Getting ready to buy new tires for the Ex. Ex has a 6" lift, 6L diesel, 4.30 gears and currently running Nitto Terra Grapplers. The Ex is used as a third vehicle for weekends, family outings, camping, towing a large travel trailer, etc. Moat of the time is spent on the highway with some occasional mountain highways. Sees the snow on occasion in the winter when we go up the passes to play.

Torn between a 35/12.5-18 Trail Grappler and a 305/70-18 Dura Grappler. The Dura is a long lasting smooth highway tire that I have heard good things about. The Trail Grappler seems to be getting good reviews but I can not find many reviews of them. Would my mpg be much different between the two since they are about the same size? Anyone running the Trail Grapplers and if so how is the tread wearing? They look great which is part of the consideration. Price is about the same. What would you do? Here is a pic of the Ex and links to the tires- http:http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/tires/nitto/product/byName.do?tmn=Trail+Grappler+M%2FT&typ=Truck%2FSUV//
Nitto Dura Grappler tires listed by size

 

I have the trail grapplers. Haven't had the chance to have them offroad yet, but a guy I ran into did. He says they were awesome offroad, and they looked to be wearing well. I can say that on pavement, I cannot tell I have an offroad tire, other than a LITTLE noise. These things are remarkably quiet for as aggressive as they are. They will give less mpg, but I doubt the difference will be all that noticeable. I say go for the Trail Grapplers, yo.

 

My vote is for Dura-grapplers! I love mine. Red Ex, I think we discussed this before, or was it another member??? Search my posts I know I've commented on the Dura's several times.

 

Trail grapplers, this is the first set on the ex and have only put low miles pin them but on my bronco they were great, wore amazing considering the twin I beam front end

 

Can I toss in Toyo for the dark horse win? Just a thought...my open country AT's are amazing! But they are made by same company.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. I went ahead and ordered up the Trail Grapplers. The store I am buying from has a 30 day exchange policy in which I could change to the Dura. I will have them in about a week and have a trip planned soon after. I will be towing the 10500lb travel trailer about 400 miles. Should be a good test.

 

Hey Red Ex which store has the 30-day exchange policy? Exactly what i was looking for...

 

Discount tire has the 30 day policy. I did take them up on the 30 day policy. They gave me absolutely no issues with the exchange. You do have to pay to have the 2nd set mounted and balanced which is better than being stuck with tires you are not happy with. Now the next question will be (from someone) why did you return the Trail Grapplers?

So my tire results are as follows. I had the Trail Grapplers installed. They looked awesome. Performed awesome in the sand - throwing sand almost like paddle tires. Highway unloaded they wandered some but it seemed to mostly go away when I would air down to 45lbs. With the 10500lb trailer and 1300lb tongue they were bulging more than wanted and were wandering at all pressures (worse the higher the air pressure I went). I thought they were pretty loud compared to the Nitto Terra Grapplers I had before. If I were not going to tow (1/2 my miles are towing) I would have kept them. Just did not want the added stress on the long road trips with the trailer.

I then switched to the Dura Grapplers. Very quiet in comparison. Handle excellent in the rain which is a plus here in the Northwest. Are tracking well but maybe not quite as good as the original Terra Grapplers I had before. I can not figure out why they would not be tracking as good as the Terra Grapplers and maybe it is just I am not used to them and am overly sensitive to the issue at this point or possibly it is because they are not as wide. They only have a few thousand miles on them now but are not showing any wear.

MPG has not been much different. I think the Terra and Dura are fairly even at around 18mpg hiway and the Trail seemed to be more 17mpg hiway. Not much difference. In town I did notice the extra weight of the trail grapplers, took a little more pedal to start rolling.

 

Have you towed with the Dura's yet? If so how have they done? I am in the same trailer and tongue weight range as you and I am considering Duras and would like to hear some good real world towing reports.

 

I have only towed about 250miles so far. Will tow another 200miles this weekend. I actually think the Terra Grapplers (325/65-18) I had before may have felt a little better towing despite only being a D-rated tire. Hard to really tell without towing the same roads. The Dura Grapplers (305/70-18) seem to wander or give slight tread squirm when compared to my worn down Terra Grapplers but the Duras are leaps and bounds better than the Trail Grapplers were towing. It may have just been the rutted highways we were towing. I am going to try a few less pounds (from 65lbs to 60lbs and then 55lbs) in the front tires on the Duras for the next tow (max pressure is 65lbs in 305/70-18). I am confident the Dura's are going to give good treadlife which is the down fall of the Terra's (towing heavy eats them up). I did however tow with the Trail Grapplers on the same rutted roads - Dura Grappler = one hand on the wheel - Trail Grappler = two hands on the wheel (struggling to keep it in the lane). Feel free to check back with me at a later time. I can also try and update the results after the weekend.

 

Thanks for the report, looking forward to more! I'm looking at springtime at the earliest for tires/wheels so I have plenty of time to gather good info on handling and towing.
Thanks again.

 

Aside from the towing eatin em' up, what didn't you like about the Terra Grapplers? And were the Trails that much louder than the Terras? Trying to decide myself if the extra noise is worth the look.... Ready to get rid of M/T Baja ATZ's, love the look but the more they wear the louder they get. By the way, thanks for all the info.

 

How many miles do you have on the ATZ's? I've got about 22k on mine with rotates about every 4-5k depending on when I could do it. They are all wearing very evenly and haven't noticed any noise changes yet. Definitely louder than 'tamer' tires but the traction and performance so far has been worth the little rumble I get inside the Ex.

The Nitto Dura Grapplers will last a long time - couple of my customers have them on their trucks and even when they go over on their rotates they are wearing evenly and I'm getting positive feedback on them. The look of the sidewall is a little strange but just a minor thing and obviously a personal thing. Keeping good air pressure and a rotation schedule would most likely get you 70k out them easy. One customer is at 45k and is only at 7/32 which is about half depth - even though the treadwear warranty is only 45k from Nitto.

 

Really the towing wearing them down is the only thing I did not like about the Terra Grapplers. They are fairly quiet and offer decent traction in most conditions. I probably got somewhere between 35k and 40k out of them. I have read several others post poor wear when towing heavy. They also had a tendency to hydroplane once they were mostly worn down. I could have gotten 5k-10k more out of them if I did not live where it rains so much. The sidewall design is a little strange but does give them a more aggressive look and I kind of liked the design.

With the Trail Grapplers it was actually hard to hear anyone sitting in the back row - this can be good or bad - haha. I even have dynomat installed on the floor and doors and was still getting that much noise. I think the Trail Grapplers are well built tires that would offer great off-road performance and looks. They sure did not need much weight (1/2 ounce to 2 onces).

 

Here are some pictures.
With the 35/1250-18 Trail Grapplers.


Trail Grapplers.


Terra Grapplers 325/65-18.


Dura Grapplers 305/70-18.