New tire recommendations (Fortuner)

[Matt - monkeywrench]

I'm looking at getting some new tires and wanted some advice on brands or specific tires.

My current ones are Dunlop Grandtrek AT20 and while I find them a good balance of highway and off-road, I have had a couple of small pressure drops, with a recent pop out.

Size I currently have is 265/65R17.

TIA!

[Frederic]

If you want to retain a good balance of on-road manners and off-road performance, the Yokohama G015 Geolander is the most popular option amongst off-roaders. An All Terrain (AT) tyre will allow you to deflate a bit more and should also reduce the risk for a pop-out due to a more rigid side-wall.

Other options which are great for both on-road and off-road:

1. Michelin LTX force. perhaps even slightly better than the Yoko's. A bit more expensive. Smooth as butter on road.

2. Bridgestone Dueler HT840 (is in reality a light AT tyre)

 

Other options which are great for off-road and rocky terrain but not very comfy on-road (loud and heavy):

1. BF Goodrich KO2

2. Cooper Discoverer

3. Rydanz Raptor

 

Above options are the first to come to mind  

 

[Gaurav]

If they have more than half life left, use them at 13-14 PSI. If they are 1 year or more old, then changing makes sense.

My highest recommendation is Michelin LTX force, rest all above as Fredy mentioned.

[Marek]

any benefit of using some more hardcore AT tires, like Yokohama Geolandar MT G003,  Geolandar G016 (instead of ever-popular 015s), or Kumhos AT52 for UAE offroad (sand and mountains).

I am in the same boat here, but trying to avoid any compromises as I am preparing an offorad-only car... and I am surprised to see Michellins LTX as recommended tire. If you guys are saying it's smooth as butter (which is surprising for an A/T tire), I am beginning to wonder if not go this way instead and make my next project car more road-friendly...

[Frederic]

29 minutes ago, Marek said:

any benefit of using some more hardcore AT tires, like Yokohama Geolandar MT G003,  Geolandar G016 (instead of ever-popular 015s), or Kumhos AT52 for UAE offroad (sand and mountains).

I am in the same boat here, but trying to avoid any compromises as I am preparing an offorad-only car... and I am surprised to see Michellins LTX as recommended tire. If you guys are saying it's smooth as butter (which is surprising for an A/T tire), I am beginning to wonder if not go this way instead and make my next project car more road-friendly...

When driving in sand only, hardcore AT tires have very little benefits because you want to have maximum flotation and footprint which is actually being achieved with tyres that have less thick patches/grooves.  Mud terrain is even much worse and are a no-go for dune bashing unless you have a re-geared Jeep 392  

During self a recovery situation however, a more hardcore AT tyre can perform better, as it "grips" the sand better so your chances of self-recovery increases.

A second disadvantage of a hardcore AT tyre is the weight. The more mass your axle has to rotate, the more power you are losing on the wheels. Even a few kilograms will be noticeable if you are aiming to have a 4x4 that climbs the high dunes. Hence for that main reason if your 4x4 is slightly underpowered you are much better off with a lighter tyre, not a hardcore AT tyre.

Take into account that on a SWB JLU Wranger like @Looper drives for example, the difference will be much lower, as he has 280hp and the car is very light. BF Goodrich KO2 which is quite heavy will not be an issue for his car.

I've driven with Rydanz Raptor tyres for a while, and loved them in the sand. But the road noise and comfort was an issue, and i could not cope on long road drives.

 

[Gaurav]

For mountains (ONLY) hardcore AT tires with beefy, chunky tread are best due to the rigid 10-ply sidewall, strong enough to survive hard-core rock climbing without any cuts. 

The same feature will be a huge drawback for sand (high climbs only) as tire weight is twice as other lighter or lightest AT tires.

And for road less aggressive tread will be less noisy and less heavy to be more fuel efficient.

Hence for quieter on road, potent on sand climbs with good grip on mountain/wadi passes (no rock crawling), lighter AT like G015 or LTX force makes much better sense.

Sorry, I forgot to mention: some people choose only for looks too.

[Batuhan Kulac]

If I may share my two cents. KUMHO, a Korean brand makes some very robust, high quality tires as well. They are very similar to KO2 BFGs but roughly 25% cheaper. They have thicker than average sidewalls meaning they are more pop out resistant as well which is a BFG unique selling point (Pop outs are ofc always a possibility with any tire unless you have accompanying bead lock rims as well). I would rate both BFGs and KUMHOs the same for off-road performance (top tier), However, one aspect where they even outshine the BFGs is their on-road comfort. They still look great like BFGs, but have slightly more streamlined tread/pattern making them quieter on the road and at higher speeds. Definitely check them out! 

Good luck on your search and hopefully you choose the right tires

 

[Luke K P]

2 hours ago, Batuhan Kulac said:

If I may share my two cents. KUMHO, a Korean brand makes some very robust, high quality tires as well. They are very similar to KO2 BFGs but roughly 25% cheaper. They have thicker than average sidewalls meaning they are more pop out resistant as well which is a BFG unique selling point (Pop outs are ofc always a possibility with any tire unless you have accompanying bead lock rims as well). I would rate both BFGs and KUMHOs the same for off-road performance (top tier), However, one aspect where they even outshine the BFGs is their on-road comfort. They still look great like BFGs, but have slightly more streamlined tread/pattern making them quieter on the road and at higher speeds. Definitely check them out! 

Good luck on your search and hopefully you choose the right tires

 

Coopers Discoverer AT3 seems to be a great tyre in the 'noisy A/T' if you can find any available in UAE at the moment... comes highly recommended as good in the dunes due to lots of sidewall flex and a tread pattern designed to 'not dig' in sand and loose gravel. Looking to change to these as soon as i've put enough mileage on my KO2's

[Frederic]

41 minutes ago, Luke K P said:

Coopers Discoverer AT3 seems to be a great tyre in the 'noisy A/T' if you can find any available in UAE at the moment... comes highly recommended as good in the dunes due to lots of sidewall flex and a tread pattern designed to 'not dig' in sand and loose gravel. Looking to change to these as soon as i've put enough mileage on my KO2's

I’ve heard lots of complaints about the Coopers, mostly with premature wear and even slices of tyre coming off. Not sure if that was just a bad batch or not.

Could be biased as well as the Coopers are usually used by heavy dune bashers and beadlock users, so that might explain early issues  

[Luke K P]

@Fredericyeah bad batches can happen to all brands.

On my city car I had a set of Michelin pilot sport 4s before which only survived 16,000km highway driving. Two tyres completely delaminated. Luck of the draw. (Warranty rejected as supplied by OEM instead of Michelin direct ooof.)