Let's talk tires..

Scott

Scott

Adventurist
It's time to start researching tires for the land yacht. Here are my current requirements:
35×12.50×17 or 315/70/17

Load range E preferred, as I am planning on hauling a large slide in camper at some point.

I am looking at mud terrains because I rarely drive the truck, and these tires will last a LONG time.

Here are my top contenders, in no particular order:

Toyo open country MT (assuming I can find some place with them in stock)

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Cooper discoverer SST

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Dick Cepek Mud Country:

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I'm open to other suggestions, so let's open up some discussion. The purchase is still a few months out, but I tend to over research...

Scott
 
I just purchased Hankook MT tires yesterday and got a great deal. They have been around a long time, but don't get as much publicity as the bigger guys. I am selling my Goodyear wrangler MTR with less than 4000 miles. I do not like the road manners of them at all. After driving the 900 mile round trip this weekend to the Expo East it was time for a change. Good luck with your search...........
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Maxcustody said:
I just purchased Hankook MT tires yesterday and got a great deal. They have been around a long time, but don't get as much publicity as the bigger guys. I am selling my Goodyear wrangler MTR with less than 4000 miles. I do not like the road manners of them at all. After driving the 900 mile round trip this weekend to the Expo East it was time for a change. Good luck with your search...........
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I've known a few people with those tires, and everyone has raved about them. Perhaps it's time to look at those as well.
 
I disagree with the mud terrain tread pattern. I've yet to encounter a spot in SoCal or Baja where my AT tread pattern tires (on my Jeep LJ and my truck) weren't sufficient for the task at hand. I put maybe 10,000 miles a year on my truck, of those, I'm lucky if 500 of those miles are off pavement.

The reduced fuel economy and annoying highway whine of mud terrains is more than I'm willing to accept on a daily basis in order to be prepared for the random mud puddle that I may encounter that can't be driven around. For your winters, mud terrain are also a negative. They work well enough in new snow, put 'em on packed snow or ice and they are almost useless due to the large tread blocks. Yes, you can sipe them, essentially turning your mud terrains into all terrains that you could have purchased to begin with. Just saying is all!
 
bob91yj said:
I disagree with the mud terrain tread pattern. I've yet to encounter a spot in SoCal or Baja where my AT tread pattern tires (on my Jeep LJ and my truck) weren't sufficient for the task at hand. I put maybe 10,000 miles a year on my truck, of those, I'm lucky if 500 of those miles are off pavement.

The reduced fuel economy and annoying highway whine of mud terrains is more than I'm willing to accept on a daily basis in order to be prepared for the random mud puddle that I may encounter that can't be driven around. For your winters, mud terrain are also a negative. They work well enough in new snow, put 'em on packed snow or ice and they are almost useless due to the large tread blocks. Yes, you can sipe them, essentially turning your mud terrains into all terrains that you could have purchased to begin with. Just saying is all!
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All good points Bob, which is why I opened this up to some discussion. At ' s are not out of the question, I just don't know where to start looking for AT tires. I do know I don't really want another set of Firestone destination ATs, as I'm not too impressed with their tread life.
 
Hey I have 4 Yokohama Geolanders you can have for free they have 1/2 or more tread life left on the just come pick them up.
 
I've been happy with my BFG AT's over the years. They always seem to be the standard that other tires are held to. They aren't exceptionally good at anything, but they are adequate for everything that I use them for.
 
I'm a BFG guy, but I like Toyo's too.

The new BFG AT KO2 is interesting but alas, not in my preferred size of 255/85R16

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When I bought the truck it has a brand new set (still had the nubs) of Nitto Terra Grapplers AT, and I absolutely hated them. The on road manners were adequate, but nothing to brag about and off road they were horrible. They would chunk on just about anything, and a trip in the rocks was brutal on them. I did a lot of looking around and settled on the Toyo Open Country MT. They handle every bit as well on the highway as the nitto, but are way better offroad. There is a noticeable difference in the traction, they grab everything. I have been running them at 58psi on the highway and have over 25k miles on them. They are wearing perfectly flat, as of the las tire rotation, all 4 tires were at 13/32 tread left, they start at 21/32, so there is still lots of tread left. They are starting to chunk, but nothing like the nittos did and these tires have been run harder. I talked to a lot of people form a few of the Dodge groups, and the Power wagon forums and everyone loved them. I also talked to Don Thuren (Thuren Fabrication) and Sage Carli (Carli Suspension) and the Toyo is what they put on all of their builds. I figured they know way more about this than I do, so I went with them and have been very happy. They are also made in the USA

As for your tire size, I don't remember you having a lift, which means a 35 on a 3rd gen Dodge will rub. They will also hit the control arms when turning without either using a clearanced control arm or rims with a different backspacing. I just let mine rub on the arms for now, it is not bad, but something you should be aware of.
 
I used to be a fan of BFG's and have experience with the KM, KM2, and KO's. Their all terrain KO lasted forever but never really distinguished itself other than the exceptionally loud noise it created sfter about 30K miles. The KM's were "the" standard off road tire but wore excessively and unevenly. The KM2s were awesome offroad and way quieter than the all terrain KOs, oddly enough. However, I refused to take thm out in the snow after the horrible experience I had with them in the street where I live... just had no traction as the tread blocks are so far apart they would not bite and hold snow. I dreaded water on the roadway because they just loved to hydroplane - I learned that hard lesson in the West Virginia mountains during a sudden summer deluge of rain on I-64.

After hearing glowing remarks from owners of NITTO tires I pulled the trigger on some Trail Grapplers. I've been happy with these all around and in all seasons. Great manners in the wet and snow and I've been exptremely pleased with them off road on rocky, loose scrabble, and mud. Reports from owners I know and those whom I have sold them to are very positive; as well as their all terrain tire, the Terra Grappler.
 
BlkWgn said:
When I bought the truck it has a brand new set (still had the nubs) of Nitto Terra Grapplers AT, and I absolutely hated them. The on road manners were adequate, but nothing to brag about and off road they were horrible. They would chunk on just about anything, and a trip in the rocks was brutal on them. I did a lot of looking around and settled on the Toyo Open Country MT. They handle every bit as well on the highway as the nitto, but are way better offroad. There is a noticeable difference in the traction, they grab everything. I have been running them at 58psi on the highway and have over 25k miles on them. They are wearing perfectly flat, as of the las tire rotation, all 4 tires were at 13/32 tread left, they start at 21/32, so there is still lots of tread left. They are starting to chunk, but nothing like the nittos did and these tires have been run harder. I talked to a lot of people form a few of the Dodge groups, and the Power wagon forums and everyone loved them. I also talked to Don Thuren (Thuren Fabrication) and Sage Carli (Carli Suspension) and the Toyo is what they put on all of their builds. I figured they know way more about this than I do, so I went with them and have been very happy. They are also made in the USA

As for your tire size, I don't remember you having a lift, which means a 35 on a 3rd gen Dodge will rub. They will also hit the control arms when turning without either using a clearanced control arm or rims with a different backspacing. I just let mine rub on the arms for now, it is not bad, but something you should be aware of.
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Cris, thanks for your insight, being a fellow ram owner. I do not have a lift, and I know all about the rubbing. The truck has 315s on it now, and has had 35s in the past, so I know they'll work, I just need to know my limits, unless I can save some $$ for some thruren front sprongs, which I'm working on now...
 
We can talk suspension when you get there, just wanted to make sure you were aware of the rubbing issues.
 
BlkWgn said:
We can talk suspension when you get there, just wanted to make sure you were aware of the rubbing issues.
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I'm hoping to get at least some front end elevation with the next set of tires. I've already got blistein 5100s designed for 2-3" lift on the truck as it sits.. I've been eyeballing Thuren rear shackles, 3" front springs, adjustable track bar, and sway bar end links.
 
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I would recommend the Toyos due to the size and weight of your truck, whether AT or MT. Your truck is big, meaning you won't get to pick your line very well so tire bites will happen. I am sold on Toyos because they have the strongest sidewall that I've seen. On road manners are comparable to others in AT or MT categories, but not stellar.

The biggest drawback is rotational weight, but your abundance of torque should reduce the impact. I think Toyos are a good fit for 8 lug trucks who have to use brute force to get through trails.

I am liking my Toyo AT Extremes thus far.

I don't personally recommend MTs on a big truck because tire chains are such a good option if you need to power through the soup.


Sent from a mud puddle
 
Did you know that Toyo Tire & Rubber company was established in 1945 in Japan and in 1966 estabished operations in the United States.

They created Nitto Tire of North America in 1999.

And with that someone owes me a cup of coffee.
 
TangoBlue said:
Did you know that Toyo Tire & Rubber company was established in 1945 in Japan and in 1966 estabished operations in the United States.

They created Nitto Tire of North America in 1999.

And with that someone owes me a cup of coffee.
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:coffee
 
The Ram 2500s are pretty picky when it comes to tire choice. In my opinion the BFG AT is one of the worst tires for these trucks. Due to the soft sidewall, death wobble is very common with those tires. Death wobble and wear are two of the main factors in picking a tire for these trucks. Because the trucks weigh more than your typical half ton, etc. they tend to wear tires pretty quick. Again the BFG and other soft tires come to mind. In our experience on our personal trucks as well as our customer trucks, Toyos and Nitto tires have proven themselves. However, Nittos tend to be very expensive. I am currently trying out Maxxis Trepadors on my personal truck and couldn't be happier with them so far.
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I wonder of the steering geometry of the solid axle front axle plays a role in the tire wear. My truck is an '06 Dmax, with a slide in/pop up camper in it full times. I get 50k miles or so out of my BFG's on two different GMC trucks I've owned.
 
bob91yj said:
I wonder of the steering geometry of the solid axle front axle plays a role in the tire wear. My truck is an '06 Dmax, with a slide in/pop up camper in it full times. I get 50k miles or so out of my BFG's on two different GMC trucks I've owned.
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I'm gonna guess that's a part of the issues with these trucks Bob. if you do some searching about the problem on dodges, you'll see its pretty prevalent. Another option that Cody at cjc suggested that I like is the new toyo RT. Kinda a mix between the Mt and at. Defconbrix had them on his taco at mrv...

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The RT is the middle tire in this picture.
 
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