Updated: Best Off Road Tires

I have a 2012 Taco TRD Sport with 18" wheels, I've seen some old threads about off road tires but times change and so do tires. I live in the Washington DC area and, to be honest, don't use the truck for much off road duty...but I do love the off road look! I've been thinking about some Toyo Open Country LT275/65R18 tires for a straight swap using the same wheels. Any updated suggestions on best off road tires that would look cool on my current 18" wheels (see pic)?

 

toyo open country is a very good but (like any agressive tire) loud and kind of ''squirlly'' on the road...
my favorite doesnt come in 18''- goodyear athority a/t-
also to consider in my opinion would be an aggressive all terrain for the size wheel/tire you are running ie; goodyear dura trac or bfgoodrich a/t ko2, mickey thompson atz, ect...just my 2 cents.

edit: when i said open country i was meaning the m/t version.

 

I have been running BFG A/T KO2s for about a month now and have put them through rock, sand, wet pavement, and mud. I really like the tires for general purpose off roading and they didnt kill my mpgs. I went from the Rugged Trails to these and my KO2s are larger (don't remember the specs on them) but I have seen a decrease of about 0.4 mpgs according to my scan gauge. The tires look pretty bad ass especially with the white lettering on the outside imho. Plus if you are in the DC area they are snow rated or whatever if that helps, id give em a 9/10.

 

Thanks to both CStoy and Skittles93 for the suggestions. I like the look of the more aggressive tires more, but for my purposes toyo et.al. may not be the best choice. Snow is the primary reason for looking to off road tires (well...look too). My driveway is at a 30 degree or so angle and the street is similar, we live at the bottom of the dead end street and I've gotten stuck a couple times. Kind of embarrassing when my wife's hybrid subaru does better than my pickup!

 

I'll throw my vote for Michelin LTX AT2's. They are awesome tires!

 

I have been working for Northwest Tire for almost 3 years now. 2 in a shop in bismarck, ND and 1 in the warehouse in mapelton, ND. We mainly carry Toyo, Nokian and Delta (Cooper) for truck tires.
Toyo Open Country: I have heard very few complaints about these truck tires. The AT2 is by far the best selling pickup tire we have. Many of my friends and family run them and love them. They also make an MT which is a mud tire, it's relatively quiet on the road and it's fantastic in deep snow. they also make an RT which is in between the AT2 and MT. the toyo RT would be my choice for tires on a future pickip. best of both worlds imo.
Nokian Rotiva: a little rough riding and louder but outstanding traction, especially on ice and snow.
Delta: the copper ST maxx are a great tire but that doesn't seem like what you are looking for. the Delta Sierradial AT (Cooper discovery AT) seem to be the choice for customers that don't want to spend the money on toyos or nokians.
since you're in D.C. if snow and ice are a concern, keep in mind the nokians can be studded, the toyos and deltas can not.
another bit of information: I've heard the BFGs throw rocks.
I can't really comment on any other tire as I don't deal with them much. hope this helps!

 

just a thought but what type of snow are you looking at when you get stuck? my dad has a subaru forester that is incredible on icey not all that deep snow with cheap econo tires -but in truely deep snow it gets stuck very easily with the same tires.

the toyo open country M/T is really good in deep snow as mentioned above but not so great ice or packed snow where the A/T is the better tire... I've ben really impressed with the goodyear dura tracs in both conditions as well as pretty much everything else and IMHO are overall the the best all around tire ive ever had. second only to the athority a/t.
i have heard good things about the bfgoodrich a/t ko2 although no first hand...

the old bfgoodrich a/t ko's i was not impressed with.

mastercraft a/t2 i was not impressed with and had several bulges causing 3 of 4 to blow out on my work truck in less than 1 year.

mastercraft snow tires(look like the a/t2s squared off) are good in snow (on par with the dura tracs) but have a very short life span in warm weather.

hancook dynapro m/ts are good off road tires and pretty decent otherwise no real complaints there-studable and i had mine studded so no comment on handling. good looking and good price. got more ''looks good'' comments on these than any other.


definitly look at local laws if you decide to go studs as studs are only legal in some states and others only for certain winter months-also studded tires are REALLY scary on the freeway.

 

Definitely General Grabber At2 out of all the all terrain tires Ive driven on, these are the quietist and most comfortable on-road. Off-road they hook up great and hold up great against punctures. The icing on the cake is the price.

 

hey CStoy, how are your dura tracs for puncture protection? that is the main complaint we get from a lot of customers who had goodyear wranglers. I believe this is due go the soft rubber compound used in goodyear tires, which makes them more flexible. example: a ten ply wrangler is roughly the same stiffness as a 6 ply toyo AT2.

 

I've never had a problem with them on or off road and i am NOT gentle on tires...that said i have also heard that the sidewalls are weaker than some. bonus is they do flex awesome- my 265 75 16's will almost envelope a baseball at 8 psi. thats pry where half the traction comes from...

 

Thanks for all the replies. I'm new to message boards (yes, there are still some of us out here) so apologies for not responding individually. Lots of great advice. Lots of great advice. As far as CStoy's question about snow, it was fairly wet snow (not icy) around 4 inches or so. Tires spun in 4H and 4L, with my street on an incline I slid back and to the side and into my yard (I'm sure that my street tires didn't help). I would love to throw a 3" lift kit and opt for aftermarket wheels, but alas I've got 3 additional mouths to feed and am still paying for college. Plus, I rarely ever go off road (intentionally) and am going more for the look than usability. I do like the look of the Toyo Open Countrys, and they will fit my existing wheels. I'm not as concerned with gas mileage, but don't want to trade poor on-road traction for improved traction in the snow about 6 times a year. Y'all have given me a lot to think about. Right now I'm leaning towards reverse mounting the Generals (SargeBSA) because of cost, and that this would give me the best balance of what I'm looking for.

 

glad to help! btw; your not the only one new to message boards...count me in that list too im still figuring out the basics here...

 

the grabber at's are good as well...i didnt mention them on my list as ive never had them on a truck/car...we have them on a polaris ranger with a street wheel conversion though and they work well for what we use it for -plowing included- there not good in mud but thats on a underpowered utv and coming from mudlites... other than that no problems so far.

 

Another vote for the grabber at2. Look great, drive well, fairly quiet, good wear, deeper tread (even the P rated are usually 16/32 where many are 13/32), cheaper than most others (especially over-rated BFG's), good off road and for the snow concerned, snow rated and studdable.

Tyler