I'm looking for an aggressive tread as well as a bold look for my 2007 H3. The tires I currently have on it are Cooper Zeon LTZ 265/75/16 which were a good tire for dry traction but not so good on wet and snow. I have about 35% tread left before it hits the wear line (maybe a little less) and have got about 1yr in a half out of them with rotating ~every 5k miles. Majority of my driving is about 80% street/20% highway. I live in Pittsburgh and like to be prepared for bad snow storms etc... Was looking at these tires:

Dick Cepek Fun Country
BFG T/A KO's
Goodyear Duratrak
Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ
Cooper Discoverer STT

Really considering the Mickey MTZ as I've seen nothing but good reviews on several off-road sites and although the tire is a Mud Tire, it claims to be very good for daily driving and not too loud.

The Cooper STT is almost identical to the Mickey MTZ and people complain that the Cooper STT is a bit louder. Cooper manufacures the Mickey MTZ's also.

The Dick Cepek's appear to be manufactured by Cooper but have never heard of them although people have gave good reviews. Its supposed to be a hybrid Mud tire/All terrain tire.

The BFG's many people tell me I can't go wrong on but they don't have the bold look that I like on the sidewalls.

The duratrac's are the lightest weight tire of all of them and I see nothing but good reviews with them running about the same price as the Cooper STT and the Mickey MTZ.

Any of you running these tires? The Cooper and Mickeys are the same price ~265.00 for 33inch

Also, I am wanting to move to 33inch tires (285's) and did not crank up the torsion bolts to 23.5". Would this be a problem or can they be mounted and not rub without adjusting the torsion bolts/bars (many shops have told me they will rub).

 

You can run 315s (35s) without any modification and not even adjusting the T Bars.

At the $265ish you mention, obviously you are talking about 285 33s, those are stock OEM size tires for the Adventure/Off Road pkg trucks. Not an issue. Many tire shops know zip about Hummers.

305s are 33s, but an inch wider than the 285s, and just like the 315s (same width as the 305s) they might rub the sway bar at full turning lock. No biggy, just don't turn that sharp unless you have to for an off road obstacle.

305 MTZs doing some trail flex.

 

USMC06H3 runs 285 MTZs, here is a look.


That's our guy Taint on the left with the ole' Mr. Black Alpha on 315 MTZs and USMC06H3 to the right for another look.


The Cooper STTs are also a good choice as well.

 

Doc,

How well do they wear with normal day-to-day driving due to it being a mud tire (although many tire sites and off-road forums boast that these are maid for highway use as well)? I've never taken mine off-road as there aren't many places to do so in Pittsburgh and I live in the hood LOL.

I would love to see what my truck could do in an off-road situation as it sounds and looks like fun! I always thought that the biggest I could go without a lift was 285's and thought the stock size for the adventurer package was 285's. That is absolutely the look that I want in a tire.

The worst sitution mine would ever be in that I forsee is a bad snow storm or flood at least until I find a local hummer club in pittsburgh; most of the H3's and H2's around here have the huge blingy wheels and low profile tires, which is what I will absolutely not do to mine as it's not made for that. You basically have me sold on the MTZ's and it doesn't look like I can find a cheaper deal than $265.00...

 

Look into the 305/70R16s Doc was talking about.

The Dick Cepek FC II would be a great choice for a daily driver that does not see much Off Road.

As far as MTZs tread life. I have had 3 different sets and have driven over 50k on each set with Regular rotations, alignments (lifetime from Firestone) and keeping the pressure constant except for wheeling. They do get a noisy at about 1/4 tread but ALL tires do especially Mud Terrains.

Tires are like haircuts. Everyone has an opinion, but only you know what works for you. Look at all of them in person next to your rig and choose the set you like. Don't forget the spare in your cost equations!

 

I run 265 duratracs, and I have crappier chipset roads and lots of icy wet snowy winter weather here. In NB Canada! I am working on over 2 years and 30k km and not near half worn maybe a quarter. And look at my pics in garage, they are aggressive but the Size you are looking for are gonna lookbetter.

 

So I'm stuck between the Fun Country II's, Cooper STT's and the Mickey MTZ's

Still leaning more towards the Mickey's and considering doing the 305's as Tainter suggested. I found them on tirebuyer for 295.00 but I'm confused about the sizing as they have 2 different designations and not sure which is the correct size. They have listed:

LT305/70R16/10 and LT305/70R16/8

I'm assuming that the very last number at the end is the rim size?

 

16/8 is an 8 ply (more like a D rated tire)
16/10 is a 10 ply tire (more like an E rated tire)

 

I'm going to state the obvious. ..lol no offroad use for you but some snow and ice.
I'd spend time looking at a good winter tire like blizzac or the like. Best winter tire I've ever had hands down were my Interco Super Swampers hand siped/scalped. They could go through two for of snow. Down side 9 mpg. Hahaha!

 

check out the General Grabber AT2's

I'm riding on them now, Agressive and Quiet. Looking forward to winter..



Grabber AT2


Tough all-terrain tire designed with an aggressive, self-cleaning tread pattern that provides off-road traction, durability and impressive paved road performance.
Features

5-row tread pattern with multiple traction edges
Double v-shaped tread pattern
Highly-engineered acoustic tread pattern
Snowflake approved and studdable design

Benefits

Innovative tread design promotes uncompromising off road traction
Designed to increase tread life
Allows the aggressive tread pattern to remain quiet during road and highway driving
Select sizes meet the severe snow service requirements of the RMA and RAC

60,000 Mile Limited Treadwear Warranty