I replaced them because they were stock size and I put an OME lift on. If you are looking for a good performing tire that won't break the bank or make your truck look like a mall-cruiser, give them a look. If my situation didn't change, I was totally going to replace them with the same tire when they wore out. BTW I had the P-metric, not the LT tire.

I replaced them with Kelly Safari TSR's, LT load range C. Totally different tire!

 

[kenlainpro_]

OP, FWIW I bought my 'runner with brand new General Grabber AT2's on it and I really liked them. I drive mostly on road as well and do quite a bit of towing between March-November. Those tires left little to be desired- they look virtually identical to the BFG KO's you are considering except they're cheaper, they rode well and were quiet. Winter performance was excellent, they rocked in snow but ice was just OK (winter tires are always the best choice). Wet weather/hydroplaning was good as well. I got 20-22 highway and 17-18 DD to work everyday. They are also lightweight, which helps in a lot of ways. I put a solid 17K on them and they have at least that much to go. I replaced them because they were stock size and I put an OME lift on. If you are looking for a good performing tire that won't break the bank or make your truck look like a mall-cruiser, give them a look. If my situation didn't change, I was totally going to replace them with the same tire when they wore out. BTW I had the P-metric, not the LT tire.

I replaced them with Kelly Safari TSR's, LT load range C. Totally different tire!

Thanks, this made me consider those tires as well!

 

[ddnww]

Got my Toyo Open Country AT II 265/70/17's on today. They ride just like the firestone destination le i had on, look badass, and got a great deal on them at discount tire. $671 otd.. original price they quoted me was 895. then i told them someone gots them for 759, they dropped it to 671..

OP i hope you get a great deal, *I cant speak for the rest of the tires but these at2's are nice, 60k warranty, mpg seems the same so far,and nice aggressive tire.. Good luck

 

[kenlainpro_]

Got my Toyo Open Country AT II 265/70/17's on today. They ride just like the firestone destination le i had on, look badass, and got a great deal on them at discount tire. $671 otd.. original price they quoted me was 895. then i told them someone gots them for 759, they dropped it to 671..

OP i hope you get a great deal, *I cant speak for the rest of the tires but these at2's are nice, 60k warranty, mpg seems the same so far,and nice aggressive tire.. Good luck

Thanks! I was looking for an aggressive AT and I like the look of those toyos. I'll definitely have to look into them

 

[vlafrank]

Valuable information

I would not want to run the Hankook AT in wet road conditions. But with that being said tires are very personal preference.. I won't run khumo, hankook or falken tires again, just had to many failures over the past few years.

This is great information to have! I've been seriously tempted by both brands because of (relatively) low prices and decent reviews, but I'm not the least interested in buying any tire with the slightest record of failures! many thanx!

 

[vlafrank]

Uh, guys, I don't mean to seem dense here, but.....

Yes four , I'm getting them tomorrow

....I too have a 2007 V-6 Sport, and the owner's manual clearly states that tire rotation is to be all five (5) tires every 5000 miles, the idea being that doing so will cause the set of five to last longer than just rotating four. Of course, the downside is that buying/mounting/balancing 5 tires will always be more expensive than doing so to four, but will occur rather less frequently if all five are rotated. So, what am I missing here? Why are so many guys only rotating the four on the ground when they bought their truck? How does one dare to ignore the instructions given by the owner's manual god? Fear thee not his wrath? Enquiring minds want to know.......

 

[WXman]

....I too have a 2007 V-6 Sport, and the owner's manual clearly states that tire rotation is to be all five (5) tires every 5000 miles, the idea being that doing so will cause the set of five to last longer than just rotating four. Of course, the downside is that buying/mounting/balancing 5 tires will always be more expensive than doing so to four, but will occur rather less frequently if all five are rotated. So, what am I missing here? Why are so many guys only rotating the four on the ground when they bought their truck? How does one dare to ignore the instructions given by the owner's manual god? Fear thee not his wrath? Enquiring minds want to know.......

Good question.

I think that the idea is that with a 4x4, and especially the V8 models because they don't even have a 2WD setting on the transfer case, you want all 4 tires to be worn evenly because if one tire is taller than the rest, it'll cause added wear to spider gears and internal components. So if you never rotate that 5th tire into the mix, it will always have full tread while the others are wearing...and when the day comes that you need it you might have problems driving long distances and adding wear to your drivetrain.

Now, having said all that I have been around 4x4s all my life and I've worked on them extensively and under no circumstances would I be concerned about one tire being 5/32nds of an inch taller than the other 3. I simply don't think that's enough of a difference to damage things. Heck, you could have one tire that's a few psi lower than the others and cause the same issue without knowing it.

So, I will not being doing 5 tire rotations on this 4Runner. On my Jeep Wrangler, I always did 5 tire rotations because the spare was mounted to the tailgate with 3 lug nuts and it was a piece of cake to get to...and because using the spare meant I could swap one tire at a time and it made the process simple to do in the driveway. But with this 4Runner...the spare is mounted up under the truck and it's a PITA to crawl around on the ground to get it out of there for use. So...I will check the air pressure in it from time to time and call it a day.

For the record, the spare that's on my 4R right now is the original Michelin Cross Country or whatever it's called...the date stamp is 2003 on it and it's starting to develop cracks around the sidewall of the tire so I will have to replace it in the near future. But I'll probably get a worn out tire to use for a spare that's newer in age and do 4 tire rotations from now on.

For the guy who said the General Grabber AT2 was a good tire.. I put a set on a Jeep Liberty diesel that I had at 15,000 miles...and at 90,000 miles the second owner told me he finally had to buy another set of tires. They were 255/70-16s and they lasted forever! And I wheeled them offroad while I had them too...then he racked up a ton of highway miles on them. Great american made tires! But the mud and snow traction is lacking. Cooper AT3 all the way now.

 

[TJM]

I've narrowed my choice down to two or three from this thread, but I had one more question: can I put 285/75/16s on stock 16" rims? I have a 2002 4Runner SR5.