Please help me with tire decision ASAP!!

[ryguy]

I run cooper s/t 255/85r16 on my fj and I am really happy with my decision. On my first taco I ran 265/75r16 general grabber a/t2. I went through 9 tires in two weeks before I found a set that would balance, and the ones that did chopped rather quickly. On my 08 dcab I ran 285/75r16 bfg atko and really liked them in, especially in the snow. When I bought the fj this past feb. I went with pizza cutters and the s/t's seemed like a nice dual purpose tire. I admit one of them had to be exchanged. I just thought 12oz was alot of weight to balance a tire that size. After that I've had nothing but good things to say about them. They out performed my bfg's in snow and do very well in loose terrain and rocks. The only thing I would change about them is the lack of rim protection. All in all my favorite so far and I'd buy them again.

PS They're studable

 

[CA-RJ]

I run 285's with stock 4.10 gearing on my 5 speed 4Runner. For flat ground, the power is fine, but if you're going to live in a hilly area, I would get a smaller tire or regear. I drove up to Big Bear last weekend (from 900 ft to over 7000 feet) and the 4Runner struggled. With your elevation and hilly conditions, you might want to take this into consideration.

 

[thecriscokid]

A little $.02 from the hills in CO.
If you are moving to the higher elevation hills in Colorado or plan to dice it out in the front range ski traffic you will really want some dedicated snow tires come winter, especially for a DD. I have tried to drive my BFG AT's in the winter and it's just not worth it. Around town is fine but you won't catch me anywhere else when it's snowing.
If you are on a tight budget with moving and all, why not try to find a used set of MT's to get you by for the summer and save some coin for snow tires. I would vote for some MT's for the extra beef. I have seen a bunch of 265/75/16 on craigslist lately.
Pick up some snows now if you can and save a ton of money before everyone freaks out at the first sign of frost.
Don't know if that helps any but, like I said. $.02

 

[Pskhaat]

...plan to dice it out in the front range ski traffic...I have tried to drive my BFG AT's in the winter and it's just not worth it.

Sorry BFG, but :iagree:.

Growing up (read obtaining a rural license younger than most and having the stupidity I did driving) in the CO high country my best winter tires were always either Blizzaks on the cars or some form of a studdable aggressive (MT-style) tread on the Cruisers. I personally had very little luck with ATs. The one exception is that I loved the Goodyear AT/S despite the very poor reviews it always receives. Tire choices are very subjective, YMMV.

Don't fret on the sizing, more important is the compound &| tread.

 

[climber-420]

Now we're talking:safari-rig: Thanks to all who have given their .2 Much appreciated. After thinking about this situation overnight, more than likely I will end up going with the Cooper ST's. From everything I have read, and seen them personally next to the other tires on the truck right now, they seem like the best choice. Getting ready to move out west and having a snowboarding addiction= studdable tire. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to meet some of you if given the chance when I head that way in September.

 

[Martinjmpr]

When it was time for me to put new tires on the Taco (in December of 07,) I went with a more winter/snow oriented tire than an "off road" type tire. I ended up with the Yokohama Geolander AT-S in 235/85/16.

The nominal size of these tires is just under 32" which seemed to work well.

My thought process behind getting the snow-type tire as opposed to the more dedicated off road tire was this:

I do most of my driving on pavement, probably 98%. Furthermore, we've had some bad winters recently (2006-07 was horrible, we had about 9 blizzards in an 8 week period.) For safety reasons, I needed a tire that would provide good traction on snow and slushy roads.

While the AT-S, being a snow tire, is somewhat compromised in some areas like deep mud (the grooves clog up because they're not very wide), in most other respects the AT-S is "good enough" and when aired down provided more than adequate traction and flotation for any of the trails I'd run normally.

Of course, the other way you could go would be to maintain two sets of tires and change them out. IMO this is a PITA and not worth it, but YMMV (consider "murphy's law" here: You can be sure that if you have 6 weeks of gorgeous, spring-like weather, and then change your snow tires out for dirt tires, the next week we're going to get a blizzard. That's just the way it is here in CO. We got our two biggest blizzards this year in late March and late April.)

My current ride (which I just bought) has the BFG AT KOs and they are nearly new so I'm going to stick with them until/unless they prove themselves to be inadequate or dangerous in Winter. If they do, then I'll pull them off and replace them with another set of AT-S type tires, probably another set of Geolanders since I was very happy with them.

 

[Jacket]

From the Colorado perspective, it's a tough call. MT tires do pretty poorly in snow, especially packed snow and ice. Winter daily driving on MT tires can be "interesting" depending on your driving style and tolerances. That being said, if you are moving the Front Range of Colorado the snow does not stick around for very long (when it falls, which was sparse last winter). If you are going to be driving up to the mountains a lot in the winter, I think you may have issues with MT's.

So the best all around tire is of course (in my opinion) the AT, especially a more aggressive AT like the BFG KO (sorry KO haters - mine have served me well...). Good on the road, good off road, good on rocks. Not so good on wet rocks and mud.

Another option you could consider if you were leaning toward an MT is the Maxxis Bighorn - the tires come with stud holes built into the lugs so you could stud them in the winter.

 

[Pskhaat]

...best all around tire is of course (in my opinion) the AT, especially a more aggressive AT like the BFG KO (sorry KO haters - mine have served me well...).

Let us not forget that Dr. Brady took some BFG ATs to the Arctic not long ago with success.

 

[Cackalak Han]

My current ride (which I just bought) has the BFG AT KOs and they are nearly new so I'm going to stick with them until/unless they prove themselves to be inadequate or dangerous in Winter. If they do, then I'll pull them off and replace them with another set of AT-S type tires, probably another set of Geolanders since I was very happy with them.

Actually, the KO's have a severe winter rating (noted by the picture of a mountain with a snowflake on it). This is carried by most of the snow tires and a few A/T tires. The KO's have gotten me through some rough snow storms and they're very good winter tires, IMO. I have heard after 50% wear, it does get exponentially worse, but I am not there yet.

Wet traction is another matter, though. It's not that bad, but not the best I've driven on, either.

 

[Scott Brady]

Being in Colorado, I think you will want to be very careful about tire size and gearing. If your goal is to use your truck as transportation to the slopes, than keep the tires close to stock. Anything larger than 265/75 will be a real performance/mileage killer. With that lift, a 285/75 or 255/85 would look the best, but you will be hating life in the mountains.

Is the lift irreversible?

 

[tacollie]

I ran 255/85s BFG KMs on my 02 with a 5 speed and stock gearing. Power loss was not that noticable to me. The tacos don't like hills in general from my experience. The bigger tires did move the regear up the list. Milage varied between 16 and 22 depending my foot. I went skiing every weekend from the front range. The MTs didn't do as well as the ATs on ice but did well enough for me to feel safe. I am on my 3rd set. I am going to try the Cooper Dscover STs next.