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

James C.

James C.

Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Messages
93
Location
Denver, CO
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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cmitcham
James C. said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pc1p, Kenneth G Zinis and 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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: NskLJ
Jerry Bransford said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jerry Bransford
James C. said:
I'm not going through the changes required to run 17's at this point.
Click to expand...
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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jjvw
rasband said:
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.
Click to expand...
Wheels are expensive, I wouldn't convert to 17's either unless I was going with 37" or bigger tires.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheBoogieman, 02GreenTJ and SvtLdr
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.
 
James C. said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
rasband said:
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.
Click to expand...
Lots of people seem to have good things to say about them, however I have noticed the sidewalls seem kinda thin.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: rasband
jjvw said:
What do you recommend to replace the 35" MTR in a 15" wheel?
Click to expand...
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.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: psrivats and L J
Top Bottom
Back