just wondering about opinions, I'm going to get a new set of tires to replace my thrashed Wrangler RT/S. I'm on a pretty tight budget so was looking at different tires and the ones that I keep see coming up are general grabber AT2 and goodyear authority (yes, the wally world ones) seems like the GY authority get pretty great reviews from people with light trucks and for on-road performance, while general grabbers get great reviews for offroading but seem to knock down mpg significantly and wear fairly fast. most of my driving is freeway of course, but I do love getting offroad when I get the chance to and with as much travel as I do between the western and eastern sierras I get a lot of chances. My main concerns are mileage and snow, I spent the last winter working at a ski resort in the eastern sierras driving around a little fwd 4banger so you can imagine how much fun that was (even being a super dry year) and how much I want to avoid the experience again.

 

I had the GY Authority on my 86 PU. They were 31x12.5x15, Liked them alot tho, minimal road noise, and better offroad performance then i thought it would do. Had them for about 4 months with daily driving and weekend wheeling and still looked new when i sold the truck. I would recommend them for a budget A/T tire. No exp. with the Grabbers A/T tho, sorry. Hopefully another person can chime in!

 

thats generally the results I've been reading, was really leaning towards the GYs but I haven't found anything about them in snow which is a major concern for me.

 

What's your budget? You could always save your pennies a bit longer and get a set of Wrangler Duratracs.

 

Hoping to keep it about $700 or so

 

I don't have experience with either tire but living in the mountains all my life and always driving toyota 4x4 trucks I would say either tire would be fine. I myself am going to (being on a budget and being bad with money) have to buy one tire at a time to make my gig happen. I have ran the old style MTR's, old style BFG muds, BFG all terrains, Bridgestone duelers, Pathfinder A/T's, and Michelin ATx or what ever they are called all in good deep and icy colorado snows.

Hands down my favorite were BFG a/ts for what you speak of but if that is out of your price range, I understand. I prefer a mud terrain although they aren't as good in snow (well ice more than snow, they do better in DEEP snow). My motto is as well "I'd rather have a bald A/T than a bald M/T" if you run your tires to the wires like I do.

Treadwright tires... Check them out. You can keep tire cost under $550 for 31's and they make a BFG all terrain knock off. This includes shipping. I will likely be going with Swamper TSL 32 x 10.5 r15 but my next choice is the Goodyear authority 31's from Wally. They have a good tread pattern, some siping and they will work fine. Just watch the throttle in the corners in snow.... as with any tire really. A good aggressive A/T will do a bit better but for the summer months an M/T is GREAT. These trucks can make a lot happen, but when it comes to tires you have to make a compromise.

I've never had a problem getting where I need to get in 4wd in a toy with mud tires, ever, unless off roading IN SNOW.... where you can get screwed no matter what. It's more driver than snow.

 

I just purchased a set of Grabber AT2's from a TW member with just under 20k on them....these still have close to factory depth and he did have them on last winter in NY.....no problems...He upgraded to a larger size( lifting your truck creates those $$ habits ) and Nitto Terras .....both of these have the "snow" symbol if that helps...

I totally agree with luvmeye22re on driving habits...the past 4 winters my Tacoma has pulled through any NH snow storm with Geo Trackers ..
these Grabbers will spoil the he!! out of me

 

Get the AT2's, I have them on my dd, they are great, I havent had the joy of testing them in deep snow, but in light snow they did awesome. They are great in the wet, they wear evenly, good in the dirt too. Ive had mine about 11-12k and they still look new.

This pic is from when I went wheeling in my other truck around when I just got the tires, they clear dirt great out of them.