BajaNomad - Toyo Open Country M/Ts are really bad.....

Toyo Open Country M/Ts are really bad.....

Sharksbaja - 11-26-2005 at 04:05 PM

arse! I have owned many off-road tires before but these babies are "Da Kine"! LOw road noise even at high speeds. Great side-wall protection(thank god) and unbelievable tracttion on loose rocky slopea and terrain. Had no problems in deeper sand at higher pressures.
I'd rate them a 9.5 outta 10.

[Edited on 11-26-2005 by Sharksbaja]

comitan - 11-26-2005 at 04:17 PM

Sharks

The picture your showing is not a true example of driving on a beach, when its 8 to 12" of soft sand and you drive right through then you can brag about your tires

Not a street truck Comitan, I'm from Oregon

Sharksbaja - 11-26-2005 at 04:22 PM

:lol:

Ta heck with sand! If I show you a pic of the big chunks of missing tire would I be acquitted? :lol:

comitan - 11-26-2005 at 04:27 PM

You wouldn't be missing chuncks of tire in the sand, so you did some off roading. The tires look good.

Sharksbaja - 11-26-2005 at 04:34 PM

They were brand new 4 weeks ago

When I say sand I don't mean low tide

TMW - 11-26-2005 at 04:42 PM

Sharks what is the tread and sidewall plies. How do they compare in price to a BFG. What size do you run. If I remember right Robby Gordon has Toyo as a sponsor or at least will next year.

For $125.00 apiece BFG AT's

jrbaja - 11-26-2005 at 05:43 PM

My 2 wheel drive van has been on almost every road in Baja as well as countless washes and beaches.

I wouldn't trade them for anything.

[Edited on 11/27/2005 by jrbaja]

Sharksbaja - 11-27-2005 at 12:23 AM

Toyo Open Country 37"X13.5"x18" $325 Ea 10 ply rated

I believe it JR, vans are lighter in the rear therefore setting higher under load. Old VW vans are awesome offroad vehicles in themselves.

Whistler, you won't be sorry. The lateral traction on loose surface is very good and the tires have enough bounce on washboard giving a dampening feeling.

I went through a set of 36X14X18' Toyo A/Ts which had very good wet weather traction and were extremely quiet. They were a good deep sand tire but lacked sidewall protection like the M/Ts have and were only fair on washboard and loose gravel. These tires give a slight "whrrring" sound at a certain rpm on certain roads but is barely noticed.

I always ran 34"X14'X17.5(custom rims) Firestone Duplex NDs on my old Power Wagon.. Big lug type made so much noise it was quitebothersome.

Whistler, there is a front rub clearance prob with some lift kits under 6". I would chk with a high volume tire dealer or another source before purchasing 33s and up.

[Edited on 11-27-2005 by Sharksbaja]

[Edited on 11-27-2005 by Sharksbaja]

$325 each!

LaTijereta - 11-27-2005 at 10:15 AM

That's where the money is coming from... Toyo is giving Robby $1.2 million to run their tires over the next two years.

You will see those tires on the Hummer H-3, Robby will be trying to race in the Trophy Truck class next year :biggrin:

chino - 11-27-2005 at 02:23 PM

The compnay I work for runs Toyos on Fire Crew Carriers, these are big 22" 16 ply truck tires and run $500 per, but in two years on 8 trucks we have had one puncture and 0 sidewall failures, with no lost time or tow trucks we have actually saved money. I just put a set of open countrys on my truck/camper. leaving to baja to winter up and plan on "testing" them.
More Later

Robby at Baja 1000

LaTijereta - 11-27-2005 at 02:39 PM

Showing his new "Toyo" Sponsorship.. :saint:

Ken Cooke - 11-28-2005 at 07:55 PM

Baja Explorer is now running these on his built Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. He really liked them so far when I saw him at the stretch from Puertecitos to SLGonzaga. Very beefy looking tire.

roverdude - 12-2-2005 at 07:58 PM

Not to be a party pooper, but I'll put money that those chunks missing are from rubbing/slicing inside the wheel well. Probably a great tire though. When you find one that won't slice going 30 mph down a Baja trail when you hit a watermelon sized rock with 20lbs of air.... let me know.

Ken Cooke - 12-2-2005 at 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jrbaja
My 2 wheel drive van has been on almost every road in Baja as well as countless washes and beaches.

I wouldn't trade them for anything.

[Edited on 11/27/2005 by jrbaja]

My favorites are the ones on the right. I am currently running the BFGs. At least they're quiet on the street...

tire notes

Sharksbaja - 12-3-2005 at 12:07 AM

I agree on the road noise being a big factor. These new Toyos don't increase in noise exponentially with your speed like most lug-type tires. I actually traded traction for sanity I thought the last time. The difference in traction is readily noticed of-road and now I find they have good adhesion on wet roads and excellent water displacement in standing water. So far I'm happy with em.

Dude, that was my first thought too but the rock slice actually continues down the sidewall where I was fortunate it struck the protrudences and saved the tire just like it was designed to do.
As far as rub goes......yep they did slightly on the inner plastic well but a little heat persuaded that away.
Running low air pressures is not something I find necessary to often. Depends really on the time of year and loads of other factors as we all know. I have always found it easier and safer NOT to tread in the most traveled ruts and shift over a bit avoiding disturbed sand or mud, where most the problems occur.
Low tires are ripe for cuts and P-nches so caution and reduced speed are necessary.
One definite downside with a lot of tools and gear is the weight load which certainly bears on sand travels.

Sharksbaja - 12-3-2005 at 12:39 AM

:lol:

I guess pinch is a naughty word too!

Nice side by side shots Ken. Can u clean that one up on the right tho? :biggrin:

[Edited on 12-3-2005 by Sharksbaja]

Ken Cooke - 12-3-2005 at 08:02 AM

Washboard roads w/40 p.s.i.? Can you say death-rattle?

For washboard and a full load, my buddy w/the fully-loaded Explorer took his set of XTerrains down to 22 p.s.i., Brad and I took our BFG ATs down to 18 p.s.i., and with disconnected swaybars, the ride between Puertecitos to Gonzaga and back up to Catavina & Mision Sta. Maria were much more bearable.

I wouldn't recommend traveling on the hwy at night w/a disconnected swaybar and aired-down tires however. WHen the deer head-butted my Jeep on Hwy 1 in the dark, it felt like my Jeep was about to do a roll-over!

roverdude - 12-3-2005 at 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by whistler
Like Shark,I don't air down on washboard either.40lbs. front, 35 rear.

You obviously don't have any fillings. I guess when you're tires are that big it's an option. I'm only running 33" (285/75/16) Yoko MTs

http://www.roverdude.com/images/600_baja_34_.JPG

TMW - 12-3-2005 at 09:47 AM

I suspect that Robby joined forces with the McMillin's next year because of the Toyo tire deal. Without BFG pits it's real hard to run the 1000 to LaPaz. It takes a lot of people and equipment. I heard that Ryan Arciero was not allowed to race with Robby in the 1000 or he would loose his BFG support.

Barry A. - 12-3-2005 at 12:23 PM

On my big F-250 ext. cab, with 1000 lb Callen Camper, I run my big BFG AT's 285x75xR16's at 35 lb all the way around on the Puertocitos to Gonzaga road and have had no problems, and it is reasonably comfortable. I do have add-a-leafs, and gas shocks all the way around, too, and I leave my anti-sway bars connected. I travel about 20 mph average----takes me about 3 hours to make the run. Tires are mounted on 8" wide alloy wheels.

Sharksbaja - 12-3-2005 at 01:25 PM

Good gas shocks and 32-35 psi at 45 mph + works for me.

If you could somehow measure the vast difference in the ride between, say, 30" tires and 36" one would be shocked at how much better the ride gets proportionally. The folks with small tires and rims would do best to air down. Most washboard becomes the product of "average size" tires.

Large underinflated tires tend to conform to the dip rather than ride over the tops. Sorta like skiing "moguls", it's advantageous to stay on top of the high spots, especially at, and only at, higher speeds.

rts551 - 12-3-2005 at 06:38 PM

I too air down like whistler... But I think there is a huge differece between his Dodge/my ford and an Explorer/Jeep.

I carry 10-15-lbs in my jeep. Sure won't do that in my truck.