Lightweight, Quiet, Road-centric All-Terrain Tires

[titanjc]

At nearly 41,000 miles my OEM BFG KO2s are nearly toast. Based on remaining tread they’ll make it to about 45,000 miles before needing replacement, but they are so loud at this point I can’t wait to get rid of them and am considering trying a different tire. I’ll be keeping the stock size of 315/70R17

My driving is nearly 100% on-road. The only time my truck goes off pavement is to go onto construction job sites (construction PM). I also care about performance and weight savings, so I’m not considering any tires that weigh more than the KO2.

I want something that has great on-road manners and good performance in the wet for the Florida summer downpours. Quiet is important as well, I’m very tired of road noise, especially after listening to the KO2 from about 25,000 miles on.

I’ve done a lot of research and narrowed the field to the following tires:

BFG KO2 - 64.4 lbs
Cooper AT3 XLT - 64 lbs
Nitro Terra Grappler G2 - 63.9 lbs
Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus - 63 lbs
Yokohama Geolandar G015 - 61.2 lbs

They are all lightweight and quiet from reviews I’ve read. One notable exclusion from the list that is a very lightweight option is the Goodyear DuraTrac - every review and comment I’ve read concerning them says they are louder than the KO2 so they are out.

I’m not interested in the typical Nitto Ridge Grappler / Falken Wildpeak / Toyo Open Country / etc. 70 lb. tire recommendations. Those are the opposite of what I’m looking for.

Right now the Yokohama Geolandar G015 and Cooper AT3 XLT are at the top of my list. Does anyone have experience with both tires where they can make a comparison between the two? Also looking for your feedback on any one of the listed tires to help in the decision-making process.


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[DFS]

Why get AT’s that are snowflake rated if you just drive on the road in Florida? Get something even lighter and quieter more inline with the typical passenger truck tires that are just all season or even summer tires.

 

[Oldfart]

I have the Pirelli AT Plus you listed, on my beater Silverado. Very nice tires, quiet, handle well, good in the rain, good in the snow.

 

[500mag]

I had the Pirellis as an OEM tire on a 2014 Fx4 - they are garbage. Horrible in anything but dry pavement, worst tire in sand I've ever had, and I've had a lot of AT, Hybrid, and MT tires on my 8 Ford trucks going back to 2000. I ended up taking them off at 17K mi they were so bad. The should NOT be rated as an AT tire IMO. I personally wouldn't buy any of those you listed with the possible exception of the KO2s.

 

[quikag]

Interesting thread. I've thought similar because I'm mostly a 95% road Starbucks runner.

So, I have these tires (in different sizes, of course) on my wife's '13 Lexus LX570. It's a great, quiet, smooth tire that can also do a bit of off-road when needed (crawled around Big Bend in South Texas a few years back with no issues):

DEFENDER LTX M/S - SIZE: LT285/70R17
Highway All-Season
(589)
| Reviews (538)

• Details & Pricing

• Size: LT285/70R17
• Eco: Michelin Total Performance
• Style: Blackwall
• Load Range: EMax. Load= 3,195 lbs
  Max psi= 80 psi" style="outline: none; border: 0px; margin: auto 0px auto 5px !important; padding: 0px; background: url("/images/css_elements/retail/icon-sprite.png") -30px -1429px no-repeat; width: 15px; height: 15px; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; cursor: pointer;">
• Serv. Desc: 121/118R Load Index 121= 3,267 lbs (1,485 kg) per tire
  Load Index 118= 2,982 lbs (1,355 kg) per tire
  Speed Rating “R”= 106 mph (170 kph)" style="outline: none; border: 0px; margin: auto 0px auto 5px !important; padding: 0px; background: url("/images/css_elements/retail/icon-sprite.png") -30px -1429px no-repeat; width: 15px; height: 15px; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; cursor: pointer;">
• UTQG:

It's a 50lb tire as well. it is a bit narrower with less aggressive tread, so it might look weird, but it appears to fit on the stock Raptor rim just fine.

Anyway, I'd be interested if someone tried it out.

 

[Oldfart]

I had the Pirellis as an OEM tire on a 2014 Fx4 - they are garbage. Horrible in anything but dry pavement, worst tire in sand I've ever had, and I've had a lot of AT, Hybrid, and MT tires on my 8 Ford trucks going back to 2000. I ended up taking them off at 17K mi they were so bad. The should NOT be rated as an AT tire IMO. I personally wouldn't buy any of those you listed with the possible exception of the KO2s.

Seriously? Do you really think Pirelli has not changed that tire since 2014? Here's the Tire Rack ratings of the "garbage" tire.

• 1 out of 29 in On-/Off-Road All-Terrain Tires
• 
  
• 100% vs. best in On-/Off-Road All-Terrain Tires

Would You Recommend? 9.0 - Excellent

Off-Road Performance 8.9 - Excellent

Wet Performance 9.2 - Excellent

Dry Performance 9.2 - Excellent

Winter/Snow Performance 8.8 - Excellent

Comfort Performance 8.7 - Excellent

Treadwear Performance 8.9 - Excellent

 

[NE Raptor]

Nitto/Toyo are tough to beat and in my opinion, much better quality than any American tires I have experienced. This goes for truck tires, off road, and on road high performance car tires. Out of your list I would pick the Nittos. A contact in the tire industry told me that due to regulations in Japan/US - Japan can just manufacture better tires than we can here. In my experience with tires, it has proven to be true which is unfortunate because I try to buy American when I can. They perform well and wear well on every application for me so far. Not to mention how easy they have all been to balance. BFG has been terrible for me in every aspect on 3 different vehicles so far.

 

[nikhsub1]

Cooper AT3 XLT hands down the best mannered tires on a truck i have ever experienced.


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[500mag]

Seriously? Do you really think Pirelli has not changed that tire since 2014? Here's the Tire Rack ratings of the "garbage" tire.

• 1 out of 29 in On-/Off-Road All-Terrain Tires
• 
  
• 100% vs. best in On-/Off-Road All-Terrain Tires

Would You Recommend? 9.0 - Excellent

Off-Road Performance 8.9 - Excellent

Wet Performance 9.2 - Excellent

Dry Performance 9.2 - Excellent

Winter/Snow Performance 8.8 - Excellent

Comfort Performance 8.7 - Excellent

Treadwear Performance 8.9 - Excellent

LOL, they were rated highly then as well. I haven't found those ratings to be very accurate. Once I got my brand new Fx4 stuck in the sand on Carolina Beach (where I'd driven many times with other tires with no problem) while being laughed at by old beater jeeps, those tires immediately came off and were traded to my next door neighbor for an old fridge for the garage. He put them on his 2WD Chevy, where they belong. I replaced them with KO2s on the same wheels, and had no problem when I went back. I had the ATRs. Their new ones (AT Plus) might be a little better, but Perelli is not known for AT or off-road tires.

 

[titanjc]

Why get AT’s that are snowflake rated if you just drive on the road in Florida? Get something even lighter and quieter more inline with the typical passenger truck tires that are just all season or even summer tires.

This is a good point. Honestly, I feel like passenger tires would look pretty goofy on the Raptor. I want to maintain the A/T look.