Best tire for the money

Im in the market for some new rubber and looking at several different brands of tires. My goal is to not spend more than $175 per tire. I need 5 and also need to keep it under a grand. Tire size is 265/75/16. I will be using my rig for light offroading, snow, and sand "beach driving" Im sure there have been threads like this but I would like to get the best and current info that I can before I make my purchase so any help will be greatly appreciated.

Here are some different tires ive been looking at.

Wild country mtx
I can get the mtx for $130 out the door "not mounted" which is the cheapest and a steal but my worry about mud terrain is in the sand im affaird they will just want to dig instead of float. I also hear that a mud terrain is the closest thing to a paddle tire so im getting mixed reviews.

Goodyear wrangler at


Nitto terra grappler


Any other brands and suggestions would be great.

Thanks everyone

I can offer my thoughts. I managed a fleet of trucks that spend their time offroad in the heat , driven like rentals. Quasi-government. Great worst case testing ground.
I can not speak specifically to your terrain. My experience is in the high mountain desert climate. Some sand , sandy loam, clay. Rock varies from round river rock pit run to broken shale and basalt volcanic rock.
I could get into the poor life, chipping, punctures, separations, compound hardness or softness etc. Wild Country is at the lower portion of my list. Their big brother the Toyo M55 just above them. Cooper STT and Discoverer fall in the same range. Not all horrible, but not up to my standards for a perfect tire. Yokohama has had some awesome tires in the past, but they have gone too euro for my terrain. Falling much closer to the Pirelli tires. Hankook has some nice offerings, but they lean toward the heavy hauler on the highway livestock truck and trailer rig.
I am light to light heavy loaded expedition style if that makes sense? Heavy 1/2 ton to light 3/4 ton runner.

To date the BFG TAKO has been a real winner. If a more aggressive tire is needed the Goodyear MTR has been very good. Problem. Availability and cost. Goverment pricing is good, but we can not buy at those below cost prices. Availability can be poor at times too. Mostly for the MTR.
Personally I have been through Four sets of the BFG TAKO on my personal vehicles in past years. Their performance, lifespan and durability have made them top of my list. That said I have recently gone a new direction.
NITTO. The Terra Grapplers have been exceeding my expectations thus far. They were recommended by a friend who ran out a set and was very happy with them. The next thing that sent me over the top was that they had a size I wanted. Tall and skinny is where it is at. Low center of gravity, tall as will fit. Skinny as possible. Fill the fender In the fleet I run primarily 235/85-16. My personal rig now runs 285/75-17. This is a step up from the 70 series I had been running.
I have only had them on about six months now. Performance offroad has been very good. As good or better than the TAKO. Road manners excellent. Mileage improved (mostly due to taller tire and lower rpm at highway speeds due to my gearing.) They are heavy and I fully expected a decrease due to the weight difference. I was pleasantly surprised. Price is very attractive. nearly a third less than the BFG. Unless something catastrophic happens, I am now a NITTO believer. Those would be my choice

Here is a good article from my forum: Tire Selection for Expedition Travel quite a few good aticles gathered there to help on selecting the right tire for your terrain and driving conditions. Get a good little compressor and play with airing down for sand.

I had Toyo Open Country AT-2s on the Power Wagon and they were very good all-around tires with a good treadlife warranty. I had the "Xtreme" version which is size dependent; you have to check their website to find out what sizes they come in...

May I suggest TreadWright? I've had a great experience with mine.

I've ran yokohama geolander at/s on several of my vehicles and for the price they are excellent. They have excellent road manners and wear life. Are great on gravel. But I have not had experiance in snow with them. I have had limited experiance with the terra grapplers but the experiance I have had was all to the good. I wouldnt hesitate to purchase which ever one of those tires is cheapest. They're both very hi value tires.

General Grabber AT2 looks like a good tire for the money. Good all terrain with a little more tread void than the BFG ATs for around $50 less per tire. Take a look at the ratings on tirerack.com - the grabbers rate just above the BFGs with millions of miles reported.

I love my toyo at2!!! But for snow not sure! Take a look a goodyear duratrac! But for sure the toyo at2 are very good one!! ;-)

SiliconTi said:

May I suggest TreadWright? I've had a great experience with mine.

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Aren't those retreaded tires? I've seen some horrific stories when they fail.

<--- BFG All Terrain guy here. Had them on three different trucks and they've always performed well. They may not be the latest and greatest, but they just work.

I love BFGs. Duratracs also get high reviews

If money is tight, spend a bit more for a higher quality tire that will last longer. If that puts you in a bind right now, consider just getting four new tires and finding a matching spare at a used tire place.

clandr1 said:

Aren't those retreaded tires? I've seen some horrific stories when they fail.

<--- BFG All Terrain guy here. Had them on three different trucks and they've always performed well. They may not be the latest and greatest, but they just work.

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I've heard horrific stories about every single brand of tire out there failing at one point or another. The difference is that when someone with a retread fails, they automatically blame it on the fact that it's a retread instead of any of the hundreds of other possibilities.

I've been abusing my 315/75R17 Treadwright Guard Dogs for 20k miles and they've done nothing but impress me. Mine are molded on your beloved BFG All Terrain casings. I've run over a dozen different offroad tires over the years and the Treadwrights have impressed me more than any others. They're perfectly round, took hardly any weight to balance, and stick like glue to every terrain - especially snow & ice, thanks to the "Kedge Grip" walnut and glass particles mixed into the rubber. And at only 1/2 to 2/3 the price of a comparable new tire, you can't really go wrong!

My only complaint is that they're noisier than I like. They sound like a mud-terrain tire, as expected from their mud-terrain tread pattern. If I could get their All-Terrain tire as a 35 or 315, I would.

Don't get a MTX type mud tread for sand or snow. I've had many brands and tread types. I really like BFG's all terrain for sand, snow and lasting quality.

Thanks everyone, for the money the mtx are spot on...unfortunately its sounds like I may end having to call one of you to pull me out of the snow or sand lol so a mud terrain is out.

Walmart has a good price on general grabbers I think they were around $130 for 265/70-16 and $160 for 75-16.

I would love some bfg at's but I dont think I can afford them. I really want to get all 5 ive never been able to go out and purchase 5 brand new tires before so its really exciting. Ive always either bought a rig with new tires and sold it before it needed new ones or just couldnt afford it.

The geolanders is what my rig came from the factory with and ive heard good things about them.

The treadweights sound good but I would not be able to tell my wife that I was buying retreads...I wouldnt be allowed lol.

Is skinny and tall the way to go, what are the benefits opposed to a wider tire?

That might save me some money and get a better tire.

clandr1 said:

Aren't those retreaded tires? I've seen some horrific stories when they fail.

<--- BFG All Terrain guy here. Had them on three different trucks and they've always performed well. They may not be the latest and greatest, but they just work.

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Just the same as when a non-retread tire fails. A statistically lower percentage fail as well.


I have some 35" treadwrights and have 20k+ troublefree miles.

NCtrailX said:

General Grabber AT2 looks like a good tire for the money. Good all terrain with a little more tread void than the BFG ATs for around $50 less per tire. Take a look at the ratings on tirerack.com - the grabbers rate just above the BFGs with millions of miles reported.

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I had those. Miserable in the mud. Even worse than BFGs.

madmaths said:

I love my toyo at2!!! But for snow not sure! Take a look a goodyear duratrac! But for sure the toyo at2 are very good one!! ;-)

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I found mine to be fine in snow and ice. I was passing plenty of stuck trucks during Atlanta's snowmageddon...