Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 02-07-2010, 11:46 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
cellularSTEVE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,071
Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

Several of you know I was shopping for new tires for quite some time so I thought I would give an update with my initial observations.

I went from BFG All Terrain 285-75-16 D rated to Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain 285-75-16 E rated.

I just put them on and did my first trip on an off road, consisting of 600 miles.

I have the V10 (very quiet motor) so I was concerned with the noise. So far, there is surprisingly no noticeable noise over the BFG's, even with the windows down. This was a very pleasant surprise, since the tread is far more aggressive looking than the BFG A/T.

While there was no pulling as some had described, I did feel that the tires were more "responsive" at highway speeds. Now this may be because of the more aggressive tread, or simply because these are the first brand new tires I have had on the van. It wasn't alarming or even unpleasant. I just won't drive one handed with a few fingers (but shouldn't do this anyway).

Off road on fire road type trails the tires handled great (but so did the BFG's). Over rocks and up a dry waterfall I felt the tires gripped very well (no slippage at all), which were noticeably better than the BFG A/Ts. Drove up Goler Wash and over the Mengel Pass in Death Valley and it was a piece of cake. The tires never slipped.

In very wet sand I was in 2WD and dug in up to the axle housing. That was driver error and not the tires. I don't think most tires in this situation would have done any better. But got to use my winch and Hi-lift (another story altogether).

Conclusion: I am very pleased so far with this purchase. Though I have always run BFG's, I wanted to try something new. On the SMB my BFG A/Ts were fine overall, but D rated so I wanted to upgrade. My BFG M/T KM's on my Jeep grip very well offroad but are so noisy on the road that they are nearly unbearable. As long as the Toyo's hold up for the long term and remain quiet, I will be very happy.

steve

__________________
'05 Ford V-10 4x4 SMB "50" White
'00 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 Highly Modified
'04 Jeep Grand Cherokee- wife won't let me modify it. :-(
Does anyone really read this stuff other than surfgeek?
cellularSTEVE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 12:34 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
carringb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Corvallis, OR
Posts: 5,300
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

I tried them out too. I also found tire noise surprisingly decent. Ride was good too.

However, I did not like the amount of tread-walk and sidewall flex. I can't say it's any worse than other aggressive tread tires, but it was worse the the Open Country ATs I came from. If I didn't tow heavy, it wouldn't bother me at all and they would probably be my tire of choice. But since I tow up to 18,000 pounds, I want the most precise handling and steering I can get.

I was eventually recommended Toyo M55s. Not quite as aggressive as the MTs, but very capable off road, and amazing in snow. They are by far my favorite tire because of their good traction, yet very stable characteristics. Les Schwab says they were designed to commercial and towing use, and have a high resistance to lateral flex. The ride is actually better than my ATs (which I run in summer since my M55s are studded), even though they weigh a bit more. Only downside is there is no treadlife warranty like the Open Country lineup.
__________________
2000 E450 dually V10 wagon
carringb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 06:23 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 582
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

I'm sold! Thanks for the info. The Toyo is on my "short list". It's now at the top.
__________________
Current: 2014 15 Passenger V8
Former: 2009 SMB 4x4 6.0
TwoVans is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 08:19 AM   #4
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

Steve,

Did you end up using chains on your trip?


Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 09:22 AM   #5
Senior Member
 
cellularSTEVE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,071
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by carringb
I tried them out too. I also found tire noise surprisingly decent. Ride was good too.

However, I did not like the amount of tread-walk and sidewall flex. I can't say it's any worse than other aggressive tread tires, but it was worse the the Open Country ATs I came from. If I didn't tow heavy, it wouldn't bother me at all and they would probably be my tire of choice. But since I tow up to 18,000 pounds, I want the most precise handling and steering I can get.
Thanks for your observation especially with the towing. I tow very little and have not tried yet with these Toyo M/T's.

Compared to my D rated BFG A/T's these have much less sidewall flex from what I can tell. When I aired down to 30psi there was hardly any "bubble". I attributed this to the Toyo's being E rated and the BFG's D rated.

By tread-walk do you mean pulling one way or the other, i.e. hard to keep in the lane on the highway?

steve
__________________
'05 Ford V-10 4x4 SMB "50" White
'00 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 Highly Modified
'04 Jeep Grand Cherokee- wife won't let me modify it. :-(
Does anyone really read this stuff other than surfgeek?
cellularSTEVE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 09:24 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
cellularSTEVE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,071
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by BroncoHauler
Steve,

Did you end up using chains on your trip?


Herb
No need. I still need to buy some though. There was some snow on the ground but very little on the trail. I did get to use my winch and Hi-lift, and Dave's winch too . More to come on that.

steve
__________________
'05 Ford V-10 4x4 SMB "50" White
'00 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 Highly Modified
'04 Jeep Grand Cherokee- wife won't let me modify it. :-(
Does anyone really read this stuff other than surfgeek?
cellularSTEVE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 10:01 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Western Colorado
Posts: 1,228
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

Hmm....where's the trip report and photos? I need to see that desert, ours is covered in snow.
__________________
Desert Solitaire
2003 7.3L EB 4x4
Timberline 4x4 conversion
saline is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 12:18 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
jage's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Parker, CO
Posts: 7,643
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

I tow with mine and they are fine. I have to turn the shocks up on the Deavers, but the Toyos are great. Then again I'm only towing a trailer and vehicle, not 11,000 people and twice the poundage.
__________________
it was good to be back
jage is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 12:24 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
carringb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Corvallis, OR
Posts: 5,300
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by cellularSTEVE
By tread-walk do you mean pulling one way or the other, i.e. hard to keep in the lane on the highway?

steve
No, no pulling or wander. In really hard cornering, I could feel a high slip angle in the rear. In other words, the rear end would kick out a little more than usual. It would never break free, but you could feel it tracking outside of the front wheels. Feels kind of like a mild drift but without the tire squeal. It had to be pushed hard to do this, and towing a small (6000 pound) trailer wasn't a problem. Just wasn't quite the feeling I like, in case of evasive maneuvering when towing heavy. Once I had to swerve hard onto the shoulder then back onto pavement at 75 towing the 41-footer on a downgrade in Utah (herd of elk). With the MTs, I'm not sure maintaing control in a situation like that would be easy. Under normal driving, they would handle fine, but I like to make sure the van will handle predictably in any adverse situation.
__________________
2000 E450 dually V10 wagon
carringb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-08-2010, 12:36 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 582
Re: Toyo Open Country Mud Terrain Review

The Toyo web site doesn't list the max cold psi like the BFG web site. Does anyone know where that info is available on-line?
__________________
Current: 2014 15 Passenger V8
Former: 2009 SMB 4x4 6.0
TwoVans is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Sportsmobile Registry

GIL

Manoel Brazil

Big Backpack

RMAC
Add your Sportsmobile
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:46 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.