On/Off Road tire recommendations?

My Touareg is running Dunlop Gran Trek tires and I have been pretty happy with them but had a very bad experience this weekend when they ripped through my grass, got totally packed up with clay and got me stuck in my own lawn

I've got about 21,000 miles on them now, and most people at the VW forums report that they seem to only last for about 30K miles. So while I'm not goint to change them out now, I am going to start a search for a new, better set of tires. On several of my Jeeps and my Mountaineer I've been happy with Dunlop Radial Rovers, but the Dunlop Gran Trek is supposed to be an improved version of the Radial Rover so going to the Radial Rover would be a step down. The Gran Trek is a very good tire for on roan use, it is quiet and it performs very well on road in wet, dry and modest snow conditions. But it obviously is lacking in mud.

I will be looking for a quiet but still capable On/Off Road light truck tire. Must be better in the mud than a set of Gran Treks?

Anyone familiar with Nokian WR or Perelli Scorpion ATR tires?

The Scorpions do not get very much praise over at f150online.com, they do not have much tread when you consider they are marketed as an AT tire.

Personally, I am looking at putting BFG T/A KO on the new truck to replace the crappy OEM tires (26K miles).

I've had Dunlop Radial Rovers on my F250 SD and they are good tires. A little unexciting in the tread department. You'll still get stuck with them. They will last longer than most tires though (which is why I bought them).

I found this chart at Tirerack.com.

Any thoughts on any of these brands that might differ from the chart?

Bob,

I don't know if a different tire would have helped you yesterday. Clay is clay and will clog any tire.

What size tires are on your Touareg? If I recall, it has some funky size that many manufacturers don't make.

Brian, the tire size is 255HR/60 17"

In that size, I think you're going to be pretty limited in mfgrs/models.

This site might help. http://www.tiresavings.com/

They seem to carry most mfgrs and such. When I plugged in your tire size, a limited number of results was returned.

I would vote for the BFG Ko's or Cooper STT's

both are AT tires but have a heavy shoulder lug that when you spin them does clean pretty well.

Like bczoom has said in the clay most any tire will fill up. About the only exception would be a set of Interco Boggers but they would not have that size.... but they would make that VW look mean!

cj7 said:

I would vote for the BFG Ko's or Cooper STT's

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Do they make them in the size Bob needs?
I checked a couple sites and can't find either in that size.

I do not know I have not looked for them in that size.

Bob .. I am on my 3rd pair of BF Goodrich A/T TKO tires. I am impressed with them.

They are not radials however. And I think that most good on/off road tires (non radials) will be borderline TOO aggressive on a Touareg, in my opinion. I currently am using these tires on a 4x4 pickup. I have seen the BF Goodriches A/Ts on big Fords and HUMMERS (H1 and H2) (in fact, these are the OEM tires on the Hummers and some Jeeps).

I consider the Touareg to be more of a crossover SUV and would therefore want a radial tire on it to take advantage of the all of the on-road characterisitics built into the vehicle's design.

I would stay away from Goodyear Wrangler HR series as their compound is far to soft for most light trucks. Those will ride great for about 18k then get noisy, bald and/or flat. I had these on my Land Rover and only got 24k out of em. Drive systems can also make a BIG difference on tire selection. Full time 4WD, AWD, Part Time .. will all wear differently and affect the cost of ownership for the tire ...

I will say this .. the BFG figures for reported reviews on that chart you posted dwarf all of the other entries at over 50 million miles reported. The next closest is the one tire I'd consider putting on the VW, the Bridgestone Dueler ... as it is an excellent tire but not as aggressive as the BFG A/T TKO series .....

I've got the stock 17" 255/60/17 Dunlop Gran Treks.

Can I replace them with the Nitto Dune Grappler in LT285/70R17 size?

Probably not the best snow tire out there but the way this winter is going that is not really an issue.

B_Skurka said:

Can I replace them with the Nitto Dune Grappler in LT285/70R17 size?

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I don't believe so.

B_Skurka said:

I've got the stock 17" 255/60/17 Dunlop Gran Treks.

Can I replace them with the Nitto Dune Grappler in LT285/70R17 size?

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Bob, according to Discount Tire, you could change to the following 17" tire sizes:

Plus Zero:
235/70-17
245/65-17
275/60-17

It sure looks like 285/70's are a little big to me.

buckle97 said:

This is the approximate equivalent of going from a 29" tire to a 33" tire. This extreme change would require a lift kit on almost any stock vehicle and I'm sure your Touareg is no exception.

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Additionally, you're speedo would mostly likely need to be recalibrated too.

Hit up TireRack.com and enter your vehicles information, and then look for the tire decision guide....it will ask you a few questions about your preferences and driving style and come out with a result....the results are supposed to be the best tires suited for you...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TRSelectAutoMakeAndYear.jsp

BF Goodrich ATs or if you want a more aggressive tire but still has excellent road manners try the MTs. I ran BFG ATs and the MTs and preffer the MTs for there better off road traction in muddy conditions. They also wear like iron! 60K plus.

Well I just put some Goodyear Triple Tread tires on my Touareg. I've obviously only driven them on wet and dry pavement, and wet and dry grass, so far, but I like them. They are great on both wet & dry pavement. The little that I have driven them on the grass has been limted to my property and I didn't ask too much of them, so the test was barely a test. Yet to be determined how they will handle snow.