For a little over a year I ran a set of Nitto Terra Grapplers on the 200 Series Land Cruiser, after covering over 40,000 miles, here’s what I walked away with.
Nitto Terra Grappler (285/65-18 Load Range E)
Tackling the Rocky Trails of VOT Day 1
The Nitto Terra Grappler’s were my first foray into an “over-sized” tire for the Land Cruiser, and I put over 40,000 miles on them in every condition you could imagine. I loved how they ate up highway miles like a champ, and could easily tackle 90% of the terrain I threw at them. Regrettably though, their biggest weakness off the pavement was mud, which can be pretty problematic on east coast trails.
The Terra Grappler’s in Action:
Packed Full of Mud and Leaves
What I Liked About the Terra Grappler’s:
- All Weather Performance – The first thing I noticed is how well these tires handed in the snow and rain; they got me through a Chicago winter and never missed a beat.
- Highway Comfort – These tires were relatively quiet on the highway even at speeds of 8o mph, they also rode exceptionally well on thousand mile road trips (a lot of this could also be the insulation and suspension on the 200 series, your experience may vary).
- Strong Sidewalls – I ran these tires through VOT and hit numerous “tire ending rocks”. They finished without one puncture or failure.
- Longevity – I got ~40,000 miles of life out of them and they still had plenty of tread left, I could easily have gone 65,000 miles or more.
What I Disliked About the Terra Grappler’s:
- Sucked in the Mud – There’s no way to sugar coat it, these tires suck in the mud. They got so packed full of mud during the VOT that I might as well have been running racing slicks, they were that bad.
- Heavy (for the size) – They weighed about 60 pounds per tire, and were only slightly larger than the stock size.
- Gas Mileage – Anyone knows that a bigger heavier tire is going to kill your mileage (you drive a truck not a Prius), but I went from 21-22 mpg highway down to 17-18 mpg.
At the End of VOT with no Punctures or Failures
Looking Back:
As far as All-Terrain tires go, the Nitto’s are probably one of the best options on the market because of their all around capabilities. They will easily handle anything you’ll encounter on pavement, and will continue to perform when the blacktop ends. As long as you don’t plan on encountering too much mud these tires won’t let you down, but if you do think you’ll want to tackle tougher terrain down the line though go buy a Mud-Terrain.
Another great writeup Alex. I must admit that I check this site daily for any new updates on gear, trips or whatever else y’all are working on. I haven’t been able to find a similar site to dirtroadtrip.com, it’s just the right “flavor” for me.
I just purchased a set of Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx’s after an embarrassing amount of time researching. It boiled down to the Coopers and the Duratracs (of course). Love the reviews on the Duratracs regarding winter traction, but feared a sidewall puncture. Reviews on the Coopers seem great, so I’m expecting pretty great traction in most conditions.
Nitto makes some great tires and I like these Terra Grapplers, but as your description shows, they don’t quite cut it for the mid-Atlantic area.
Keep up the great work on the site! I’ve gotten so many incredible ideas from you all already.
Thanks for the support Cody, the Coopers and Duratracs are both great tires, either one will get you where you want to go.
Glad you like reading the blog, we publish content every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so you don’t have to come back everyday now unless you really want to. Thanks again.
Oh yea. Other tires considered were the Cooper AT3s (won Editor’s Choice in Overland Journal’s recent tire test), General Grabber AT2s and Goodyear Duratracs. I liked the Toyos the best because of the longer treadlife. Generals and Coopers were cheaper but not as long lasting. The Duratracs were a little more than the budget allowed.
The Duratracs are definitely the best option when it comes to A/T tires, you’ll pay more but you’re gaining a substantial amount of performance.
Hey,
I am new to your blog but not the tire thing! I have an ’04 Toyota Tacoma Doublecab I recently put my 3rd set of tires on (not including the stock BFGs). The first set were Kumho Road Venture MTs (32×11.50x15s). They were ok on the road but awful in the light snow in the winter here in Michigan. Excelled in the wet stuff of course but had to be rotated every 5k. I put up with them for @ 30k before I couldn’t bare them any longer. I wanted an all-terrain. After a ton of research and reading, I ended up with TreadWright Wardens (which are basically a BFG AT copy). People can say all they want bad about retreads but those tires were fantastic. I could tell at 60k (still with some tread left) the sidewalls were nearing the end of days. They performed great all-around. The only big complaint was, they were heavy. Granted, at that point I went to a set of black powdercoated FJ-80 wheels with 285/75/16s but I could tell they were heavier than a “normal” tire. I would also say they ended up being @ “3/4 taller than the Toyo Open Country AT2s I recently purchased. Which leads me to write. I have only had them down a few dirt trails so far but their road manners have been great plus my mileage has been boosted back up to the low 20s again.
By the way, I am just a person that likes to take dirt/forest/lumber roads and an occasional obstacle. Most the “off roading” I do is traversing Michigan’s beautiful Upper Peninsula while camping there. Now that I am getting older, I tend to stay away from the mudpuddles if possible.
Enjoying the blog so far!
Thanks for following us Brett, I agree with you that the TreadWright’s are a good tire, and they give you a great value. My experience with them on-road though is that they are pretty loud, and have a tendency to wear unevenly.
Hope you enjoy the blog, and have fun out there on the trails.