Tyres

[TimC]

Does anybody run General Grabber X3s and/or have any thoughts or comments on them?

[Maverick23]

I would also be interested in this Tim

 

The big 3 MTs in the UK appear to be:

BFG KM3

Cooper STT pro

General Grabber X3

 

i currently run 315/70/17 (sort of 35”) BFG KO2 which are ATs ... but if I want to go to 37” one day - which I do - then it will have to be MTs ... which sort of concern me on my daily driver JKUR. 

 

Any member feedback would be great. 

[TimC]

Hi Kerry, going to 37s eh? Cool more lift or Flat fenders? If I go to 35s one day, which I probably will, I think I’ll stay on 2 1/2 “ and go flat fenders.....anyhow, digressing

 

Staying with the topic for the moment, the other one in the mix is Toyo Open Country’s which seem to have a good rep but are quite an old design tyre now, also good price ( also no outline white lettering ) An outside option is Radar R7 MTs which are cheap, look good but have a bit of a mixed rep. 
 

BFG KM3s are top of the price range and I’m currently running STT Pros which I have no problem with really although they have taken a bit of a beating, especially the sidewalls, and fancy a change.
However I really haven’t heard much about the X3s, they are fairly new I think, been out a year or two, but don’t know anyone who runs them

[Volant165]

Well when BFG no longer had 33’s in the UK I went for the first time in my life I left BGG/and Goodyear and went with Toyo Open Country MT’s based on the recommendation of a well experienced off road friend in the US. I otherwise never would have considered them. 

 

Have they ever failed me? No. Not sure how much mud has changed over the years. They have performed well on the autobahn cruising 100+ for a bit and I found their traction on wet tarmac better than Duratracs. Air down to 18psi and they are troopers too. 

 

Not mentioned above too is a sleeper tyre that pops up on things like prototype Wranglers and at European events is Falken. 
 

The Grabber AT3 look interesting I saw it launch at SEMA and like what it says on the tin......but I will probably stick with Toyos for now when replacing. 
 

 

[Matt]

Found the BFG's much better than the older STT's (not pro's) they replaced on the tarmac; the wear is pretty good with lots of miles over 18 months.  Off road they're over qualified for my needs (35's)

[TimC]

1 hour ago, Volant165 said:

Well when BFG no longer had 33’s in the UK I went for the first time in my life I left BGG/and Goodyear and went with Toyo Open Country MT’s based on the recommendation of a well experienced off road friend in the US. I otherwise never would have considered them. 

 

Have they ever failed me? No. Not sure how much mud has changed over the years. They have performed well on the autobahn cruising 100+ for a bit and I found their traction on wet tarmac better than Duratracs. Air down to 18psi and they are troopers too. 

 

Not mentioned above too is a sleeper tyre that pops up on things like prototype Wranglers and at European events is Falken. 
 

The Grabber AT3 look interesting I saw it launch at SEMA and like what it says on the tin......but I will probably stick with Toyos for now when replacing. 
 

 

Yeah, I thought you had Toyos Jim, doesn’t Neal have as well? And I think Tony has Falken Wildpeaks on his JK. You know, I may be sad and shallow, but if the Toyos had OWL on the sidewall I would probably get them without hesitation. They are £40 a tyre cheaper than the Grabbers. However I think the Grabber X3s look cool . It may come down to seeing them side by side.

[Volant165]

The grabbers at SEMA had a red logo that I thought looked cool. You are being Americanized as I prefer the look of white lettering too!  It was the OEM look on the 10A as well.

 

 

[AlexK]

White lettering FTW!

 

Only thing I'd add is that BFGs tend to last incredibly well, if mileage is important to you. And my experience of General Grabbers is that they were almost always smaller than their official size by about an inch, although I can't say if that's still the case.

[Tony]

I had toyo open county and loved them,when I changed wheels I was recommended falkens wildpeaks by Alex at buzz ,turned out to be just as good as the toyo in my opinion.

[digger]

I've written before about my experience with MT tyres.  I've had  a number of the big brands including BFG, Cooper and Grabbers. For me the best all round are Maxxis and there are others in the club who feel the same. They are not quite so well known as a brand because until fairly recently they concentrated on producing tyres for motorsport. Their 'Buckshot Mudders' were by far the best all round MTs I have ever had. Sadly they are no longer available in the Uk, so I'm running Bighorns now which have been gr8 so far!

[TimC]

Ahah Digger, yes you have indeed I remember.......one of a few threads on this popular topic. I know Maxxis and a couple of people who have them and they are a good tyre,but.......as I also have said before, in spite of the fact that they have outline white lettering, which is a plus, I just can’t bring myself to drive on tyres with ‘BIGHORN’ written on the side  

[TimC]

Still no one who has actually bought/ driven on Grabber X3s though......

I do think the red lettering looks good

[TimC]

3 hours ago, AlexK said:

White lettering FTW!

 

Only thing I'd add is that BFGs tend to last incredibly well, if mileage is important to you. And my experience of General Grabbers is that they were almost always smaller than their official size by about an inch, although I can't say if that's still the case.

 

I have 31/10.50R15 General Grabber MTs on my CJ7 and I’ve been really pleased with them. They are a 30 year old tyre now but amazingly still look new, not a crack or sign of wear. The Mickey Thompson MTs I have on my YJ by comparison are a similar vintage and are falling to bits.

I must go out and measure up the Grabbers though to see what size they actually are! 

Edited February 18, 2021 by TimC

[Maverick23]

All good feedback

 

It appears that the X3 may be “untried” ... at least among JOC members. PS I think the red lettering is an extra cost option

 

Alex at Buzz recommended KM3 - which he runs himself - and they were about the same price as the X3 (white lettering version) ... 

 

>> Tim - when I’m ready, it will be a slightly bigger lift to take the 37s. I really would love KO2s in 37” - but although readily available in USA, not in the UK ... nor are they likely to made for the European market (apparently). The fact I cannot get a 37” AT is all that is delaying the project ... oh and the dreaded pandemic hasn’t helped. 
 

Take care all ... hopefully we will be allowed out to play soon

[digger]

Hi Tim, I know you don't like the idea of 'Bighorn' in white letters on your tyres which I respect. I don't care (mine's little anyway) because I put value for money first. My YJ attracts attention where ever I go. I'm amazed at how many folk want to buy it , some are serious and the price goes on up!  Few have  commented about the tyres and they are curious. At the end of the day you can order them without white letters at no cost.

So far, the Bighorns(not cheap) have been  very good (lets face it , at Cannock last year I went up a hill, that Landys were struggling on, in two wheel drive!) off road and their 'on-road' performance is excellent. On road is very important to me. The tyres, are quieter than the Bfgs I took off. Their performance on a wet greasy road is predictable and controllable which is what I like. Wear wise , we shall see. Lockdown for me has been continuous for 11 months and  I have done only a few 000 miles on them. No issues so far. The 'Buckshots' had done over 20000 miles when I sold my last XJ and I reckoned  they would  have done over 30k. In this case that included going off road in the Brecons virtually every week. 

Bfg are excellent tyres but for me they are no better, but you do pay for the name a lot more. As for the others I have tried, no comment other than Grabbers were good and I will never buy Coopers again!

Finally I know there are other 'Maxxis' fans in the club so come on, give some gr8 value for money boots (and little me) some support!

 

[TimC]

Hi Digger, you are right of course. It’s pure vanity on my part, I don’t mind paying a bit extra for something ( like outline red lettering ) which serves no purpose but makes it ( in my opinion )  look cool. I put a “vented” 10A bonnet on my JK purely for that reason. And I have no problem with Maxxis tyres, one of the guys I go laning with on a regular basis has Bighorns ( complete with OWL ) on his XJ and they’ve been great. Just to show how shallow I am Maxxis also do one called Razr which I think may be one of their more extreme race tyres. If they called the Bighorn the Razr instead I’d probably get it! What’s in a name eh?

 

One more that hasn’t been mentioned yet are Nitto tyres which seem to be quite popular in the USA. I like the look of the Nitto Trail Grappler but not sure if they do it here.

[TimC]

On 18/02/2021 at 22:00, Maverick23 said:

All good feedback

 

It appears that the X3 may be “untried” ... at least among JOC members. PS I think the red lettering is an extra cost option

 

Alex at Buzz recommended KM3 - which he runs himself - and they were about the same price as the X3 (white lettering version) ... 

 

>> Tim - when I’m ready, it will be a slightly bigger lift to take the 37s. I really would love KO2s in 37” - but although readily available in USA, not in the UK ... nor are they likely to made for the European market (apparently). The fact I cannot get a 37” AT is all that is delaying the project ... oh and the dreaded pandemic hasn’t helped. 
 

Take care all ... hopefully we will be allowed out to play soon

 Hiya Kerry, yes the red lettering is an extra cost option. The same tyre on 33/12.50 is about £50 a tyre more for red lettering! I do admit that I’m leaning toward the X3s (Red Lettering) with the Toyos as a possibility.

[digger]

I wonder what kind of paint they use, perhaps you could colour them in yourself, after all they have a raised border which would make it easy. Painting on to the white shouldn't be difficult to cover.

Actually some folk have said, mine look cool, perhaps they are right.

[AlexK]

On 18/02/2021 at 19:31, TimC said:

I just can’t bring myself to drive on tyres with ‘BIGHORN’ written on the side  

 

Could be worse. Maxxis also make a tyre called Worm-Drive, complete with big, white lettering.

 

(Apparently it's quite a decent tyre, but there's just no way I could live with that name.)

[digger]

Sounds cool to me!

[Maverick23]

On 20/02/2021 at 13:17, TimC said:

 Hiya Kerry, yes the red lettering is an extra cost option. The same tyre on 33/12.50 is about £50 a tyre more for red lettering! I do admit that I’m leaning toward the X3s (Red Lettering) with the Toyos as a possibility.

Hi Tim

 

i look forward to the write up when you have made your choice - red letters or not

 

NB very few choices in UK for the size I am after. Even Maxxis Bighorn “max” out at 35” ... 

[TimC]

17 hours ago, Maverick23 said:

Hi Tim

 

i look forward to the write up when you have made your choice - red letters or not

 

NB very few choices in UK for the size I am after. Even Maxxis Bighorn “max” out at 35” ... 

 

Yeah, looks like it's pretty much either BFGs or Grabber X3s at 37" Kerry. Will let you know how I get on, won't be for a couple of months yet though.

Cheers 

[TimC]

Oh, the trials of tyre selection . Jeep is off the road at the moment but went and had a look at the General Grabber X3 and the Toyo Open Country MT, fully expecting to come away the proud owner of some Grabber X3s with snazzy red lettering, it was not to be. 
The red lettering on the Grabbers, although snazzy, is not what I expected. I had thought it would be like raised white lettering ......only red, but actually it is flat, rather small lettering laminated or transferred on so it is flat. Something about it just didn’t look quite right. Tyre itself looks fine and has “Grabber” moulded into the tyre between the lugs which is cool, I’m a sucker for details like that. 
The Toyo is....well, what the Toyo is, good rep, looks OK but s a 2008 tyre and everyone’s got them. Also no OWL. I’ll go back when the Jeep is fixed and try them on the vehicle, maybe the red lettering will look OK.

In the meantime I have looked at some other options, although there seems to be a shortage of off road tyres at the moment like everything else, don’t know if it’s COVID or Brexit, probably.a combination of the two.

So also now in the running are Radar R7 MTs in 295/70/17, ( cheapest option) Cooper ST Maxx in 295/70/17 , BFG KM3s in 285/75/17 , Cooper STT Pro in 295/70/17 ( but are stupidly expensive) and, an outside bet, Nexen Roadian MTX in 295/75/17 ( which have a cool choice of sidewall design a bit like the Radar RT+). I must also admit that for a while I did almost consider the Maxis Bighorn 762 in 305/70/17 ( but only with no white lettering so it wasn’t too prominent) as they were really cheap......but also out of stock.

Currently leaning towards the Radar R7 or the BFG or the Grabber X3 if the lettering doesn’t look too bad when they are on. Will let you know how it goes.

[Matt]

I would love some nitto ridge grapplers, but just can't get them in uk.

[TimC]

48 minutes ago, Matt said:

I would love some nitto ridge grapplers, but just can't get them in uk.

Yeah, they look cool. You can get Nitto Mud Grapplers and Trail Grapplers here in the UK, I like the trail grapplers. You can get them in a 40” tyre size awesome, but way too big for me.

Edited April 14, 2021 by TimC