Tires - Road Comfort vs Trail Performance

[MazeVX]

That sounds like AT tires, bfg ko2, general grabber atx, Nitto ridge grappler, atturo trail blade X/T etc, probably toyo open country R/T and eventually others... The bfg and general are known to be very reliable and puncture resistant, don't know much about the others

 

[MazeVX]

Go fox if you want only shocks, go falcon for something that's more a lift system, so you need to see the price, just looked at the Falcon system and the price looked very reasonable for the system.

 

[Clark Griswold]

I run two sets of tires for my Jeep JKU which is my DD as well, one for winter and one for summer. In the summer I run ProComp MT2s. They have an aggressive tread that is seemingly able to get through anything. I've never had a problem with them but they are a bit noisy. I kind of like that though and the kids know when it's me coming down the street. I've taken long highway trips with them and they were fine. Last year I drove from MA to CO. Lots of pavement in between but once in CO I was ready for some trail riding and I encountered some serious mud in the Pawnee National Grasslands. I'm pretty sure these tires had a lot to do with me getting through it easily.

In the winter I use Cooper Discoverer M+S. They are awesome for New England winters where you're more likely to deal with icy conditions as much as snow. These tires are quiet and after running MTs all summer it feels like I put slippers on my Jeep for the winter. Grippy slippers though.

Gas mileage for both tires is pretty much the same. I do use a Super Chips to calibrate the engine when switching.

Switching between tires is easy because they each have their own set of dedicated rims. The Coopers are on my stock Jeep rims and the ProComps are on aftermarket rims. I'm getting a lot out of them too. This will be my fourth summer with the ProComps and there is still lots of tread left on them. This is my third winter with the Coopers and I'll easily get another couple winters out of them.

I'm considering selling the ProComps this spring, just for a change, and trying out a set of Nitto Ridge Grapplers.

 

[MidOH]

Performance.

MT's are more far more reliable. Less likely to blowout from hitting a curb, pothole, or Prius. Cooper STT's work fine in snow. Snow tires don't work well in the mud under the snow, or in slush or rain. Ohio blizzards always have mixed conditions. I have to drive responsibly in snow with MT's but have no issues at all. Snow tires can go faster, but traffic limits my speed in the winter, not capability. MT's can be aired down more off road.

Don't fear the MT's. Plenty of siped, reasonably quite tires to choose from. It's not like the old days where MT's were rock hard solid, summertime only tires. You need to rotate MT's every oil change, 5000, to keep them quiet.

On that note, if I get a slide in camper, my rear tires will be nearly maxxed out. I might drop down to a ST Maxx for lower tire temps hauling on hot summer pavement. The ST Maxx is on the same thick armored carcass as the STT, just a milder tread.

 

[Dilldog]

In my time I have run Interco, BFG, Federal, and Cooper tires.
I ran 3 different styles (all the TSL tread) in radial and bias, they were all great off road, but terrible for everything else.
I ran BFG A/T KOs on my Isuzu pickup and ZR2 S-10 and was extremely happy with them. They road smooth and quiet and performed well enough off road for me.
The Coopers I have run were good, I ran one set of budget brand Coopers on my Toyota and my Isuzu pickups. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either. I swapped out the BFG Commercial T/As for a set of Cooper AT3s on the old 93 Dodge that was Cummins powered. Those tires were amazing on that pickup, especially in the snow. I never wheeled that guy much as it was a work truck, but I have had it in some sketchy spots cutting fire wood and the Coopers still worked well.
Finally Federals. My old Trooper had Federals (M590s I think) and they were a fine tire, lots of highway and lots of dirt on those and I was happy. Currently my 05 Escape has budget Federals (Mastercraft STRs) and Im very happy with them. Good road performance, good grip in snow, and good enough off road performance for me. My wifes GMC Terrain has Federals also (Couragias) but they are a 100% highway tire.
Thus far the longest wearing tires I have run would be the BFG A/T KOs. But I have about 15K miles on the Mastercrafts on my Escape and they still look new so they might be giving the BFGs a run for their money. The shortest lived tire was no surprise the bias ply TSLs I ran. I have had motorcycle tires last longer than those did, lol.

 

[Bama_Kiwi]

Old thread is old, but I would still like to opine:

I daily drive my overlander,. However, fortunately, my daily commute is an urban 11 miles round trip. and the speed limit never exceeds 40mph.

Considering this, I wanted to go with a MT tire to offer the most capability off-road, knowing I would be making a sacrifice on-road. After shopping around, the best tire in my opinion that was available in the size I wanted was the Cooper Discoverer STT Pro.

I had never owned a mud-terrain tire before, so I wasn't totally sure what I was getting into, but the reviews were reassuring. After approximately 5 months, I can say I am very happy with them. More noisy than the Toyo OpenCountry ATs I previously had? Definitely. But, I don't find it unbearable. Definitely still capable of having a conversation in the cab at highway speeds. Most importantly, I haven't lost any confidence in all on-road conditions, meanwhile, they have been really good in all the off-road situations I've put them through so far.

Two nitpicks:

Their sidewalls are mega-stiff - there's very little pooch when airing down.

They pick up and retain stones like mad. I'm tap-dancing down the road almost every day.

 

[64Trvlr]

Tire question for those of you who's overlanding vehicle is also your daily driver...

Would you say your tires tend more towards providing you with comfort on the road/highway or are they geared more towards performance on the trail?

Beginning the search for my next set and I'm interested in why you chose to go the way you did with your tires.

Mine are geared towards off road performance, if they happen to have good road manners that's ok.

 

[RoarinRow]

I have Toyo Open Country AT tires and am happy with them as my daily and off road tires. It is definitely quieter than the Duratracs I had previously. The side walls were too soft and they were too loud for my liking.

 

[MidOH]

Old thread is old, but I would still like to opine:

I daily drive my overlander,. However, fortunately, my daily commute is an urban 11 miles round trip. and the speed limit never exceeds 40mph.

Considering this, I wanted to go with a MT tire to offer the most capability off-road, knowing I would be making a sacrifice on-road. After shopping around, the best tire in my opinion that was available in the size I wanted was the Cooper Discoverer STT Pro.

I had never owned a mud-terrain tire before, so I wasn't totally sure what I was getting into, but the reviews were reassuring. After approximately 5 months, I can say I am very happy with them. More noisy than the Toyo OpenCountry ATs I previously had? Definitely. But, I don't find it unbearable. Definitely still capable of having a conversation in the cab at highway speeds. Most importantly, I haven't lost any confidence in all on-road conditions, meanwhile, they have been really good in all the off-road situations I've put them through so far.

Two nitpicks:

Their sidewalls are mega-stiff - there's very little pooch when airing down.

They pick up and retain stones like mad. I'm tap-dancing down the road almost every day.

You have to air them down extra and put some mileage on them to ''break in'' the sidewalls. A beach would be perfect. Most of us never get a chance to do this since we need some air for load carrying, or we just see dirt roads and gravel which is too fast or potholed for low pressures. So they don't get completely flexy until they're nearly worn out.

 

[Bama_Kiwi]

You have to air them down extra and put some mileage on them to ''break in'' the sidewalls. A beach would be perfect. Most of us never get a chance to do this since we need some air for load carrying, or we just see dirt roads and gravel which is too fast or potholed for low pressures. So they don't get completely flexy until they're nearly worn out.

I go down to 18psi and have been reluctant to go any lower (fear of the unknown). They seem to perform really well at 18psi, but just looking at the tires on the ground, you wouldn't easily tell they aren't still at 36psi.

I've got a river trip coming up in February - the river beds here are really wide and rocky, so that should be a good test. I'd love to do some beach driving at some point, too.