Cooper STT or Nitto Trail Grapplers?

**Ro_Ja Boy** · 03-12-2010, 09:46 PM

I'm debating between tires in 35x12.5x18 and would love some feedback. My two options are:

$1182 out the door for Cooper STT in 35x12.5x18 (including certificates for free replacement, tire rotation, mount & balance and 4-wheel Alignment)

$1500ish out the door for Nitto Trail Grappler in 35x12.5x18 (including certificates for free replacement, tire rotation, mount & balance and 4-wheel Alignment)

The only negative I see with the Coopers are that the 35s are actually a little shorter in height around 34.75 inches in height while the Nittos are a full 35.

Thoughts?

silverstar · 03-12-2010, 10:53 PM

I love my STT's and would highly recommend them to anybody. For that much difference I would definitely go with the coopers too. That's enough money difference to get a nice CAI to go with the new tires. Also the coopers have siping which the trail grapplers don't which will help with wet roads and snow or ice if you live in an area that gets snow or ice. Just a thought.

deadlift · 03-12-2010, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverstar

I love my STT's and would highly recommend them to anybody. For that much difference I would definitely go with the coopers too. That's enough money difference to get a nice CAI to go with the new tires. Also the coopers have siping which the trail grapplers don't which will help with wet roads and snow or ice if you live in an area that gets snow or ice. Just a thought.

Everyone who has these seems to love them.. How do they handle in the mud / sand?

NorCal 4x4 · 03-12-2010, 11:37 PM

Some tires have a larger static loaded radius than others, so it is possible that the 34.75 could squish less than a 35, and be taller.

Maybe not the case here, but a quarter inch difference isn't significant. Most manufactures don't list the static loaded radius in their spec sheets, but Toyo does.

Off the truck the radius is half the diameter, so their 35x12.5R18 has a radius of 17.5", (but with some specific load that they don't list, (maybe maximum), and some air pressure, (maybe maximum), the radius below the axle is only 15.6". So the lift for this 35, is what you would expect from a 31.2" diameter tire.

Above the tire, and in front and behind, (like at the pinch weld), it will be at or close to the full 17.5" radius, and maybe even below the axle when at some certain speed, due to centrifugal force.

I'd probably pick the Nitto though since Toyo and Nitto are owned by the same company, and I ran the Toyo M/Ts and liked them, and would be curious to see how similar they were to each other.

**Ro_Ja Boy** · 03-13-2010, 10:06 AM

You'd pick the Nittos even for the additional $300+ cost? Appreciate your feedback!

esars · 03-13-2010, 10:38 AM

Love my nitto's!

NorCal 4x4 · 03-13-2010, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ro_Ja Boy

You'd pick the Nittos even for the additional $300+ cost? Appreciate your feedback!

I would, because I won't run Cooper or their private label brands like, Pro Comp, Mickey T, Cepek, etc. Too many recalls and issues with tread separation in the past. They also bought a large manufacturing company in China a few years back ... the same one that had a bunch of tires recalled in the US, but some off brand were the ones involved. Most of the Nitto and Toyo tires are made in the USA, although my particular size are from Japan.
Cooper might be great tires now, but I know Nitto/Toyo are. I look at it like, I have to live with whatever I pick for a couple of years, so get the ones that I perceive to be best. $300/24 months is $12.50/month, or 41 cents a day, but then again everything adds up, and if you are buying with plastic, then cheaper counts more.

Tread life matters too, so if the Nitto's last longer, the difference might be less in real cost, or more if the Coopers last longer.

**Ro_Ja Boy** · 03-13-2010, 12:07 PM

I'd love to save some money simply because I've spent about $10k on the Titan over the last month. I guess I'll think it over some more.

Mighty Titan · 03-13-2010, 12:15 PM

Saw in another thread that the coopers in 35x12.50.18's weigh 68lbs each. The toyos weigh in at 80.9lbs. Just more food for thought. Go coopers.

NorCal 4x4 · 03-13-2010, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mighty Titan

Saw in another thread that the coopers in 35x12.50.18's weigh 68lbs each. The toyos weigh in at 80.9lbs. Just more food for thought. Go coopers.

Yeah the Trail Grapplers are about the same as the Toyo M/T, so if true about the SST weight, the Trail Grapples, will be about 1 mpg worse. [On my Titan anyway, 15 pounds extra = 1 mpg loss].
http://www.titantalk.com/forums/1850555-post76.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Discount Tire

... but here's the weight on the Nitto's

295/70x17 -- 71lbs

35x1250x18 -- 81lbs

35x1250x20 -- 79lbs

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ro_Ja Boy

I'd love to save some money simply because I've spent about $10k on the Titan over the last month. I guess I'll think it over some more.

A lot of people like the STT and the ST. I only explained my reason for picking the Trail over the STT was because I thought that you asked me directly why.

And if the STT are really that much lighter, it could be enough to sway me. A big part of the reason I went to the Terra A/Ts after running the Toyo M/Ts was for their lighter weight and fuel savings.

Mighty Titan · 03-13-2010, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NorCal 4x4

Yeah the Trail Grapplers are about the same as the Toyo M/T, so if true about the SST weight, the Trail Grapples, will be about 1 mpg worse. [On my Titan anyway, 15 pounds extra = 1 mpg loss].
http://www.titantalk.com/forums/1850555-post76.html

A lot of people like the STT and the ST. I only explained my reason for picking the Trail over the STT was because I thought that you asked me directly why.

And if the STT are really that much lighter, it could be enough to sway me. A big part of the reason I went to the Terra A/Ts after running the Toyo M/Ts was for their lighter weight and fuel savings.

Yeah the 68lbs a piece on the 35x12.50x18's stt's is info I read from another thread here so I would call cooper to find out if its true. I've called to see how much my 275/70/18 STT's weigh which is 33.3"x11.1" and they weigh in at 60lbs. Im looking at the terra grapplers in 295/70/18 for my summer wheels and they're only 4lbs more than my coopers. Thats good to know that it really wont change my mpg's drastically.

**Ro_Ja Boy** · 03-13-2010, 04:13 PM

Went to buy the Coopers and they were 325/65/18 which are the same height, but 13.5 inches wide.

silverstar · 03-14-2010, 06:20 PM

That's what I have on mine and they fit with the PWM. They do awesome on wet roads and in mud. They clean out even with little to no wheelspin in all but the thickest mud. They dig pretty good in the sand at street pressure though but that's to be expected with a m/t. My coopers took VERY little weight to balance and ride very smooth even at 80mph on the hwy. I emailed cooper about the weight of my 325/65-18's and they repleid that they were 78lbs each which is heavy but it's also an inch wider than the nitto 12.50's and still lighter. The other thing that made me happy when I was looking at my coopers is that I noticed they are segment molded like high price, high performance tires (toyo uses the same molding process too). I think that is why they ride so smooth and took so little weigth to balance. I researched tires for 3 months before I bought mine and coopers had great reviews everywhere and I saw many, many reviews with guys getting 40,000+ miles out of the stt's with good rotations and alignments.

allbtitan · 03-14-2010, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silverstar

I love my STT's and would highly recommend them to anybody. For that much difference I would definitely go with the coopers too. That's enough money difference to get a nice CAI to go with the new tires. Also the coopers have siping which the trail grapplers don't which will help with wet roads and snow or ice if you live in an area that gets snow or ice. Just a thought.

x2 on that. Best bang for your buck tire there is. I have them in everything but deep sand. They take anything you throw at them and keep wanting more. Another plus is they are extremely quite for a m/t. Bad azz side lugs too. 35k and probably get another good 15k out of them. Rotated every 4k.

silverstar · 03-16-2010, 01:35 AM

Hey allbtitan, You have a gorgeous pro-4x. When my wife and I move to PA this summer we'll have to go for a ride at rausch creek and try out our stt's! We'll be living in the Shamokin area in northumberland county. I actually looked at ship university when I was in high school up there but ended going to Bloomsburg university because it was my home town and i could just stay at home and go cutting out room and board. Too bad it only lasted a semester. HAHA