Which tire design do you guys prefer?
 

I am going to be running a 305/55/20

I like the E rated Nitto Grappler, the Cooper Zeon, and the BF A/T

I'd say Im most hesitant about running the BFG because of that tread design can be a bit too thumpy for me on a day-to-day basis.

The Nitto's and the Coopers look to be essentially the same in terms of tread characteristics and price, however the Nitto appears to have a stronger Load Range which is nice.

You guys?

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pr...copvh1.ang.jpgCooper (I like the shoulder design)http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pr...nitvh1.ang.jpgNitto
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pr...mtavh6.ang.jpgAnd the obvious BFG, and by far the most expensive.

If you live where there is snow, then these ones. (firestone destination AT)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey....jsp?type=ORAT

I'm partial to the Nittos. Haven't personally ran them (yet) but from the 2009 Ram that has them and the 2005 Ram that has them... I can see that they are wearing well.

Cooper's are nice, but some are reporting that the Zeon line is wearing just a little quicker than most would like to see.

BFG? Never. They aren't making the top tire anymore therefore, their price is just too off for me.

I've owned/own two of the three. I have had two sets of BFG A/Ts (although not in about 15 years) and had TERRIBLE luck with both sets. Uneven wear, cupping and belt separation. It was my last set of these that prompted me to try my first set of Mickey Thompsons after the tire dealer kept blaming my imploding BFGs on the diesel pickup I owned at the time. I swapped to a set of Mickey's and the problem went away (and didn't touch a thing on the truck). To date I've not bought a set of tires for any of my trucks since that didn't either say Mickey Thompson or Dick Cepek on the sidewall (both the same company).

I currently have Nitto Terra Grapplers on my Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 and am very impressed with them. Wearing quite well, very quiet on the road and stick to wet pavement like velcro. Great tire on the trails too, as long as you don't get in deep mud with them.

The tread on the Coopers are similar and most people like them. The only negative I'm hearing at all is they wear a bit faster than the Nittos and aren't quite as impervious to nails and screws as the Nittos are.

As far as oldjeep's recommendation of the Firestone Destinations, they have a very good snow rating. Very strong user recommendations about everywhere you read as well. The only person I know personally with a set is my cousin in upstate NY who swears by them.

If you wanna throw another A/T in the mix, I really like the Mickey Thompson ATZ. As I stated, it's the only brand (along with it's sister company Dick Cepek) that I use on my pickups. The shortest I've owned a set was 68k miles and that's only because I sold the truck, the tires still had plenty of tread left. My current Cepeks perform great and at 31k miles have used less than 10% of the tread.
I have a good buddy with a Chevy Duramax who has a set of ATZs on it with 85k miles on them and he's bound and determined not to replace them till they hit 100k miles! They are a bit pricey, but with 2x the life of most other tires out there, they are cheaper in the long run...

I'm running the Nitto Terra tires and I like the ride and traction. not as good on the ice and snow but great at everything else. I've got the 10ply.

Thank you all so much for your in depth and thorough testimonials. I do in fact live in Maine, and we get pounded with snow, rain, ice, and slush. I do want a tire that will be there for me this winter, while not rendering itself useless in dry conditions. Would the firestone be a bit too snow intensive? If not, its interesting. I too like the Mickey Thompson line of tires, I was always curious how the ATZ ran in snow etc. I don't mind spending the extra $$$ on a tire that will be there for me now and later down the road. However, I now know which tires not to pick. I know my brother, who was once a Dodge man, just put 305's on his Tundra, and they look good and all but just a bit to garden tractory for me. Thanks again guys your suggestions really helped.

I've only had the firestones for a month, but half of that was on dry pavement. I'm only running them in the rear, so I don't know if they are noisy or not. Traction is excellent and the ride isn't noticibly different from the Goodyear SRA's I had on there before. I have 17" rims though, who knows how the 20's handle.

For snow and Mickey Thompsons I'd go with the MTZ. Its a lot more agressive than the ATZ, but really more of an AT class tire than an MT class tire. I run the MTZ on my jeep and they also work well in most conditions, but they do have a good hum to them.