Which AT tyres for Hilux?

[twoseventy]

Hi Guys,

Need to put new rubber on my Hilux pickup. Currently looking at:

General grabber AT3
Cooper discoverer ST
BF Goodrich AT.

Anyone running any of the above and what are your thoughts on them, especially wet road and road noise? Do you find they knock fuel consumption a great deal?

Thanks for your help,

Nathan

 

[old keeper]

I've just fitted a pair of Coopers tom my Hilux and having had both Grabbers and BFG in the past reckon the Coopers are the best of the three. They are quiet on the road and do well off road.

 

[Malxwal]

Had a set of BFG ATs, 60k on them, took them off and now they're on my mates truck with a lot of life left, they were great.
Bought the new version, wouldn't balance, would require balancing after a short test run, like they were slipping on the rims. Contacted supplier under warranty, and a new set were supplied. Haven't fitted them yet, but I was told for that to happen so easily would suggest the manufacturer was aware of an issue with at least a certain batch. A pal has the exact same truck, exact same problem. Great offroad, but so far very disappointing on road.

 

[nun_hunter]

I have recently fitted BFGoodrich AT2 to the front of my pick up swapping from Yokohama Geolanders. I noticed a distinct worsening of handling on the road especially in the wet, the front end is a lot more wayward and grip is slightly reduced. Off road on wet grass and soft clay mud (Weald clay means ground is waterlogged round here all the time) they were no better than the Geolanders even though the tread pattern is a lot more aggressive. When the rear tyres needed replacing shortly after I went with some Hankook Mud Terrain tyres which are infinitely better off road and the noise and handling doesn't feel any different to the previous AT tyres.

It is worth noting that I drive mainly on back lanes and slower A roads (speeds sub 60 mph, usually 50mph) that the surface is pretty rubbish, potholes and patchwork tarmac round here so the general drive is a bit noisy anyway. On the rare occasion I have been on a decent A road or dual carriageway I have then noticed more tyre noise from the MT tyres on the rear and on average I have lost about 1.5MPG (32.5mpg vs 34mpg) since fitting the BFGoodrich and Hankook over the Geolanders.

I think tread design has developed beyond the BFGoodrich pattern and even though they have a great reputation I think that some of the more road looking AT tyres actually do perform as good off road but with much better road driving characteristics. I would happily buy the Geolanders again as the off road performance was as good as the BF goodriches but the road handling and economy was better.

 

[twoseventy]

Thanks for the feedback guys, it's not the first time i've heard of wayward issues with them, so it looks like i'll give the BFG's a miss.

Anyone looked at the Cooper AT3 vs the ST? They seem to get good reviews on the web...

 

[Nugs]

Grabbers for the last 5 years (60k) on the Hilux, can't fault them and the price point means i haven't been tempted to look at other brands.

 

[hendrix's rifle]

Thanks for the feedback guys, it's not the first time i've heard of wayward issues with them, so it looks like i'll give the BFG's a miss.

Anyone looked at the Cooper AT3 vs the ST? They seem to get good reviews on the web...

I like the cooper at3's, there the tyre I'm going with next, cheap aswell! Know a couple of people who use them and there well behaved on the road and good off road. I also like the geolanders by Yokohama, great all round

 

[Norfolk Horn]

I have the Cooper st on my hilux on a 54 plate had them on for a few years now and haven't been stuck at all and go some rough places
On the down side they are noisey when over 50 mph

 

[Jimnydriver]

My last 3 4 x 4's Suzuki Jimny, Range Rover and now Toyota Hilux.. all fitted with Yokohama Geolanders...Brilliant.... no complaints what so ever.. great off road ... little or no road noise...... RECOMMENDED.

David.

 

[Jimmymac]

Another shout out for Yokohama Geolanders, AT G015s, had them fitted on my 4x4 and are awesome, with the added benefit that they are Winter rated for snow and ice, drive really quite on tarmac, and no impact on my fuel consumption.

 

[caorach]

I have recently fitted BFGoodrich AT2 to the front of my pick up swapping from Yokohama Geolanders. I noticed a distinct worsening of handling on the road especially in the wet, the front end is a lot more wayward and grip is slightly reduced. Off road on wet grass and soft clay mud (Weald clay means ground is waterlogged round here all the time) they were no better than the Geolanders even though the tread pattern is a lot more aggressive.

This pretty much echos my experience, there is more than one type of Geolander but I had the ATS ones fitted, I believe they are the most "off road" orientated in the Geolander range. I've been running BFG KO2s now for nearly 2 years.

The BFGs are not horrible, and indeed I would certainly consider fitting them again, but there is no way they are living up to any sort of legendary performance. I would say I'm going to get about 25k usable miles out of them, they are relatively quiet, I think there was a slight reduction in mpg compared to a road tyre but it was around the same order as I got with the Yokos, they have a great reputation for being robust and puncture resistant but as mentioned here some people seem to have problems getting them to balance and mine needed a lot of weights, they are better in snow than a summer road tyre but not as good as the Yokos, most remarkably on modest mud I find that the Yokos were a lot less prone to squirm about than the BFGs - with the BFGs you always feel like the car is sliding to one side or the other all the time on wet mud and I never had that with the Yokos. To give some idea of the sort of conditions I'm talking about here's some photos just so you understand this is normal muddy track stuff rather than deep mud I'm talking about:

Maybe the BFGs are better in deep mud, mostly I'm on my own quite some miles from any access and often out of mobile phone range so there is a limit to the risks I'm willing to take so I'll not be driving around in deep mud if at all possible. This, in part, explains why I might consider fitting them again as they are not a disaster but their robustness and puncture proof nature is a big selling point. Whether it is true or just more hype that turns out to be unfounded I don't know but there seems to be some supporting evidence for it.

 

[Millerich]

I’ve got the Coopers on my Hilux and they’ve been excellent.

 

[long_range_rob]

I'm running Insa Turbo Rangers on A Disco2 presently. Remould copies of the Grabber AT2 but I can't fault them after 3-4000 miles.

 

[oowee]

I put BFG m/t 's on mine. Noisy and like bambi on ice in packed snow but excellent on mud and mpg. Grip is pretty much as before. I swapped the 16 inch wheels for 15 inch and the tyres are 31.5x10.5 x 15. They clear arches all round and on full lock and they give me another 1 inch + clearance.

 

[Baldman]

Used BFG ats good all round tyre but expensive got approx 60 k out of them , replaced with General ats didnt rate them noisy and did not last at all , now using Cooper at3 so far quite impressed and reasonably priced .

 

[twoseventy]

Looks like General and Cooper tyres are on back order- looks like it might be the Yokohama geolanders G015

 

[caorach]

Looks like General and Cooper tyres are on back order- looks like it might be the Yokohama geolanders G015

Just be aware that Yoko do several models of Geolander, I think the G015s are the less aggressive in terms of off road ability but have improved snow performance. It was the G012s that I had fitted, they were good in the snow and Yoko rate them as "all season" or similar. I have no idea how the two compare in terms of performance as I've only run the A/T-S which are the 12s. Maybe the 15s have replaced the 12s?

 

[Dogtra UK]

I’m watching this thread closely as I need new tyres. But I am thinking of putting mud terrain on the back and all terrain on the front. Anyone else done that?

 

[Norfolk Horn]

I had Bridgestones on the front and I think they were grandtreks AT on the back of my hilux 54 plate a few years back before I changed to copper st and they drove fine. At the time I was doing 300 or 400 miles a week hence being on the duellers, put the grandtreks on to help when moving sheep on wet grass fiends.
Hope this helps
NH

 

[Keeper randell]

I've just fitted a pair of Coopers tom my Hilux and having had both Grabbers and BFG in the past reckon the Coopers are the best of the three. They are quiet on the road and do well off road.

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