Tire thoughts...thinking out loud

marathonracer

Adventurer
I've done lots of reading and tons of searching over the last few months and seem like I flip flop my thought process constantly so I figured I would get some more thoughts...

My truck is a 06 tundra double cab that gets used only for hunting, trapping, and fishing its not a daily driver. Currently I have 265 75 16 bfg at kos on it. I'm really looking for an ideal tire and size for the truck based on my needs. I see a lot of higher speed logging roads but also a fair amount of old forgotten winter roads that are used to twitch wood out and forgotten ( can be very muddy and filled with slash and stubs). The tire also needs to perform well in winter. Packed snow on the main roads and up to bumper deep stuff in the woods. I do run chains frequently as well...

I know no tire is going to do everything well but I think I'm looking most likely for a mud terrain and siping it.

I'd like to bump up to 33s but would like to stay thinner to cut through the deep snow better (I use the sled when it gets too deep). So Id either stay with 265 or run 255 85s if I went bigger.

So the tires I bounce constantly between have been the toyo mt, siped km2s, or the maxxis bighorn. But iv e also thought about st maxx to go milder or even 34 10.5 swampers siped to go wilder...

So lots of ideas bouncing around... Thoughts???
 

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
Siped km2s or st maxx would both do pretty well for you. They should both be available in 255/85r16. The km2 has a softer more pliable sidewall, where the st Maxx is a much heavier duty construction. Both have pros and cons. With a taller profile I would probably side toward the st MAXX for sidewall strength and durability. I never punctured the sidewall of any of my km2s, but they were soft and very exposed. The st maxx has better sidewall protection, as well as a thick rim protection around the bead that covers the wheel better.

Toyos are good too but wear quick, and are significantly more expensive than the st maxx. When I priced out both it wasn't even worth considering.

The 34x10.50 swampers are cool but they are a big tire. I believe they were taller than my 35" km2s mounted on a similar rubicon, tread pattern seemed nearly as wide too. May not be a good fit for the tundra.
 

marathonracer

Adventurer
Yeah there are places you can get km2s cheaper than that. Price is one of the things scaring me away from the toyo but people constantly say they are the best mud terrain for snow. I've run 33 10.5/km2 on my Tacoma before and I loved them except on packed snow I was thinking if I run them on he tundra the siping would def help the packed snow traction.

If durtracs came in a tall skinny and a 3 ply side wall I'd be all over them. I run them on my work truck and they are awesome in the snow.

I love swampers but agree they probably aren't the tire for this application.

St maxx seems very wishy washyt to me. I see two very opposite reviews either people think they are the greatest tire or nothing special. They still warrant some looking into. Anyone have any thoughts on them against a siped km2 or a toyo mt in snow?
 

brianjwilson

Some sort of lost...
Haven't had my st maxx in snow yet. But I will say I loved the KM2s when they were siped. But I guess everyone has different expectations. They got around very well "for a mud terrain" when I siped them. On icy/snowy trails especially. They are no dedicated snow tires but I never had a complaint. There is no reason you can't sipe the st maxx as well, I may have mine done this winter.


Oh I will say that I've had balance issues with every set of km2s. Seems there is always at least 1 tire in each set that could never be balanced right. Every rotation it just moves around to a different spot. I had multiple shops rebalance, remount etc. Still always had one bad one on both rigs. So far the st maxx is very quiet and smooth. But I'm sure people have balance issues with some too, like anything else.
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
I ran Cooper STT's on my Jeep for years, and loved them. I'd wager they're the best mud tire in snow/ice stock, though I've never been exposed to Toyos. Definitely best bang for the buck though. :) If you siped them, you'd be a step above that. Sidewall stronger than BFG MT, noise lower, dry and wet traction far better. Only drawback: No 255/85R16 size. (Not that much of a drawback if you have lift and room for a 285)

I've been running 255/85R16 Maxx's for about a year now on my Jeep. I LOVE this size!! Snow performance is great, ice ok. (You aren't going to get good ice performance without a dedicated winter tire...) They make no noise.
I think the narrow width helps a lot in snow, but also it seems to work better on my Jeep. Less feedback from the steering on bumpy trials, slightly improved ride when properly aired down, and did I mention NO NOISE?? (Honestly, they might make some noise that you'd be able to hear in a normal truck, but in my Jeep, I honestly can't hear them on the road unless I run them at trail pressure and speed above 50mph.

Again, the drawback: Cooper considers the Maxx in a different class than normal "consumer" tires, and they have yet to offer any discount on them. I think they even are offering the discount on the new STT Pro...

Chris
PS - If you're talking about swampers, you've never owned a set. Perhaps it's time... There used to be (still is?) a 255/85 Truxus that was decent in the snow, compared to other tires made 15 years old anyway. :)
 

marathonracer

Adventurer
Haha I've run swampers before on a jeep tj which is why I keep thinking about it sometimes. They were absolutely unstoppable tires :)
 

RubiconGeoff

Adventurer
I've run many different sets of Swampers over the years, and only ever had 1 set that was round and free of vibration: 36x13.5R15 Radial Iroks. I think I just got lucky, because everything else I ever ran from them, from 30x9.5R15 Swamper Radials to 37x12.5R17 SSRs and everything in between, have vibrated like crazy but I lived with it. Many of my customers couldn't, however, and would want to return & exchange them. We rejected many at the store and returned them as defective when first mounting them up on customers' wheels because the runout was so bad they were unbalanceable. When ordering a set of 4 tires for a customer, I learned to actually order 5 or 6 of them, pick the 4 roundest ones, and send the others back. Customers were still oftentimes quite dissatisfied with their on-road performance, but they always liked how well they performed off-road.
 

Airmapper

Inactive Member
I so wish Goodyear would make Duratrac's in 255/85/16. It's such a great all around tread design, that size would make it perfect.

I went with 285/75/16 Duratrac's, they are not that noticeably wider. But another consideration is my vehicle can fit that size without anything more than a little fender well plastic tweaking.
 

Cytocycle

Observer
I ran KM2's and they weren't very balance friendly and the 255/85/16 is actually smaller than 33" when measured. I sold them and got Toyo MT in 255/85/16 which are almost 33.5" tall. They have held up much better than the KM2's. I would consider the Cooper SST Maxx's also but the Toyo will cut through the mud better and it still taller. The new Cooper STT Pro's look really interesting, and I'm trying to see if they have 255/85/16 yet where someone posted they were going to release it. You might want to sipe the Toyo center tread also. The Cooper SST Maxx's though already have holes for taking metal studs for ice.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
I'm probably going to run cooper maxx in the 255 size for winter tires this year. On my stock rims. Studded. I can't find anything narrow and tall that will do studs so I'm stuck with the coopers. Not a totally bad thing but I would like something that's a bit smoother in the ride dept.
 
Instead of the maxx may I suggest the cooper discover M&S for a winter tire. I have used them for years and are a very good winter tire studded or not they provide great traction.
I'm probably going to run cooper maxx in the 255 size for winter tires this year. On my stock rims. Studded. I can't find anything narrow and tall that will do studs so I'm stuck with the coopers. Not a totally bad thing but I would like something that's a bit smoother in the ride dept.
 

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
With proper vehicle setup the Cooper STT's are the best tires I've ever run.

But if you cut corners on your ride, like for example, no locker in the rear, they just can't overcome that. A rear locker and a decent suspension and they're golden. They won't win a race against Swampers up a muddy hill, but they'll get there just as well. And they're way better on the street and towing. The cut/siped blocks seem ok in Ohio snow.
 

bfdiesel

Explorer
Any of the tires you are looking at will do. I personally love my stt's, and wouldn't mind trying the st maxx. I have also used geolander ats's and toyo m-55. The m-55 are like running iron they lasted me roughly 80k through three trucks. Did good in a lot of differing terrain, but only great in tire wear. If they were not so pricey it's probably the only tire I would buy for my daily driver/tow rig.
The geolander do good as an at and awesome as a snow tire and by far the cheapest, I have them on my wife's suburban.
Stt's are an awesome off-road tire. Again awesome.
I am running a set of toyo tuff duty tires on my dd/tow rig, so far a good tire on pavement and dry off-road. Not much in the mud we have around here, but I have not been stuck just slow and sloppy. Did really good on snow.
 

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