Off road/Truck tires

I recently retired and moved out in "the country". I am doing a LOT more off roading. Some of it on some pretty rough roads as far as tires go. Sharp rocks.
I am learning some things I never knew, or at least never had to concern myself with.

1997 Toyota 4Runner (winter, off road beater). BFG "Long Trail T/A".
I have had three flat tires in the last two months.

Turns out these 'soft balloons' (my term) are 4 ply tires which are fine on the highway, and snow on asphalt, but little else.

I need to better match my rig to its usage.

I am learning about load ratings and 6 ply, 10 ply (which apparently doesn't really mean the ply count, just an equivalent to the construction back in the days when it did.

I don't want sharp rocks piercing my tires.

Advice, experience?

Here's what I run on the Dodge Power Wagon as the truck sees street, off road/dirt/mud pits, rock climbing, basic off road mayhem, 10 ply Thornbirds, great year round, even snow, great off road, dirt or mud, heavy construction long wearing go anywhere, do anything tire, these are 38X12.5X17 weigh in at about 70 lbs each just for the tire, I got these thru Summit, they're made by the same company making M&H Racemasters...made in the USA, not overseas

If you get into TSL type tires they are difficult to balance, I use the large diameter ceramic off road DYNABEADS to balance them, very effective!

Here's my little "tire gauge" inspecting...

Thats probably the first positive review I have read about thornbirds haha, they look cool!

I think anything BFG makes has a less than desirable sidewall. I had tons of trouble with the 33x12.50 BFG mud terrains when I had them on my Xj Cherokee. The tire shop made the mistake of selling me a warranty and boy did they regret it lol. When I moved to a 35x12.50 I got some of the GoodYear Kevlar MTRs and they have been great with zero sidewall cuts. They are 7 years old now and getting pretty hard so it is almost time to replace them .

Toyo M/Ts or Nitto Trail Grapplers. Very, very good tires in both performance and durability.


Just look at the weight of the Toyo vs something like a KM2, it tells you what you need to know.

I ran 37" Trail Grapplers @ 4psi when off-road on my [then] daily driver. With that low of tire pressure, ram-assist steering, lockers and a 4:1 transfer case...I was very hard on tires. I wouldn't bother with anything but a tire from Toyo or Nitto if you are getting serious at all. I ran 35" KM2s and was not impressed with them at all, they are also "short" and are not true to size.

My tires during the same trip, no issues.

Wow, that's an incredible shot Goody! More than I subject my stuff to.

Recommend an E load BFG KO2 all terrain tire.

Reviews are excellent. I just put some on my 01 Ram.

I've been running the BFG All Terrains for years and I like them. My jeep saw a lot of off-roading, lots of time in the gravel pits and they still drive well on the street. Never put them through the sharp rocks like in goody's pic though.

Wow, that looks like a tire destruction tool!

well here in the swamps it used to be the gateway gumbo monster mudders in the 14/35/15 to the 18/44/15 then the ground hawgs 14/35 or 17/40 or 18/44

now days I run the 34x9.50x15 TSL super swamper on my yota 4x4

one thing to remember in the mud is 35s don't go where 44s have been.

I have to say the thornbird is a good narly looking tire and has a long wear life on pavement. good Baja tire with tuff sidewalls.

but the ones I ran on the jeep were 33x13.50x15 on 12 rims. little to short to get off in the deep but were awesome in the sand drags.

IMHO, tall skinny tires work just as good as tall wide tires with less bearing failures from wide rim leverage.

yes, Goodys is extreme off roading! good sidewall and low air pressures = traction!

cyprees knees do the same thing to tires in the swamps, you just don't see the underwater action when it does.

Goodyear Duratracs are extremely popular around here. I'm getting a set this winter for my winter tires. From the guys I talked to they are fairly quiet, wear well and very tough

my offroad tire of choice is interco TRXUS STS. have had great luck with them in all weather conditions and offroad on several dedicated offroad vehicles

I recently was looking for a dual purpose tire. There are so many tires out there, it's a little crazy. My results were the same as Goodys. Toyo M/Ts or the Nitro Trail Grapplers.
I had the Toyo M/Ts on a work truck a few years ago. They still performed well, even with them worn to the wear bars. I have some Duratracs on a truck right now, but it's mostly street driven. The Duratracs do work excellent in the snow. Never a flat on either tires.
Definitely go for a heavier tire. Might bring fuel mileage down a little, but a thicker carcass will be more resistant to tire cutting obstacles.
Lots of choices, good luck with whatever you choose.

Best tire for 2010 RAM 1500 4x4

Hi, I need your recommendations because my job will require me to tow a trailer and I’d be travelling highways and off road. I have the stock tires and I am in need of a light truck tire that is comfortable on the highways and yet durable when off road.

Do I need bigger and wider tires? If I go for a rim size 20 what tire specs would you recommend without lifting the truck?

I have been trying to research the best tires for RAM and found a good article and here is the linklink. I am close to getting 265/70/17 Michellin LTX via Amazon . I am about to pull the trigger. Any 2nd opinions?

That's what my Power Wagon (79) had when I bought it and still does. Fairly quiet on road, did well in mud. Don't know about really rough terrain, but a friend raves about them on his Phord for off-roading and durability.

Hi I will look into this Goodyear Duratracs, hopefully it's close to my budget. Thanks! Appreciate it.

My only advice is to comparison shop for what you see on summit, so you can get a price match and free shipping. I got the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W from there after price matching (to either Walmart or Amazon, can't remember) and it saved me a lot in shipping and (at the time) sales tax.

I have Hankook Dynapro ATM tires on my ram. They're 10-ply, quiet on the streets and hold up great in the North Florida woods. Not sure how they'd hold up in an environment with sharp rocks. Oh, and fairly inexpensive for a truck tire. I recommend you look into them while you're tire shopping.

Duratrac's on my 2015 Power Wagon. 285/70-17 D rated from the factory. Went 56,000 and still had life. Overall a good tire and I went with them again.

You NEED 10 Ply Tires. (There's a Period at the end of that statement )

I run Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT's on my WIfe's FJ Cruiser & the 74 Ramchager.

we do A LOT of beach driving and they're awesome in the deep/soft sand. The only thing I havn't tried them in is Mud (I"m not a big fan of driving in mud)

They're ultra quiet on the road too.

Thank you

Cooper tires are top-notch, so it wouldn't be a surprise that you'd choose Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLTs for your rides. I bought the same set of tires from 4WheelOnline. I've been using them for weeks and I have no complaints whatsoever.