Are the OEM Dunlop Grandtrek AT20 tires really that bad?

Was hoping to be able to keep the OEM tires through the winter, but reading reviews of them on TireRack, they appear to be nearly the worst AT tire ever made.

They came in at #33 out of 37 tires in their category. It's like Dunlop was trying to make the worst AT tire ever.

After reading dozens of reviews, I'm not sure I should keep them on much longer. I'm headed into the mountains next Friday to scout for elk season. Just taking the TR4 and UTV to a trail head, then unloading the UTV and heading deep into the mountains.

I'm sure in all of this dry weather, roads will be dry dirt, so no worries.

But a few of the reviews mention that on wet roads, they are downright dangerous and unpredictable. Seriously?

Are these tires really that bad?

They really don't look bad at all...

 

I had mine on for roughly 15,000 miles.

They aren't the best tire, but I didn't have much trouble in the rain with them. Never had them in snow, however.

Rather than running them 30,000 miles (or however far they'll go), your best bet is to go to America's Tire while the tires are still new-ish. They will give you money for them towards new tires.

 

Local tire shops around here are insanely overpriced.

I save around $100 per tire by buying strictly online at either Discount Tire, Amazon, WalMart, or Tire Rack.

Never heard of America Tire. We have Les Schwab, who after losing a chunk of their business to online tire sales due to crazy high prices, now charges an EXTRA $35 per tire to mount/balance new tires not purchased at their store. I despise them with a passion.

I can get a new set of great AT tires for under $600 online. Probably get $200 for the Dunlops on Craigslist.

 

Yeah, go that route then.

 

In short YES...but really depends on where you live. In the warmer months (May through September in the Northeast) on dry roads they did fine. And in the rain they did okay during the same time period. BUT....in the winter months when the temperature dropped below freezing combined with any amount of precipitation and they were down right scary. My 4Runner and 2012 Tacoma both came with them brand new and traction control went off constantly in any icy/snow condition. It was so bad on my Tacoma that I thought there was something wrong with the truck. And I am a very conservative driver. IMHO OP if you live in a warmer climate you’ll be fine if not...dump em’ ASAP. I change both sets out well before 10k. Take your significant other out in a snowstorm and you will be getting new tires a few days later...trust me

 

The tires carry an A T logo, but are designed for the type of use that most 4runners are going to see, that being highway use. They are essentially street tires. As a street tire they're not terrible; as an all-terrain tire they're awful.

There's a reason that people will tell you that the number one modification you can do to these trucks before you do anything else is better tires.

 

I have had several 4Runners and two of them (a 2008 SR5 and a 2014 Limited) came with these tires (Dunlop Grandtrek AT20) upon delivery. The first set I replaced at roughly 18,000 miles because they loss traction on damp/wet pavement. I lost confidence in the tire. Actually, did some research on this tire and a significant number of people had negative experiences with them. When these came on the 2014 4Runner limited, I replaced them at 2,000 miles with Michelin's Premier LTX tires. I would not have these Dunlop tires on my vehicle if they were free! Based on my experience (and others who have had this tire on their vehicle) it should be off the market, in my opinion.

 

55K miles on mine. DD, pavement driving, though that includes winter/snow in Colorado. Better in the dry months. Not amazing - not terrible. That said, I wouldnt buy another set. 1) over priced 2) going legit AT or MT in 2 weeks

 

not the worst tire I've ever had, I drove through a 21" snowfall in my taco the first winter I had and they honestly did just fine. They got a little squirrely towards the end of their life as they wore down but really no complaints

 

I'm about 60 miles South of you. Just was up there last week for the Travis Tritt/Charlie Daniels concert...

I'm hearing this Winter might be a nasty one...

 

I don't want a super bad one but I didn't even put the snow tires on the wifes car last year, I wouldn't mind a little bit of winter.

 

As I push snow for a living...
Last Winter here we broke the snowfall record. 60" in a season. I know the people @ elevation are laughing. The state was in crisis mode. Everyone was out of salt & then it all melted in 1 week with heavy rains & flooded everything.
I would like a calm winter!

 

Probably going for the Falken Wildpeaks in the castrated 115T rating... I'm in the woods a couple of times a month, but not that deep in the woods...

 

OEM on my Runner I got last October. My plan was to wear them out then get some real AT tires. During the rainy season (about a week long here in SoCal) I tried my first short 4WD trail. Seemed ok going forward, but had serious lateral control issues on the muddy trail (not deep, just slick). Used my better judgment after a 100 yards or so, and backed out (had to keep the right, uphill wheels in a little gully to keep from sliding off the trail. Now I’ve got 5 AT20s with only 6000 miles on them sitting in my garage and new stock size Big-O Bigfoot ATs all around (I think they’re built by Cooper and are the AT3s). Much much better!

 

America's Tire is the west coast version of Discount Tire. If you were to type in americastire.com, it would look the same as discounttire.com.

 

In all fairness to this tire, I've had more than my share of new vehicles over the years and OEM tires usually are bad. I just budget for a set before buying a vehicle

 

Worst tires ever came on my 2014 Ram 1500. Goodyear SR-A... Immediately replaced...

 

I went with the Goodyear Wrangler Authority. Ran them on my Jeep and loved them...

 

"Come on everybody. We need to meet the EPA milage rating!!!" 15/20 LMAO
The Dunlaps are unsafe in snow, rain & useless in mud.
Forbid I need my "truck on a muddy jobsite" going to need a winch or a push bumper to leave the site. Daily!
My dealership wouldn't change out the tires when we bought ours! You must order one (and pay MSRP). Luckily my brother in law works at a tire shop.
Got $80 each for Dunlaps which brought the Duratracs down to $125 each, plus a $50 gift card. Sold.

 

I have something good to say about them! I still have my original spare and it’s not dry rotted at all. Still looks new!!!

 

But the rim is a lil rusted...

 

Hope you are on dry concrete when it needs to be used!
Shit, my spare is factory also! Wait for the rebate time! Lol

 

Well I can’t use my spare right now anyways with my 20’s. I have to plug and pump!!!

 

mine only have about 16k on them but they handle fine on the road including heavy rain. not much snow in Florida, so I can't speak to that envelope. one of my extremely few complaints about the 4R is that it's a chore to drive on the interstate, seems like I have to work to make it go at highway speed....not sure if that's the tire or the powerplant

 

Get a sprint booster, gets ya up and going easy

 

I didn't have any traction issues with mine on the Tacoma, but they did dry rot in 3 years. Vehicle was bought new, tires were a 2015 date code, garage parked about 50% of the time. I'm sure mine was the exception rather than the norm.

 

Back in the day, dirt bike motorcycles (what we would now refer to as “dual sport”) came with really poor (read “cheep”) tires. They looked ok in the showroom, but didn’t perform worth a hill of beans. They were better than street tires when used in the dirt, and better than dirt tires when use on the street. They were often called “rim protectors” since that’s about all they were good for until you bought some real tires. Sounds like this is the niche the Dumlops are filling. If you’re producing a bazillion Tacos and Runners a year with 5 full size tires per vehicle, the “savings” add up.

 

That makes sense. But, they're not that cheap.

My '15 Tacoma had BFG "Rugged Trail" tires. They were garbage also.

 

If they save $20 per tire ($100 per vehicle) 140,000 units sold in 2019, that works out to $14,000,000 savings for Mr. T.

 

I'm sure they got a deal on them once Dunlop realized that they sucked and nobody wanted them. But, I googled them when I got the truck and they retailed for $189, I think. There are tons of better tires at that price.

They probably get a huge discount on tires that no one would buy otherwise.