I was at American Tire the other day and the mechanic advised going with the 37” Goodyear with Kevlar over the Toyo Open Country’s. He said the Toyo’s did not have good traction in the rain even when he siped them. He also said they didn’t balance properly and wore too fast.

Any thoughts on this?

I do live in Oregon and need a tire that’s going to perform well in the nasty weather.

 

The Toyo MTs have a large void ratio, so they are not optimum for wet or icy roads.

You need some critical lug surface to provide enough siping. I doubt the Toyo's are much worse in these conditions than many other MTs.

They may be more difficult to balance because they are a heavy duty tire with emphasis on the heavy. Search for related threads on this topic.

Nasty weather on the road requires a different tread than nasty weather on trails and IMO the Toyo's will perform better than the Kevlars in the Oregon mud.

The MTR/Ks have become a very popular tire in this forum, so I am sure you will get plenty of feedback from their owners.

 

I love my toyo's....no problems here, and I have done a LOT of rain driving since I've had them. I have no experience with the Kevlar's but to be honest, price differential was a big kicker in my decision. I got a great deal on my Toyo's at about $198 each...new

 

I am not a fan of the toyos at all but there winter condition traction is above most MT's on the market. HIghly regarded tire up here in the winter as it provides good slippry condition tracton and has big enough voids to clear deep snow.

 

I've had experience with 5 different sets of the Toyos,up to 36". IMO they're the easiet balancing mud tire on the market. I don't think any of the Toyos currently on my truck have more than about 1.5-2 oz. of lead.

I don't think you'll find a smoother,quieter M/T for on road use either.

As far as wet weather goes,I live North of Seattle. We get almost 36" of rain per year. No factory siped M/T will have great wet weather traction. If you add some more siping,the traction improves dramatically.

The Cummins diesel in my Dodge makes 610lb-ft of torque. Even with all that torque I have to work to get the Toyos spinning in the rain. If I can get close to 50k out of the Toyos on a 7500lb truck with 3x the torque of a JK,they should last forever on a Jeep.

 

Really feel bad slightly hijacking, but where in the world did you find 37"x14.5" toyos for $198/each. That is incredible...

 

I am very happy with my Toyos...and I haven't even balanced them yet. I am running 5.13s and when I get to 80, I get some drivetrain vibration so I keep it at around 75 on the highway. I love them...don't get much rain here in sunny SoCal, but when we do, they work well.

 

goodyear with kevlar r great tires

 

My Toyo's barely have any weight on them from balancing. If he's badmouthing Toyo's it's because he can make more $$$$ off the others, Toyo mt are some of the best out there.

 

I'm Oregon native, out of Tualatin. I've got 35x12.5 R17's Toyo MT's. If you want to see them in action PM me and we can meet up. They still have nipples on the side walls and I've had them for over a year. VERY durable tire. Mine are non-siped and I had no issues the last couple days in the snow. ESP never even kicked (except when i was pulling doughnuts down our hill). In the rain they are fine although on the highway they pull fairly aggressively and hydroplane easily. But if you use common sense and don't fly down the freeway when there's standing water it's like having any other tire on.

If you're worried about loose dirt/mud I've plugged them through ~8" of standing mud with no issues. Pain in the ass to clean in all the grooves, but I rarely clean the Jeep.