My 2002 Tacoma desperately needed new tires after a 2 inch lift and the geolandars that it came from the stealership with were showing some age. The date code was from 2010 and dry rot was already starting to show in the tread and some on the sides of the tire.
I guess i'm comparing these new Dick Cepek's to 8 year old street tires so keep that in mind with the review.
Road manners- After the install of the Extreme Countries I could already tell a difference in the handling of the truck with it being a larger tire, and acceleration but that's expected. They don't pull the truck all over the road like I've experienced with other tires and handle very well in the turns as long as they are taken at a proper speed. These tires are 10ply and as such I'm running about 50psi in each tire, but with the new suspension I have just installed the ride isn't much different than my street tires and hitting bumps at speed is much smoother (Thanks Bilstien 6112's)
Road noise- These are some of the most aggressive tires I've ran and the noise level is very tolerable in a well sound proofed vehicle. Example, my Tacoma is still more quiet in the cab then my girlfriends jeep patriot on small wimpy street tires. The noise level is most noticeable around 65-70 but I can still easily maintain a conversation and hear the radio without having to blast it.
MPG- I haven't noticed a large decrease in MPG like I was expecting. I'm still getting close to 300 miles per tank. Which for me is excellent considering the aggressive tread of the tire and it being a larger size.
Off-road capability- This weekend I put these tires to the test in some mud while going across the Georgia Traverse, and they handled every bit of terrain well. Especially in loose mud where my friends 30% or less mud terrains had trouble climbing a loose dirt and mud incline these tires walked right up with the large gaps in the knobs grabbing and tossing whatever they could. (I also had a rear locker,my friend didn't)
Price- The price point on these tires were perfect for me as I'm basically a budget overlander, everything I own is the pretty much the cheap version of much more notable brands (Smitty built RTT, Plano boxes, etc)
700.00 bucks shipped was a great price for four of them. less than 200 a tire is always nice in the off-road world, especially considering its a larger tire and a rare size that isn't offered by many brands.
As of right now I can't judge the tread life, but with the experience I've had so far if they last me
50,000 miles I would purchase them again.
Thanks for reading my first gear review!
