Truck tires

[Overbore 28]

To all of you who have the pleasure of driving mountain roads more frequently than I do, what 10 ply truck tires do you prefer for hunting in October between 7000' and 10000' when blizzards or monsoons are possible and everything in between? Feel free to post pictures of your rigs too. I'm heading to the Bighorns in October and hopefully don't get stuck on the way in or out. I hunted a different area of Wyoming 4 years ago and basically slid down the mountain after a wet snowfall turned the road to slime for a week.

 

[Ranchpilot]

Toyo C/T Open Country. A set of tire chains makes a huge difference, got us out of many bad places, wouldn't go without them.

 

[slv hunter]

Get what ever all terain tire you like and get a set of chains to put on the front tires assuming you have 4 wheel drive.

 

[Ace Quackhunter]

Been There, and have done that. I don't have a truck tire that have found to be much better than the next. I started carrying chains and while they are a pain, they do work. I have watched YouTube to see what others have done, everything from rope wrapped tires to 2 X 4 strapped to the tires. I am currently working on a claw design to ratchet onto the rear dully tires to get a bite in ice, snow and mud. This will be low speed for crawling out of the creek or sliding down mountain and might not work for rocks. I have seen some other products for front wheel drive cars but don't look like they will work on a truck.
Ace

 

[PNWGator]

Falken Wildpeak AT3s have been awesome! By far my favorite tire to date. I've run BF Goodrich, Goodyear, Firestone, Toyos and Coopers before the Falkens. The Falkens are quiet on the highway, do great on FS roads and logging roads and got me through winter travel without issue. They have the 'snowflake' rating and a 55k mike warranty.

I also second the chain recommendation. Get good ones for all four tires. Bluejay Industrial in Hayden, ID has great prices and service and sell top quality chains and cable chains if your rig won't accept real chains in the front.

 

[Sevy]

I have had good luck with my cooper at3 xlt. They are quiet on the pavement too. I always take 2 sets of chains also. For the front and back. Not very often have I needed both sets but when I have I sure am glad I have em.

 

[Frog4aday]

When I lived in CO, I loved the Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 tires on my 4x4 Tacoma. The grip in snow & ice was amazing. I had chains, too, but never had to put them on. The Blizzaks took me all over the mountains, with confidence. These are true snow tires (snowflake on sidewall).

 

[lancetkenyon]

On my F250 crew cab diesel 4x4, I run 37-12.50R17 Goodyear Wrangler MTR-K. Had BFG MT KM2s on it for about 13 years too. The Goodyear MTR-K bite in the snow and ice a bit better.
I run the MTR-K (285/70R17) on my 4Runner also. Great tire in the snow, mud, rocks.
Serious snow/ice needs chains.

 

[Tikkamike]

Well the big horns are about 20 mins from my house. I run cooper stt pro. But really you just need a tough 10 ply because tire tread is t going to do much for you. When things start getting real (snow, mud etc) the only real answer is heavy duty tire chains.

 

[Deleted member 107666]

Pitbull rocker radials or something similar with a good stiff sidewall, e load rated if you can find it. Air them down to 15 PSI or so when it gets nasty...you won't need chains.

Those coopers listed above are nice too. The trick is, dont run anything in the mud or snow (or jagged rocks for that matter at 35-40 PSI unless you just like getting stuck or blowing tires.

 

[Hand Skills]

BF T/A KO2 is a very good all around performer, pretty old design, but holistically, one of the best tires available IMO. Not the best tread life, not the quietest on the road, but strong in all other qualities, available C D and E load rated. One of the toughest tires out there in my experience.

 

[dfanonymous]

I use the ply that is best for my truck. I don't haul anything and ply does not give sidewall security against things on the trail in my experience. You can tear all of them. It WILL give you worst gas mileage especially if you go up a tire size or three like I have on my Tacoma. Then you have to regear the vehicle, and the shift points are all weird etc.

I use the Falcon Wildpeaks, great in the snow and good tread in the dirt for an all terrain. The Toyos open country are a good tire too.

Like I said, I went up a few sizes to get another inch in diff clearance, plus I have fox shocks with a 1 inch lift. Like someone else said, air down to about 15 psi and you will be good if you have the clearance. Max trax is a good thing to invest in as well just in case. Lockers are good to have too. I would have put one up front but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work well with IFS, so rear factory locker it is.

For water, say a flood in monsoon season, or just a water crossing, I've never been so deep that I was worried. I think next year I'm going to do diff breathers, but I don't think I'll ever need a snorkel. My diffs have been under water in mud through.

 

[imyourhuckleberry]

I use BF Goodrich all terrain 285/65/18's . The work great on the beach or in West Texas by Big Bend.

 

[manitou]

I have run through three sets of TA KO2s on two vehicles. They always performed well, but did get noisy as they wore. I recently mounted some Cooper Discoverer AT3 XTs and went to Wyoming. The virdict is still out on these as they seem to ride rougher than the BF Goodrich tires.