Another tire question

[bigred90gt]

Because, there's just not enough tire threads floating around yet, lol.

A couple of years ago (roughly 50k miles ago) I bought a set of 285/60 20 Nitto Ridge Grapplers after I buried my truck on the beach with the stock tires (2wd). Of course, I have not been back to the beach since, or off road anywhere since for that matter. I live in the city, and my truck spends 99% of it's time on pavement. The only time I generally have my truck off the paved road is when we go camping, but even then, we are usually in a campground or a state park, so no actual offroading. Except for that one day 2 years ago that I got stuck on the beach twice in one day. I do not know if tires alone would have prevented that, given my 2wd and just how soft the sand was (it was hard to even walk in in that particular area it was so soft), but I like that peace of mind knowing that I at least have a fighting chance if necessary.

With my driving habits out of the way now, it is time for some new tires. When I bought the Ridge Grapplers, I did not realize they were E rated (or I didnt truly understand the load rating at the time, either way). I have since grown to despise the ride, and it gets rougher as the tires wear. I still have at or just over 1/4" tread left, but want to get out of these tires sooner rather than later. My lovely bride is trying to convince me to keep them till they're actually worn out, just to avoid spending the money. At the rate they're wearing, that could be another year, and I'm sick of the ride. Also, the tires are heavy as hell, and I lost pretty significant MPG (slightly bigger size, speedo and odo slightly off, plus heavier added together makes for a big hit in MPG). My next set of tires will be back to OEM size and wont be heavy E rated tires.

All of that to get to my choice. On a previous F150 I had, I had the Cooper Discoverer HT Plus tires. I remember liking them, but I made a few changes to the truck at the time I installed them so I cant remember how they rode compared to stock. They are XL rated, instead of the OEM SL rated. I've read mixed reviews on the stiffness of XL over SL, with most saying there is little difference, and some saying XL ride like bricks. If anyone has any thoughts on the differences, by all means throw it out there. I imagine they cant be as bad as the Nittos I currently have, so they've got that going for them. The downside is, they are a HT tire, not an AT tire, but they do have a tread that looks like it wouldn't be horrible for my use, but obviously not as good as an AT for that one random time I find myself needing traction. I know they are good on the street from previous use, and I live somewhere that sees a lot of rain, and never had an issue. We don't get snow, so that's not a concern. I do not hunt, and if I ever decide to buy some land I'll get a 4wd at that point.

https://us.coopertire.com/tires/discoverer-h-t-plus

My other option is the Cooper Discoverer ATP. I like the aggressive look to them, and these are SL rated, which should in theory be a more comfortable ride than the XL rated tires. They're not as aggressive as the Ridge Grapplers I have now, which are definitely overkill for my driving habits. They're cheaper than the AT3 4S, and appear to me to have a more aggressive tread, so I'm not interested in the AT3.

https://us.coopertire.com/tires/discoverer-atp-suv

As for price, the HT Plus are $150/tire and the ATP are $175/tire, so not a huge difference. My main concern is with ride quality, then traction when needed. I'm certain the HT Plus will be quieter on the road, but I dont think the ATP will be any louder than the Ridge Grapplers, so I'm not overly worried about that. Anyone have any thoughts? Sorry for the novel, I just wanted to clarify everything up front to give all the info I thought to be relevant. Too many threads I just see "which tires are best" with no other info given.

 

[BOWERSFJ]

Just get the Michelin Defender LTX and be done with it ....


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[bigred90gt]

Just get the Michelin Defender LTX and be done with it ....


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I'm not spending that much on tires. The two choices noted above are my options. If I was interested in them, they would have been included in the post.

 

[BOWERSFJ]

Sure, why would you spend a little more on something that’s gonna be on your vehicle for 50,000 miles .... Makes sense ... And you’re the one that started the 14,372nd tire thread ... This is what you’re gonna get if you took the time to read any of the others ... Give it a minute, somebody will tell you to get Falken Wildpeaks .... Happens in every one .... Wait, you just wanna feel special, and have your very own tire thread .... You need help picking between 2 tires ? .... Do you pick your own clothes in the mornin, or does Mom still do that ? Jesus ....


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[Fishstickz]

I'm not spending that much on tires. The two choices noted above are my options. If I was interested in them, they would have been included in the post.

I was in this position exactly lol I couldn’t justify spending 1500 bucks before taxes on tires, at least this time around because I already spent 1500-2000 bucks on the rims and level alone. I ended up with Federal Xplora RT, which is a newer tire without many reviews. At just over 800 for the set I decided to get ‘em a try. If I don’t like them, then I’ll upgrade to a better tire once I can financially afford it.

Those probably aren’t what you’re looking for at all, but good luck with the search


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[BOWERSFJ]

Lol !!!


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[Quint]

My main concern is with ride quality, then traction when needed.

It sounds like you don't need/want a more aggressive tread, so just save the money and buy a standard truck tire. If and when you get into a beach/sand situation with your 2wd truck, let half of the air out of your tires to help get you out.

 

[NH RAM]

This is easy- tires are like underwear, what fits me may not fit you. This is why there's probably 153 galaxies in cyberspace just dedicated to tire threads.

Ride is subjective.
Value is subjective.
Priorities are subjective.

I've never been a fan of throwing money at a lift, audio, lighting, and wheels but saving money going with unknown tires- those few square inches of contact with the road are literally the difference between catastrophe and confident driving. Again, priorities are subjective and this was simply an illustration, not saying that this is you or your scenario. This is what makes it difficult to recommend tires. Some are function over form, some are the opposite. On to the entree:

I've run e-rated tires on a half-ton truck, in fact I did on my last truck. They ride pretty decent when you get the tire pressure right- that is not based on the door jamb listed pressures, it's based on wear and comfort. You could even chalk the tires for confirmation. I had 275/65/20 E rated A/T tires on my 2016 1500 with the front leveled with Bilstein's and she rode pretty good. Not like stock, but pretty good considering. I don't see an XL tire changing the ride characteristics much, it's only a few hundred pounds of carrying ability between the SL and XL. The SL tires wore extremely fast on my 1500 whereas the E-rated tires wore significantly better. Food for thought.


If you want an all terrain tire, go for it, but with 99% city and no mention of winter driving, I'm not seeing the benefit for you. If your true concern is the random time you find yourself on the beach or another infrequent scenario, get some traction boards or thick rubber mats to keep under the rear seat- that'll be a better option for you. I carry a couple large rubber "front-door" mats in my truck once winter hits- they have allowed me to get unstuck a couple times. The spikey nubs point down into the snow/sand and the tire usually walks onto it and moves me along pretty quickly. Aside from that, I would say dropping tire pressure for floatation, knowing the terrain, and careful throttle application to avoid needing to get unstuck.

 

[ram1500rsm]

With 99% city driving focus get the HT ones, less noise, more MPG, less weight, better ride etc etc. If you want the looks the ATP's will look more aggressive which some like.

In case of beach driving, airing down to 15psi will allow any HT tires or similar soft looking thread tire to float in the sand. You want them floating not digging, sounds weird but that's one the secrets driving in soft sand. The other is momentum. I wouldn't want a 2wd anything especially one rwd in the beach cause it's a recipe for getting stuck but if you must travel/ cross a sandy area with your 2wd truck make sure the sand is packed hard and keep your speed up. also the factory slip diff is a must, if your rear is open diff tires and all this is a moot point.
In any case as it was also stated carry a couple of recovery pads, and a snatch strap that you can set in your tow hitch so when you get stuck others can give you a tug quickly

 

[bigred90gt]

Wait, you just wanna feel special, and have your very own tire thread .... You need help picking between 2 tires ? .... Do you pick your own clothes in the mornin, or does Mom still do that ? Jesus ....


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Go **** yourself douche. If you dont have anything constructive to add, just move on.

 

[bigred90gt]

This is easy- tires are like underwear, what fits me may not fit you. This is why there's probably 153 galaxies in cyberspace just dedicated to tire threads.

Ride is subjective.
Value is subjective.
Priorities are subjective.

I've never been a fan of throwing money at a lift, audio, lighting, and wheels but saving money going with unknown tires- those few square inches of contact with the road are literally the difference between catastrophe and confident driving. Again, priorities are subjective and this was simply an illustration, not saying that this is you or your scenario. This is what makes it difficult to recommend tires. Some are function over form, some are the opposite. On to the entree:

I've run e-rated tires on a half-ton truck, in fact I did on my last truck. They ride pretty decent when you get the tire pressure right- that is not based on the door jamb listed pressures, it's based on wear and comfort. You could even chalk the tires for confirmation. I had 275/65/20 E rated A/T tires on my 2016 1500 with the front leveled with Bilstein's and she rode pretty good. Not like stock, but pretty good considering. I don't see an XL tire changing the ride characteristics much, it's only a few hundred pounds of carrying ability between the SL and XL. The SL tires wore extremely fast on my 1500 whereas the E-rated tires wore significantly better. Food for thought.


If you want an all terrain tire, go for it, but with 99% city and no mention of winter driving, I'm not seeing the benefit for you. If your true concern is the random time you find yourself on the beach or another infrequent scenario, get some traction boards or thick rubber mats to keep under the rear seat- that'll be a better option for you. I carry a couple large rubber "front-door" mats in my truck once winter hits- they have allowed me to get unstuck a couple times. The spikey nubs point down into the snow/sand and the tire usually walks onto it and moves me along pretty quickly. Aside from that, I would say dropping tire pressure for floatation, knowing the terrain, and careful throttle application to avoid needing to get unstuck.

Good idea on the traction boards or rubber mats. I wouldn't say Coopers are an unknown at all. Ive had cooper tires of some flavor on many different vehicles over the last 25 years with no issues. I had some cooper ATs on an 86 F150 and on a 2000 F150. they were a bit noisy, but I cant remember which specific model they were. Didnt have either truck long enough to wear the tires out though, so cant really comment on life span.

Tire life is a consideration. I do not want to be replacing tires every 30-40k miles. The one thing I do like about these Ridge Grapplers has been the life of them so far. 50k miles, and I reckon I could get another 20k pretty easily out of them. And Ive only rotated them twice, the first time being at around 40k miles.

I live on the Texas Gulf Coast. We get about 2" of snow once every 8 years or so.

 

[bigred90gt]

With 99% city driving focus get the HT ones, less noise, more MPG, less weight, better ride etc etc. If you want the looks the ATP's will look more aggressive which some like.

In case of beach driving, airing down to 15psi will allow any HT tires or similar soft looking thread tire to float in the sand. You want them floating not digging, sounds weird but that's one the secrets driving in soft sand. The other is momentum. I wouldn't want a 2wd anything especially one rwd in the beach cause it's a recipe for getting stuck but if you must travel/ cross a sandy area with your 2wd truck make sure the sand is packed hard and keep your speed up. also the factory slip diff is a must, if your rear is open diff tires and all this is a moot point.
In any case as it was also stated carry a couple of recovery pads, and a snatch strap that you can set in your tow hitch so when you get stuck others can give you a tug quickly

The good thing is we do not get onto the sand much at all. When I was younger, I was always at the beach because it's a huge party all the time. I'm not into that scene anymore, and just rarely ever go anymore. We were only there that day because we took our daughter to meet her boyfriend and his family for the weekend. I do have 3.92 LS rear.

As for the tires, there is only 1 lb difference in weight between them, and they're the same size, so I dont know that MPG would be much different between the two. I think my biggest question out of the novel I wrote was more about stiffness of the tires and how it would effect ride vs the SL rated ATP.

 

[ram1500rsm]

The good thing is we do not get onto the sand much at all. When I was younger, I was always at the beach because it's a huge party all the time. I'm not into that scene anymore, and just rarely ever go anymore. We were only there that day because we took our daughter to meet her boyfriend and his family for the weekend. I do have 3.92 LS rear.

As for the tires, there is only 1 lb difference in weight between them, and they're the same size, so I dont know that MPG would be much different between the two. I think my biggest question out of the novel I wrote was more about stiffness of the tires and how it would effect ride vs the SL rated ATP.

Honestly i doubt you'll feel any difference between the SL or XL ones, both are P rated and both have a 4 ply sidewall. the difference is you get some extra lbs weight support with more PSI with the XL ones. I'll go with whatever make your eyes happier

 

[NH RAM]

Good idea on the traction boards or rubber mats. I wouldn't say Coopers are an unknown at all. Ive had cooper tires of some flavor on many different vehicles over the last 25 years with no issues. I had some cooper ATs on an 86 F150 and on a 2000 F150. they were a bit noisy, but I cant remember which specific model they were. Didnt have either truck long enough to wear the tires out though, so cant really comment on life span.

Tire life is a consideration. I do not want to be replacing tires every 30-40k miles. The one thing I do like about these Ridge Grapplers has been the life of them so far. 50k miles, and I reckon I could get another 20k pretty easily out of them. And Ive only rotated them twice, the first time being at around 40k miles.

I live on the Texas Gulf Coast. We get about 2" of snow once every 8 years or so.

I wasn't implyling Cooper was an unknow tire, in fact they're well regarded and on the list for consideration when I need my next set of tires (just neither of the two you are considering as snow traction is huge for me), which is why I said "Again, priorities are subjective and this was simply an illustration, not saying that this is you or your scenario."
I think for your intended purposes, either tire will suit you fine. Do a little digging into reviews on the HT Plus, I thought I read a while back about poor tread life on those about as often as I read they were great tires on the Rams.

 

[bigred90gt]

Honestly i doubt you'll feel any difference between the SL or XL ones, both are P rated and both have a 4 ply sidewall. the difference is you get some extra lbs weight support with more PSI with the XL ones. I'll go with whatever make your eyes happier

The more I dig into it, the more I think that’s probably the right answer. Thank you.

 

[bigred90gt]

I wasn't implyling Cooper was an unknow tire, in fact they're well regarded and on the list for consideration when I need my next set of tires (just neither of the two you are considering as snow traction is huge for me), which is why I said "Again, priorities are subjective and this was simply an illustration, not saying that this is you or your scenario."
I think for your intended purposes, either tire will suit you fine. Do a little digging into reviews on the HT Plus, I thought I read a while back about poor tread life on those about as often as I read they were great tires on the Rams.

Gotcha, I supposed I read that wrong.

I had them for near 2 years on my F150, somewhere around 50k miles, and they still had a bit of tread left when I traded the truck in. I'll do some digging around on them and read others experiences with them. I've read both great reviews on longevity and poor reviews about the ATP as well. I think it's just a crapshoot honestly.

 

[bigred90gt]

After doing some digging and some real consideration for my driving habits, I've decided against going the ATP route. If I dont need the tires, why put up with the road noise that comes with them? As such, now I'm torn between the Discoverer HT Plus (outgoing model) and the Evolution HT (it's replacement).

The HT Plus, being the previous model, are about $25-$30 less per tire pretty much across the board everywhere. I do prefer the look of the tread pattern, but they are XL vs the Evolution HT being an SL, and since I do not even own a trailer, the extra load capacity really serves me no purpose. The only concern I have is being the outgoing model, if I wind up with a hole that can't be patched due to location, I wont be able to replace the tire and would end up having to buy 4 new tires again. That is pushing me more toward the Evolution HT, which I dont see going anywhere for a while. But in the back of my mind, the tread patter on the HT Plus just looks better (a bit sportier, and it looks like the tread itself is a little wider making the tire appear wider), and looks like it would be better for traction if I find myself needing it at some point.

HT Plus


Evolution HT

 

[bigred90gt]

I went with the Evolution HT, for no reason other than availability should the need arise to replace one in the future. Coming from the Ridge Grapplers, I'm reminded of why I bought this truck in the first place. The ride is so much better than it was with the E rated Ridge Grapplers.