I've been looking around for new all terrain tires for my 2000 4Runner and there seems to be a lot less selection than in past years. Is there a shortage of tires due to Covid? Has the tire size (225/75R15) become less common over the years so there are less tires being made in that size?

The only models I'm finding consistently are:

Goodyear Wrangler Trail Runner AT ($124)
Pirelli Scorpion ATR ($115 typical, but one place has them for $95)

also available are:

Toyo Open Country A/T III ($127)
Kelly Edge AT ($102)
Bridgestone Dueler AT ($149)

The Goodyears seem better than the Pirelli but I seemed to have found a good price for the Pirellis. Toyo and Kelly I have no familiarity with to put blind faith in. Anyone have an opinion on these? The Bridgestones seem very good but at a higher premium than the others. These tires may outlast the vehicle so I don't want to make a huge investment in them, I've had Yokohama in the past but they don't seem to have anything in my size now. Should I just go with the Goodyears? Will the Pirellis be good enough? Is Kelly a decent brand? I do a mix of highway and off roading to trailheads and disperesed camp sites, and have to deal with snow at times. Thanks for helping my decision paralysis.

 

I guess I don't buy enough tires to notice if there's a shortage.
I've always gone with Toyo when I could. I don't really know why... bought my first set almost 20 years ago for a little car and they always treated me well. Had a set of Open Countrys for several years on my 93 pickup. They seemed great offroad (as novice as I was back then), but I wound up doing a lot of freeway driving which ultimately killed them.
I bought a used set (75%) of Mud Claw Radial M/Ts in the spring this year. Not the greatest highway tire but I was really happy when I didn't have to click into 4wd every time to get through mild spring snow drifts and mud holes.

Anyways, good luck in your search.

 

It's much less about a factory shutbdown than its not a popular size.

 

Good point, I think most people elect to go to a 265/75 or 31/10.5. They're popular among my friends anyways.

 

225/75R15 is the factory size but is not common at all. Seems to be a trailer tire size more often now. A very common size now is 235/75R15. It's only 10mm wider and will make your truck about 1/8 inch higher off the ground. You'll find a huge selection of tires in that size, and there is no difference in terms of fitment or driveability.

 

People are reusing recycled rubbers for something else

 

Then in your signature you have "a picture paints a thousand words" I see what you did there!! Hahaha!

 

I also have questions about tire size for my rim. Don't want to hijack, but thought my question would be relevant to this thread. While looking for new A/T tires I've realized something isn't right. The truck has driven fine, mind you, for the last 40k miles.

My truck is a 2000 4runner automatic 4x4 SR5. I have the stock 5 spoke wheel, door sticker says tire size is 225/75-15.

HOWEVER.... I currently have Michelin LTX M/S2 265/70-16 tires mounted on it. How the hell is that possible? I measured the inner lip of the rim to be 15 inches (not the outer lip of the rim).

So, is this dangerous? CAN i mount any 16 inch tire on these wheels????? This is freaking bizarre.... What am I getting wrong here? This SHOULD NOT work, right?

 

Take a look at the back of the rim, it will have numbers that say 16x7, 16" rim 7" wide, a lot of 4runners got bigger rims and tires than the door sticker.

 

I have a wrecked 99 4runner in my garage. It has the same Michelin tires on it that you have.

 

Yes, I saw the 16X7JJ embossed on the rim and obviously I was confident it was 16 inch until I saw the door sticker...

Thanks for clearing that up, now i have better tire choices!!!!