Tire Decision In Absence of 35x12.50x15 MT/R

[James C.]

I've always run Goodyear MT/R's except for a short stint on BFG Krawlers. If the MT/R's were still available my decision would be easy. However I'm not going through the changes required to run 17's at this point.

I don't run as hard of trails as I used to, but still get into rocks quite a bit. My main concern is side wall cut resistance followed by traction. I no longer DD my TJ.

1st Choice - Cooper STT Pro. I see these on many rigs here that actually wheel, leads me to believe they are decently tough. Made in USA a bonus as well.

2nd Choice - BFG KM3. I have sidewall concern's with the older BFG KM Models. Not sure if that is still a concern.

3rd Choice - General Grabber X3. Popular with the overlanding crowd but not sure how they'd do in rocks. True 35's is a plus.

Outlier - Mickey Thompson Baja Boss MT. I like the look of these but my guess is it's built on the same carcass as the Cooper but $40 more per tire. Don't see many running these.

Any other tire's I should consider for Colorado trails and rocks? I don't care about mud performance. I avoid it like the plague.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

1st Choice - Cooper STT Pro. I see these on many rigs here that actually wheel, leads me to believe they are decently tough. Made in USA a bonus as well.

Cooper is making most of their truck tires in China now, are you sure about that? I don't know about their light truck tires but their heavier truck tires are made in China.

 

[TRE3TOP]

I have Maxxis RAZR mt’s that I really like in that size.

 

[pagrey]

I'd consider the BFG KM3 of the ones you listed, I think post KO2 the sidewall tech on BFG is much better and that includes the KM3.

 

[NskLJ]

Cooper is making most of their truck tires in China now, are you sure about that? I don't know about their light truck tires but their heavier truck tires are made in China.

Looks like the sent heavy truck tires to China to free up production of light truck tires here.

Which Cooper tires are made in the USA?​

Cooper has four manufacturing facilities in the United States and all the following tires are made here: Cooper A/T3 XLT. Cooper Zeon LTZ. Cooper Discoverer H/T Plus. Cooper Discoverer SRX. Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx. Cooper Discoverer STT Pro. Cooper Discoverer HT3.

 

[freedom_in_4low]

My stt pros took a lot of weight and a return trip to the shop to get balanced, but I'm happy with them now. I think that's your best bet on sidewall toughness, seems people are pleased with them. I don't know many running the grabber.

I originally wanted the km3 because of good experiences with ko2 and km2 but they were on an 8+ week backorder and the coopers were available same week. Next time I need tires I may just go on price between the km3 and the stt pro.

 

[Gollywomper]

I have Maxxis RAZR mt’s that I really like in that size.

A have them too. Been ok so far. They are pretty stiff yet on air down. Haven’t had them in the rocks yet.

 

[James C.]

Cooper is making most of their truck tires in China now, are you sure about that? I don't know about their light truck tires but their heavier truck tires are made in China.

Not sure. Tire rack show's country of origin for all my choices is US. Not sure what that means. Information I found is MT is made in USA and since Cooper makes MT I assumed Cooper's were America.

 

[James C.]

I have Maxxis RAZR mt’s that I really like in that size.

Co-worker ran these on his JK with good luck. However I wasn't considering them as his didn't seem to last very long.

 

[rasband]

I'm not going through the changes required to run 17's at this point.

What are the changes you're looking to avoid? From what I know it's as easy as buying a set of 17" wheels and tires you're already buying. I can't think of anything else required.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

What are the changes you're looking to avoid? From what I know it's as easy as buying a set of 17" wheels and tires you're already buying. I can't think of anything else required.

Wheels are expensive, I wouldn't convert to 17's either unless I was going with 37" or bigger tires.

 

[pagrey]

Brakes are the best reason I can think of for different size wheels, not much else.

 

[rasband]

Wheels are expensive, I wouldn't convert to 17's either unless I was going with 37" or bigger tires.

They are, I just thought they meant there were more changes required than wheels.

 

[James C.]

No other changes required, poor wording on my part.

I ran the numbers on 17's (New wheels or Takeoff's and Adapters & more cost per tire for 17's) and I can't justify the costs. I replaced my steel beadlocks with new aluminum wheels a couple of years ago. Bigger brakes would be a positive side affect but I just did brakes so will be a while before I need brakes again.

With the age of the MT/R design I'm not convinced the 17" models will be around much longer anyways.

 

[rasband]

No other changes required, poor wording on my part.

I ran the numbers on 17's (New wheels or Takeoff's and Adapters & more cost per tire for 17's) and I can't justify the costs. I replaced my steel beadlocks with new aluminum wheels a couple of years ago. Bigger brakes would be a positive side affect but I just did brakes so will be a while before I need brakes again.

With the age of the MT/R design I'm not convinced the 17" models will be around much longer anyways.

No worries, that's why I asked. I didn't realize the cost of the 17" wheels had gotten as high as they are. I'll be curious what you run next, my plan was to bump to 17 (sure am glad I didn't get the 15" beadlocks I was considering last year). I know that I like the look and pattern on the Mickey Thompsons, but not sure how that rubber meets the road/trail.

 

[TRE3TOP]

No worries, that's why I asked. I didn't realize the cost of the 17" wheels had gotten as high as they are. I'll be curious what you run next, my plan was to bump to 17 (sure am glad I didn't get the 15" beadlocks I was considering last year). I know that I like the look and pattern on the Mickey Thompsons, but not sure how that rubber meets the road/trail.

Lots of people seem to have good things to say about them, however I have noticed the sidewalls seem kinda thin.

 

[jjvw]

Wheels are expensive, I wouldn't convert to 17's either unless I was going with 37" or bigger tires.

What do you recommend to replace the 35" MTR in a 15" wheel?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

What do you recommend to replace the 35" MTR in a 15" wheel?

No clue. I got lucky and after months of looking found what might have been the last new 35" MT/R in the distribution channels. At one low point I started looking at alternatives but then found the MT/R.

 

[jjvw]

No clue. I got lucky and after months of looking found what might have been the last new 35" MT/R in the distribution channels. At one low point I started looking at alternatives but then found the MT/R.

Blaine has stated multiple times that he can't see any performance difference between a 35" MTR in a 15" or 17" wheel. Based on that, I have a set of 17s waiting for the next set of tires which will almost certainly be MTR's again. This also includes a set of 17" Coyote beadlocks.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Lots of people seem to have good things to say about them, however I have noticed the sidewalls seem kinda thin.

That'd be a good reason not to use them on rocks.