Tire Opinions

[RebelAtHeart]

Hey all. I'm super excited. Finally purchased my first 4x4, a 2013 Xterra. My plan is daily driver / road tripper / weekend warrior trail camping.

I'm eyeing my tire options as the first thing I do. I'm looking at the Nitto Ridge Grapplers and the Yokohama Geolandar ATs.

I'm looking for some opinions from people who use their rig as a daily and for long road trips with occasional trail riding. I'm waffling on sacrificing trail capability for high speed comfort/safety. Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

 

[RoarinRow]

I like the look of the Nitto's. Haven't seen many rigs with the Geolanders, but my thinking that AT tires, in general is a good around tire, hence All Terrain. I run Toyo Open Country ATs and my rig sees more pavement than dirt unfortunately.

 

[RebelAtHeart]

I like the look of the Nitto's. Haven't seen many rigs with the Geolanders, but my thinking that AT tires, in general is a good around tire, hence All Terrain. I run Toyo Open Country ATs and my rig sees more pavement than dirt unfortunately.

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm just looking at the Toyo Open Country AT now. They look pretty appealing. Might be a good middle ground...

 

[RoarinRow]

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm just looking at the Toyo Open Country AT now. They look pretty appealing. Might be a good middle ground...

Welcome! Tire choice is so hard, so many choices to fit so many needs. What one tire is good for one person, may not be for another.

 

[MOAK]

Ok, I’ll probably catch hell for this but here goes. 40 years ago I was a weekend warrior and a BFG guy. Their new AT tire back then was the cats ass. 35 plus years ago I was a Goodyear guy only because I ran a business and needed a dependable all weather street tire. That lasted about 5 years. Then got we into “overlanding” and back to BFG and wouldn’t use any thing else for nearly 25 years. On a dare, ( and a wholesale price) my tire guy talked me into some Generals. ATX or whatever they are, not sure, but it is their AT tire. Not impressed. When we are loaded for travel the 80 scales out at just under 7,000 lbs, and the trailer is now at 1200 lbs. The General sidewalls roll out, easily. They also have a very high pitched whine that causes my ears to be uncomfortable. Real easy. I’ll be going back to the BFGs next set. BTW, since I began using BFGs nearly 40 years ago, I’ve never had a tire failure. I can’t say that about the short affair I had with Goodyears. We’ve only ever used one set of mud terrain tires and soon understood that unless you’re a hardcore mudder or rock crawler they are a waste. As we have been “Over-landing” for just over 30 years a few lessons have been learned. Keep it Simple and don’t change what works.

 

[RebelAtHeart]

Ok, I’ll probably catch hell for this but here goes. 40 years ago I was a weekend warrior and a BFG guy. Their new AT tire back then was the cats ass. 35 plus years ago I was a Goodyear guy only because I ran a business and needed a dependable all weather street tire. That lasted about 5 years. Then got we into “overlanding” and back to BFG and wouldn’t use any thing else for nearly 25 years. On a dare, ( and a wholesale price) my tire guy talked me into some Generals. ATX or whatever they are, not sure, but it is their AT tire. Not impressed. When we are loaded for travel the 80 scales out at just under 7,000 lbs, and the trailer is now at 1200 lbs. The General sidewalls roll out, easily. They also have a very high pitched whine that causes my ears to be uncomfortable. Real easy. I’ll be going back to the BFGs next set. BTW, since I began using BFGs nearly 40 years ago, I’ve never had a tire failure. I can’t say that about the short affair I had with Goodyears. We’ve only ever used one set of mud terrain tires and soon understood that unless you’re a hardcore mudder or rock crawler they are a waste. As we have been “Over-landing” for just over 30 years a few lessons have been learned. Keep it Simple and don’t change what works.

I appreciate the insight, and the time you took to explain. Seems like really solid advice.

 

[Billiebob]

Hey all. I'm super excited. Finally purchased my first 4x4, a 2013 Xterra. My plan is daily driver / road tripper / weekend warrior trail camping.

I'm eyeing my tire options as the first thing I do. I'm looking at the Nitto Ridge Grapplers and the Yokohama Geolandar ATs.

I'm looking for some opinions from people who use their rig as a daily and for long road trips with occasional trail riding. I'm waffling on sacrificing trail capability for high speed comfort/safety. Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

No idea on Nittos, but 10 years with Yokohamas. Mostly winter grips. 10 years, 12 tires, 3 sets, 6 had tread delamination problems, Never a serious safety issue, I bought them thru a local retailer who does the seasonal change over free, a benefit you don't get on line. The PLUS is, every tire was replaced under warranty, ZERO questions asked. I ran BFGs in the summer with no issues but I'll say you cannot beat the Yokohama warranty.

I now run Yokohama old school grips year round, 742S in a 7.50R10 size, a 31" Pizza Cutter and I'm told I'll get 60K miles our of them. I got 45K miles our of my BFGs. Currently I'm over 30K miles and less than half the tread is gone. They are lighter, smoother running, way more comfortable and feel more secure thru winter slush. I luv 'em.

And with 33x10.50s my best mileage was 17mpg. The 7.50R16s give an easy 22mpg. Changing tires added 100 miles to the range of my Wrangler.

Yokohama 7.50R16 vs Stock Wrangler Rubicon 245/75R16

 

[Kilo Sierra]

Hey all. I'm super excited. Finally purchased my first 4x4, a 2013 Xterra. My plan is daily driver / road tripper / weekend warrior trail camping.

I'm eyeing my tire options as the first thing I do. I'm looking at the Nitto Ridge Grapplers and the Yokohama Geolandar ATs.

I'm looking for some opinions from people who use their rig as a daily and for long road trips with occasional trail riding. I'm waffling on sacrificing trail capability for high speed comfort/safety. Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

Welcome to the X family! If you don't already know, thenewx.org is a good resource for everything 2nd Gen related. It is a very good resource!

I'm running KO2's for two years have been really happy with their performance. I mainly chose them because of their snow ratings, but have performed flawlessly with everything I've thrown at it.

Depending on your overall offroad style, keep in mind the letter rating on the tire. The higher the rating, the stronger the sidewall, and weight rating, which comes at potentially increased weight and stiffer ride.

 

[RebelAtHeart]

Hey all. I'm super excited. Finally purchased my first 4x4, a 2013 Xterra. My plan is daily driver / road tripper / weekend warrior trail camping.

I'm eyeing my tire options as the first thing I do. I'm looking at the Nitto Ridge Grapplers and the Yokohama Geolandar ATs.

I'm looking for some opinions from people who use their rig as a daily and for long road trips with occasional trail riding. I'm waffling on sacrificing trail capability for high speed comfort/safety. Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

Welcome to the X family! If you don't already know, thenewx.org is a good resource for everything 2nd Gen related. It is a very good resource!

I'm running KO2's for two years have been really happy with their performance. I mainly chose them because of their snow ratings, but have performed flawlessly with everything I've thrown at it.

Depending on your overall offroad style, keep in mind the letter rating on the tire. The higher the rating, the stronger the sidewall, and weight rating, which comes at potentially increased weight and stiffer ride.

Ah yes! I've been poking around on thenewx. Great info, really helping me identify mods that will work for me. Thanks for the tip. Excuse me while I research and learn all about sidewall strength for the next 4 hours.

 

[grubworm]

I like the look of the Nitto's. Haven't seen many rigs with the Geolanders, but my thinking that AT tires, in general is a good around tire, hence All Terrain. I run Toyo Open Country ATs and my rig sees more pavement than dirt unfortunately.

same. i have the toyos on my tundra which is a daily driver and 95% or more paved road. they work great after 2 yrs use and i recently was out in the desert of west texas and did nearly a week offroad over some pretty rough rocks and they did super well. most of the big name brand tires seem to be equally good for the most part

 

[Jaymartinez]

Hey all. I'm super excited. Finally purchased my first 4x4, a 2013 Xterra. My plan is daily driver / road tripper / weekend warrior trail camping.

I'm eyeing my tire options as the first thing I do. I'm looking at the Nitto Ridge Grapplers and the Yokohama Geolandar ATs.

I'm looking for some opinions from people who use their rig as a daily and for long road trips with occasional trail riding. I'm waffling on sacrificing trail capability for high speed comfort/safety. Any advice or insight would be appreciated.

Congratulations on your new rig! The nitto definitely look extremely well but not something we see very often, I’ve personally ran on my rig the BFG KO2 , Toyo open country AT, and now running a set of Falken Wildpeak AT3. Out of the 3 I fell with in love the Falkens. Been great on and off road and did extremely well in snow.

 

[justjames]

OK, I'll throw in my 2 cents worth.

My personal experience is all on Toyota's, 80 series LC, Tacomas and 4Runners. My professional experience is from being a tire dealer for over 40 years. All around can't beat it is the BFG T/A KO2. There are two short falls of the BFG in my experience. One is balancing, if they balance easily when new, you will have no problems. If not, make your dealer replace the offending tire/tires until you get a smooth ride. The second is on larger heavier vehicles such as F-250's and up and Ram 2500's and larger. If you're using the vehicle for heavy towing or hauling, it's not your tire.new

The new Yokohama x-AT will provide a little more traction. but at the sacrifice of more highway noise. Yokohama's typically balance better than any other brand. The x-AT is still relatively new so there are no long term results as of yet. From my experience with the brand, Yoko produces great products.

If you can't afford the BFG or Yoko, I'd rank Toyo, Nitto and Falken in that exact order. Have fun!

 

[Brewbud]

Tire tech has made advancements in the last few years. If you want a good balance tipped to a little more offroad use, go with a newer hybrid tire like the Yoko X-AT, Nitto Ridge Grappler or Toyo Open Country RTs. More highway go for a flavor in the ATS style. I have been a Yoko owner for years now. I picked up a set of five X-ATs a few weeks ago. They have been great so far. They have only seen light dirt.

 

[RebelAtHeart]

This has all been so helpful. Thank you everyone for the input.

I'm noticing that Toyo's new AT3 has a much more hybrid-style agressive tread than the AT2. I know I'm gonna spend more time on pavement than dirt, but I want to be able to at least keep up with you all on the trail!

 

[Neuvik]

If your rig is also a daily driver you might try hot swapping, if you have room. That way your offroad tires last longer.

Keep a set of cheapo rims and run your city slicks on that. And then when it comes time before the trip throw on your offroad wheels and tires.

Sometimes the junkyards have perfect setups the way insurance companies "total" out vehicles these days haha.

 

[leeloo]

If you are looking a Yokohama, I had older AT version on Landcruiser Prado. Never had any issues. They last a very long time. On a mountain trail with very sharp rocks in Albania, I was thanking Yokohama every 5 min...I did not believe I would make it without a puncture or a sidewall cut, and I would like to buy a bear to the engineer who designed them if I will have the opportunity
They are not very aggressive tough, but I did not do a lot of mud in my travels..
Now I have some Toyo Open country AT + they are all season AT , a bit more aggressive than the Geolandars I use to have.. They seem ok so far. I know for sure both brands will last a long time, many miles..
BFG are too pricey for my taste, I am not convinced they are twice as good as the price would suggest. But if you can get a good deal, I am sure they are great...

 

[Shamu]

Cooper Discovery ATP LT265/75R16 on my TJ. Great tire on/off road around the southwest.

 

[RebelAtHeart]

Thanks again everyone for the help. I ended up going with Nitto Terra Grapplers LT265/75/16 with E load rating. They leave me with about a half inch of fender clearance at full lock and the spare still fits nicely in the underside of the truck. Super happy about them, they feel good on the freeway and I've seen decent reviews of how they perform on the trail (at least with things that aren't too technical). I honestly just got to the place where I was overthinking it and pulled the trigger. It's a good starting place.

I've got my camping gear, a shovel and some maxtraxs. Now I think I should start thinking about rails and recovery points... and a suspension lift..... maybe a better rack... and..... ah, I see how this goes!

 

[Neuvik]

Congrats! Nitto makes good tires. You won't be disappointed. I have 37" Trail Grapplers on my f250 7.3L and they have taken me to some awesome places!

Enjoy modding further! See ya on the trails!