Trying Something Different: Yokohama X-ATs Installed

[AZ Craig]

So after literally agonizing over what tires to swap to since I got my 2020 Pro last November, I finally took the plunge this Friday and put on a set of Yokohama X-ATs in LT265/70R17 (yes, they are E-rated at 55 pounds a piece).

Recent AT/MT tire experience for me consists of 3 different tires on my 2012 JKU (32" BF-G KM and Nitto Trail Grapplers and 33" Nitto Exo Grapplers) and I had E-rated Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws in LT265/70R17 on my 2016 4Runner after I pulled the stock tires.

Boundary conditions for me were to stay with 265/70R17 or 275/70R17 since I did not want to go up to 285/70R17 with my 7" Pro wheels. For durability purposes, I wanted to stick with a C or E rated LT tire. I also generally was gravitating towards an aggressive AT tire. I do a lot of long distance highway driving out west, but also try to get offroad around Arizona as much as I can and have had opportunities to do stuff in Colorado, Utah and other locales out here also. Severe snow rating was somewhat desirable, but not really necessary as I basically only encounter snow when skiing a few times a year (and it feels like for every year I end up doing some pretty gnarly snow driving I have a year where I don't end up in any particularly bad road conditions).

My choices were pretty much down to a BF-G KO2 (either C load in 265/70R17 or E load in 275/70R17), General Grabber AT-X (E load in 275/70R17), or a Cooper ST-Maxx or Mickey Thompson ATZ. I had ruled out Falkens due to balance issues on my previous set and the fact that they did increase their price a couple years back. It was at this point I took a serious look at the Yokohama again.

A few desirable points for me:
1. It's one of the larger 265/70R17 tires out there as a true 32" tire.
2. 3-ply sidewall and overall design is really focused on durability. It's pretty much a hybrid tire with a mud tire carcass. Once you've gone through the experience of a tire failure out in the middle of no where, you don't want to do it again if you don't have to.
3. Made in Japan.
4. Reasonably priced for what it is at $210 a tire. Was one of the cheapest options in the mix.
5. Very new tire to market overall which I think is generally a good thing as I feel you're always getting more current technology in play.
6. I've always enjoyed being a bit of a non-conformist (and hell, everyone runs BF-Gs ).
7. 45000 mile warranty (which I expect to blow away with them on a 4Runner).

I've barely put any mileage on them, but initial road feel with them at about 40 psi was quite favorable. No significant noise increase over my Terra Grapplers and balance appeared to be as good as the Nittos were coming from Toyota (ever so slight steering wheel shake at ~50 to 60 mph with my hand removed, but nothing that you'd feel or notice).

I'll update this thread with some pictures and additional impressions as I'll be taking a trip up to Colorado in September including some trail running around Ouray and Crested Butte. Will get me over 1000 miles on them including a lot of different use cases.

 

[jp.vegas]

Nice. Hadn’t seen those yet. Your school of thought is similar to mine. I put 265/70 Baja ATZs on my Pro Friday.

Taking it out to the Mojave preserve today to check out fire damage etc.

 

[AZ Craig]

Nice. Hadn’t seen those yet. Your school of thought is similar to mine. I put 265/70 Baja ATZs on my Pro Friday.

Taking it out to the Mojave preserve today to check out fire damage etc.

Yes, I definitely considered the Baja ATZ and they do have a pretty good rep (plus cheaper than the ST Maxx which I think they are very similar to). That tire hasn't been updated in awhile though, thus why I figured give these a whirl.

I think the Yokohama just hit the market in the very end of 2018 and they have relatively limited sizes. Hasn't been marketed that aggressively either from what I can tell.

 

[02SE]

I considered the same tire, I ultimately went with the Yokohama AT G015 in LT 265/70R17 E. It has a touch deeper tread depth at 18/32nds. Is a touch shorter at 31.9". And is a less aggressive tread pattern. It is great in the rain and snow, is quiet, and rides smooth with no vibration or shimmy.

I also considered the ubiquitous BFG, but I've owned every iteration since the 80's, and it lacks in wet conditions.

Also considered the Falken Wildpeak AT3w, but was not interested in playing the lottery of finding a round set.

Also considered the Toyo AT3. But I had the Toyo AT2 on my 3rd gen when I sold it. It was a bit lacking in the wet. Supposedly the new AT3 is an improvement over the AT2. I guess time will tell.

Anyway, I hope it proves to be a great tire for your needs.

The milder brother to the X-AT.

 

[ads2539]

I’ve been very happy with my Yokohama A/T G015 tires as well, in 255/75r17. They are very quiet for an A/T tire.

 

[Sundy]

I find the specs on their website very interesting - might have to consider these for my next tires - here are some numbers from their website

size______inflated width__tread width__inflated height__ weight
LT 265/70/17___10.8"_____ 8.6"__________32.0"______ 55.8
LT 285/70/17___11.7"_____ 9.1"__________33.1"______ 61.1
LT 295/70/17___11.7"_____ 9.4"__________33.6"______ 64.8

No 255/80's but with their 285' having the same height as most 255's I'm very intrigued....

 

[SpeedyKevin]

I find the specs on their website very interesting - might have to consider these for my next tires - here are some numbers from their website

size______inflated width__tread width__inflated height__ weight
LT 265/70/17___10.8"_____ 8.6"__________32.0"______ 55.8
LT 285/70/17___11.7"_____ 9.1"__________33.1"______ 61.1
LT 295/70/17___11.7"_____ 9.4"__________33.6"______ 64.8

No 255/80's but with their 285' having the same height as most 255's I'm very intrigued....

If those are the actual sizes, then I'm interested! Been looking at the Yoko MTs in 285/75 since they seem pretty light. I just hope they aren't undersized like BFG tires.

 

[Sundy]

If those are the actual sizes, then I'm interested! Been looking at the Yoko MTs in 285/75 since they seem pretty light. I just hope they aren't undersized like BFG tires.

Agreed! If those are actual measurements I find them very appealing. I was surprised their 295's measure out closer to a 285/75 - not opposed to it just odd.

Now for someone to be the test purchaser and find out :bravo:

 

[Big Daddy K]

I find the specs on their website very interesting - might have to consider these for my next tires - here are some numbers from their website

size______inflated width__tread width__inflated height__ weight
LT 265/70/17___10.8"_____ 8.6"__________32.0"______ 55.8
LT 285/70/17___11.7"_____ 9.1"__________33.1"______ 61.1
LT 295/70/17___11.7"_____ 9.4"__________33.6"______ 64.8

No 255/80's but with their 285' having the same height as most 255's I'm very intrigued....

Why is a 285 and 295 the same width?

The tread pattern looks a lot like the General X3.

 

[Sundy]

Why is a 285 and 295 the same width?

The tread pattern looks a lot like the General X3.

I'm assuming a typo? Unless they have the "wider" measurement due to the tread being 0.3" wider?

 

[AZ Craig]

Will add some pictures coming up but wanted to post up some more impressions on these after about 2000 miles of VERY mixed driving.

First up, tires have continued to feel great and are not showing any balance issues. On road they are honestly not much louder than the stock Nitto Terra Grapplers were (part of me actually feels like they are still running quieter than my Terras were with 9/32 tread left on them). On road performance in rain seems pretty good overall; no feelings of them being slippery or deficient in damp or wet conditions. They feel good at speed also and are perfectly stable for blasting western highway at ~80 mph. I also was worried about MPG drop versus the stock P-metric Grapplers, but overall am not really seeing much degradation (maybe 0.5 mpg at most if even; will need to keep an eye on this with more driving).

I ran both Ophir and Imogene in Colorado plus used these in a ton of less intense situations around the Ouray and Crested Butte areas (think dirt/gravel single lane roads, ruts and mud). In rocks they were really good; seemed to grab traction well and have only some very minor chunking on them near the sidewalls. Note; I did not run them aired down below ~30 psi since I didn't see the need and did not want to give up the ground clearance since we were running with 4 people on board. Mud traction was surprisingly good and they seemed to clean out really quickly once you were through the sloppy spots. I got into some pretty nasty conditions horsing around north of Curecanti National Recreation Area in Gunnison National Forest and was never worried about having traction issues. They may not be quite as good as a dedicated mud, but traction was really impressive for a hybrid tire.

The other big surprise was that I got to try them out in snow, and a hell a lot of it. Crested Butte had somewhere between about 6 to 10 inches of heavy, wet, sloppy snow and the town had largely not mounted plows yet leading to about 12 hours of pretty gnarly road conditions (people off and stuck in multiple places). In deep snow at least, I was really impressed with them. They motored through stuff with no issues and I did not find stopping to be an issue at all with them either. I'll want to get some time with them on packed snow later this year (which is probably more of a test for these tires), but I was pleasantly surprised by them. This included getting up a non-plowed forest service road to get back to our cabin including around 500 feet of climbing over a mile and a half or so. Was basically able to just keep it in 4Hi and keep momentum on to maintain around 15 to 20 mph and climb right up through everything.

Overall I continue to be really happy with them. Another surprising thing to me was being parked next to a 4Runner on the trip with 285/70R17 KO2s on it, you could honestly barely tell the tire size difference. It really shows you how a true 32" tire which is slightly oversized can compare and contrast to a traditional 33" tire (many of which are quite a bit undersized).

 

[MyNew4Runner1]

So after literally agonizing over what tires to swap to since I got my 2020 Pro last November, I finally took the plunge this Friday and put on a set of Yokohama X-ATs in LT265/70R17 (yes, they are E-rated at 55 pounds a piece).

Recent AT/MT tire experience for me consists of 3 different tires on my 2012 JKU (32" BF-G KM and Nitto Trail Grapplers and 33" Nitto Exo Grapplers) and I had E-rated Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws in LT265/70R17 on my 2016 4Runner after I pulled the stock tires.

Boundary conditions for me were to stay with 265/70R17 or 275/70R17 since I did not want to go up to 285/70R17 with my 7" Pro wheels. For durability purposes, I wanted to stick with a C or E rated LT tire. I also generally was gravitating towards an aggressive AT tire. I do a lot of long distance highway driving out west, but also try to get offroad around Arizona as much as I can and have had opportunities to do stuff in Colorado, Utah and other locales out here also. Severe snow rating was somewhat desirable, but not really necessary as I basically only encounter snow when skiing a few times a year (and it feels like for every year I end up doing some pretty gnarly snow driving I have a year where I don't end up in any particularly bad road conditions).

My choices were pretty much down to a BF-G KO2 (either C load in 265/70R17 or E load in 275/70R17), General Grabber AT-X (E load in 275/70R17), or a Cooper ST-Maxx or Mickey Thompson ATZ. I had ruled out Falkens due to balance issues on my previous set and the fact that they did increase their price a couple years back. It was at this point I took a serious look at the Yokohama again.

A few desirable points for me:
1. It's one of the larger 265/70R17 tires out there as a true 32" tire.
2. 3-ply sidewall and overall design is really focused on durability. It's pretty much a hybrid tire with a mud tire carcass. Once you've gone through the experience of a tire failure out in the middle of no where, you don't want to do it again if you don't have to.
3. Made in Japan.
4. Reasonably priced for what it is at $210 a tire. Was one of the cheapest options in the mix.
5. Very new tire to market overall which I think is generally a good thing as I feel you're always getting more current technology in play.
6. I've always enjoyed being a bit of a non-conformist (and hell, everyone runs BF-Gs ).
7. 45000 mile warranty (which I expect to blow away with them on a 4Runner).

I've barely put any mileage on them, but initial road feel with them at about 40 psi was quite favorable. No significant noise increase over my Terra Grapplers and balance appeared to be as good as the Nittos were coming from Toyota (ever so slight steering wheel shake at ~50 to 60 mph with my hand removed, but nothing that you'd feel or notice).

I'll update this thread with some pictures and additional impressions as I'll be taking a trip up to Colorado in September including some trail running around Ouray and Crested Butte. Will get me over 1000 miles on them including a lot of different use cases.

Just out of curiosity since I’m in the same mental agony now you just managed to escape - any other issues with the Wildpeaks that led you away from them? I’m heavily leaning towards them for the value and wet/winter traction.

 

[Glandnut]

Interesting, I've recently narrowed one on my short list as the Cooper AT3 LT in 275/70/17 as it is 52lbs, 32.17" diameter. The AT3 line has a really solid following and ratings, but the LT in the line seem to not be so awesome in snow from scouring reviews.

These Yoko's look pretty cool, and I like the 2 different sidewall design choices. Thanks for posting your thoughts!

 

[AZ Craig]

Just out of curiosity since I’m in the same mental agony now you just managed to escape - any other issues with the Wildpeaks that led you away from them? I’m heavily leaning towards them for the value and wet/winter traction.

I liked everything about the Falkens honestly other than that they are a little underwhelming appearance wise, and I did have balance issues with my LT265/70R17. I probably had those damn things re-balanced at least 3 or 4 times while I owned them and could never seem to get them to lock in perfectly.

Back when I bought my set the LT was a steal, below $190 a tire from what I remember (and it adds up when you are buying 5 new ones out of the gate to get a durable spare on your vehicle also). They raised their prices up a couple years ago I think which has made them stand out less in my opinion.

I did not wheel the Falkens that much to be honest though, but they did really well on a long trip we did with White Rim Road. Snow performance was exceptional also.

 

[MyNew4Runner1]

I found a deal for $550 for a set of 4 (265/70R/17s). Based on what you’re saying, I think I may use them seasonally as I go up in the mountains more often anyways during the winter. Appreciate the help and response!

 

[AZ Craig]

I found a deal for $550 for a set of 4 (265/70R/17s). Based on what you’re saying, I think I may use them seasonally as I go up in the mountains more often anyways during the winter. Appreciate the help and response!

Yes, if I did Falkens again I would seriously consider SL and they are at a better price point. From what I saw, the SL Falken is a particularly stout tire for a P-metric.

 

[bakerb87]

Just out of curiosity since I’m in the same mental agony now you just managed to escape - any other issues with the Wildpeaks that led you away from them? I’m heavily leaning towards them for the value and wet/winter traction.

I have the C rated Falken's in 275/70/17, I just got them on so have not had a chance to test them out in snow, though I have heard good things.

I have had no balancing issues at all (I am ~3,000 miles in, just got back from a trip Denver - Phoenix and back). I think they look badass, and they have been awesome for me on the CO trails.

 

[Ferd_4R]

Pictures of your set up. I’m dying here [emoji23][emoji1787]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jrandom]

I used to run Yoko Super Diggers back in the day, great tire, good grip, long lasting. Great "AT" tire, at least my experience with them, then, I never bothered to research why, they just stopped making them. So I switched to Dunflop radial rovers, ugh terrible, then to BFG AT's good but pricey, now on to Goodyears.

I check every now and again to see if they have anything in this market segment.

 

[intenseTRD]

295/70/17 34in. Only about 1000 miles on these and i like the so far. No actual wheeling yet because most of socal is on fire at the moment. i balanced the wheels myself and zero steering wheel shake. one of the wheels even zeroed out lol (no wheel weights needed)