What AT tires have 3 ply sidewalls?

[MYT1]

After spending way more time than is healthy on this forum reading about tires, I'm scared to death the second I get on a dirt road I will get a sidewall puncture.

I know Cooper ST Maxx have 3 ply sidewalls, and I'm pretty sure BF Goodrich KO2's have them, but both those tires are probably overkill for me.

Is there a more modest treaded tire that has three ply sidewalls?

If the Cooper AT3's had 3 ply sidewalls I would buy them in a second.

Or, am I just making too much of a big deal out of this? The most extreme driving I plan on doing is four-wheel drive only roads in Colorado, or similar.

Thanks so much.

 

[SWITAWI]

Well, you just named the two tires I thought of first, lol. What tire size on what vehicle are you talking about?

The size you're looking for will probably be a factor as well.

I know Falken's Wilpeak AT has 3-ply sidewalls only in the larger sizes - http://www.falkentire.com/tires/truck-suv-tires/wildpeak/t-tire

I do see a LT295/70-17 (33x11.50R17), but those E-Load monsters weigh a whopping 74lbs each.

If you're putting tires on an 80-Series you may not care about that, but if you've got a Tacoma...

You're probably going to have to browse some tire manufacturer websites.

 

[1stDeuce]

My friend, I fear your fears are horribly unfounded.

You're not going to get a puncture on a dirt road because you don't have three ply sidewalls... New 1/2 ton or less trucks and most SUV's often come with P-designated tires, so even just going to a C rated "LT" tire on is a huge step up in sidewall strength.

I've wheeled for YEARS in all sorts of conditions. I once punctured three MT/R's on the SAME trail thanks to dumb luck, but I also wheeled light sidewalls on a fairly heavy truck with no problems. If you're going to go rock crawling in a 9000lb truck, then yes, find a HEAVY tire, but for your intended use of "4wd trails in Colorado", it sounds like we're talking about mild exploring, and you should be fine.

I can tell you that most of the oil field guys around here are running Duratrac's and AT3's with no problems and there's nothing but gravel, rock, and broken glass out here in "Wasteland".

But if you REALLY have to have three plies, you can also check out the new ******** Cepek Fun Country. It's made on the ST Maxx carcass. I have the FC's on my truck, and the Maxx's on the Jeep, and I'd recommend the Maxx's by a long shot. MUCH quieter.

We run AT3's on wifey's Liberty, and she's pretty mean to them. Great in rain/snow, and no problems yet with curbs and rocks in the road.
I have Hercules Terra Trac AT2's on the Comanche. EXCELLENT snow tire, and they did fine on Colorado trails when they were on my Jeep. (Not 3-ply rated, but they use Cooper's Cut and Chip resistant compound.)

AT3's are often on rebate or sale... Great tires for the money IMO.
Chris

 

[ExpoMike]

The two biggest things you can do to greatly prevent flats (side wall or tread) is to 1. not use P-series tires and 2. air down your tires when you hit the dirt. I have seen folks punch a rock complete through the tread, running at full street pressure.

 

[RubiconGeoff]

Here's a great video showing the difference that tire construction and inflation pressure can make in regards to puncture resistance:

 

[4x4junkie]

The two biggest things you can do to greatly prevent flats (side wall or tread) is to 1. not use P-series tires and 2. air down your tires when you hit the dirt. I have seen folks punch a rock complete through the tread, running at full street pressure.

Airing down on a rough road makes the ride FAR less tooth-rattling too.
I would suggest making the investment in a quality (fast) air compressor that will give you the freedom to air down (and up) at will.

 

[outback97]

After spending way more time than is healthy on this forum reading about tires, I'm scared to death the second I get on a dirt road I will get a sidewall puncture.

I know Cooper ST Maxx have 3 ply sidewalls, and I'm pretty sure BF Goodrich KO2's have them, but both those tires are probably overkill for me.

Is there a more modest treaded tire that has three ply sidewalls?

If the Cooper AT3's had 3 ply sidewalls I would buy them in a second.

Or, am I just making too much of a big deal out of this? The most extreme driving I plan on doing is four-wheel drive only roads in Colorado, or similar.

Thanks so much.

I was in the same situation, worrying about which tires to buy. After reading a lot of reviews, I decided on the A/T3's. Although the S/T Maxx looked like a great choice too, I took an honest look at what I wanted and how I'd use the vehicle, not what other people wanted or if the tires didn't look as "aggressive" or whatever adjective people assign to a tire.

Something else to consider about counting the number of plys... Per this post the 2 plys of the A/T3 might be pretty similar to the 3 of the KO2.

Just got mine on last week but I'm looking forward to enjoying them, hopefully for a long time. I know they were a big step up from the P rated that were on the vehicle before.

I almost hate to say this, but I think you may have missed out on the best time to buy the A/T3's if you decide to go with those. Discount Tire Direct had a $100 off $400 coupon on their eBay site, plus there is a $70 mfg rebate which is stackable. I think they run this promotion a couple times a year, but I believe the $100 off $400 has ended. When were you planning on buying?

 

[SSF556]

I was on the fence between the AT3 and the ST Maxx and it came down to price for me...the ST Maxx was $1 cheaper than the AT3 in the sizes I was looking at. 265/70/17 AT3 Load C vs 255/75/17 ST Maxx Load C. Plus in theory the ST Maxx will handle the southern red mud better than the AT3. I have not run the ST Maxx yet, but hopefully will have them on in the next couple of weeks.


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[1stDeuce]

Here's a great video showing the difference that tire construction and inflation pressure can make in regards to puncture resistance:

THAT is a SWEET video!! Cooper tire has a distributor in Australia that does a great job of presenting tire information to the masses, which is one of the reasons that Cooper is huge there. Interesting that the P-construction tire doesn't really get a lot better even when aired down, while the LT tires do. I'd have thought them all to have similar improvement when aired down.

 

[outback97]

I was on the fence between the AT3 and the ST Maxx and it came down to price for me...the ST Maxx was $1 cheaper than the AT3 in the sizes I was looking at. 265/70/17 AT3 Load C vs 255/75/17 ST Maxx Load C. Plus in theory the ST Maxx will handle the southern red mud better than the AT3. I have not run the ST Maxx yet, but hopefully will have them on in the next couple of weeks.


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Interesting, A/T3 was cheaper for me. Sadly there was no C range available in the sizes I was looking at, although according to the link I posted above, the C range A/T3 is only 2ply X 1000 denier, not 2ply X 1500 denier.

So, for your size and load range the sidewall difference between the S/T Maxx and A/T3 was even bigger.

The video is really cool, the tires I replaced were probably about like the one on the left in the video. Wish there was a similar video depicting sidewall resilience.

 

[unabashedpraise]

I choose the Toyo at2 over the Cooper at3. All I had to go on were internet reviews saying the Cooper seemed to have soft sidewalls. No negative reviews on the Toyos that i found about that. Also the 65k mile tread wear was 10k more than the Coopers.

Overall they seemed to be very comparable in every way. At the time I had intended on getting the coopers, but the sale price went way up. It has since dropped quite a bit, but the toyos have gone up.

 

[XJLI]

I blew a hole in my load range E AT3s after 2k miles, but I probably would have blown anything there for a Toyo MT or something as beefcake as that. ~12 PSI pinched the sidewall between the rim and a rock going faster than I should have been. Still love the tires anyway.

 

[Erik N]

Is there a more modest treaded tire that has three ply sidewalls?

Toyo M55. I run them on my Suburban and love them. There is a dedicated thread about the tire here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/7861-Toyo-M-55?highlight=toyo+M55

 

[Regcabguy]

The two biggest things you can do to greatly prevent flats (side wall or tread) is to 1. not use P-series tires and 2. air down your tires when you hit the dirt. I have seen folks punch a rock complete through the tread, running at full street pressure.

Two good pts. I have to run 60 psi in my AT2's with my camper weight and mass.
Running the same psi,same truck with my former beefy Toyo MT's,a piece of metal on the freeway blewout my left front tire instantly. This metal piece was nothing compared to what you'd encounter in an offroad situation but due to the high pressure the tire had no give.
Half ton trucks coming out of the factory with passenger tires amaze me. That's still a heavy piece of metal designed to carry a pretty good load barreling down the road.
I met a Canadian guy in Yosemite with a new Tundra TRD. He was towing a 22' trailer. Again P-rated tires but Toyota did supply Bilstein tires. He'd swayed all the way from Alberta with antisway equipment and trailer tires properly inflated. I suggested a run to a tire shop for some LT's. Hopefully that helped. Maybe more psi would increase his fuel economy above the 6-8 he'd been getting on his journey too.

 

[Shocker]

I have the ST MAXX for my big ol van, but I looked hard at these as well:

Hercules Terra Trac RS. They have several sizes with a 3 ply sidewall. I did go check them out at a local distributor. They are nice, but run a bit small. 265/75-16 is 3 ply.