RockCrawler.com

Category: Tire/Wheel

  • Toyo Tires® Introduces the All-New Toyo® Open Country® H/T II Featuring Improved Performance and Durability with Unique Sidewall Options

    Toyo Tires® Introduces the All-New Toyo® Open Country® H/T II Featuring Improved Performance and Durability with Unique Sidewall Options

    CYPRESS, CA — Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. (Toyo Tires®) introduces the all-new Toyo® Open Country® H/T II highway all-season tire for pickup trucks and SUVs.  This next-generation tire builds on the quality and reputation of the Open Country H/T with added technology and design that deliver improved wet braking performance and handling, longer tread life, and more consistent traction performance throughout the life of the tire.

    Contributing to the improvements is a new wear-resistant tread compound that extends tire life and improves durability.  A combination of new patented tread design features, including adaptive circumferential grooves and expanding shoulder grooves, help maintain excellent wet performance throughout the wear life of the tire.  All-season performance is further enhanced by four wide circumferential grooves and multi-wave sipes.

    The Open Country H/T II also offers innovative styling options with a dual sidewall design that allows owners to further customize their truck or SUV with a look that is just right for them: classic or sporty.  The classic design is reminiscent of the Open Country H/T and will appeal to those who love the predecessor tire.  The classic side is also available with raised outlined white letters in select sizes.  The sporty side features high-contrast lettering and an attractive, stylized shoulder and sidewall to complement today’s sporty and modern trucks and SUVs.

    This premium all-season tire comes with an impressive treadwear warranty of up to 70,000 miles and is backed by the Toyo Tires 500 Mile Trial Offer.  To learn more about the new Toyo Open Country H/T II, and the entire line of Open Country tires ranging from rugged to refined, go to toyotires.com/open-country-tires.

    About Toyo Tires®

    Established in 1966, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. represents the innovation, quality, performance, and excellent service that Toyo Tires has delivered worldwide for more than 70 years. The company offers a full line of premium tires for nearly every vehicle including light trucks, SUVs, crossovers, sports cars, luxury cars and hybrids as well as commercial trucks.  Many of the tires are built in the United States at their state-of-the-art factory in Georgia. To find the right tire for your vehicle as well as an authorized dealer, visit www.toyotires.com. You can also join the Toyo Tires community on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

  • BFGoodrich Tires Collaborates with Tire Stickers for Exclusive Tire Customization Technology

    BFGoodrich Tires Collaborates with Tire Stickers for Exclusive Tire Customization Technology

    GREENVILLE, S.C., Nov. 7, 2018 — BFGoodrich® Tires and Tire Stickers, a specialist in tire customization, have teamed up to launch exclusive tire decal technology on five BFGoodrich tire lines. (more…)

  • BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 Reimagined on Small Scale for Radio-Control Vehicles

    BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 Reimagined on Small Scale for Radio-Control Vehicles

    Latest-generation off-road tire miniaturized for RC-hobbyist community

    GREENVILLE, S.C., July 17, 2018 — Radio-control car enthusiasts have a new way to improve the performance of their RC vehicles. BFGoodrich® Tires, a leader in off-road tire development for the past 40 years, has partnered with Pro-Line Racing, a leader in RC parts and accessories, to reimagine the BFGoodrich® Mud-Terrain T/A® KM3 as a fully-licensed RC vehicle tire. (more…)

  • First Look: Yokohama GEOLANDAR X-MT

    First Look: Yokohama GEOLANDAR X-MT

    Closeup: Yokohama GEOLANDER X-MTHow many times have you been wheeling in the past 10 years and noticed someone on Yokohama GEOLANDAR tires? Never? The GEOLANDAR line was popular in the 80’s and 90s…but all but vanished from the offroad enthusiast market.

    On July 1, 2018, that’s going to change. 

    I was invited to attend the media release of the new Yokohama GEOLANDAR X-MT G005 series at Johnson Valley CA, home of the famous Hammers trails. This area is well known for its brutal terrain and challenging wheeling. What better location to put this new Extreme Mud Terrain tire through its paces.

    The GEOLANDAR X-MT boasts a highly aggressive tread pattern, excellent for rocks, sand, dirt and mud. It’s built to contend one on one with the other kings of the rock crawling market, including the BFGoodrich Krawler. Our test mules ran the 40×13.50R17LT size on a variety of built rigs. I piloted the well-known GenRight Terremoto with Tony Pellegrino keeping a close eye on me…from the back seat <wink>

    Our test covered much of the GenRight KOH Experience course. The GEOLANDER X-MT tires handled every mistake I made…carrying too much speed into a washout, tagging rocks, missing turns and taking optional lines, and generally just overdriving my skillset (I’m a crawler, and 600+ horsepower and suspension to match shows my driving weaknesses). The GEOLANDAR X-MT didn’t care…traction was excellent, directional stability pulled me back on the lines easily, and the tires found plenty of traction when I failed to read lines on the rocky climbs. Honestly, they almost made me look like I knew what I was doing.

    The GenRight Terremoto, shod in 40" Yokohama GEOLANDAR X-MT tires.We tested in the 8-10 psi range…the tires easily wrapped around obstacles and found traction. The high void ratio allowed the X-MT lugs to hold onto edges and pull the tire up and over. That same open design allowed them to excel in the sand, similar to a paddle tire. Sidehills were no issue either, the center tread design helped control any issues there. 

    The new GEOLANDAR X-MT boasts the following:

    • Open design tread blocks, designed to offer optimal traction, controlled crawling and easy self-cleaning…combined with aggressive sidewall and shoulder lugs, they should offer excellent sidewall protection
    • Triple-density polymer compound for long wear and cut resistance
    • New GEO-SHIELD construction with a 3-ply construction and extra thick sidewalls
    • Computerized tread pattern to minimize noise and maximize comfort for those trips between trailheads

    Testing was with the 40×13.50R17 and Yokohama is keeping them big for the GEOLANDAR X-MT. Available sizes will cover 17-20 inch wheels and 35-40 inch diameters…and yes, there are 42’s coming. Also coming are 38″ and 40″ tires for 22″ and 24″ wheels. Stickys??  YES…but availability may be limited initially to the race programs. 

    I was impressed with what Yokohama brought to the terrain, and look forward to seeing them hit the market and the enthusiasts. Watch for the new GEOLANDAR X-MT on the trails and I suspect you’ll be impressed as well. 

    GEOLANDAR X-MT's on Chocolate Thunder in Johnson Valley
    A week after this photo was taken, Cameron Harris placed first at the Old School Rock Crawl in Legends Class with his Yokohama GEOLANDER X-MT tires….congratulations!

     

    Sidewall flex with the GEOLANDAR X-MT tires
    The GEOLANDER X-MT tires made short work of every obstacle.

     

    LOTS of void space on the GEOLANDAR X-MT's
    Yes, there is some serious void ratio on the X-MT’s

     

    One of the many great trails we ran on GEOLANDAR X-MT tires.

     

    Tony Pellegrino and his Terremoto climbing Chocolate Thunder on GEOLANDAR X-MT tires

     

     

  • BFGoodrich Tires Launches Mud-Terrain T/A KM3

    BFGoodrich Tires Launches Mud-Terrain T/A KM3

    GREENVILLE, S.C., June 1, 2018 — BFGoodrich® Tires has introduced the Mud-Terrain T/A® KM3, its next-generation off-road tire for extreme conditions. Long known as the leading brand for hard-core off-road enthusiasts, BFGoodrich has introduced technologies into the new tire that improve climbing, traction and toughness in the mud and over rock¹. (more…)

  • Yokohama Tire Gains Traction with its Aggressive, All-new GEOLANDAR X-MT™

    Yokohama Tire Gains Traction with its Aggressive, All-new GEOLANDAR X-MT™

    Awesome looks, super durability and crushing performance highlight extreme off-road tire that goes on sale July 1  

    SANTA ANA, CA. – (May 21, 2018) – Got grip? Yokohama Tire’s aggressive all-new GEOLANDAR X-MT™ off-road tires does…and then some. The latest addition to Yokohama’s rugged GEOLANDAR® lineup goes on sale in the U.S. July 1 in with an initial size lineup of 10 sizes, from 17-inch to 20-inch rim diameters with outside diameters up to 40 inches. (more…)