Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Tacoma Tire Reccomendation?

Gent's, I've got a 2014 4 door Tacoma SR5 and it's come time for new rubber. Not looking for an off-road tire, just a good general purpose tire (I live in Montana) for street and snow. I'm a general contractor so nails are always an issue. Maybe a 10 ply?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I like Bridgestone Revos for an all purpose use. I'm currently running 255/75/17s on my 2012 Tacoma, but I've used them for years on my Avalanche. My current tires are C rated, but I've also used the E rated ones and didn't feel they rode any harsher.

Go narrow, whatever brand you get. Narrower tires will carry as much weight and have better traction on snow as well as handling better on dry roads. They also allow more room under the wheel wells should you need chains. On my pickup, stock size is 265x70 R17. A 245x75 R17 is the same diameter so the speedo works the same. They give about 2" more clearance under the front fenders for chains.

Kodak, thanks for that reccomendation... looks like a sound one.

I ended up finding a good deal on a set of Michelin Defender LTX M/S 245/75/16.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Michelin-Defender-Ltx-M-s-245-75r16/113412150

Consumer Reports thinks pretty highly of them. Seemed good enough to me.

I've never used the Michelin Defenders, but I always put Michelins on my wifes car/SUV. I think they make some of the best tires. I'm sure they will be fine for you.

BFG AT KO2.......all you need in a light truck tire

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/09/bf-goodrich-terrain-ta-ko2-review.html

For the money Cooper AT/3's are a good compromise. Decent traction for light duty off roading with good highway manners. I have a set on my Tacoma bought 3+ years and 50,000+ miles ago. I'll get another 3000 or so out of them. I wrote the check for $550 and got an $80 rebate.

No need for 10 ply tires, P series are fine on a Tacoma. The LT tires may be a little tougher in the sidewalls off roading in rocky terrain, but won't make a bit of differnce if you run over a nail.

In case y'all missed it...

+1 on the Coopers

Another vote for the Cooper AT/3 tire. Have had a couple of sets now and seem to be a good mix of traction and road noise.

I have run Michelin LTX's or attempted to run them on every truck I have ever owned.

I'll let you all know how the Michelin Defenders work... Consumer Report rates them the highest of all the light truck tires they tested. Guess I'm fixing to find out.

Tacoma Porn:

Costco has a thing going now: $100 off on a set of 4 Goodyear or Michelin tires, any size.

Brad, I have had excellent luck with the new BFG All Terrains 265/75r16 on my 2012 Tacoma double cab. The are rated as a snow tire and are load range E tires.

Looking at trying these next.

Treadwright

BayDog, a few guys at work run those. They haven't reported an issues.

I see your from Kenosha..I work for WE Energies and get down there once a month or so. I could go for a Durangoes pizza about now!

Yeah, Kenosha has some pretty good pizza places, Durangoes being one of them. You should try Tenuta's, Kaiser's & Infusino's (although, the pizza at any of the Racine Infusino's is better than the Kenosha Infusino's). If you like thin crust, check out Wells Brothers in Racine too.

And while you're at it, may as well stop at O&H Bakery in Racine and pick-up a couple kringles for the drive home.

Brad,

I am curious if your truck engine is the 3.5 Liter or 4.0 liter? I forgot exactly when they switched over to 3.5 Liter but on one of the Tacoma forums guys seem to like the 3.5 liter motor.

4.0 for sure.

I would advise against that.
Couple of my buddys bought some for their trucks and the ones on a 2500HD has had to get 3 replacements so far. The other guy on a 1500 has had to get 2 replacements. The caps are coming off and some are having large knots on the sidewalls.
Its worth it to just get a good name brand tire and be done.

Ive had really good luck on the Coopers. Ive got a set of AT3s on my silverado, They are still gettin on down the road with 56k miles on them. The STT's on my Tahoe are for winter and AT3s are for summer and she is heavy at 7000#.

Another vote for the Cooper AT3 as a good all season highway tire. Also another vote for pizza cutters.

I have a double-cab short bed 2014 TRD Off Road. I'm running Toyo Open Country MTs. They have good manners up to 105 or so. I've considered switching to the BFG AT .. probably for your situation, my first choice

Got a question for you ... any problems cornering HARD with the damn ABS / VSC engaging? Mine has put me in the ditch twice and, on a somewhat sharp corner on the interstate, locked up once pretty near putting me into the concrete center divider. The driver next to me appeared to, er ... "soil himself" . I might have, too, but I was way way way too busy trying to keep from killing us all to take time out for that. I've complained to the dealership and they say it is not fixable, they have employees with similar trucks and the same problem which they can't resolve.

Tom

Another vote for Michelin LTX M/S version.

In 03 my then brand new truck came with Goodyear and I had to change them within 50K, at the time Costco had a great sale on Michelin LTX's M/S so I tried them. They worked great being quite on the road but tough enough for off-road, every hunting season I run the crap out of my truck for several months and 1000's of miles and these tires take it.

I have gotten over 60k+ from each set and had usable tread on each set I replace but have a rule of not starting a fall hunting season with tires that have 60K or more miles on them so every couple of years I get new tires around labor day.

This past fall I looked at the Defender's but went back to the Michelin LTX's M/S this is my 5th set on my Dakota and at 307K miles it may be it's last

General Grabbers

I ran BFG Rugged Trail tires on my Tacos and they did good on/off road and lasted a long time.

Brad- now that you've had the Michelin Defenders for a few months, how do you like them?

general grabbers

Absolutely wonderful tires.

This early spring after I got them I drove home from Billings to Bozeman in a virtual whiteout on I90 with blowing accumulating snow (turned to ice) on the highway. Absolutely awful conditions. Traction was incredible given the conditions.

You may know the stretch along the Yellowstone between Big Timber and Livingston

Brad, good to know. I have new tires in the near future for my F150 and these are at the top of the list.

How are the Defenders in mud? Do they clean out at all?

Heck, if they kept you on the road in that wind, let alone a whiteout, they must be good!

I'm about to get a new set for my 2014 regular cab, I'm thinking of 235 85r16's has anyone ran that size on their second generation Taco?

Not much. They are a highway tire. I put a set on my Ram 2500 almost 40k miles ago. I think they will go another 10-15k before I'm ready to replace them. Will use them again, but I have no need for an all terrain tire anymore. I have a Honda Pioneerto play in the mud with.

I think you can only get those in a 10 ply. Pretty stiff heavy tire, especially for a regular cab. might look at the 265/75R16 load range C (6 ply). They will fit on a standard factory Toyota 7" wide wheel.

Thanks

I would actually not recommend those. I have them, and have had a pile of them for years on different vehicles. They're not good on wet paved roads. I won't be buying another set.

They're ok in snow, good in sand, bad in mud.