Tire [not size!] choice analysis paralysis

So the question is simple. According to my needs I narrowed down selection of 3 different tires for me but I cannot select any further. So I would like to get input from the wise community in order to make a choice.

I have 18 inch rims.

My requirements:
1) Tire diameter: around 32.5".
2) Tire weight: <=50 lbs.
3) Thread size: >= 16/32"
4) Good drive-ability in wet condition
5) Really good to balance (in order not to get https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K3zaBqOXaKQ )
6) Peace of mind during offroad driving (easy-mid trails, mostly during spring-to-fall, PNW location)

Tires I've chosen:
1) Toyo Open County AT3 LT265/70/18 Load Range E - diameter 32.64", weight 49 lbs
2) Toyo Open County AT3 LT275/65/18 Load Range C - diameter 32.32", weight 51 lbs
3) Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T 275/65/18 Load Range SL - diameter 32.4", weight 47 lbs
4) Something I'm missing

For history I had BFG KO2 265/70/17 in Load Range C - they drove great however negative aspects like: poor wet drive-ability, inability to balance (see video above) and in PNW on every trail they collected so many small rocks and it was a PITA to get rid of them later so I should ditched them.

Thank you in advance for the advises!

 

https://www.4runners.com/threads/mickey-thompson-baja-boss-a-t.28749/

 

Just go to tire rack and look at reviews that fir your criteria. I had KO2’s and once they hit 40,000, they sucked so bad. Death trap in rain and noisy. I now have Firestone destination at’s that have full depth sipping, they are quiet and amazing in the rain.

 

I more trust owners of the 4R here than random people at tire rack
Regarding Firestone Destination AT2 - their thread depth is 12/32" which makes them fall out of my list.

 

The proprietor of my local Discount Tire has a really nice Tacoma set up for off-roading. He's never steered me wrong.

 

You seems to be having 17in wheels and tires. OP has down graded to 18in wheels, so needing help with limited availability on 18in tires.

Also seems to be dealing with an incompetent tire shop

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Tires? Simple question? Lies! That's not a simple question... You sound like my buddy who took, I kid you not, years to decide to pull the trigger on tires. His obsession was weight. Scoffed over a few pounds a corner in the quest for .1 mpg. I bought the tire with the coolest looking tread that looked like it would do a great job. They did. And I've had 3 sets of Duratracs now on my 04 Taco. Wife has KO2's on the 21' 4R but we haven't had the same experience as KARMAPT. So far so good but we just hit 40k. She drives like grandma so they could last for 100k miles for all I know.

So just get what you think will work. Sorry to be the burster of bubbles.

 

Spot on

Yeah, all four shops (two Discount Tires, one Les Schwab, one Toyota dealership) probably were incompetent (to all of them I told use road force balancing)

 

Fair. Let's not concentrate on weight, let's omit it.
1) Besides Duratracs what tires of my list would be the best?
2) What Load Range would be most suitable for my requirements - SL/C/E ?

Thanks!

 

Based on my experience with BFG KO2 LT265/70R17 Load C (2 sets), LT275/70R17 Load E (1 set), LT285/70R17 Load C (1 set) , all on factory 4runner wheels I tend to think the shops you went is incompetent of they cannot balance the wheels and tires.

Unless there is a back story that you have bad wheels, vehicle that had a accident repair that has some issues with the repair, some other mechanical issue, etc..

 

No backstory, regular TRD OR stock wheels, I had exactly LT265/70R17 Load C.
Oh yeah, perhaps it was just 1 or 2 bad tires, they drove without shaking 5K miles but after rotation - they started shaking my steering wheel.

 

Those Baja's are very aggressive on the tread. I'd go Toyo personally unless you are doing a lot of mud.

 

We put a new set of 285/75/16 E BFG's on our Tacoma last year and my son works at DT and said they were very hard to balance, they finally used balance beeds. I've run BFG's for decade's but I think there is an issue with BFG's now quality or ??? as my son mounts thousands of tires and said these were a joke. We went with Toyo ATIII's on our new 4Runner because of this, he mounted them and said it was as it should be!