Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Stock tires ain't worth squat

Most new 1/2Tn pickups are coming from the factory w/P-rated 4-ply tires to keep the tires as light as possible thereby increasing MPG to meet CAFE standards.

Big Jim never passes up a chance to diss Coopers......

I run ST-Maxx on this one:

I had the Copper SST Pros on my Toyota, really like them and now with my Silverado I am trying the Firestone Destination X/T. They give you a 90 day trail and a 50,000 mile warranty. So far they have worked real well on the highway in ice and snow and in the mountains driving in winter conditions. Have not been a Firestone fan for a long time, but the local guy made me a deal and it was going to be $700 less than Les Schwab

That makes sense.

The demands placed upon a tired mounted under what is nearly the lightest 1/2tn in GM's fleet, driving in an area of the country dominated by pavement and really good gravel, are significantly different that pulling stock trailers w/3/4-1tn trucks across the prairie, through the gumbo, and upon gravel roads made of rocks big enough for most people's "Rock Garden".

Gravel roads in "Highline Country MT" are a significantly different animal than are gravel roads in ND, SD, MN, or WI.

True, if that were the case, however you assume too much, and you'd be wrong......

My "street truck" doesn't get drove around here. It stays in the garage till I head to Montana deer and coyote hunting, which is the reason I put the ST-Maxx on.

It's seen the dreaded hi-line.....

On my second set of Goodyear Duratracs. The first set I got 65,000 and I just hit the wear bars. I hope the 2nd set it as good. They are excellent in snow and mud

I run more off-road in the worst conditions than almost anyone. We’re talking all seasons ranging from solid rock to feet of mud and snow with 300 ton haul trucks stirring everything up for good measure. There’s lots of highway driving as well, about 40k per year. The best all-around tire I’ve found are the Toyo ATs. I’ve tried almost all of them through the years. Goodyear and Firestone are [bleep]. Michelin are pretty good though. Cooper kinda sucks and will only go half as long as the Toyos and don’t like to stay balanced. Nittos are pretty good too and actually grip a bit better because they are a softer compound. If you’re in hard rock, they will do a better job off-road. I got 75k out of my last set of Toyos on my 2018 Dodge work truck with 10 plys. Most brands are lucky to go half that, including Coopers.

I put AT3 4S's on my Chevy this past summer. For the first few months they were fine, now they are so loud I can barely stand it. Never again.

Firestone transformer cam on my ram 3500. Wasn't a fan but got 30k out of them with 6k of fifth y towing. Replaced them with Cooper at3xlts and have been really pleased. Did really well in our recent deep snow.

When I bought my brand new gmc 2500 HD in ‘02 I was pretty stoked.

Until I’d come home from our cabin w the four place 20’ trailer loaded w snowmachines.


Our driveway is all uphill with a 90* turn 3/4 of the way up before hitting a steeper incline.


I’d literally have to stop at the bottom, unhook from the GMC & hook up to my ‘98 Tacoma to get the trailer up our drive.

Yes boys & girls it took the fun outa having a new powerful V8 truck.

New tires w siping helped restore some joy, but having those useless tires that came on it pizzed me off every time I looked at them, till I disposed of them.

Damn things were good for burning brush piles as it turned out

I have those on my other truck. Only about 10K on them, but I haven't noticed any extra noise so far.

“Gravel” roads around here eat up some tires pretty fast. Coopers dont cut it in my experience. Just not durable enough. But everyone has their own experiences and opinions on tires that work for them and how they use their vehicles.

I've had them on other trucks I've owned with no problems. I don't know why they're so loud but they are. Very noticeable, and why weren't they loud from the start? Doesn't make sense to me, maybe I'll contact Cooper. There's probably less than 5k miles on them.

Is that a road, or a creek bed?

Come May, I bet it runs 500 CFM.

yep its funny when people look at aggressive truck tire treads and think traction on ice and snow

Air going through the lugs on MUD TIRES make them louder on the PAVEMENT than a TOURING tire.

They were loud all along, because they aren't a snow tire, nor a touring tire and were designed that way.

What tires do you run?