Tires for an Overland Setup

[Cymon]

I did all of the same research for 2 years and ended up with the 275 70r 17 AT3 c load. After 6k miles 95% on road and 5% off I couldn't be happier.
Wet traction: Excellent
Road noise: minimal for an AT tire
Off Road: nothing they haven't handled well (sand, mud, rock)
Here is a pic with the black sidewall out on my Irma evacuation vehicle.

 

[NrthRnr]

Hey NrthRnr, I can't see that anyone said anything offensive...probably just crossed signals, which is common on the internet. Thanks again for your post!

Ah okay all good. Working way too much these days and exhausted!

To answer your question re: towing, no we haven't done any long distance off road towing to date (in the plans) but the sections we've done heading to a cabin on an unmaintained tertiary road (washed out, rutted etc) they worked great and hooked up well; this while towing a not-so-ideal crank-top approx 2000lbs. That was a slow drive.

 

[ECUDrummer]

edit - I didn't even read all of your post.

Look into some E-rated hybrid-terrains. Great on and offroad.

 

[ade678]

I did all of the same research for 2 years and ended up with the 275 70r 17 AT3 c load. After 6k miles 95% on road and 5% off I couldn't be happier.
Wet traction: Excellent
Road noise: minimal for an AT tire
Off Road: nothing they haven't handled well (sand, mud, rock)
Here is a pic with the black sidewall out on my Irma evacuation vehicle.

Thanks for the feedback! Two quick questions:

1. Have you done any offroading over sharp terrain with your cargo hitch loaded (or something equivalent to put the C rating to the test)?

2. Why did you bump up to 275?

Thanks!

 

[tahoe.nick]

E rated

i run E rated Toyo M/T's and i get around 16.7 combined mpg. i don't do a ton of highway driving maybe 300 miles a week on highway and 100-200 miles in city. As for offroad use i can't tell you anything but good they are tough heavy aggressive tires but after i spent 3 hours riding some atv trails they road like streets tires doing 80 down the interstate. i plan on outfitting my rig with RTT custom drawers etc and taking a very long road trip to Alaska this fall or at the end of winter

 

[itsdchz]

CROSS POST FROM YOUR OTHER THREAD
Same sentiments, however, I have experience with the Duratracs, KO2's and Nitto Terra and Trail. I vote for the M/T route in ELoads, as they have given me the most trouble free on ALL ON/OFFROAD adventures. I had the M/T's on my FJ as well, and have successfully traveled 120,000 miles between the 2 vehicles on those model tires alone. I picked up nails and punctures in the Terra Grappler, KO2's and Duratracs. Sharp rock AND branches caught Duratracs, and Wet pavement, rock, and trails made me feel very uneasy with the Duratracs, but way worse with the KO2's. I have been the most satisfied, and feel safest with the Nitto Trail M/Ts. ALL tires mentioned above have been ELoad tires as I do not mind the stiffer ride and noise, in favor of the added sidewall protection, and considering I tow ~4800 lbs regularly.

Again, this is my opinion, advice, experience. Others will swear by Duratracs and BFGs. I have clocked 150,000 total with all the tires listed above, and my next set will be Trial Grapplers, as I currently have over 55,000 on my current set, with 5-10K left.

Americas tire has a great policy of try it and if you do not like it, bring em back. It might be a way to go for you to try 1-2 sets of what you think you need for your setup and travels.

 

[Cymon]

Thanks for the feedback! Two quick questions:

1. Have you done any offroading over sharp terrain with your cargo hitch loaded (or something equivalent to put the C rating to the test)?

2. Why did you bump up to 275?

Thanks!

1) No off roading with cargo hitch loaded. Just bought it last week at Walmart for some extra storage to get out of town for the storm. I would not recommend for off roading at all due to the torsional flex and extreme reduction of departure angles (I almost scrape coming out of steep driveways). It would be fine on dirt/gravel roads and light off road beach driving.
I haven't been off-road in sharp rock desert southwest/Moab conditions, but the AT3's have been more than fine on the limestone/quarry rock and sharp coral we find here in Florida.

2) I jumped to 275 because it was the largest I could put on with stock suspension. I figured if I do a mild suspension upgrade in the future it would give a slightly better look. That leads to the second reason, honestly I thought they would look better and they were only about 2lbs heavier than the 265 c load version and actually lighter than the 265 E load and 275 KO2 e-load. I lost about 1 mpg overall vs. the stock dunlops. FWIW the LT AT3's have 17/32 tread depth vs. 14/32 on the KO2's and they seem to clear very well in mud, which we have a lot of in Florida unfortunately.

I have a short review and explanation on why I chose them in my thread here.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/222282-cymons-weekend-warrior-mfd-thread-9.html

 

[Grug556]

I run BFGs K02s for my daily drive. I am thinking about a set of MTs on some steelies for overland and other type of excursions. All I have read about the K02s is that is the absolute best tire....for compromise. IT excels at nothing...yet does ok in everything.

Cooper and Nitto are hard to get here so no real opinion. I like Toyo, but their weight levels are crazy in comparison to other brands.

I suppose theres always D rated, but they aren't that common

 

[borfoo3]

265/70r17 BFG KO2

Been on my C rated KO2's (stock sized) since almost day 1

34k miles later, they are close to needing replacement. They took me through highways, deep sand, mud, and some minor gravel / rock trails.. If I had to complain, they did not perform that great for me on wet tarmac

I also didn't face any issues related to having 'weaker' sidewalls of a C rated tire, as they haven't failed me yet.. that includes extensive aired-down dune bashes through desert bush with an Arab behind the wheel.

Only on 1 occasion one tire kept going flat overnight as it turned out that some dirt seeped in between the rim and tire somehow, hence causing a slow leak..

For a good all-rounder, I highly recommend them. Personally, I might go with something slightly taller next time with slightly less aggressive tread.

 

[TheDozer]

Hi All,

Thanks as always for the super feedback! I'm more convinced that the lighter C is the better choice, but still not sure. A bit of followup:



Wow! E will really cost me that much? If I may ask a kind of naive question: What kind of driving requires that kind of sacrifice? (Or, more specifically, do you think a fully loaded 4Runner with a small trailer -- say, 300 lbs of tongue weight -- bouncing through the backcountry qualifies? )



Why did you ditch for E? How was C inadequate? Did you also find a noticeable difference in mpg?

Anyone else have to make this choice?

C's felt a little too small with a lift and a little too splashy. The 4runner isn't a light vehicle and while many say E's are overkill I disagree. They feel firmer to me and more responsive. For off road purposes you have more layers in the sidewall which will be helpful if you are ever where there are rocks or sharp sticks. To me E's are like insurance, you hope you never need it but it's there in case.

It's hard to say how the tired directly impacted my MPG as I did many mods close together but I would say ~.5-1mpg less. I run a 2015 limited with a lift, skids, roof rack, light bars, sliders, 17's w/ 275 E KO2s and average ~16.5-17.1MPG depending on the speed. I'm in Texas and we have 75-80 MPH speed limits so I'm sure it would be better cruising around 65-70 which is more the norm in other parts of the U.S.

Hope this helps, PM me if you have more questions. Sorry I didn't see this post for such a long time.

 

[e60ral]

I'm happy with my C-rated KO2's, I don't have any of the complaints that i see so frequently with the E-rated tires

 

[Ryanmb21]

265/70/17 LT C rated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ron4RNevada]

Toyo Open Country M/T E rated

Years ago I generally ran BFG KO E rated. Once Bfg was bought out by Michelin and the price went through the roof I switched over to Toyo C rated M/T. That first set of C rated Toyo M/T were great as far as traction but every single one of them were replaced on warranty because of torn side walls SO->

My last two sets have been E rated = Not one single problem with them on either my LR Discovery (55,000 miles) or now on the Toyota 4Runner (47,000 miles so far).

I do not have a lift; do not carry much gear; run stock size and I drive pretty
sanely = No appreciable reduction in gas mileage.

I generally get about 20mpg on highway, about 15-16 around town and anywhere from 13 to 15 off road.

 

[Mudeprived]

I am running E's for the first time in all my years of buying off road tires and I will not buy them again. They are rough and wobble over rough roads, which makes ride quality suffer. Even my wrangler handles the same spots with ease and it has solid axles but C tires.

 

[r6morrison]

It sounds like you want something comfortable, quiet, but still capable. For towing a lighter trailer, I don’t think you’ll need E loads. If you’re keeping the stock size, which is a good size for off roading, I’d stick with C. I’m currently running 285’s in the KO2, E load and personally am very happy with how they ride and feel. Granted, my model came with C load Grapplers, which served me well but didn’t inspire confidence on wet pavement. Coming from C to E might not feel like as big of a difference as going from P to C.

If you go with KO2, they’re known to have a very tough (not stiff, just resist penetrations) sidewall. Mine are very quiet - quieter than my stock grapplers.

My buddy has the cooper’s on his Sierra and they’re less aggressive, but they take him everywhere he’s wanted to go and they’re great on the road. I can’t say anything about those sidewalls, but mine have saved me from what I assume would have punctured lesser sidewalls.

Long post, but based on my experiences, I’d vote C rated KO2 for your purpose based on what I’ve gathered. Its quiet and smooth on road, tough sidewalls, and they get me everywhere I ask them to, which includes rock crawling and some mud. Plus, they have the snow rating which doesn’t hurt.

 

[MeefZah]

I don't have a ton of useful info to add, as you've clearly done your homework - now you just need to pull the trigger.

Personally, I have used both E (KO2s) and C (Destination AT, Cooper ATs) and my preference is for C based on fuel economy and comfort. E wasn't terrible, but C is better. I currently run the Discoverer AT3 in stock size, C load, and just did 9200 miles to and from Alaska under some of the same conditions you describe. Zero issues.

AT3s also won Overland Journal's AT tire shootout and basically destroyed every other tire especially on the street segments and in the wet.

But the real reason I am posting - I want to read your trip report of your 17,000 mile trip. Link it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!