I picked up the tires today. I had the tire shop mount and balance the tires only. tomorrow I will install them on the truck. I will say I'm impressed with how little weight they took to balance. Tread seems like a good design for my driving style.

I currently have aftermarket wheels and Goodyear Silent Armor's as described in my signature and seen in my gallery. They are a 33'' tall tire but significantly wider than stock. I'm having an awful time with balancing them and they take a ton of lead. I think I have at least one bad tire and once the Nittos go on I will have to deal with the Goodyears. The Silent Armors have awesome traction but I am at my wit's end with balancing them and they only have 10,000 miles on them to boot.

 

What makes the Nitto Terra's real attractive are those staggered shoulder lugs, They make the outer sidewall look more aggressive.

I found that NTB has them for a flat $200 each (plus mounting and balancing) in the bigger 295/70/18. I think that's a great bargain.

 

$200 each sound like a good price. The best I could do from NTB was $216 each for the 275/70/18

 

Another thing about the tread design between the two tires is the Toyo A/T shows a healthier sipe design than the Nitto, which ultimately makes it a better choice for a "wet" tire.

p.s. you're right, 200 is a GREAT price. They even gave me a print out, however I was still on the road so hopefully I can take this to my local tire dealer and ask for a price match. you never know, it may be worth it.

 

Toyo vs. Nitto = Chevy vs. GMC

 

Just in case anyone cares, I went ahead and dropped by Discount Tire today and ordered 5 of the Terra Grapplers in 285/75/17

 

I care... Thanks for supporting Discount Tire Co. San Antonio

 

I think you made a wise choice, I've decided to do the same thing and go with the 285's too. It's a taller tire than the 295 and will be better on fuel consumption being a smaller footprint however the terra grappler has those nifty looking staggered sidewall lugs making it look more like a mud terrain tire from the side view which is a feature I really like but Nitto doesn't make them in the 18" wheel so I have to go with TOYO for the 285's

The problem right now is that my OEM Conti's has sooo much tread still left on them it's hard to rationalize just canning the whole lot of 'em. They're just slipperier than snot.

Speaking of tires ,
I just learned that new tires will have a greasy feel to them due to the release oil that's used to help fully eject the rubber from the mold. I read that it can take up to 500 miles to wear off this slime stuff. So if a person tries to evaluate a new tire, they may have a different opinion after several hundered miles instead of just after they're mounted.

 

[QUOTE=Benchwrench;8012452]I think you made a wise choice, I've decided to do the same thing and go with the 285's too. It's a taller tire than the 295 and will be better on fuel consumption being a smaller footprint however the terra grappler has those nifty looking staggered sidewall lugs making it look more like a mud terrain tire from the side view which is a feature I really like but Nitto doesn't make them in the 18" wheel so I have to go with TOYO for the 285's

The problem right now is that my OEM Conti's has sooo much tread still left on them it's hard to rationalize just canning the whole lot of 'em. They're just slipperier than snot.


I agree with the above post. I also have 18" wheels and will be going with 285's. My Conti's only have 26,000 on them so I hate to throw them out also. But Conti's just don't get it for the Michigan winters I have to deal with. They also pick up a lot of rocks and are killing my rocker panels even with mudflaps installed. I was hoping they would hurry up and release the new Nitto Trail Grappler M/T in 285, it may not happen till Dec. I like the looks of the aggresive side wall of the tire.

 

I just contanted Nitto and the new Trail Grappler M/T in 285/65/18 should be available the first part of Nov.

 

I looked at the Trail Grappler, actually, but I don't really like the "simplicity" of the tread design, how plain and cheap looking it is, but more importantly this truck fulfills two roles: 1) daily driver for most days and 2) tow rig for the Jeep. It's not going rock crawling itself; that's what the Jeep is for. The most off-road it's going to see is lease/ranch driving and whatever dirt roads lead up to the trails where I back the Jeep off the trailer. So while I would've loved a set of, say, KM2's, the Terra Grapplers came in right about where I needed them: get me through the slippery mud of a rainy lease and also be quiet and have good on-road and towing manners.

 

So for reference, here are some gray-weather cell phone pics taken yesterday. These are the 285/75/17 (~34x11). Clearly 35's would fit without issue.

 

By the way, I'll add that it's been raining like a **** around here after a very dry summer, which means lots of standing water and deep run-off streams, and I've got say these Terra Grapplers have been awesome. I realize they're new and therefore have the deepest tread possible and such, they barely even pull at the wheel when one side is driving through water and the other side isn't. It seems to shed the water like no big deal, and the rear doesn't want to spin out as much when making sharp turns (e.g. turning right at an intersection from a stop at a red light and hurrying to keep from getting in the way). The somewhat worn BFG Rugged Trails would pull like a beast and slip all over the place. I have 35" BFG KM2's on my Jeep, and those have been great, but I can't really say the same for their Rugged Trails.

 

nice pics, it looks like that size tire fill the wheel well nicely. Can't wait 'till I see 285/75's on my truck too.
The OEM Conti's are soooo slick in the rain right now, I need to weight down the bed with something just for traction! Can't imagine what snow would be like except ..."dangerous".

 

Haven't got any pics yet but ended up with the 295 Nitto Terra's

I found a SMOKIN' deal at Discount Tire.
They made me a deal I couldn't refuse. $200 per tire! a deal I couldn't get on the 285 Toyo's.

these are the Nitto specs I went with;
295/70/18- that's a 35x11.50!
E rated/ 10 ply
16.6" tread depth
34.41" overall diameter
11.77" tread
8.5" rim ideal width
rated at 4080 lbs load at 80 psi.
604 revs/mi.

They've been on for a hundred miles now and I see my fuel decrease by 1 mpg. (mainly because of foul weather idling).
What I've noticed about the tire is they need more power to turn, they changed my gear ratio a bit taller and they have no highway ribbing so any input to the steering wheel and the truck will veer that way. (If I hold the wheel, it stays put.) In other words they will turn easily as opposed to holding a straight line with significant feedback if turning. Hope that makes sense to anyone.
At any rate, This was a great investment, they look superb and exhibit no rubbing in turns and have more give or absorb harshness going over bumps with all stock suspension,the best part is I don't need 4wheel drive on wet grass anymore!

Good riddens Conticraps!