Beating a Dead Horse...what tire should I choose?

[stclair]

Well, I've made a decision. I was torn between the Cooper ST Maxx, and the BFG AT for the most part. I ended up looking into the Duratrac, OpenCountry, and a couple others. I just found what seems to be an OK deal on the ST Maxx and ordered 5. The price was $70 less per tire than my favorite local tire shop quoted me yesterday. I feel bad about not buying from them, but heck...I'm on a budget. It allowed me to get the 5th now as well. I'll add my experience to that of other members once they're on the truck. Thanks for all of the advice!

 

[01tundra]

I only notice it pulling away from stoplights in a hurry.

That's how the Duratracs have gotten.

But noise wise they're pretty bad, as bad, if not worse than any M/T I've ever ran.....including the 40" flavors. I've always rotated them every 4k-5k miles and keep the alignment in check. If it weren't for the noise they would be pretty much perfect for light duty.......you know it's pretty bad when I complain about tire noise :sombrero:.

There's almost no cost difference between the two, so I think we'll throw the S/T Maxx's on the FJ and see how they do.

 

[01tundra]

Looking forward to hearing what you think about them, I've pretty much decided to go the same route.

If they end up being terrible we'll carpool to Jim's place to voice our opinion

 

[stclair]

Looking forward to hearing what you think about them, I've pretty much decided to go the same route.

If they end up being terrible we'll carpool to Jim's place to voice our opinion

No doubt!

 

[Loubaru]

Does anyone know if the ST Maxx's are every going to come in something other than E load range in 265/75/16? Last time I checked it was just E and I don't think I want to run that stiff of a tire on a relatively unloaded 4runner.

 

[jim65wagon]

Looking forward to hearing what you think about them, I've pretty much decided to go the same route.

If they end up being terrible we'll carpool to Jim's place to voice our opinion

Come on over.....everyone has an opinion of their own....I'll be ready to present my side of the argument....:elkgrin:

 

[stclair]

Come on over.....everyone has an opinion of their own....I'll be ready to present my side of the argument....:elkgrin:

While having a beer of course.

 

[Ranchero]

StClair - where did you find the ST/MAXX?

 

[stclair]

StClair - where did you find the ST/MAXX?

Ordered them from treaddepot.com, not a crazy great price, but $70 better per tire than my local shop quoted me. Also, shipping for me wasn't bad. Only price I'd found that was better was Sears. However, that was with 10% off through a sale that ended yesterday.

 

[00tundra]

Do you have any pics of the icon stage 4?

 

[Clawhammer]

Good choice! I've been continually impressed with my ST/Maxx's. I've had them for about a year and a half and they've taken everything I've thrown at them and seem to be wearing well also. I'll probably get another set when these do wear out.

 

[karlmagnum]

Had ST/MAXX tires also. One of the best AT's I've run, though traction on wet pavement is not so good.

 

[JoeTRD]

I had the ST maxx on my jeep, loved them.
Currently have the goodyear duratracs on my 3rd gen taco and have been impressed with them.

I will be upgrading to a 33 next spring and not sure though if I will stick with them, or get something even more aggressive. I do a lot of rock and rock crawling type terrain so thinking of trying the Goodyear MTR with kevlar. But might stick with the duratracs.
For what its worth they are also pretty good on road as well. They don't aquaplane easily like the BFG KO2s did when I had them.
I have found that from a stand still on pavement if its raining on a hill if you gun it too hard they will slip a little where my traction control kicks in. No getting sideways or anything though. And it could have to do with being in 2hi, with absolutely no weight in the rear.

Can't speak for winter driving as I run my Nokian tyres for the winter months.

 

[JCMatthews]

I just took off a worn out set of ST Maxx tires. I did not think the weight was noticeable but it was. I have an 05 Tundra and run 285 70 17s. I ran the Maxxes a long time over a lot of terrain and even on an 8000 mile road trip to Alaska. I could feel the unsprung weight especially on rough off road tracks. They were good tires, but I felt like the got quite noisy and slick as they wore. My wife and I are glad for the new quite tires. This time due to budget I went with the local Big O Tire brand Big Foot AT. The tire is made for them by Cooper. They are noticeably lighter. Some of that comes from them being slightly smaller even though they are 285s. I no longer have tire rub in the left front fender. I purchased this tire because of the price and current sale. I am out $1000.00 for 4 after rebates. I also get free road hazard, rotate and balance, and a 60,000 mileage guarantee. I guess I will see how these hold up.

 

[rruff]

I could feel the unsprung weight especially on rough off road tracks.

You were probably feeling the stiff casing more than the weight.

ST Maxx are a good compromise between AT and MT. Durable carcass, decent traction, not too loud. But durability and off road traction run in the opposite direction of ride smoothness and mpgs. No free lunch.