shawnhog

This place seems to be more focused on the M/T version, and I admit: for good reason, too! Unfortunately, my rig is also a daily driver, and any tire I choose will likely see 80-90% of it's life spent on asphalt/ice (Montana winters are long.). In all, I do like the looks of the all-terrain trxus tires, and it is likely that they have excellent wear characteristics due to both the radial construction and the closely-spaced lugs; but my question is not that of wear and tear, it is of performance.

My style of wheeling is very well-rounded, with occasional excursions into the extreme trails (John Bull trail in CA; anyplace in Moab, UT). In most conditions, anything above a street tire will do of course. Just to clarify: by "most conditions" I mean anything that is "light" wheeling, and a select number of "moderate," and one or two "specializations," which in this case is likely the street manners and the sand capabilities.

My 1991 4Runner will be rocking the lockers both front and rear (either lock-rights or ARB's, or both), 3" lift, Aisin hubs, and custom tube- and body-work all around. I will be putting on anything that is 33x12.5R15 on 15x8 w/ 3.75 backspaced wheels. I might leave the gearing stock, as the 4.10's move me around quite well, and I like the mileage (15mpg+); and I can compensate with my nifty ECT and other performance mods to be added.

Who likes the trxus A/T? Is it any good on the rocks? In any case, I think it's purdy...

shawnhog

I just found out my stock gear ratio: my doorjamb stated A/TM G254; which is an indicator for 4.56:1 ratio... pretty sweet, eh?

KODE

had a set of those til about few months ago. had them on my truck for about 6 months of daily driving. its a pretty decent tire for my off roading terrain (Hawaii mud and sand). havent tried it over rocks. the only dislikes was the soft tire compound started to wear pretty fast in the amount of time i had them. also, it didnt clean very well after mudding. i sold those tires and bought the cooper discoverer stt's. its a very good tire especially because my truck is a daily driver. very hard tire compound and traction. cleans really well. i heard its not good for rocks because of the hard compound but i think its one of the best all/mud terrain tire that lasts on a daily driver and its affordable.

kyle_22r

i think they'd be killer in sand and on dry stuff, but other than the center section, it looks like they'd hydroplane pretty easily. i've seen them in person but i've never seen them on any rigs around here.

regularguy412

Kyle is right. And without a more continuous center section of tread, they'll be LOUD on pavement. If you will be mostly on road, you might consider Michelin LTX M/S tires. I believe they come in a 33" version. I currently run the LTX 31x10.50. It's my daily driver, too. My 92 has the 3.0 with auto tranny and 4.56 gears. The Michelins have excellent road manners, are GREAT in snow (plenty of siping), they stay true and round ( no flat spotting) and remain in balance. The good news is, they wear like iron. With proper inflation and rotation, you should easily see 60,000+ miles from a set. Many have noted up to 90,000 miles on these tires.

By going up to the 33's you 'might' notice a bit of driveability issues with the 3.0 / auto trans even WITH 4.56's. Most Runners with 4.56's came stock with p225 tires. Those with the large tire option came with 4.88's (with auto trannys). You may also note a bit of a mileage decrease. These are pretty big tires, not just tall, but a little heavy, cuz there's LOTS of rubber there.

MIke in AR

tc

4.56 was the gearing for 31's with manual tranny
4.88 was the gearing for 31's with auto

Smaller tires got something like 4.30's IIRC.

Regardless, I run 33x10.50 which is a great tire for the applications you describe. The extra couple inches width IMHO don't provide enough extra traction or flotation to be worth the fitment issues.

It ran OK with the 33's and 4.56's. Recently changed to 4.88's (manual tranny) and that is about the ideal gearing - better than stock even. With an auto, you should really consider 5.29's. The OD is so damn tall that even 5.71's wouldn't be out of the question...

BLKNBLU

iTrader: (1)

I agree with Mike in AR. I currently have BFG/AT because I wanted a bit more aggressive tread for a bit heavier wheeling (and I'll move to MT eventually) and the 4r is not a DD anymore. My last set of tires were Michelin. They were great on the road, adequate off road, and they gave me 80K miles of wear.

Mike

regularguy412

I'll agree with TC that the O/D in the auto trannys is too tall for anything except highway driving-- over 50 MPH. I run my 92 3.0 w/ 4.56's and 31x10.50's around town with the O/D Off. I try to keep the RPMs around 2500 -2800, both in-town and on-highway. I seem to get a little better fuel mileage with the 3.0 by doing that.

If your engine is operatiing well and has decent power, you should have little trouble turing the 33's with the 4.56's. However, that's about the limit. If you go any taller with tires, you'll likely need lower gears ( higher numerically).

Even at that, you may be a little dissatisfied with your acceleration. If it's an auto tranny, Low gear won't be as low as what you find in most manual transmissions. Additionally, 5th gear in the manual will probably not see much use , with bigger tires and no diff gear change.

Mike in AR

shawnhog

This is where it gets interesting for me:

I have a 4Runner with a brand-spankin' new engine with less than 5K miles on it, and it originally came (from the dealership) with 31" tires and 4.56 gearing, all on an Auto transmission. Needless to say, the super-fresh engine has plenty of power (for a 3.Slow) to go around, and despite my current 32x12.5 setup, it accels well and has plenty left for passing others out on the road. This is why I think that 33X12.5 or 33X10.5 would be fine for me. I want the 12.5 for the wider footprint, but not the 14.5 because of the funky "doughnut" look; or the 10.5 for fear that it may bee too skinny for my application. I dunno, I guess I have a lot to think about.

You agree that 4.56 isn't ideal for 33" tires, and yet elsewhere on this site you come across other guys who wheel just as hard and run 4.10 on 33"plus.. What gives? I am just banking on my engine still being torquey enough to get me where I want to go on the trails, and even with the 1/2" in additional radius, it will not affect my driving too much. Now 4.56 gearing with 35" tires, THEN I have a problem...

Here is a tire decoder
My driverside doorjamb states: A/TM G254; which is indicative of a 4.56 ratio.

For now I think that I might leave my gearing alone and use the savings I will get for an air locker rear, lockright front setup; and possibly a winch (there are some who say "winch BEFORE lockers!"). For the winch, likely a Warn XD9000I.

Now back to the topic at hand: Does anyone else know how well the Trxus A/T performs in rocks? I know she won't perform well in mud, but then again, no A/T will... I know it will behave on ice and snow, due to the siping and the paddle-like tread, and again with the street manners.

Should I give up and just go for the A/T's from BFG? They are the hot setup around here for reagular trucks. I think that I am going to call my local offroad shop and see what they think. Thaey know this area better than I do and they might know if those tires are a good choice.

regularguy412

I would say that most vehicles with 4.10's came with a manual tranny (Low 1st gear) and stock tires (P225's). They can get away with putting on the taller than stock tires, mostly because the manual tranny has that low gear and the clutch doesn't allow for much slippage when it's locked up. Since you have an automatic, you have a torque converter which 'will' slip when you accelerate. When you put on taller tires, you effectively increase the load that the torque converter 'sees' when you you accelerate. This makes it slip more. Sort of like increasing the 'stall rate' of the converter.

Also be aware that we have found througout this board and on other boards that the door jamb plackard was not 'always' correct , regarding factory gearing and stock tires. This info has come from those who bought their vehicles new and know the history. When they got under there and turned wheels to count pinion revolutions,, some found the gears were different. Turning the pinion via the wheel is the only real way to easily know your gearing-- save pulling the R&P and counting teeth and dividing.

Some say that the factory set up for 31" tires and manual tranny was 4.56 gears and that factory setup for 31" tires and auto tranny was 4.88 gears. I 'did' buy my 4Runner used , I'm the 3rd owner. I have checked my gearing by turning the wheels , and it does have 4.56 gears AND an A340H auto tranny AND P225 stock tires ( the original spare 12 yrs old was still under the back when I bought the vehicle). Thats what 'my' door jamb sticker says, correctly.

As stated before, I think you will get tired of the highway noise with the Trxus. I would suspect, tho I have not owned a set, that the compound is pretty soft for going off road. You probably wont see much longevity out of these tires. They may also be a little tough to keep balanced. Others who have owned a set can better attest to this.

Look here for customer surveys of many of the most popular tires in various categories:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/index.jsp

The two surveys you will probably be most interested in are the Light Truck Highway All Season and the Light Truck Off-Road All-Terrain.

Mike in AR

shawnhog

All-righty, the deals are set for now.. I am trying to get ahold of a small loan or a higher-limit credit card so that I can pay myself back and help establish my near-non-existent credit (I'm 21 years old). It isn't that I do not have the money for it (I'm stingy with my cash), I just want to own a house someday, and pay very little for it due to established good-to-excellent credit. Anyway, here is what I bought today:

-33X12.5R15 Pro Comp M/T (didn't see that one coming, didya!) from 4Wheel Parts
-4" bulge flat-top fenders from Downey
-A bunch of rear suspension stuff from All-Pro
-A bunch of front suspension stuff from Roger Brown

In all I look to go to about 3-4" higher in all. My next question: WINCHES!! Do I need a 9000lb? (my vehicle weighs 5350lb, and the rule is 1.5 times the fully-loaded weight) Should I get smaller? Will the weight of the winch neccesitate HD torsion bars? Or should I just crank on up the stockers? The winch is likely to weigh just shy of 100lb, although it is likely less since I am opting for the synthetic rope instead of the cable (20lb + savings?). Well, I am off to the search engines!

bob200587

I second the cooper tire.