New Toyo Open Country AT III on the Cherokee.

[Rand]

LONG story Cliffnotes version.

Got Conti Terraincontact AT for a REALLY super price $420 all in after rebates/ selling OEM tires with 35k miles on them etc.

They wobbled going down the road like a drunk in high heel, had odd vibrations and steering wheel shake.. would come and go.
sometimes smooth at 75-80, othertimes feel like I was going to bounce out of my lane even at 60-65.
rebalance didnt help.

Note my size was hecho en mexico maybe I should have went +1 and that was a USA size (didnt know until afterwards)

Discussed options with Discount tire. They ordered me a second set.
Went to have them swapped out and they had some help from other stores there.. The reason I mention this is they were seeing quite a few complaints on the contis at their respective DT stores.

Decided to pass on second set and move on.

Traded them back for toyo open country at III @-$53
new total cost $367

Toyos are Much more aggressive(slightly more than I really wanted), louder, feel planted, well balanced, round , firm on expansion joints but not the kidney kicker double bounce I was feeling with the contis.

Tread pattern is more BFG vs standard 5block type design.

So far they seem very acceptable in all ways will report back in 500-1000 miles.

Pics below of special note is the size of the tread voids between blocks the contis look like normal car tires but they were definitely mild AT tires in person
Toyos are not mud terrains but look like they would do extremely well in mud for an AT.. they also have molded in rock ejectors.

Another interesting feature is on the contis the "noise blockers" the little rubber strips that block off the outer tread blocks.. I'd expect them to not evacuate water as effectively but maybe this doesnt matter esp with decent tread depth.


Contis that went back

Toyos

EDIT:
I dont have a good stock tire pic but here is the cough cough "AT" tread pattern. They wore like steel 2/32 worn in almost 35k miles.

 

[CT Rob]

LONG story Cliffnotes version.

Got Conti Terraincontact AT for a REALLY super price $420 all in after rebates/ selling OEM tires with 35k miles on them etc.

They wobbled going down the road like a drunk in high heel, had odd vibrations and steering wheel shake.. would come and go.
sometimes smooth at 75-80, othertimes feel like I was going to bounce out of my lane even at 60-65.
rebalance didnt help.

Note my size was hecho en mexico maybe I should have went +1 and that was a USA size (didnt know until afterwards)

Discussed options with Discount tire. They ordered me a second set.
Went to have them swapped out and they had some help from other stores there.. The reason I mention this is they were seeing quite a few complaints on the contis at their respective DT stores.

Decided to pass on second set and move on.

Traded them back for toyo open country at III @-$53
new total cost $367

Toyos are Much more aggressive(slightly more than I really wanted), louder, feel planted, well balanced, round , firm on expansion joints but not the kidney kicker double bounce type.

Tread pattern is more BFG vs standard 5block type design.

So far they seem very acceptable in all ways will report back in 500-1000 miles.

Pics below of special note is the size of the tread voids between blocks the contis look like normal car tires but they were definitely mild AT tires in person
Toyos are not mud terrains but look like they would do extremely well in mud for an AT.. they also have molded in rock ejectors.

Another interesting feature is on the contis the "noise blockers" the little rubber strips that block off the outer tread blocks.. I'd expect them to not evacuate water as effectively but maybe this doesnt matter esp with decent tread depth.


Contis that went back
View attachment 65927

Toyos
View attachment 65928

I have those Contis on my Tundra,and they have been balanced twice.Bal is decent now but they flat spot like crazy when it sits for more than say 8 hours and in the winter when its cold ,its like driving on oval tires in the morning for a mile or 2 .Wont be buying them again.

 

[The Critic]

Wow, those are very aggressive tires for a Cherokee.

How much did the fuel economy drop?

 

[Rand]

Wow, those are very aggressive tires for a Cherokee.

How much did the fuel economy drop?

This is the trailhawk Cherokee with 4low, rear locker, skid plates, and larger size stock AT tires vs normal cherokee.
The trailhawk already gives up 3-4mpg vs a limited etc. due to higher ride, bigger AT tires, different aerodynamics for good offroading approach angle etc.


Contis were about 1mpg less
than stock firestone destination AT... which isnt much of an AT tire but an above average tire on the road IMO..

Will report back but this particular size is XL load rating(extra 1-2lb?) and 35lb per tire so not expecting much mpg drop off..
stockers were 34lb each.

Now if I had went with BFG ko2($9 more than toyos) those are only available in LT load range D and 44lb each so that is pretty cheap... but there would have been a noticeable impact to MPG, acceleration, and of course the normal baddies from running a LT tire on a light vehicle.

I have those Contis on my Tundra,and they have been balanced twice.Bal is decent now but they flat spot like crazy when it sits for more than say 8 hours and in the winter when its cold ,its like driving on oval tires in the morning for a mile or 2 .Wont be buying them again.

Yes mine flat spotted terribly too usually lasted 1-2 miles. You could actually hear them going whump whump whump with windows down cruising into work at 4am.

 

[incognito_2u]

“….They wobbled going down the road like a drunk in high heel(s)……………”

Best line of the whole story……..must be quite a visual!

 

[john_pifer]

After reading some opinions on the Toyo Open Country AT3 here, as well as from other sources, we’ve decided to go with a set of those on the 4Runner when we upgrade wheels and tires.

Of all the A/T tires ive looked at, the Toyo are the lightest. Only about a pound heavier than the stock 265/70-17 Bridgestone H/T tires that came on the 4Runner.

Also like the tread pattern - very similar to the K02, which is a design that’s known to work well, and I think that’s deliberate.

I do think they’ll do better in hydroplaning resistance against standing water on highways, due to greater void areas vs the K02 (one category you hear a lot of complaints about with the K02 is wet performance).

OP, you made a good choice. Please update with your impressions on performance and wear as you get more miles in differing weather conditions.

 

[tyman]

One of the better looking tires in the last handful of the years. They're most likely the next tires that go on my Silverado.

 

[Dogman]

Sick, I love toyo/nitto for at & mt tires. Just put a set of ridge grapplers on the fronty last month.

 

[Rand]

325mile report:
After 300 miles the MPG seems quite good. within 1mpg of stock tires.
they seem to coast better than the contis so I was expecting near stock MPG..
but was waiting for a fillup to double check the computer which is usually within the margin of error between gas pumps or +-1mpg or so.
Really like that they are very round and ride nice over bumps MUCH better than the continental terrain contacts
Highway tread tires they are not, you do get a little bit of vibration from the tread pattern and some noise.. but not excessive considering these are one of the most aggressive AT tires.

 

[Rand]

So something slightly bizarre
maybe @CapriRacer could chime in on this.

I thought my tires were made in japan like most toyos..
but they are made in the USA with different specs?
Is that because of different materials? different machines(molds?)?
The other circled spec is tread width.

 

[Starman2112]

Great looking tire. Probably going to put a set of these on my Tacoma before winter. I was also considering the Cooper AT3 4S until Goodyear bought them.

 

[CapriRacer]

So something slightly bizarre
maybe @CapriRacer could chime in on this.

I thought my tires were made in japan like most toyos..
but they are made in the USA with different specs?
Is that because of different materials? different machines(molds?)?
The other circled spec is tread width.
View attachment 66812

First, I don't think those are really differences. You'll see why below.

Second, notice the tread depth (13.1/32) Oddly precise, isn't it?

Also, this is obviously from Tire Rack - important later.

OK, moving on to potential sources of differences:

1) A mistake. A typo. A mis-measurement.

2) Rounding. This gets to the tread depth mentioned above. Most people would have called that 13/32 - and called it close enough!

3) Different sources of data. If I remember correctly, Tire Rack weighs its own tires, reads the sidewall for the max load, inflation pressure, etc., as well as the plant of manufacture from the DOT code. The tire manufacturer supplies everything not on the sidewall.

So the data could be coming from the plant in one case and corporate in another. Those do not always agree.

For example: Tire measurements are typically 24 hour measurements - that is allowing the tire to grow for 24 hours before measuring. Yes, a tire grows throughout its entire life, but the most of the growth occurs in the first 24 hours - and that's the standard for measurements.

But sometimes people shortcut the process and don't measure the inflated tire. Uninflated measurement will be smaller (with a few exceptions). Further, sometimes these measurements will be taken from the mold dimensions - different still!

4) Precision. Sometimes measurements are reported to the nearest 100th of an inch, but published to the nearest tenth. (7.64 might be reported as 7.6 or 7.65, which could be rounded to 7.7!)

4) Translation from Metric to English.

And then there are indeed differences between plants. For example: Some plants have inflation stations immediately behind the curing press. Those inflate the tire while it is fresh out of the mold and still hot - and the tire is allowed to cool inflated. Not only does that shorten the curing time, but it reduces the amount of 24 hour growth (and the growth after the initial service inflation.)

But the important thing is that these tires will have slightly different 24 hour measurements than tires not post cure inflated.

There was once where a plant was acquired in a foreign country and the local laws required raw materials be obtained locally if at all possible. In that case, the rubber was nearly 100% different from every other plant.

And lastly. Sometimes a tire will be converted to OE specs - and because of those specs, the dimensions might be different. Since there would be a period of time where Tire Rack has BOTH in stock, you could see those kind of differences as well.

But what I think is going on here is that there was a difference in what Tire Rack weighed (variation in weight could easily be 1/2 pound depending on which one was measured!) and perhaps a typo in tread width measurement or a different source - those are really close!

 

[Rand]

1000 mile update.

Pretty happy still

they have better gas mileage than the conti's about the same as stock destination AT..
More noise and a little vibration but it feels like the tread pattern not like an out of balance/out of round tire...
they handle on road about the same as the destination AT which is excellent considering the toyos are a non-center rib tire design.

Just did a 300+ mile loop Computer says 28.1mpg and is usually within +-1mpg or closer than the fuel pump shutoff(sometimes).
I will verify, the previous 300 mile fillup was .3mpg optimistic.
trip details
Akron>wheeling>tridelphia>washinton PA> grove city> Akron speeds were 50-80 depending some zones are 45mph construction and some 70mph speed limit
majority was 70+ with A/C use and rain, also includes ~~ 30min+ of idling.

It will be hard to verify the computer mpg to a high accuracy for several reasons:

I wont be using the same fuel station as last time and depending on which way I pull in I typically get upto .5gal more in if car sloped one way vs the other.. It does average out over 3-4 fillups.
I have enough data to say the mpg loss is truely very minimal compared to the stock trailhawk tires.

 

[Tomioka]

Looks nice. Can't wait to get them installed in September on a 01 Toyota Tundra.

 

[spj]

Had the Conti's on my wife's explorer with the 20 inch wheels. Great tier, lasted around 20,000 miles which is all we get on that vehicle now over three different tire makes. I run 18's for the snow and they last much longer. Now have a set of 18's for the summer too. I have the Toyo AT 2 on my f150, Great Tire! Will be going with the AT3 when they are done, likely going to get 50,000 on the AT2.

 

[john_pifer]

1000 mile update.

Pretty happy still

they have better gas mileage than the conti's about the same as stock destination AT..
More noise and a little vibration but it feels like the tread pattern not like an out of balance/out of round tire...
they handle on road about the same as the destination AT which is excellent considering the toyos are a non-center rib tire design.

Just did a 300+ mile loop Computer says 28.1mpg and is usually within +-1mpg or closer than the fuel pump shutoff(sometimes).
I will verify, the previous 300 mile fillup was .3mpg optimistic.
trip details
Akron>wheeling>tridelphia>washinton PA> grove city> Akron speeds were 50-80 depending some zones are 45mph construction and some 70mph speed limit
majority was 70+ with A/C use and rain, also includes ~~ 30min+ of idling.

It will be hard to verify the computer mpg to a high accuracy for several reasons:

I wont be using the same fuel station as last time and depending on which way I pull in I typically get upto .5gal more in if car sloped one way vs the other.. It does average out over 3-4 fillups.
I have enough data to say the mpg loss is truely very minimal compared to the stock trailhawk tires.

Have you hit any standing water at highway speeds yet?

Driven in rain?

Just wondering about resistance to hydroplaning and general wet road traction, as we’re considering a set for the wife’s 4Runner whenever we upgrade wheels and tires.

 

[Rand]

Pretty happy in the rain and wet roads.. feels planted.
Wont have much snow experience to report unless we get an early snowstorm.. I run blizzaks mid-december till end of
march.

They do have abit of a hum. Yoko geolandar g015 is a great option too.

 

[john_pifer]

Pretty happy in the rain and wet roads.. feels planted.
Wont have much snow experience to report unless we get an early snowstorm.. I run blizzaks mid-december till end of
march.

They do have abit of a hum. Yoko geolandar g015 is a great option too.

The G015 Yokohamas are on our radar too, especially after reading @02SE review.

Might try some of those on my Tacoma. I’m on my 3rd set of LTX M/S-2 on that truck, but I might be ready to try something different. Snow performance was abysmal earlier this year with them. Granted, they’re pretty worn.

 

[CharlesInCharge]

I am a few thousand miles into a set of Toyo Open Country ATs that I'm overall satisfied with. I got them really cheap as take-offs from someone who got bigger tires at the dealership. Anyway, it worked out for me. My only complaint is they seem louder, and don't seem to stay balanced very well IMO. But this is my primary winter and back road vehicle so for my purposes, 4 wheel drive winter weather, generally 60mph and almost always much slower speeds, these fill the bill.

If I were to pay retail again, I'd go back to my Bridgestone Firestone AT Revos which were exceptional in all weather in every respect and I had a lot of confidence in them at all speeds, and they were much smoother riding and quieter. The Revos lasted an exceptionally long period of years and miles.

 

[spj]

Just did a couple hundred miles on and off road in a Jeep with the AT3's, outstanding tire. Quiet and grippy.