Best 'Aggressive AT' Tires?
- Thread starter NCtrail4R
- Start date
Dang it. I better go check my mail!! I'll be curious to see how the Cepek's that I bought from them did! (And why one tire is pretty well rounded off on the outside edge! :Wow1
I can say that that AT3's we put on the Fiancee's KJ over the winter have been stellar performers to date!! Great snow/ice/rain traction, and wearing well too! (And she curbs the thing constantly, so we're always running a sort of sidewall durability test...)
I use the cheaper version of coopers AT3 on my suburban, the Hercules tera trac AT. AWESOME tire... great price too.
Ramjet
Explorer
For what it's worth. I have 96k on my BFG A/T's and still going. Yes, they are getting to their end life, but I think I might get 100k out of them. They have great on road performance in all conditions and the off road performance is exceptional. Except mud, they are just ok in the mud.
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
I got 14K out of my last set (on the Power Wagon).
It bewilders me when I hear of high mileage like this on any sort of tire, especially tires designed to go offroad.
I don't think I've ever had a tire go more than 40K on any of my vehicles ever.
01tundra
Explorer
My Duratracs did really well for the first 25k miles of so, then they started getting loud and started losing traction in the rain. The tread was wearing good though and they were rotated every 4k miles. By around 40k miles you could hear me coming down the road a mile off, not really sure why they got so loud. Tread wear was still good and I could've got 50k+ miles of wear out of them.
I installed a set of Duratracs on our FJ right around the same time I installed the Coopers on the Tacoma, so I'm curious to see how they compare over time.
I installed a set of Duratracs on our FJ right around the same time I installed the Coopers on the Tacoma, so I'm curious to see how they compare over time.
Ramjet
Explorer
Well, I rotate my tires every time I change my oil, and I keep them inflated properly, daily. Not saying that you don't, but if you take care of your things, they take care of you. I guess I'm lucky that they have lasted this long. Plus, my FJ is garage kept when I'm not on the road traveling for my job.
T.Low
Expedition Leader
I agree with the premise, no doubt, but of course you did not throw the tires away at 14k. For the sake of completing the scenario, how much did somebody else pay you for them?
T.Low
Expedition Leader
I can't imagine you would have felt comfortable following us in the remote regions of Owyhee with your tires. Fishermans Rd hours of this super rocky shelf road up and over the pass from the reservoir to Succor Crk. The entire time I was thinking how glad I was to be in two month old, top rated puncture resistant tires. These rocks were sharp.
http://youtu.be/e5XEjoNncWQ
Or many of the roads in tat area, like the out to the Three Corners Marker of Oregon, Idaho, and Nevada.
http://youtu.be/R2kPrhGKUwg
Last edited:
LexusAllTerrain
Expedition Leader
I got 60k out of my BFG Allterrains on my 4runner after 6 years, which I replaced because they were old, however I could have probably get another 15 to 20k!
Scott Brady
Founder
Neither the S/T Maxx or Duratracs are traditional all terrains, and seriously struggle in ice and wet conditions. Both good tires, but more of a hybrid between an AT and mud tire. The difficulty with testing a mud tire (or an all terrain's) performance in mud is repeatability. Any mud tire or mud test could only be subjective...
Scott Brady
Founder
I am noticing a lot of comments on longevity. While a long wearing tire certainly helps the pocket book, it comes as a loss in performance, almost always on dry rock due to the reduced adhesion and micro-keying. You are way better off running a higher performance tire, and just pulling them off at 50% tread wear and selling them. The last half of a tire's life is almost useless beyond a daily commute in dry weather...
Hilldweller
SE Expedition Society
Nah, they were done. At least in my book. 5/32s left and they were slip-sliding away.
Georgia roads have some really rough aggregate, hot hot hot, powerful torquey engine, heavy truck = accelerated wear.
They were certainly rotated religiously as are all my tires. But I do tend to use my vehicles to their fullest. And that means exotic roadtrips, all sorts of offroad conditions, etc.
No problem on "the hill" at the Overland Rally with the BFGs
But Frenchie was following us over a pass in NM and laughing his butt off. We were sliding in every direction.
01tundra
Explorer
I currently have both and find that blanket statement quite a stretch. "Struggle" - as compared to what? I've ran just about every major brand of A/T and M/T out there on multiple vehicles over the past 25 years, I personally haven't experienced the Duratracs or S/T Maxx "struggle" at anything, especially in wet conditions. I have no allegiance to any tire manufacturer, but I do have years of experience with multiple manufactures on just about every terrain out there. I can find flaws with every tire I've ever ran, but I don't agree that either of the tires mentioned above struggle at much of anything. I've had vehicles sponsored by BFG & Goodyear over the years. I have in the past been in the anti-Goodyear camp, due to personal experiences with their tires, but the Duratracs changed my mind some and really surprised me. The Cooper's are starting out to be as good, if not better than the Duratracs.
Just on my Tacoma in the past three years I've had BFG A/T's, Duratracs, & S/T Maxx. If anything, the BFG's were the least performers all the way around, as they've proven to be for me on several past occasions on different vehicles.
I agree that a more traditional A/T with a tighter tread pattern should provide better street performance, but to say the other two struggle isn't an accurate statement from my person experiences.
The fact that this thread is titled "aggressive AT" makes me think that the Duratracs and Coopers should be at the top of the heap :ylsmoke:
Last edited:
luckyjoe
Adventurer
I've found "aggressive" and "AT" to be mutually exclusive. My honest answer to an aggressive AT is an MT in the flavor of your choice.
However, the only tire I have used, that is even close to this description was the old Dunlop Rover RT. You can see from the huge outer lugs that most of you would say it's too noisy.
I found the RT far exceeded any AT-shod vehicles I drove with, and was outstanding in the big three - wet roads, snow & mud. The RT negatives are 1. NLA (!), and 2. wore like iron and became harder for your last 50% wear. It was really sad to see that tire go…
I ran Duratracs as well, and while very similar to the RT, they gave much cushier ride, contributing to vagueness both On/Off-road (especially off-road in snow)
MT's from this point out…
Tom P.
However, the only tire I have used, that is even close to this description was the old Dunlop Rover RT. You can see from the huge outer lugs that most of you would say it's too noisy.
I found the RT far exceeded any AT-shod vehicles I drove with, and was outstanding in the big three - wet roads, snow & mud. The RT negatives are 1. NLA (!), and 2. wore like iron and became harder for your last 50% wear. It was really sad to see that tire go…
I ran Duratracs as well, and while very similar to the RT, they gave much cushier ride, contributing to vagueness both On/Off-road (especially off-road in snow)
MT's from this point out…
Tom P.