Cooper ST's - 255/85/16

[ShearPin]

I've got the winter Rover storage season to mull over tire choices - I've decided on size 255/85/16. I've searched through the forum history and found a few who purchased the Cooper ST's - any updates? Cooper sells the tire as an enhanced traction All Terrain - how is the mud performance? How tough has the tire proven?

I've always run mud terrains on my overland trucks in the past - BFG and Goodyear MT's. For some reason I've always felt the Mud Terrains tougher then their all terrain counterparts. Having given some thought to past trips and the actual frequency I've run into heavy mud I've been reassessing my needs. The heavy weight of my 110 means I probably won't be aiming it at mud holes for recreation. Some improved wet tarmac grip in the heavy Rover would doubtless be a better compromise..... any thoughts?

Henry
www.4x4freedom.com

[slooowr6]

I'm interesting in finding a 255/85/16 AT too. These are the only ones I found so far.

Dunlop: Radial Rover RVXT (32.9")
Big O tires: Big Foot A/T All Terrain
Cooper: Discoverer ST and ST-C (these are more between AT and MT.) (33.2")

[dnellans]

While not AT's just having a list of available 255/85/R16 tires is a good idea. So BFG makes their Mud Terrain in this size, and Maxxis makes their "Bighorn" in this size as well.

[ShearPin]

Yeah, Toyo makes their M55 AT's in the 255/85/16 as well.

Cooper, in general, has always intrigued me - must be the Aussie 4wd mag I subscribed to years ago where they appeared on a number of vehicles doing overland trips. They seem to have run into some carcass trouble lately - it doesn't appear to apply to the ST's though.

Reviews of the ST's are hard to come by on the net. I guess what caught my eye was the "less of a AT compromise tire" marketing. Question is, is it just marketing.... The lug pattern certainly certainly appears more open then say a BFG AT.

Henry
www.4x4freedom.com

[Haggis]

Jim65wagon is running them on his Tundra and is real pleased with them. At 2nd Mononghahela meet in August they were quite impresive in their preformance. I'm sure he'll chip in on the subject shortly.

[dnellans]

On a side note, i just called my local discount tire who said they could get the discoverer ST in 255/85/16... 185 a piece + 13 mounting and balancing. not seeming so attractive anymore considering a local shop will do maxxis bighorns for $175 a piece installed in that size....

[AZ_Husker]

What's $92 dollars? You'll have them for 3-4 years. Who can't afford ~$23 a YEAR more to run the tire they really want?

Just trying to add a little perspective. Get what you want.

[dnellans]

A good point, I'm not usually one to cheap out, but after reading lots of the tire posts here on expo it sounds like approx. 45k is the standard expected from BFG AT's. i've got 54k on the current set of BFG's but they were due for a change 4k ago and i've been procrastinating like crazy...

sounds like similar tires from cooper, maxxis, etc people are only saying 30-35k is tops. if i thought 40k+ was a realistic expectation out of other AT tires I'd be happy to a pay equiv. prices. but 30k for a similar or more expensive tire gets my hackles up, its not like i can't float the extra $, i'm just frugal.

am i being too pessimistic about other brands if inflated and rotated properly?

[viatierra]

I had decided to by these tires, but found that at the time they were backordered. Resorting to Plan B I purchased the BFG MT's which have been great. However, 2 days before the Expedition Trophy I sprung a leak by driving over a construction staple. Discount Tire is going to replace the tire under the road hazzard warranty, but it took 4 days because they didn't have any of the 255's in stock. I had to do a demanding 4-day offroad trip with a staple in a leaky tire!

Definately something to consider when choosing to get a non-standard size!

[kcowyo]

.....it took 4 days because they didn't have any of the 255's in stock. I had to do a demanding 4-day offroad trip with a staple in a leaky tire!

Definately something to consider when choosing to get a non-standard size!

A good lesson for everyone indeed....