The Nissan Path

I need new tires for my '06 Pathfinder. 4WD.

I drive a significant amount of off-road driving but it is mainly gravel/dirt roads, farm lanes, across fields, etc. for hunting. NO serious rock crawling or technical driving.

I plan to keep this truck about 30 thousand more miles or so. Need something fairly tough and puncture resistant, something more than a passenger tire but not crazy aggressive.

I used to LOVE Cooper tires but the set I'm replacing cupped really badly. This may have been mainly due to running longer than I should have with worn struts and shocks but I can't say that for sure.

Honestly, I believe it will ultimately come down to personal preference. You're gonna hear good and bad stories about each brand the deeper you dig.

I just did some "digging" myself and went with a brand I never expected I'd buy. Heard good and bad about them.

I'm about 5000 miles into a new set of Cooper Discoverer ATWs, and am very happy with them so far. I too have had issues with Coopers cupping in the past, but did end up finding worn shocks to be the culprit.

These Coopers are the quietest riding, most stable tire I've ever driven on, and I've been through BFG, Bridgestone, Michelin, and the Coopers. Super solid on gravel roads.

If you did mostly highway driving, I would recommend Michelin LTX M/S2's. I had them on my 06 LE and loved them! Great in set and dry conditions, nice ride and long treadwear. They do have an all-terrain version. Currently I have a set of Nitto Dura Grapplers, which might be good for you. They are a highway-terrain hybrid. I bit harsher as far as ride than the Michelins, but a pretty tough tire and good in snow, mud and dry conditions. The Nitto Terra Grapplers are more of an all-terrain tires and also very good; it's structure is the same as the Toyo Open Country tires as Nitto is owned by Toyo.

For your light trail driving, I'd recommend these.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... ilentArmor


I would have got them if I did a little less aggressive trails.

I just had a new set of tires installed on my 2011. Unlike my old 2008, I couldn't install the Michelin LTX M/S 2's, since they were discontinued. Michelin now make the Defender LTX M/S, but they just came out and weren't available in the 18 inch size. So, I ended up getting the Michelin Latitude Tour. Great tire, and very quiet on the road. It's the smoothest ride I've experienced while owning the Pathfinder.

NmexMAX wrote:For your light trail driving, I'd recommend these.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... ilentArmor


I would have got them if I did a little less aggressive trails.

+1 for these, I bought a set a couple of years ago and have been very happy with them. Stable, pretty quiet and much better traction in everything than the stock long trails. They seem to be wearing pretty well. They get a mix of use but have been good on wet roads, dry desert, and even a few inches of snow once. Worth the expense.

I really love my Michelin AT2's, 90,000 tire warranty, good quiet road noise but aggressive enough for light terrain. I'm excited to see how they do in the snow

I've been pretty happy with my Firestone Destination AT's. Almost 50,000 miles on them and still about 7/32's left on the tread. Been a pretty good all-around tire.

I have the Firestone Destination AT2s and don't recommend them. They cupped pretty early on despite balance, rotation, and alignment every single oil change. Could be worn shocks, though both dealership and Firestone swear they're fine. They're also pretty slippy in the rain.

I did love how quiet and smooth they were in the beginning.

I won't use anything else other then Michelen tires. Hands down the best rubber you can get on the market.

I recently put a set of the Michelin ltx at2 from costco on my 11. Got them on sale and they were a little cheaper then ltx m/2's. I didn't see much different center between the 2 models. They are freaking sweet!

Plus I got free instalation, free tire rotation and free repairs if I get a flat .

when you say "no rock crawling, no serious off-road, just mud/gravel", I can only think of Goodyear Duratracs. They are excellent in mud, very quiet on road, superb in snow and quite good on ice/winter conditions. They look great, too.
The only consideration would be if you are serious off-roader, especially rock crawler, as those rubbers are quite prone to side puncture due to only 2-play sidewalls. But all in all - I have them for almost 10k now, doing 90% highways and 10% mudding/light offroading and profile is still like new.