Gen 3 Cooper at 3 tires

[KyleT]

Wow lots of cooper hate.

Personally used STT's on trails no montero would make it on other than one maybe with a solid front axle and 35's. Never had an issue wanting more traction or a tougher skin even putting it into sharp edges that will take out any tire sidewall... noise wasn't bad as well as them wearing well on the highway and minimal weight to balance.

Used ATR's on another vehicle, mild off road and tons of snow. They did excellent IMO for a mild all terrain non winter tire. Both these vehicles spent time up in the mountains of Colorado both on the road and off. I never had a tire be the issue that caused loss of forward motion. I'm mean no tire would have given an advantage when we got stuck.

Every BFG I've ever run, AT, MT, km2, long trails have all had terrible balancing, out of roundness, tread chunking etc. never traction issues but just annoying. My gen 2.5 had BFG at's and they were LOUD. And couldn't be balanced smooth to run 80mph.

But the most consistent and trouble free tire I've ever run or installed on customers vehicles in the past was Michelin. Many I've mounted required zero weight to balance out. But they are mild tread at best. I have at2's on my gen 3 and they are adequate for what that vehicle does. Moderate fire roads and lots of highway.

Gen3 are super sensitive to tire tread resonance. Search on the Aussie paj forums for tons of reviews on tires. Guys with at3's, are they real at3 or the discount tire ATP? I'm not discounting the noise just surprised due to previous cooper at's being quiet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[1morebike]

Wow lots of cooper hate.

Personally used STT's on trails no montero would make it on other than one maybe with a solid front axle and 35's. Never had an issue wanting more traction or a tougher skin even putting it into sharp edges that will take out any tire sidewall... noise wasn't bad as well as them wearing well on the highway and minimal weight to balance.

Used ATR's on another vehicle, mild off road and tons of snow. They did excellent IMO for a mild all terrain non winter tire. Both these vehicles spent time up in the mountains of Colorado both on the road and off. I never had a tire be the issue that caused loss of forward motion. I'm mean no tire would have given an advantage when we got stuck.

Every BFG I've ever run, AT, MT, km2, long trails have all had terrible balancing, out of roundness, tread chunking etc. never traction issues but just annoying. My gen 2.5 had BFG at's and they were LOUD. And couldn't be balanced smooth to run 80mph.

But the most consistent and trouble free tire I've ever run or installed on customers vehicles in the past was Michelin. Many I've mounted required zero weight to balance out. But they are mild tread at best. I have at2's on my gen 3 and they are adequate for what that vehicle does. Moderate fire roads and lots of highway.

Gen3 are super sensitive to tire tread resonance. Search on the Aussie paj forums for tons of reviews on tires. Guys with at3's, are they real at3 or the discount tire ATP? I'm not discounting the noise just surprised due to previous cooper at's being quiet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe that's the difference between these tires and the ones on my old Montero. I believe these came from pep boys and the ones I had on my gen 1 were from a Cooper dealer.

 

[KyleT]

Maybe that's the difference between these tires and the ones on my old Montero. I believe these came from pep boys and the ones I had on my gen 1 were from a Cooper dealer.

The pep boys brand are made by either cooper or general depending on the model. Usually at least here the cooper brand ones pep boys sells are true coopers. I've used the pep boys buy 3 get one free several times on coopers. Saves a ton.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[plh]

I have to wonder how many of the folks posting about road noise have owned other 4wd vehicles before, or if their Montero was their first and are simply not familiar?

I've had at least 1 or more 4x4 continuous in my fleet since 1981 when I was 17, some loud some not. Including trucks with bias ply ground hawgs, yea those are loud.

Here is a direct comparison of platforms. Bought a set of Falken Wildpeak A/Ts for the 05 shortly after I purchased it 5 years ago. All reviews said these were quiet, I learned wow on a Gen 3 not quiet at all. Drove them about 35k on this truck before deciding enough is enough. Pulled them and put on KOs the original not KO2. Reasonably quiet. Moved the Wildpeaks to my 92. Couldn't believe how quiet they were on the Gen 2.

Proof for me that Gen 3s are really sensitive to tire selection.

 

[KyleT]

I've read claims the gen3 monocoque chassis is 300% stiffer than a gen2/2.5.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FullMonte]

I have Cooper at3s on my gen 3 right now and they're great. Granted I don't have that much experience with other tires but I did have Michelin LTX tires on there before and I haven't noticed any difference in the noise.

These are the same tires that I took brand new to the Rubicon and punctured two of them, but hey these are two ply tires. And I only aired down to 20 psi. (I was such much greener then) I have upgraded to Cooper stt max Pros for my wheeling trips but use my At3s for my daily driver. The pros are definitely louder than the the At3s

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk

 

[rruff]

We (I assume) are talking about a capable and dependable off road tire. Yes, everyone was aired down, and yes, coopers didn't hold. In fact, 2 cooper casualties, 0 casualties all other brands. Real life experience. But as I said in previous post, keep on buying pretend tires, it's not my money.

The most capable and dependable offroad tires are going to harsh, noisy, and suck MPGs on the road, so it is a compromise. I'd never consider the AT3 to be in that category. Cooper makes the Max and Pro for that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kz8mmLkeks

How exactly did they fail and what were you running over?

Here is the Expedition Portal test: http://expeditionportal.com/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road/

Cooper’s Discoverer A/T3 is a thoroughly modern tire. Positioned as a dedicated all-terrain, it stems from technologies such as advanced CAD design and FEA engineering. We have put over 10,000 miles on various sets of A/T3s, including a crossing of Australia with a 200 Series Land Cruiser, a traverse of Western Canada in a 110 Defender, and considerable abuse during military training in our LJ78 Land Cruiser. Our testing has resulted in no punctures or failures.

On Road: On pavement the A/T3 behaves more like a performance tire. It had consistently short braking distances and recorded the second fastest speed in the slalom course. Grip improved even more on wet asphalt, where the Cooper clocked the fastest speed—so high that Joe suggested we stop the test for safety reasons. On ice and snow we have found traction is nearly as effective as a winter tire. The A/T3 demonstrated superior ride quality, NVH, and skid pad handling; it cannot be overstated how well these tires perform overall on the pavement. While proprietary engineering data from Cooper was not available, we concluded that the excellent pavement performance was a result of high adhesion (softer durometer), lug integrity and stability (shouldered lug design), and aggressive siping.

On Trail: The Cooper was the high-speed champ on the dirt. On the dirt oval we were able to manage controlled, four-wheel drifts at speeds in excess of 75 mph; this was 15 percent higher than the second best performer. The tire responded well to small inputs of the steering wheel, was direct, and inspired confidence. The prodigious grip allowed for effective countersteer and braking on the loose gravel surface. It has a tapered lug shoulder, which resulted in negligible stone retention; a welcome attribute when compared to older lug profiles. We also found lug integrity to be high, and experienced limited chipping or chunking during the test period. The Cooper performed admirably on the rock wall and rut section, but the rubber composition did demonstrate some compromises. Though adhesion was average, the tire ultimately completed the rock face climb through a combination of mechanical keying and excellent deformation. Carcass flexibility and conformity is better than average. coopertire.com, 800-854-6288

Pros:
High-speed control and predictability on dirt
Greatest range of performance
Best wet-pavement traction

Cons:
Lacks three-ply sidewall

 

[nwoods]

My experience regarding Toyo's verses Coopers is the opposite of what PA_Jaro and others are saying. Specific to Cooper Zeon LTZ's, they were soft and pliant due to high quality silicones used in there compound, withstood 40,000 miles of serious off road use on a heavy vehicle (LR3), never punctured, never chunked out, were great in the rain on pavement, handled serious rocks with aplomb, and tore it up in the dunes.

The Toyo Open County A/T's however, were super stiff, shredded the tread blocks on every rock, rode like they were made out of iron on the pavement, were sketchy in the rain, and howled like banshees at freeway speed.

However, all this is academic and irrelevant. Just get the KO2's and never worry about tire choices again

 

[rruff]

Just get the KO2's and never worry about tire choices again

How are they better than the Zeons?

 

[nwoods]

Superior tread pattern (in my opinion), more durable sidewall, more advanced blend of rubber and silicon, resulting in better wear while maintaining traction and pliability. There's a lot more size options and availability too. I would also argue that BFG has superior quality control, but that's subjective.

 

[rruff]

Do you track your MPG? Wonder if you noticed a difference.

Zeons aren't in large sizes, but Cooper A/T3s give more options in the sizes I want vs BFG KO2s (18", actual 34-35", < 12" wide)

 

[Schitzangiggles]

Don't get your panties in bunch dude, this is all mostly opinion based anyway. I'm glad your coopers hold up to graded dirt roads. We (I assume) are talking about a capable and dependable off road tire.

Yes, everyone was aired down, and yes, coopers didn't hold. In fact, 2 cooper casualties, 0 casualties all other brands. Real life experience. But as I said in previous post, keep on buying pretend tires, it's not my money.

LOL, graded dirt roads...
Try washed out un maintained privately owned roads to vacation homes that I would have to work 2 lifetimes to afford for a week. I work in rural eastern Idaho from Arco to Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Malad and everywhere in between. I spend as much time on the highway as I do running down 2 tracks and fields. My work truck has Torsen LSD front and rear. When you build, remodel or buy a structure and need propane or gaslines run, that is what I do. So on new construction, I am generally in before the road is more than a roughly defined pair of ruts. Rain, snow or shine, nothing stops the gasman... I have recently had to park, load all of my stuff into a Haglund/Tucker and get chauffeured to the job because there was no way I was dragging it in with a snowmobile.

My '93 Wrangler is shod with 37" BFG Baja TA's, beadlocked, air locker, 4.88's, 12k winch and a whole slew of mods 13yrs in the making and been offroading since before I could walk. So I might know a thing or two about offroading and what is needed in a tire. Also was in the oil and gas industry for over 7 years and wish I could have had a tire on my trucks that worked as well in as many areas as the Cooper AT3 does. The older Coopers don't even compare.

Are they a super swamper, BFG KO2 Mud tire or a Maxxis M8060's? No, but no one that likes the AT3's ever claimed them to be.

 

[nwoods]

Do you track your MPG? Wonder if you noticed a difference.

Zeons aren't in large sizes, but Cooper A/T3s give more options in the sizes I want vs BFG KO2s (18", actual 34-35", < 12" wide)

Mpg? No. My LR3 was pretty bad on fuel economy all the time, I never really wanted to know just how much fuel it drank

 

[RttH]

Ran AT3's on my previous Montero and now on my current 03 Montero without an issue! Great in the snow, rain, and quiet on the highway. Brother runs ATW's (basically siped AT3) on his 2016 4Runner and lives in Summit county Colorado. We are very pleased with these tires! Previously ran BFG's (AT's and MT's), also great tires, but Coopers seem to run quieter for us so far. Hope this helps.:coffeedrink:

 

[The Artisan]

I have them on my Fuso, I like them. This is what sold me along with the price 235/85/16 was $125 a tire
http://blog.rivermudoutdoors.com/2012/12/gear-review-cooper-at3-30000-mile-update.html?m=0
Kevin