6 Different Tires Reviewed...

[SWITAWI]

In the April issue of JP Magazine there are some pretty good 1-page reviews of tires that get asked about all the time. Some good insights to be had on each of those tires. All credit goes to the staff at JP Magazine for doing these tire reviews. The reviews are also already posted online as well, so here are the highlights and links...

General Grabber (Red Letter)

Pros:
•Heavy-duty construction
•Good all-around wheeling tire
•Inspires confidence when side-hilling in slop

Cons:
•Not great on-road on ice
•Heavy
•Might need beadlocks to wheel in the rocks

DOT-Legal General Grabber Tires - Jp magazine

Falken Wildpeak A/T

Pros:
•Crazy wet pavement performance
•Surprisingly capable off-road
•Mild-mannered on-road

Cons:
•Limited off-road braking power
•Steady throttle input required for best performance
•Doesn't like sticky mud

Falken Wildpeak A/T Tire - Jp Magazine

Maxxis Trepador Radial

Pros:
•Smooth and relatively quiet on the street
•Traction no matter what terrain
•Hugely strong

Cons:
•Hugely heavy
•Lower-than-normal pressure for correct contact patch
•Most sizes with unrealistically high load range

Maxxis Trepador Radial Tires - Jp Magazine

Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor

Pros:
•Quiet
•Kevlar ply in tread
•Good in snow

Cons:
•Problems clearing mud
•Better suited for heavier vehicle
•Would do better in rocks with beadlocks

Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor Tires - Jp Magazine

Nitto Trail Grappler

Pros:
•Long tread life
•Rolls round and smooth
•Strong tread and side wall

Cons:
•They're heavy
•Stiff tread and sidewall
•Better suited on a 3/4- or 1-ton truck

Nitto Trail Grappler Mud Terrain Tires - Jp Magazine

Goodyear Duratrac

Pros:
•Great in snow and ice
•Blurs the all-terrain/mud-terrain line
•Works great in mud for an all-terrain

Cons:
•Sharp and heavy rocks cause chunking
•Can't keep up with real mud tires in mud
•Two-ply sidewall

Goodyear's Agressive Duratrac Tire - Jp Magazine

:Mechanic:

 

[alexrex20]

that's an odd range of tires to review...

 

[off-roader]

Yup and no BFG reviewed at the same time? Was this review paid for?:smilies27

 

[chasespeed]

Yup and no BFG reviewed at the same time? Was this review paid for?:smilies27

Not by BFG, that is for sure... I am not a fan of BFGs anyway...

Chase

 

[SWITAWI]

Yup and no BFG reviewed at the same time? Was this review paid for?:smilies27

The way I read it this not a broad comparison of any kind, but separate reviews of different tires done in the interest of calling out their strengths and weaknesses. They just decided to publish the reviews all at once.

The website shows past reviews of the General Grabber A/Ts, Pit Bull Growlers, Goodyear MT/Rs, Swamper LTBs, BFG T/A KM2s, ******** Cepek Crushers, and Kumho KL71 M/Ts. The April issue of the magazine also had a very informative article called "Choose Your Weapon: Tires For Every Terrain." Some of the less-knowledgeable would probably benefit from this article when deciding what tires to choose, but it has not been posted online as yet. Hopefully it will be added along with more tire reviews like these in the future.

http://www.jpmagazine.com/tech/wheels_tires/index.html

:smiley_drive:

 

[Hilldweller]

All of the Cooper brands are conspicuously absent as well...

I'll keep my STTs. The perfect GA tire... :smiley_drive:

 

[StumpXJ]

All of the Cooper brands are conspicuously absent as well...

I'll keep my STTs. The perfect GA tire... :smiley_drive:

Agreed.


Nothing beats personal experience with a tire to compare. Random word of mouth (interweb forum?) goes further than an obviously biased "tire comparison" within an advertisement ridden magazine.

 

[SWITAWI]

Agreed.


Nothing beats personal experience with a tire to compare. Random word of mouth (interweb forum?) goes further than an obviously biased "tire comparison" within an advertisement ridden magazine.

(Head scratching)... I whole-heartedly agree I'd rather talk to/hear from someone who's actually owned/used/abused a certain tire/roof rack/widget, but I don't know anybody who can afford 6 different sets of tires in such a short timespan, do you? I posted this simply because it did not seem biased based on their choice of tires (more like what was available at the time), it was six different reviews (not a comparison between the tires), and it was just some general information I thought might be appreciated. If there was any bias amongst the reviews it was towards Discount Tire as a vendor. Mickey Thompson and ******** Cepek both had ads in the magazine but they did not review tires from either of them this time. There are other tires I'd like to see reviewed as well.

Oh well, you're welcome anyway.

 

[Hill Bill E.]

All of the Cooper brands are conspicuously absent as well...

I'll keep my STTs. The perfect GA tire... :smiley_drive:

I don't think I've ever seen a tire review of Coopers in any off road mag.:snorkel:

Makes ya wonder though, as the STT's are a great tire for everything!

The ST's are nice also.

Thanks for the info SWITAWI! I dropped all my mag scripts this year, so the online info is all I get for reviews.

:coffeedrink:

 

[Hilldweller]

I don't think I've ever seen a tire review of Coopers in any off road mag.:snorkel:

They make the Cepek, Thompson, Jones, and quite a few other boutique and house-brand tires too; some of their brands get reviewed often.
The STT is just the semi-generic version of a Mickey Thompson MT.

Wasn't trying to bash the article, SWITAWI; thanks for posting it.

I met a guy on Saturday that had received a free set of the new Generals to bash; his payment was to write an article about them. (similar to how I got my headlights).
This fellow was torturing them offroad and hardly using them on the road; he loved them. But the sidewalls had pieces missing, the uber-trick red letters had all come off, and the tread was 2/3 spent at 6,000 miles. Very very soft rubber compound; I could easily deform the lugs with two fingers.
They're obviously only for offroad; very purpose-built and not for everybody. That didn't seem to come up in the article.

 

[SWITAWI]

Regarding those General Grabbers, I have also read they should be definitely mounted with the lettering on the inside...

 

[Warn Industries]

Some good reading. I'm in the market for some new tires for the Suzuki and have been trying to decide what to get. This will likely help.

- Andy

 

[StumpXJ]

(Head scratching)... I whole-heartedly agree I'd rather talk to/hear from someone who's actually owned/used/abused a certain tire/roof rack/widget, but I don't know anybody who can afford 6 different sets of tires in such a short timespan, do you? I posted this simply because it did not seem biased based on their choice of tires (more like what was available at the time), it was six different reviews (not a comparison between the tires), and it was just some general information I thought might be appreciated. If there was any bias amongst the reviews it was towards Discount Tire as a vendor. Mickey Thompson and ******** Cepek both had ads in the magazine but they did not review tires from either of them this time. There are other tires I'd like to see reviewed as well.

Oh well, you're welcome anyway.

I think maybe you read into my reply too much, and took it personally. My opinion was aimed at the biased reviews given due to advertising dollars spent with a magazine. Surely people realize those biases exist.... (now im scratching my head?)

Its easy to talk to multiple people who have had multiple sets/brands of tires... its called the internet, as I mentioned above. Sure, you will have to weed through and figure out for yourself whats legit and whats not, but thats with any type of review.

If I happen to know someone personally that has tried a tire I am thinking about, and they give me their opinion, I am much rather to take their opinion over a magazine article. Thats what I was saying. Nothing more.

Sorry if you got offended. Have a beer on me, and welcome to the portal. Its all good. :beer:

~ Stump

 

[SWITAWI]

No biggie, Stump. Just didn't want to be taken as a corporate shill. :sombrero: