One recurring large expense that all truck owners experience is the purchase of tires. Let’s face it, spending four digits every couple of years (depending on the miles you drive) can be a real pain in the posterior region. Therefore, when you are looking to buy tires, you not only want a tire that will last as long as possible, but also, a quality tire that will handle whatever you can throw at it, and that can be a myriad of driving situations. If you have come to read this post, chances are, that Toyo Tires‘ Open Country R/T Trail has caught your attention.
I feel your pain when it comes to spending money on tires, so I feel it is the duty of DieselArmy.com to showcase what tires are available to you guys, and how they survive with real-world, long-term testing. For this series of articles, we will be giving a set of Toyo Open Country R/T Trail tires a serious workout. Like our other tire tests, we will give you the skinny about the tire in this initial article, and we will then follow up at roughly 5,000-mile intervals to let you know how they are holding up.
Since Sean Egloff is an avid outdoor enthusiast, he chose to upsize his tire choice. When doing so, clearance can be a concern and Sean’s truck has no issues in this area.
Introducing The Tires And The Truck
Toyo Tires has a great reputation for making high-quality tires for both on- and off-road use. But what if you have a truck that partakes in both scenarios? That said, our testing of these tires will be a great resource for everyone as this testing will include both on and off-road usage. Since the Open Country lineup is one of the best names in the business, we’re optimistic about how these tires will handle our needs. Speaking of “our needs”, we should probably introduce the test vehicle.
Meet Sean Egloff’s 2019 F-250. Sean uses his truck not only for daily transportation, but also as an avid outdoor enthusiast, the Ford sees plenty of off-road duty. The usage the truck will endure makes it a great candidate for testing the Open Country R/T tires.
What Makes The Toyo Open Country R/T Trail A Great Tire
Getting back to the tires, according to Toyo, advances were made in the tread design that optimize on- and off-road durability, traction, and stability of the Open Country R/T. They provide improvements in grip in both wet and dry conditions. The Open Country R/T Trail features staggered and scalloped shoulder blocks, as well as extra-thick sidewall lugs that are designed to dig into soft terrain and uneven surfaces.
The aggressive sidewall lugs dig into deep and soft terrain and the thick sidewall provides impact and puncture resistance. The Open Country R/T Trail is designed for light-truck and SUV owners who want more off-road capability than a traditional all-terrain, without the noise and harshness of a dedicated mud tire.
Make no bones, one look at the Toyo Open Country R/T, and its off-road capability is in-your-face apparent. The tire incorporates wide circumferential grooves, lateral zigzag grooves and stone ejectors, four-way tapered notches, and a rim protector. A heavy gauge sidewall is utilized to help fend off cuts, impacts, and punctures, all contributing to durability and off-road capability. Depending on the size and application, the Open Country R/T Trail comes in both two- and three-ply sidewalls. Now that we have talked about the virtues of the tires, let’s get into our first test session.
Once the tires were mounted, Sean’s first planned trip had the tires travel a long distance on the road to get to his off-road location. In fact, this first trip logged a substantial 3,689 miles. The first trip was a pretty serious run from North Texas to Northern Idaho for a five-day black bear hunt. It presented a great opportunity to evaluate the truck on a multitude of points and develop benchmarks for evaluating improvements. The key areas we wanted to evaluate were the following: Drive comfort, feel, and performance at various speeds on multiple highway types and off-road/rough-road feel and performance.
On The Road With Toyo Open Country R/T Trail Tires
The first aspect to evaluate was highway performance. The route had everything from wide-open highways, with speed limits up to 80 mph, to the winding two-lane roads of Idaho. Theoretically, one could set a driving pace on some of these highways that pushed into the mid-90 mph range. Though higher speeds helped us shorten the time of the trip, it became apparent that Spring starts the season of road and bridge repair in the North.
“Initially, I was really listening for the noise to evaluate it,” Sean states. “It’s there, but it is very mild. Now I don’t even notice it at any speed. It’s very subtle and there isn’t even any noticeable increase in tire noise at certain speeds. This is one of my favorite parts of this tire so far, it’s a good aggressive looking off-road tire without being obnoxious as a daily driver.”
There was a significant amount of road work that had us keeping at much lower speeds. The beautiful, winding roads of Northern Idaho also impacted the speed of our route. Even with the speed reduction, Idaho’s Highway 12 merits a special mention as a beautiful and well-maintained road that follows the path of Lochsa River through the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest. It was a beautiful route and a beautiful time of year.
Before the trip, the tires had a tread depth of 17/32. After the trip, Sean measured 15/32.
“I have had zero issues and am very happy with traction and performance,” says Sean. “In one off-road situation, another 2020 6.7 Super Duty with different tires got stuck in the sand. It was pretty obvious that with the weight of the truck, his tires were not able to get traction and dig in enough to get out. We threw a tow line out to him from my truck and was able to easily pull him out. I didn’t notice any slipping as I pulled him out.”
Since Sean logged almost 4,000 miles on this trip alone, he gave us a before and after tread depth. Before the trip, the tires had a tread depth of 17/32. After the trip, he measured 15/32. That seems about on par with an off-road-capable tire that features a “soft” compound to allow for greater off-road traction.
Check back often and see how things are doing with the Toyo Open Country R/T tires and we’ll let you know how they are holding up.
