cellularsteve2
Adventurer
I was shopping for new tires for quite some time so I thought I would give an update with my initial observations.
I went from BFG All Terrain 285-75-16 D rated to Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain 285-75-16 E rated.
I just put them on and did my first trip on an off road, consisting of 600 miles.
I have the V10 (very quiet motor) so I was concerned with the noise. So far, there is surprisingly no noticeable noise over the BFG's, even with the windows down. This was a very pleasant surprise, since the tread is far more aggressive looking than the BFG A/T.
While there was no pulling as some had described, I did feel that the tires were more "responsive" at highway speeds. Now this may be because of the more aggressive tread, or simply because these are the first brand new tires I have had on the van. It wasn't alarming or even unpleasant. I just won't drive one handed with a few fingers (but shouldn't do this anyway).
Off road on fire road type trails the tires handled great (but so did the BFG's). Over rocks and up a dry waterfall I felt the tires gripped very well (no slippage at all), which were noticeably better than the BFG A/Ts. Drove up Goler Wash and over the Mengel Pass in Death Valley and it was a piece of cake. The tires never slipped.
In very wet sand I was in 2WD and dug in up to the axle housing. That was driver error and not the tires. I don't think most tires in this situation would have done any better. But got to use my winch and Hi-lift (another story altogether).
Conclusion: I am very pleased so far with this purchase. Though I have always run BFG's, I wanted to try something new. On the SMB my BFG A/Ts were fine overall, but D rated so I wanted to upgrade. My BFG M/T KM's on my Jeep grip very well offroad but are so noisy on the road that they are nearly unbearable. As long as the Toyo's hold up for the long term and remain quiet, I will be very happy.
steve
I went from BFG All Terrain 285-75-16 D rated to Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain 285-75-16 E rated.
I just put them on and did my first trip on an off road, consisting of 600 miles.
I have the V10 (very quiet motor) so I was concerned with the noise. So far, there is surprisingly no noticeable noise over the BFG's, even with the windows down. This was a very pleasant surprise, since the tread is far more aggressive looking than the BFG A/T.
While there was no pulling as some had described, I did feel that the tires were more "responsive" at highway speeds. Now this may be because of the more aggressive tread, or simply because these are the first brand new tires I have had on the van. It wasn't alarming or even unpleasant. I just won't drive one handed with a few fingers (but shouldn't do this anyway).
Off road on fire road type trails the tires handled great (but so did the BFG's). Over rocks and up a dry waterfall I felt the tires gripped very well (no slippage at all), which were noticeably better than the BFG A/Ts. Drove up Goler Wash and over the Mengel Pass in Death Valley and it was a piece of cake. The tires never slipped.
In very wet sand I was in 2WD and dug in up to the axle housing. That was driver error and not the tires. I don't think most tires in this situation would have done any better. But got to use my winch and Hi-lift (another story altogether).
Conclusion: I am very pleased so far with this purchase. Though I have always run BFG's, I wanted to try something new. On the SMB my BFG A/Ts were fine overall, but D rated so I wanted to upgrade. My BFG M/T KM's on my Jeep grip very well offroad but are so noisy on the road that they are nearly unbearable. As long as the Toyo's hold up for the long term and remain quiet, I will be very happy.
steve
