Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx

[Robert Bills]

My Cooper Discoverer ST/Maxx LT265/75R16 tires are now Moab tested! Never once were they the limiting factor in an obstacle. No tread or sidewall damage whatsoever. In fact, after a bath and some tire dressing they still look as new as the day I bought them.

 

[onetraveller]

So I've been running these tires for two years now and have approximately 30k miles on them both on and off road. I'm running a 275/70r18 with the stock 7.5 inch wide rims at about 28psi on road and 15psi off road. The have been a very good all around tire.


They are acceptable in the winter, not as good as my Blizzaks, but what is? They have also been admirable in the Alaskan mix of mud, rocks, and gravel. They do pack up a little with mud, but easily spin clean and grip. I've managed to put some pretty good rock scars in my stock wheels, but haven't even scratched the tire sidewalls. I have enough confidence in them that I usually run either as the lead rig or as cleanup on group rides.


They have gotten louder as they wear in, and are now starting to approach a noticeable hum. Not bad, but definitely present. Without measuring the tread depth, I'd estimate another 15-20k miles of life remaining in them. I'm caught in the proverbial catch 22 of wanting to go with bigger tires, but mine are still in good shape.


For comparison, I've run the old BFG KOs, BFG Rugged Terrains, Nitto Terra Grapplers, and Goodyear Duratracs. The Duratracs are a better winter tire, but not enough to make me switch and I prefer the Cooper's stronger sidewalls. The old KOs were unimpressive, especially in winter and in mud as were the Nittos.


They will likely be my next tire, although I do want to see the new Cooper STT Pros that were reviewed by Scott. However, the tread pattern on the Pro doesn't seem to be as suitable for winter driving as the Maxx.


Mike

 

[BigSwede]

They have gotten louder as they wear in, and are now starting to approach a noticeable hum. Not bad, but definitely present.

How often have you rotated them?

 

[onetraveller]

About every 6 months. They are wearing evenly across the tread.

Mike

 

[Harry m]

Just put a set on the disco 2 looking forward to trying them out look good for the money £460 set of five:ylsmoke:

 

[the kid]

got a set of 37/12.5/17 on my 8k lb truck. No real offroading yet. Yes they throw gravel, which is to be expected with the large voids. VERY quiet on the freeway. One tire has some lateral runout, aparantly balanced out (took 6 oz.. inside and out). no time to swap it with a different one.

One thing though, I wish cooper made these in a load E rating. I had 2000 lbs of crap on my bed, and I had to have them at max pressure and the sidewalls still flexed out more than I would like them to. They are 3650 lb a piece weight rated, I had 2k lbs left in weight rating of the tires (truck is 3650 on the rear axle).
If i loaded them to max...I would be concerned about the sidewalls blowing out over a good bump..

yeah no way will they blow out over a bump even at max load for your truck. to reference this, in iraq and afganistan we would run a 37 12.50 16.5 BFG or GY that was only D rated on 11,000+ lbs Humvees with 120*+ heat at 60+ mph and hit pot holes or other debris in the road with no issues. we were not easy on tires or the rigs, they were their to do a job and we didnt pay for the repairs or parts so we drove the piss outta those trucks and were hard on them. the tires were not failing -the BFGs didnt do as well as the MTRs, but we never had a tire fail like you are suggesting. not saying its not possible, but i can tell you out of the 250,000+ miles we put on all of our trucks cumulatively i never heard of anyone having a failure like that. sure we got flats from IEDs, and running over things that punctured the tires but no tire will stand up to that. so dont worry about being loaded and hitting a bump ie pot hole, curb ect in the road. the tire will flex even at max PSI and you also have a suspension that will soak up a lot of that as well. and i doubt you will be driving in 120*+ heat for hours at a time on the hwy day after day fully loaded...

 

[Applejack]

I have been running these tires for a little over a year now and I think I must be having a hell of a time figuring out my correct pressure or something because while everyone else seems to gush love all over these tires, I find them to be very average with regard to traction. In loose dirt I can't get them to hook up at all unless I am in 4wd which is annoying. Last weekend I was just trying to back into my camp space which has just a slight grade to it and I had to put it in 4wd drive to back in the last 4 feet. I have never had use 4wd at this spot before. If i had throttled it I could have made it without 4wd but it would have made a dust storm in doing so. I was fully loaded with gear in my 4Runner 265/75/16 running 33psi. Is this too high? They are really stiff, I'm wondering if Runnng at 28 would help and not compromise the tire

 

[onetraveller]

Applejack,
My Jeep weighs about 5000 lbs without gear and running them at 28psi works well for me. I found the sidewalls on mine to be stiff enough that the 5 psi difference between 28 and 33 is noticeable. I do air them down off road as well which really helps with their traction. The biggest challenge I have is the mixture of rock and mud that we deal with on a regular basis. Mud tires and boggers are the preferred tire for Alaska, but boggers suck on the road.

The Maxx tires aren't magic, but they do a good job in a wide variety of situations both off and on road and they are quite durable. If you don't spend much time around sharp rocks, you may not need the sidewall strength.

Have you seen this video on increased puncture resistance due to lower air pressures?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kz8mmLkeks

Mike

 

[Applejack]

I have not seen that video, I will check it out. I think I will try airing them down a bit the next time I take my 4Runner out too.

 

[kojackJKU]

My biggest complaint too applejack, Mine were like rolling on steel tires they were so stiff.

 

[bijanjames]

800 mile trip this weekend down into the San Juan's. The Coopers got a workout! They hum on the highway, do a good job in the mud, but like anything else, can't handle 2ft of it. Handled 100 or so miles of very rough trails with out a chip. Overall very pleased.

 

[RubiconGeoff]

So I haven't had a chance to take them off-road yet, but after a couple days of on-road use, I am blown away by how street-friendly these S/T Maxx's are. At first I was concerned because these big 315/70R17's are a lot more aggressive (in both the tread block size and the width of the tread voids) than the smaller sizes of this tire I've seen in stores, but those fears were unfounded - these tires are essentially silent on the highway. On my daily-driven 4-door JK with a hardtop installed and the windows closed, I cannot hear the tires over the wind noise. Even driving next to a K-rail to reflect the sound back through open windows, I can't hear any tire noise. Just wind noise. It's a night-and-day difference compared to my previous set of mud-terrains.

The S/T Maxx have very sharp steering immediately off-center, making the Jeep drive even more like a car - none of the mushy on-center steering typical of a mud-terrain tire. These load range D Coopers ride better over bumps than my previous load range D BFGoodrich KO1 casings in spite of Cooper's heavy-duty Armor-Tek 3 casings.

I'm really anxious to try them out in varying weather conditions and especially off-road. I'll be running Fordyce at Sierra Trek and the Rubicon over Labor Day Weekend, plus some other trips mixed in between. I'll report back once I've had a chance to give them a thorough test. But I can already say that someone who's looking for a mud-terrain tire that is absolutely street-friendly, these Coopers should be at the very top of the list, especially when you can get a fantastic deal like I did through Discount Tire Direct.

 

[The_Dude]

I am waiting for my 2nd set to be delivered at discount tire. 1st set has about 30k on them and still has about 1/3 tread left.


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[Hilldweller]

I'm down to 7/32 on one of them; moved it to the spare. 35,000 miles.
I'll need to replace them before all of my October shenanigans.
Pretty sure I'll stick with Maxx. Unless the Pro comes out in 255/80-17.....

 

[Redline]

Unless the Pro comes out in 255/80-17.....

Now you are taklin'