Skinhyfish
Observer
I need for a set of tires. Curious what people have been happy with on their diesels? I have run major brands, but curious what people are liking these days.
1 All-terrian . 2 Mud-tire
1 All-terrian . 2 Mud-tire
Favorite Big truck all-terrain tire or mud for camper weight and longevity?
- Thread starter Skinhyfish
- Start date
Skinhyfish
Observer
Gman... I had the trail grapplers.. how was wear on ridge? I read and some people said not so great
I had a set of trail grapplers back in 2007. After I got rid of them, I said I’d never own Nitto again. They were awful on the road, off the road, and wear time was awful. I actually ran a set of BFG ATKO on our excursion. They weren’t bad. They’re BFG....some love them, some hate them...so I didn’t mention them. I ran several sets Cooper STT’s on the Excursion, a Silverado (Duramax), and even my current F350. I stopped using them when Cooper changed the design. I then went to Toyo M/T. They were even better than the Coopers. I never used them before bc Coopers were less expensive and I could get similar mileage as my friend with a Cummins Ram got with his Toyo M/Ts.
I finally got tired of dealing with the M/T on our family bus (excursion) so I went to a Toyo R/T on it. I love them. Great ride, great wear (so far) as I have about 15k miles on them and minimal wear. I also put them on the Duramax before selling. I saw it recently and at approx 25k on them, they’re at about 1/2 wear. They have a 45k warranty. I’d guess that’s gonna play out about right.
So.... the long way around to answer your question about the Ridge Grapplers.... I decided to try them on my F350. I wanted a “head-to-head comparison with the R/Ts. So far, I really like them. Ride is similar. Noise is similar, wear has been similar. I have about 10k on them and can barely see any wear. I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t spent the time to rotate them yet. I like to rotate every 5k. They’re not cupped/wedged/whatever badly at all. I have no complaints. I’m guessing if they continue, it’ll be down to personal preference of looks or available sizes as the choice between these and the R/T.
I have run 35-12.50-20 in the Cooper, Toyo M/T and Toyo R/T I also had 295/70/17 on the Chebby (R/T)
I have 37-12.50-18 on the F350.
I believe all the above were/are load range E. I haul in the bed and tow equipment on Reese hitch and GN trailers.
Shew... apologies for the novel. Hopefully the info above is helpful.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I finally got tired of dealing with the M/T on our family bus (excursion) so I went to a Toyo R/T on it. I love them. Great ride, great wear (so far) as I have about 15k miles on them and minimal wear. I also put them on the Duramax before selling. I saw it recently and at approx 25k on them, they’re at about 1/2 wear. They have a 45k warranty. I’d guess that’s gonna play out about right.
So.... the long way around to answer your question about the Ridge Grapplers.... I decided to try them on my F350. I wanted a “head-to-head comparison with the R/Ts. So far, I really like them. Ride is similar. Noise is similar, wear has been similar. I have about 10k on them and can barely see any wear. I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t spent the time to rotate them yet. I like to rotate every 5k. They’re not cupped/wedged/whatever badly at all. I have no complaints. I’m guessing if they continue, it’ll be down to personal preference of looks or available sizes as the choice between these and the R/T.
I have run 35-12.50-20 in the Cooper, Toyo M/T and Toyo R/T I also had 295/70/17 on the Chebby (R/T)
I have 37-12.50-18 on the F350.
I believe all the above were/are load range E. I haul in the bed and tow equipment on Reese hitch and GN trailers.
Shew... apologies for the novel. Hopefully the info above is helpful.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Darwin, I love me some Toyo M/T. I really do.... I just got tired of listening to them while on the road.
I’m sure I’ll get stuck enough soon that I’ll be cussing these “macho A/Ts” and be back into the tractor tires again....ROTFL!!!
Great recommendation, Darwin!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I’m sure I’ll get stuck enough soon that I’ll be cussing these “macho A/Ts” and be back into the tractor tires again....ROTFL!!!
Great recommendation, Darwin!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Boz
Observer
This. All day, every day.
Do you have any experience in snow/slush with the RT and Ridge Grappler? I am considering one of them as my next tire.
What part of the country are you located? I believe someone said in another recent tire thread that geographic location will also determine “snow performance”.
For both the R/T and the Ridge Grappler, we have had one snow season of experience. I live in central KY and our winters usually range from fluffy snow, wet snow, slush, freezing rain, ice, wet snow and then ice and also ice then wet snow. Normally, we get less than 24” of accumulation at a time (most of the time 3”-6” is the norm). That being said, this year was a decent snow crop! Lol. We even had snow in April (which is unusual).
My experience with both of those tires were favorable. I liked the snow performance of each of them and I can’t say that I liked either any better.
We normally do some east coast travel and alpine ski during the winter, however this year’s schedules didn’t allow for that....which sucks because it was a great snow season...but that’s a different story. Because we travel in the winter (to other places) I get to experience different “types of snow”. Again, that wasn’t possible this past season.
Hopefully my rambling actually helps you and also I hope some others can chime in on this as well regarding this question.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Mundo4x4Casa
West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
For specifically carrying a camper box on your truck, I keep coming back to Cooper AT-3's in a 315/75R16 size. 35" tall, which is as much as will clear a massaged, 3" lifted Gen II Ram front fender opening. Load rating: 3860 pounds at max inflation. On the front:
on the 10 inch wide rear expedition steel wheels:
deflection with a warm 20 pounds of pressure:
I purchased these because they have an M&S rating, which have proven their worth in Sierra snow; a smaller percentage of voids and larger percentage of tread block area, which ensure a longer life, generous sipping, and the most important aspect to me which is they are quiet on the highway. The secret is the non-symmetrical, almost random looking tread which cuts out the harmonic hum associated with mud tires. This may be rather un-sexy for those of you who want the Macho sound of a big oil burning rig humming down the highway. I've put them on a couple of our Jeeps in the proper size and got 50K miles out of one set. I had a set of Nitto Mud Grapplers, and can say with impunity they were the loudest tires ever, even louder than my 2001 Cummins (the loudest of the 24 valves). The problem was the symmetrical tread blocks, and the fact that they lasted for ever. They was like a sonic prison sentence.
Actually, these are not my all time favorites for the rear axle of a truck camper. These were: 375/65R16 Mickey Thompson Baja's. Yes you read that right. On 12 inch wide wheels and for maximum floatation they were the best duplex sand tire ever. I still have these and are ready for the next sand pile. They took the place of duals in terms of total tread area. Quiet and wore like iron. Unfortunately not made any more. The comparo, both unmounted is with a worn out BFG AT tire in 285/75R16 size.
Here are mounted 15.50's on 12 inch rims compared to the stock size spare that came with the truck:
and mounted on the truck without the camper:
regards, as always, jefe
on the 10 inch wide rear expedition steel wheels:
deflection with a warm 20 pounds of pressure:
I purchased these because they have an M&S rating, which have proven their worth in Sierra snow; a smaller percentage of voids and larger percentage of tread block area, which ensure a longer life, generous sipping, and the most important aspect to me which is they are quiet on the highway. The secret is the non-symmetrical, almost random looking tread which cuts out the harmonic hum associated with mud tires. This may be rather un-sexy for those of you who want the Macho sound of a big oil burning rig humming down the highway. I've put them on a couple of our Jeeps in the proper size and got 50K miles out of one set. I had a set of Nitto Mud Grapplers, and can say with impunity they were the loudest tires ever, even louder than my 2001 Cummins (the loudest of the 24 valves). The problem was the symmetrical tread blocks, and the fact that they lasted for ever. They was like a sonic prison sentence.
Actually, these are not my all time favorites for the rear axle of a truck camper. These were: 375/65R16 Mickey Thompson Baja's. Yes you read that right. On 12 inch wide wheels and for maximum floatation they were the best duplex sand tire ever. I still have these and are ready for the next sand pile. They took the place of duals in terms of total tread area. Quiet and wore like iron. Unfortunately not made any more. The comparo, both unmounted is with a worn out BFG AT tire in 285/75R16 size.
Here are mounted 15.50's on 12 inch rims compared to the stock size spare that came with the truck:
and mounted on the truck without the camper:
regards, as always, jefe
Last edited:
ttengineer
Adventurer
You said big truck, so I'm assuming heavy duty.
Most of us with HDs are running Toyo or Nitto. BFGs are way too soft to run on HD trucks.
Both Toyo and Nitto are made in the same factory outside of Atlanta and are essentially the same tire just a different tread design.
It's hard to beat either of those brands.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Most of us with HDs are running Toyo or Nitto. BFGs are way too soft to run on HD trucks.
Both Toyo and Nitto are made in the same factory outside of Atlanta and are essentially the same tire just a different tread design.
It's hard to beat either of those brands.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Mundo4x4Casa
West slope, N. Ser. Nev.
Jack,
Having had oh, maybe 35 sets of tires on 4WD's I don't buy any tire any more for "The look". The only thing I don't like about the AT-3's is, by design (big tread blocks/small voids), they are NOT a good mud tire. But I don't do much mud anymore and try to avoid it. I only have about 10K miles on the AT-3's and as you can see they don't show much wear if any. But this was the same M.O. that former AT-3's showed. After about 20K miles the tread started to wear faster and get louder. A noise reduction approach was to keep the tires at maximum pressure on pavement. The one thing I did not mention is the penchant for the tire to get noisier as it wears. They tell me that the production model I have in the pix above have solved that woe with less crescendo of noise level as they wear. Since I have different wheels, front and rear I must dismount, remount and balance the tires to do an actual tire rotation. I think we got 55K miles on Jeanie's 2011 Jeep G.C., which is not a light vehicle, and they still had a lot of tread left. We just could not take the noise level anymore. I've tried all kinds of Nittos, Toyos, Mickey Thompson, Cepek, BFG, etc., etc. mud tires and while they look ruggedly cool they fail to give the miles that the AT-3's do. jefe
Having had oh, maybe 35 sets of tires on 4WD's I don't buy any tire any more for "The look". The only thing I don't like about the AT-3's is, by design (big tread blocks/small voids), they are NOT a good mud tire. But I don't do much mud anymore and try to avoid it. I only have about 10K miles on the AT-3's and as you can see they don't show much wear if any. But this was the same M.O. that former AT-3's showed. After about 20K miles the tread started to wear faster and get louder. A noise reduction approach was to keep the tires at maximum pressure on pavement. The one thing I did not mention is the penchant for the tire to get noisier as it wears. They tell me that the production model I have in the pix above have solved that woe with less crescendo of noise level as they wear. Since I have different wheels, front and rear I must dismount, remount and balance the tires to do an actual tire rotation. I think we got 55K miles on Jeanie's 2011 Jeep G.C., which is not a light vehicle, and they still had a lot of tread left. We just could not take the noise level anymore. I've tried all kinds of Nittos, Toyos, Mickey Thompson, Cepek, BFG, etc., etc. mud tires and while they look ruggedly cool they fail to give the miles that the AT-3's do. jefe
Adventurous
Explorer
Jack,
Having had oh, maybe 35 sets of tires on 4WD's I don't buy any tire any more for "The look". The only thing I don't like about the AT-3's is, by design (big tread blocks/small voids), they are NOT a good mud tire. But I don't do much mud anymore and try to avoid it. I only have about 10K miles on the AT-3's and as you can see they don't show much wear if any. But this was the same M.O. that former AT-3's showed. After about 20K miles the tread started to wear faster and get louder. A noise reduction approach was to keep the tires at maximum pressure on pavement. The one thing I did not mention is the penchant for the tire to get noisier as it wears. They tell me that the production model I have in the pix above have solved that woe with less crescendo of noise level as they wear. Since I have different wheels, front and rear I must dismount, remount and balance the tires to do an actual tire rotation. I think we got 55K miles on Jeanie's 2011 Jeep G.C., which is not a light vehicle, and they still had a lot of tread left. We just could not take the noise level anymore. I've tried all kinds of Nittos, Toyos, Mickey Thompson, Cepek, BFG, etc., etc. mud tires and while they look ruggedly cool they fail to give the miles that the AT-3's do. jefe
Thanks for documenting your experience! I’ve been having one hell of a time figuring out which tires to run and your post pushed me over the edge. I now have a set of AT3s on the way for my truck + camper.
They checked a lot of the boxes for price, warranty, wet/snow performance, and noise levels. I’m a bit apprehensive about how they’ll do in mud and slop, but I’ll trade a bit of that for more snow prowess any day. Excited to throw them on and rid myself of the mediocre at best Firestones!