Comparing a few AT tires

buck91

buck91

Joined
Apr 17, 2012
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Not ready for new tires yet but my Falken AT3W Load E tires are losing a lot of wet traction despite having very minimal treadwear for the miles (probably related, eh?). Anyways that means its time to start paying attention to the tire market again. Looking for a moderately aggressive tire for a commuter truck that I can take offroad if I want. Pretty happy with the Falkens and maybe the softer P-metric version would be OK but I'd enjoy a more aggressive tire. My truck only sees about 9k miles a year since its only used for my commute. 3PMS symbol is a giant plus as I really enjoy maximum winter mobility.

Considering the following tires.

BFG All Terrain TA KO2. Can't really see a reason to avoid this tire, industry leader. 3PMS.
GY Wrangler Duratrac. Always hear a ton of good feedback on these but I'm under the impression treadlife is sub-par. 3PMS.
Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx. I had some Cooper AT3 tires that were solidly OK and a good value but went bad at around 45k miles with lots of tread left. These tires look great and get stellar reviews but seem to be generally less popular. I don't think these are 3PMS but reviews note excellent winter performance.
 
Years ago IO had a Chevy pickup and it had the Goodrich TA KO tires on it. It was excellent on snowy roads and even in un-plowed country roads when my buddy and I were hunting in the winter. I never really had any problems with traction and was pleased by their dry road manners for the type of tire they were. I give them my recommendation.
 
buck91 said:
My truck only sees about 9k miles a year since its only used for my commute.
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9K/yr means you will be replacing tires after 50-60k due to age. Treadlife is probably not a major issue since most of your driving will be on-road, anyway.
 
I've got KO2's on both of my Jeeps and I drive in all conditions, including quite a bit of hard off-roading. They never fail to impress me. They are quiet on-road, excellent in snow, surprisingly good in mud, and excellent in sand. They could do a little better in the rain on pavement, but are great in rain on concrete. They don't hydroplane easily, but rather can be a little slippery when rain first starts. Once the oils are washed off the pavement, they grip well. I almost forgot to mention that they handle well on curvy roads, too. I have the 285/70/17 size on my 2008 Jeep and 315/70/17 on my 2018. Both are load range C. I've never cut a sidewall and I've not seen them chunk, even after many miles of dirt, gravel, and sharp rocks in Moab, Utah. I just completed about 1,000 miles of off-roading last week in the Appalachians, and they performed well as always. They also have a nice smooth ride. I had a set of KM2 Mud Terrains in load rating E and they were great but the ride was harsh in the Jeep. I highly recommend a lighter load range than E, unless you really need it.

I put a set of Falken AT3 tires on my daughter's Renegade, and they are outstanding in snow, rain, and dry. They don't go off the path further than gravel roads, so I can't speak to their toughness. But they REALLY grip in the snow. Very impressive.
 
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I just put a set of General Grabber ATXs on my Colorado. I only have a few hundred miles on them currently but I'm liking them so far. They're in the zone of the 3 tires you mentioned. Might be worth a look. $100 rebate on a set of 4 until the end of Oct. Mine were made in USA.
 
All 3 are good... I never seem to get full mileage out of any truck tire before the wet traction really comes apart. Softer compounds will have a rain advantage here, so there’s a mileage tradeoff, especially with an AT - their tread patterns naturally don’t do as well in rain.

IMO the BFG will likley last the longest and be the weakest in the wet stuff, and probably have the tightest ride. Between the GY and cooper, the GY will be a little noisier but folks seem to get consistent performance until they look pathetically worn. ive had one set of coopers and like you, they cupped and became shaky before reaching the tread bars, but they were soft, heavy tires that were fun to drive because they really liked to claw their way over and through stuff. For some reason of these three my vote goes to the GY.

ive got continental ATs on my f150. They are considered at AT but are more of an aggressive highway tire. I don’t go off-road very much but we do tow. Off-road they can exhibit tread chunking. On road they are fantastic - smooth, quiet, and very sure-footed in the rain, even after 10,000 miles, I was torn between these and the revo 3s and feel I made the right call. I run 18” wheels and keep 36-38psi in them. They tow fine with no drama. The coopers I had actually were a very good towing tire too. I think i had the RTX.

m
 
I went with Pathfinder all terrains, load range E.
My truck handles much better, steering is more responsive. Does not feel like marshmallows in turns, like the P-metrics fid. They ride a touch harsher but not a lot.
I'm running 55 psi cold.
 
You might find the Cooper ST Maxx worse on wet pavement because of its hard off road compound and fewer sypes than your other choices.
My go-to tire is the Nitto EXO (3 sets) second by the Toyo CT (4 sets, 3 of them railway trucks).

News flash... I just retired after 42 years and 12,000 shifts on the RR.
 
Duratrac tires get great traction but are very noisy. I personally would not recommend them for a daily driver.

The BFG are good just a little pricy.

I'm pretty biased in my dislike of Cooper tires due to personal experience(Discoverer AT) and what I've seen on customer vehicles. I know many people have had excellent service out of them but noise concerns, broken belts and lack of traction has been a common complaint I've seen from their now outdated AT3. The newer designs may be great, I'll never know from personal experience.

My number one recommendation for an aggressive all terrain is the General Grabber atx. Excellent all around tire, I sell them to my friends and family along with running them on my personal truck. Second choice would be the Falkens you already have.
 
cb_13 said:
Duratrac tires get great traction but are very noisy. I personally would not recommend them for a daily driver.

The BFG are good just a little pricy.

I'm pretty biased in my dislike of Cooper tires due to personal experience(Discoverer AT) and what I've seen on customer vehicles. I know many people have had excellent service out of them but noise concerns, broken belts and lack of traction has been a common complaint I've seen from their now outdated AT3. The newer designs may be great, I'll never know from personal experience.

My number one recommendation for an aggressive all terrain is the General Grabber atx. Excellent all around tire, I sell them to my friends and family along with running them on my personal truck. Second choice would be the Falkens you already have.
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The falkens have been good tires just a little sloppy on wet pavement. Oddly enough they have good snow performance anyways. Would the non-LT version with its different runner compound behave better?
 
Unless you truly need the larger lugs of an AT, give the new continental AT a look. when I bought mine, I gave the falkens a hard, hard look. The only reason I turned away from them was declining rain performance when wet, like so many others.

another tire which hasn’t been mentioned here is the Bridgestone revo. I really liked the revo 2 and had 2 sets. The three looks a bit more aggressive, and seems a heavy, solid tire. It’s tread is a little non traditional however; the falkens and even conti’s look better to my eye.
 
Have Toyos on my truck now, like them. Have the Continental ATs on my explorer and like them too, barely an AT but quiet. Toyos are a great middle of the road tire. Have had Duratracs before, they are likely my favorite for a do it all AT tire that leans towards the AT/ Snow side of things. Depends what you want to prioritize.
 
I've owned 2 sets of BFG's on my K5 Blazer and Jeep, no longer running them. I would add these tires in red clay are not so good but very good in snow. I would suggest you think carefully about how much off roading you'll really be doing. IMO the road manners of the BFG's leave a lot to be desired and are d*** scary on wet surfaces. Given my vehicles do not have anything close to ABS. Among other things they tended to track into the road groves/depressions because of their stiff shoulder and have a tramming effect. This is more pronounced on older, 2 lane (narrow) country roads. They will dry rot before you wear them out. I would not buy BFG's again unless I'm doing a lot of trail riding.
 
Resurrecting this thread due to my wife and I thinking about a set of aftermarket wheels for her 4Runner.

She likes the aggressive looks of the All Terrain-type tires, even though we’ll be doing little to no off-roading.

Considering the BFG K02, Falken Wildpeak AT3W, General Grabber, Toyo Open Country, Nitto Terra Grappler, etc.

What will make our decision is which tire is the quietest, since we do a lot of road trips, along with great rain performance (we tend to encounter a lot of standing water here on the highways), and good, aggressive looks.

Also, if a certain brand were on sale, that would be great. But, at the same time, if there’s a certain model that stands head and shoulders above the rest for the parameters that are important to us, we don’t mind spending a bit more.

Good thread, guys. Lots of good info to think about here.
 
john_pifer said:
Resurrecting this thread due to my wife and I thinking about a set of aftermarket wheels for her 4Runner.

She likes the aggressive looks of the All Terrain-type tires, even though we’ll be doing little to no off-roading.

Considering the BFG K02, Falken Wildpeak AT3W, General Grabber, Toyo Open Country, Nitto Terra Grappler, etc.

What will make our decision is which tire is the quietest, since we do a lot of road trips, along with great rain performance (we tend to encounter a lot of standing water here on the highways), and good, aggressive looks.

Also, if a certain brand were on sale, that would be great. But, at the same time, if there’s a certain model that stands head and shoulders above the rest for the parameters that are important to us, we don’t mind spending a bit more.

Good thread, guys. Lots of good info to think about here.
Click to expand...

I don't think too may people will be able to comment on more than the brand they've been running. I would bet that all of them will start out pretty quiet and they will get noisier as they wear, but not llike a mud tire.

My educated guess would be that the least aggressive tread will be the quietest in the long run.
 
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