New shoes for the 3rd Gen 4Runner...advice appreciated.

Frdmskr

Adventurer
Cross posted from T4R my appreciation for those who read it twice.

All,

Just got a new 2001 4Runner SR5. It has 170K on the Odo. We knew it needed tires, however, after letting the mechanic look at it our list of fixes is extremely short and focused on routine maintenance ( :party: ) However, the tire issue is worse than we thought and thus the timeline is more urgent than thought.

Side note: It came with 4 brands of tires on it. (Yeah I know we got $1500 off the price so I cannot complain.)

The wife and I are debating Cooper AT3s and General Grabber AT2s. I've had three sets of General HTS on my old Escape. They wore well and I loved the heck out of them. I really would not need much convincing to get the AT2s on board. However, reading reviews of the AT3s on Tacomas and 4Runners there seems to be a consensus that the AT3s are better, however, there is a quality control issue perhaps in that folks get bad ones. Either that or they are really sensitive to proper inflation.

The truck is a daily driver that will be eventually used for light to moderate trails, camping, fishing, skiing, and long haul. We are in an area with lots of hills, snow and ice still coming up over the next few weeks. Probably taking to other places with the same. It is never going to be a rock crawler or anything overly ambitious. Mods will be minimal to ensure good reliability off the beaten track. Any feedback on which tire might work best is appreciated.

Size: 165/70R16

Thanks in advance for the advice. I will create a build thread (though it will be extremely slow) soon. I'll have the repair list on there and thoughts on where we are going.

W/r
 

mtnbike28

Expedition Leader
I love my General AT2 - 60k miles on the last set, replaced with 4 new ones.... I was happy with them on the road, dirt, sand and what little snow I drove in. They have the Mountain Snowflake.
 

Kuduhunter

New member
Just put a set of Cooper ST Maxx on my 99 4Runner if you need to go more aggressive. Size 265/70/17. Like them so far. Very quiet rides smooth for Load range E tire. They are heavy though but can't tell much difference on the road. I have done the Tundra brake upgrade though so helps stop the heavy tires. Have tried on dry pavement, hard packed snow and 12" of snow with no trouble
 

Rdy2offrd88

Observer
Had a set of Cooper A/T3s on my 3rd gen when I sold it and loved them. Great traction for an a/t offroad when aired down and smooth and quiet ride on the highway.
 

p nut

butter
Shoot, for those uses, any good all season tire will do. Better mpg, quieter ride, cheaper, etc.
 

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