All terrain tires
 

My 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 is due for some new tires and I have a serious case of tired head from looking through specs online. I currently have some Faulken Rocky Mountain ATS tires which absolutely suck! I barely have 25, 000 miles on them and they are just about toast. Even when they still had tread they were, and still are, horrible in the rain.

What I'm looking for in a tire is great wet weather traction, long tread life, and an aggressive off road look. My first leaning is towards BF Goodrich All terrain TA KO's. I've had them before on an older truck and was pleased with them, but damn they are expensive these days. I'm looking at just under $1500 for a set of 4 installed on 20" rims.

Before I bite the bullet on the BFG's I want to know what else is out there. Currently the Nitto's and Cooper's have my attention, but I'm paranoid of ending up with another set of overpriced crappy tires like I currently have with my Faulkens. Any suggestions?

I had 2004 Ram 1500 with 20"s on it. Wore thru the stock tires pretty quick and went with set of General Grabber UHP (of all things). I was very happy with those tires. Living near Seattle and half way up to the local ski area they say lots of rain and snow duty and did very well. That tire is more a summer tire, but they treated me right in the Dodge.

I really don't like the TA KO's at all. After the Ram I had a F150 and then a Jeep Grand Cherokee that both came with TA KO's. Awful tire in the snow and rain. I was thinking about selling the wheel/tire combo on the F150 as the prior owner had just put brand new wheels and tires on there (tires still had the little nibs/hairs on them). Ended up riding with a lot weight in the rear of truck that winter and sold it before the next winter and got the Grand Cherokee. The TA KO's on the Jeep where not as new as the ones on the Ford, but then the Jeep is fill time AWD. Bad lateral grip and poor braking traction, decent bite for accelerating though. Our Audi S4 with Toyo Proxes 4 had WAY better snow and rain grip. I was blown away just how poor both the F150 and Jeep where in the snow and ice with the TA KO's compared to our Audi with Proxes 4

Richard, I have an 09 2500 Ram and am running 35" TOYO Mud Terrains on stock 17" wheels. Mounted and balanced ran me $1400. I have had TOYO's on all 3 of my Dodges and have been getting somewhere around 40k out of them. The trick is to religiously check air pressure and rotate often. I have mine siped and that helps tremendously in the rain and on the ice.


Hope this helps.

Thanks for thr replies guys.

I've hears that Toyo makes Nittos. Do you know much about the Nitto line?

I'm on my second set of Kumho Road Venture on my F250. 37x13.50x20 Got 46k out of the first set. They are pretty quite, no howl after about 10 mph, and seem pretty good in the limited amount of snow and mud I see. Good aggressive look.

Not the cheapest, though. 2k installed.

My 08 Duramax came with BFGs size... 265/75R17? Not a bad tire by any means. When it was time to replace I went with Goodyears Wrangler AT/S silent armor + kevlar model. Didn't know my cab could get any more quiet! $1078 installed

toyo
 

I am on my third set of toyo open country all terrains on my 2003 dodge ram 1500 with the stock 20's. I have always went with the stock size 275/60/20 until this time. With the stock size mounted and balanced they usually were around $1000.00. This time I went with a 275/65/20 and it cost me about $1200.00. This tire is 1 inch taller but instead of the 13/32" tread depth on the stock size the taller tire has 16/32" which is deeper tread. I'm hoping to get more miles out of these with the deeper tread. My first set I had 62,000 and the second set I had about 60,000 miles on them. I had them rotated approximately every 5,000 miles. They ride good and not much road noise for an all terrain.

I've had good luck with both the General Grabber AT2 on my old 1500 Suburban and then Hankook Dynapro RF10 on my 2500 Yukon. Nosie levels are low on both and I would buy either set again. If I go with bigger wheels and tires next time, I think I'll give the Cooper a try if I don't stay with the Hankook.

The BFG AT are the longest running tred pattern out there. Although not always the most agressive looking tire they are a good tire. I wanted to go with more of a mud terrain with my new 20's I got but the local dealer told me for snow they are still the best rated tire that has that kind of look. I drive to the hills for snowboarding so I want a good tire. If you don't see a lot of snow driving it may not make as much as a difference.

I had BFG AT on one truck and didn't get as much as i thought out of them, then on my tahoe went with Nitto Terra Grapplers and loved them, they lasted forever and had great traction. My next tires will def be those.

Cooper Zeon ltz in 305/55/20 paid around 1300 for all four. Love the tire and was in the same boat as you with the BFG ATs. In the end I like the route I went. Show little to no wear and have about 20000+ miles on them.

I too have Copper Zeons on my Rover, on my 2nd set now (38k on first set, had plenty of tread left and wore evenly but had a warranty issue so they were replaced). Love these tires

I considered the Zeons, but ended up going with the AT3's. I like the look of the Zeons better, but one of my biggest disappointments with my current tires is how fast the tread wore out. Although the Zeons are great with tread life from what I've read, according to Cooper's website the AT3's were slightly better.

I found them dirt cheap online and got Discount Tire to match the price, including compensating for the tax. Total out the door was $887. Not bad for 20" AT tires.

I put Nitto Grappler on my Yukon with stock 20's. The traction in the Snow and Mud has been top notch. However they do get noisy around 80MPH.

All Terrains suck, BFG included. No traction, plan to get stuck a lot even with light trail riding and especially in sugar sand. I run BFG Mud Tarrain (35"x12.5") on my daily driver and they are a good compromise to have decent off road traction (I don't go crazy anymore) and still quite good on the road even in rain or snow. Definitely a step down in off road traction compared to the 38.5"x15" Ground Hawgs I used to run, but a huge step up in on road traction.. Though Ground Hawgs wore like iron. You will be disappointed if you go with Mall Terrains though. The BFG Mall Terrain and Mud Terrain both wear pretty decent on the road. I'll also say BFG has a tougher sidewall than some of the cheaper tires I've run in the past and punctured.

I have BFG all terrains. Mud, snow, sand, I've never been stuck. As a matter of fact, I had them on my F350 when I dragged another one ton rig, and it's connected car trailer, stacked with toys, across the beach.

For most drivers like me that log 10s of thousands of road miles a year, and need a light duty tire for weekend warrior activities, they're great. And they last.