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Need help deciding my new tires
Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:50 am
by CrunkmastaFunk
Hey Everyone,
New member here. I am the proud owner of my second pathfinder now. Love them to death and was heartbroken to watch my storm grey 2006 go but I decided a black 2010 was a fair trade. On to business. I started out with a set of 265/70-16 stock tires as usual and wanted something beefier. Being from the south, having mud tires for looks is not uncommon at all. So, I went a little bigger and put on a set of 265/75-16 Kumho KL71 MT's after scouring this site for the right size. I have got to say I loved the tire, it was loud on the road (and when I say loud, it was close to mud grappler loud), but it looked EXCELLENT on a pathfinder. Now, I am running fairly low on tread and I believe its about time for a new set and Im thinking two things: bigger and wider. The tires looked excellent but they were just a hair skinny. I like the wide stance and a full wheel well so Im thinking more along the lines of a 285/75-16. I saw a couple of PF's on the site running this set up with all terrain tires, but Im more of a mud terrain guy. What I would really like is maybe the same tire, a Mickey Thompson Baja Claw, or Pro Comp Xterrain. The "clawed" set up is really slick, I think, and fits the car well. However, is there anything I need to do (other than maybe some light trimming and molding) to clear these tires? Like maybe bilstein shocks in the front? or is there a cheaper option? Also, if anyone has suggestions for the new tires, let me know! Id like to get this done by Christmas time or sooner if I can.
Thanks!
Thomas
Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 6:54 pm
by volvite
Have you looked into the goodyear duratracs? They are considered an AT but look like an MT. I have them on my 08 LE and have loved them. They make more noise then the OEM tires, but I've had MTs before and they don't make near the noise MTs make.
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:04 pm
by CDUB
I just had nokian vatiiva a/t's installed. Aggressive pattern. They have the look of a m/t. Quiet for every day driving. Also a 65k mile warranty.
Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 11:57 pm
by CrunkmastaFunk
CDUB wrote:I just had nokian vatiiva a/t's installed. Aggressive pattern. They have the look of a m/t. Quiet for every day driving. Also a 65k mile warranty.
I just looked at those and I like them! Ill have to do a little research on them haha could you tell me about your set?
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 12:01 am
by CrunkmastaFunk
volvite wrote:Have you looked into the goodyear duratracs? They are considered an AT but look like an MT. I have them on my 08 LE and have loved them. They make more noise then the OEM tires, but I've had MTs before and they don't make near the noise MTs make.
I do like the duratracs, Ive seen those on more-to-most of the pathfinders on the forum. Ive always been a deep tread, mean sidewall, loud on the road tire kind of guy though which is why I love Baja Claws, and why theyre my first choice. But Ive really been considering duratracs or the kevlar MT/R's as well. Any reasons to chose the duratracs over any of the MT's? I like the tread pattern and the sidewall is good but is there a major benefit to them other than maybe being smoother and lighter?
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 2:57 pm
by volvite
I think the duratracs are less expensive than the MTRs. I think they performed better than the BFGs MTRs I had on my old Jeep.
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:09 pm
by CrunkmastaFunk
volvite wrote:I think the duratracs are less expensive than the MTRs. I think they performed better than the BFGs MTRs I had on my old Jeep.
Ok, I saw a Pathy in a gallery that pretty much fits the image I am going for with mine. All except for the black rims, however, I do like the way they look. This one looked like it was sporting some duratracs, and they look good. I just might have to go with those. They seem aggressive and really have a nice look to them. Not to mention theyre an AT so they should last a little longer than the 25k I got out of my Kumho MT's. Take a look at that pathfinder though and let me know what you think. It looks to just be leveled out with some 285's on it (it says 33' on the caption so id assume 285 vs 265) and if thats what he has, Ill have a nearly identical twin rolling down the road
https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/gallery ... egory_id=5&
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:33 pm
by doctahjones
i'm still lovin my bfg at's.....not any louder than the oem ones, and decent traction imo.

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:15 pm
by CrunkmastaFunk
Awesome pathy doctahjones. Did you have to do any trimming or anything to clear those tires?
Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:18 pm
by CrunkmastaFunk
Oh and also I was looking in a different section and saw you use plastidip? Id ask if you could tell me exactly how to do rims? Spray vs dip, keeping the nissan symbol chrome, even coats, etc.
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 7:03 am
by doctahjones
Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2012 3:46 pm
by volvite
doctahjones wrote:i'm still lovin my bfg at's.....not any louder than the oem ones, and decent traction imo.

Doctahjones has a great Pathfinder. I've just never had any good performace out of the BFGs I've run. I had the MTRs on my 99 jeep and they were loud and performed well for the first half of the tread life. My brother had the BFG ATs on his surburban and again at half and less than half tread their performace lacked. The ATs were more quiet but still didn't perform in my book. I've had my Duratracs on for 1 year, put about 15k miles on them and they have performed well so far. Still have lots of tread so I can't say how well they do when they wear like the BFGs. I'll have to report back on that when they do wear. I also just moved to Utah and looking to see how well they perform in more snow. I had some snow in Idaho, but will see more here in Northern Utah.
Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:21 pm
by CDUB
CrunkmastaFunk wrote:CDUB wrote:I just had nokian vatiiva a/t's installed. Aggressive pattern. They have the look of a m/t. Quiet for every day driving. Also a 65k mile warranty.
I just looked at those and I like them! Ill have to do a little research on them haha could you tell me about your set?
Sorry for the delayed reply. I just turned 2500 miles on the nokian's and i have zero complaints. They are still quiet on the road. Great off road as far as trail riding. We just got our first snowfall here in central PA, and they keep the path glued to the road. Honestly you can't go wrong with a set of them.

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:16 pm
by CrunkmastaFunk
CDUB wrote:CrunkmastaFunk wrote:CDUB wrote:I just had nokian vatiiva a/t's installed. Aggressive pattern. They have the look of a m/t. Quiet for every day driving. Also a 65k mile warranty.
I just looked at those and I like them! Ill have to do a little research on them haha could you tell me about your set?
Sorry for the delayed reply. I just turned 2500 miles on the nokian's and i have zero complaints. They are still quiet on the road. Great off road as far as trail riding. We just got our first snowfall here in central PA, and they keep the path glued to the road. Honestly you can't go wrong with a set of them.

Awesome! how much would a set of four run me?
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 12:07 am
by CDUB
CrunkmastaFunk wrote:CDUB wrote:CrunkmastaFunk wrote:
I just looked at those and I like them! Ill have to do a little research on them haha could you tell me about your set?
Sorry for the delayed reply. I just turned 2500 miles on the nokian's and i have zero complaints. They are still quiet on the road. Great off road as far as trail riding. We just got our first snowfall here in central PA, and they keep the path glued to the road. Honestly you can't go wrong with a set of them.

Awesome! how much would a set of four run me?
If i recall correctly i had about $790.00 at the local tire shop. The size i had installed were 265/65/17 for my LE. You will have to shop around with you local installer's to get an exact price.