Nitto Terra Grappler Early Wear

My 2021 Pro with 44,500 miles in 28 months needs the tires replaced. About to embark on a out west mountain bike trip from MD and will probably put 6,500 miles on it in 3.5 weeks of travel. My hope was to replace the tires after my return and prior to winter with approximately 53,000 miles on them. But, my mechanic buddy doing a maintenance check said the tires are lumpy, not smooth and loud. The tires have sufficient tread, but are not smooth. He said the lumpy ride will work the shocks more too (?). He recommended replacing them before I depart in nine days. These tires are rated a 50,000 mile tire. I was hoping to get to 50,000 and replacing them at my leisure in November. Bummed to possibly put 6,500 miles on new tires in less than four weeks!

Anyone else to chime in on their original stock size Nitto Terra Grappler's lasting less than 50,000 miles?

Looking to replace them with Toyo Open Country AT3's in stock size at the moment.

 

I'd send it if it has tread left and change it after. There may be tread left but where is it in comparison to the marker?

Is there a noticable bump when driving?

 

Ha! I am inclined to send it! I like to feel like I got my money's worth and the tread still has some life to it. I don't seem to notice the "bumpy" ride that much. I guess it has gotten somewhat bumpier over the past year, but it has never bothered me. I ride a mountain bike four days a week and this is a 4Runner - a little bounce doesn't seem too bothersome for me. I have owned two old first edition Bronco's and a Jeep Wrangler before, this 4R feels like a Cadillac by comparison. The annoying Pro exhaust is already loud and competes with the tires for noise. I cannot imagine the minute bumps cause any additional wear on the shocks - shouldn't the Fox Pro shocks easily absorb that? If it were a safety issue I would swap the tires out immediately!

Thanks for the endorsement of what I was thinking! Maybe a second professional opinion is the answer!

 

Not me I wouldn't even consider leaving without new rubber, piece of mind, better traction and braking are well worth it to me, especially cause you're going to do it anyway! 2k miles on tires is nothing compared to less headaches, possible flats, blowouts and all other avoidable problems, but I'm a tire nerd too.

 

Interesting you should say that! Very good points!

I just finished speaking with my other mechanic buddy and he said I should put on the new tires just for the sake of making the long road trip a smoother, quieter and possibly safer journey. He said get an alignment after the install as well. He owns a busy mechanic shop and he said the break even point on alignments is 1 year / 15,000 miles. I did not know to get a annual alignment. Mechanic buddy #2 said there is no wrong option here and that mechanic #1 is giving sound advice that he would give too!

I think me being frugal (or cheap as my wife would say) was driving my decision!

 

Nitto Ridge Grapplers are the ticket. Smooth and quiet and hardly any wear after 30k.

 

I wouldn't want to rack up miles on new tires so quickly. What's the tread depth? Do you have any pictures?

 

New tires. Better traction on and off road, if the safety aspect doesn’t sway you.

 

If you have a Firestone in your area, they typically sell a lifetime alignment which costs less than 2x their one-time alignment price. Most of our vehicles have this and get alignment checks 2x/year (while I enjoy lunch + beer at a nearby restaurant...)

 

45k out of 50k is darn good. I usually replace well before warranty, I always want the best tread I can. Made a few bad decisions not replacing early.

However "lumpy ride" what is that? If there is something that wrong with the tread to cause a bumpy ride you have bigger issues to deal with than just a tire replacement.

 

45k when the estimated life is 50k is pretty much there.

Tires are consumables and should be replaced when they need to be replaced. They aren't a big expense and are the only connection between your car and the ground.

You don't cheap out on tires or condoms

 

My buddy, mechanic #2 just looked at the tires and said they should be good to go for a 6,500 mile mostly interstate trip. But, promptly replace them upon my return!

Mechanic #1 felt the tires were rough riding, loud and nearing the end of the line. I just chalked it up as a 4R with AT tires doing what they do!

I think I am going to ride them out and replace them upon my return.

Thanks for the various insightful comments!

 

https://youtu.be/iDhH1VWd9Uw?si=Y3leT5dFPa5BMdSn

 

I’m late to the conversation but my Nitto Terra Grapplers were also at about 45k and were super noisy and rough. They had tread left but I was making about an 1100 mile drive to an event that depended on my timely arrival. The drive was entirely on highways and paved roads. I replaced mine for safety and comfort reasons. I’ve seen lots of accidents caused by blowouts and it wasn’t something I wanted to risk. As they say, and literally, YMMV. I replaced them with the Michelin A/T Defenders, stock size, and am entirely pleased with them. Safe travels.

 

i bought my semas second hand and they had terra grapplers worth about 30k miles. despite a decent amount of tread they were noisy and it was the awful kind of noisy.

 

Mine are wearing quick. ~34,000km. I do a lot of offroading and I also did a ~4000km road trip with an improper alignment causing abnormal wear on the front 2 tires.

 

Not a fan of the Nitto’s Terra Grapplers. Just at my tire guy today. I’m removing mine off me new 23 Pro and he is getting me a set of the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss to look over. He takes care of me and buys my stock tire and it don’t cost me much for a new set. I did it with my tundra and other 4runner. But if was me I would putting new tires on for the trip. I would be happy if that’s the amount of miles you got out of them.

 

This is same thing Im experiencing with my duratracs

 

Plenty of tread, not old, keep driving. Yeah a little noisy but so? Tire is still serviceable.

 

i have a pretty high tolerance for tire noise because of my other cars, but there is no reason to tolerate the noise terra grapplers i had made.

 

I love my Duratracks. Definity not quiet, but much quieter than most with the right rotation and PSI. Only have 35k so i may get worse, but i usually change out early.

 

Well, I safely returned from my out west mountain bike trip! I put 6,513 miles on the 4R in 24 days. The tires are now at 51,123 in 29 months and held up fine! The road noise and "bumpy" ride were of no concern. I did drive a little slower on the rainy days. Otherwise I am glad to have stuck it out with the original tires and am looking forward to probably installing some stock size Toyo Open Country AT3's within a month.

 

Way to go, happy to hear you made it back safe!
Sounds like it was best case scenario and can install new tires at your leisure in Nov.
Reminds me of Kramer on Seinfeld, pushing past the gas tank on E; like you're pushing past that measly 50,000 mile tire rating haha

 

...except Kramer runs out of gas in the end and has to walk...

 

Today while driving at about 45 mph up a wet windy road my 4R did a good fishtail for the first time ever. Really caught me off guard! At 52,000 miles and 30 months with the original Nitto Grapplers it is time to quit procrastinating and buy new tires! It will be a serious research weekend, but still leaning towards the Toyo OC AT3's in stock size.

 

I’d take a look at the Falken Wildpeaks AT 3W. They are severe snow rated. Gonna try them on my 1st gen Tacoma. Going to be doing a lot of skiing so wanted something good in snow.

https://www.falkentire.com/wildpeak/at3w

 

I like the Falken Wildpeaks! They have a good performance rating and look good. But concerned about their extra weight. If I didn't care about the bland look of the Michelins, they appear to be a real winner of a tire.

Typically get about 15" of snow annually here in my part of Maryland, but we have had very little snow the past two years - barely a dusting. But, important to have the snow rated tire when needed!

The Toyo OC AT3 is supposed to be a decent snow tire. Hope to have this figured out by Monday!

 

Yes, the Michelin Defender has a good rating too. We run heavier tires with good sidewall protection in my area because off road trails are full of sharp rocks. Tire choice depends on your local situation.

 

Must have been a heck of a trip! I'm jealous, I'd love to do something like that with my 4R & mountain bike. What places did you hit?

Incidentally, I'm at 51k on my General Grabber ATX, stock size standard load. I still have a good amount of tread left, in fact they did good on an off road trip last month even with some mud.