Overlanding is often described as self-reliant adventure travel to remote destinations where the journey is the primary goal. Having a 4×4 rig capable of reaching these remote destinations is key, of course, but having a set of capable tires on your rig is important too. For overlanding, you’ll need a versatile, jack-of-all-trades tire capable of tackling all types of terrain and road surfaces from smooth pavement, dirt, rocks, and mud to sand, snow, water, and ice. This is why we recommend a good all-terrain tire for your truck camper rig. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, your choice of tires is the most important part of outfitting your rig. Whether you’re replacing a worn out set or simply upgrading, choose wisely. A poor choice can set you back more than $1,200. While the choices in tires are numerous and the quality varies, we have culled together the best all-terrain tires available in today’s market. So without further adieu, here are our top 9 all-terrain tires for truck camper rigs.
1. Cooper Discoverer A/T3 XLT
Designed to haul heavy loads with less wear, the Discoverer A/T3-XLT is universally hailed as one of the best all-terrain tires in today’s marketplace. This robust, highly capable tire features Cooper’s Durable-Tread Technology to prevent shredding on rough surfaces and a new cut- and chip-resistant compound that significantly improves performance on sharp gravel and increases tread wear. The shape of the tire has also been engineered to balance pressure at the tire-to-road contact area to provide even on-road tread wear and superior handling in all conditions. Moreover, the Discoverer A/T3-XLT features new “whisper grooves” to provide a sound barrier that reduces road noise as well as stone-ejector ledges to easily discharge stone and gravel for enhanced durability. This top-of-the-line tire even offers the added aesthetics and capability provided by rugged traction shoulders when aired down. Comes with a 60,000-mile warranty and is available in 29 sizes from 16- to 18-inch rim diameters. us.coopertire.com
2. Falken Wildpeak A/T3W
A good all-terrain tire has to be well-designed and reliable. The A/T3W from Falken Tires does both. Toughness on the A/T3W starts with the company’s Outer Apex Sidewall construction, which acts as a heat shield, protecting the internal casing of the tire for durability and most importantly, stability under heavier loads. The tire also features an aggressive upper sidewall and offset shoulder block that guards against damaging debris and provides off-road traction in low tire pressure conditions. Further, its optimized tread design combined with the silica tread compound enables the tire to excel in all kinds of conditions. Owners will also appreciate the support ramps and step‐down features of the tread that not only offers better stability and handling, but also prevents stones from becoming trapped in the grooves. The A/T3W is stamped with a 3-Peak Mountain Snow Flake qualification thanks to the full-depth grooves and Falken’s 3D Canyon Sipe technology. Shoppers will also be happy to know that Falken offers a Limited Tread Life Warranty of 55,000-miles. www.falkentire.com
3. Dick Cepek Fun Country
Another terrific tire and a long-time staple in the Dick Cepek lineup, the Fun Country is actually a hybrid all-terrain/mud-terrain tire. With its interlocking tread lugs and narrow sipes, the Fun Country delivers excellent off-road traction and superior durability for light trucks. The tire is also stamped with a Mud and Snow rating from the Rubber Manufacturer’s Association (RMA), giving this aggressive, off-road tire even more cred with overlanders. In addition to the wide, alternating tread grooves that provide a firmer contact patch to handle changing road conditions, the Fun Country’s reinforced three-ply sidewall offers increased puncture resistance and less tire deformation, making it more capable on tough terrain. Owners will also appreciate the Fun Country’s Tread Wear Warranty, which provides the original purchaser with a pro-rated credit toward the purchase of a new Dick Cepek tire, in the event it wears down before 45,000 miles. A slightly noticeable “whine” at highway speeds is the only negative associated with this highly-capable, aggressive all-terrain tire. Available in 20 sizes to accommodate truck camper rigs of all sizes. www.dickcepek.com
4. Nitto Terra Grappler G2
The Nitto Terra Grappler G2 is another top performer. This all-terrain tire sports a number of new and upgraded features, including staggered shoulder lugs that provide additional biting edges in off-road conditions and an improved computer analyzed tread block arrangement to reduce tire noise at highway driving speeds. The Terra Grappler G2 also features two distinct and bold sidewall designs. One side pays homage to the original Terra Grappler design by incorporating a similar thunderbolt pattern, which has been raised to give it a more aggressive look than its predecessor, while the other side features a brand new “blade” design featuring integrated sidewall lugs that run all the way from the shoulder tread block down to the sidewall. Furthermore, the Terra Grappler G2 is equipped with full depth siping that not only improves traction in wet conditions, but helps maintain the appearance of the tread design as the tire wears. The Grappler G2 comes with a limited treadwear warranty that covers 50,000 miles for LT-metric and flotation sizes, and 65,000 miles for hard metric sizes. www.nittotire.com
5. BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2
Rugged and dependable with good looks to match, the BF Goodrich T/A KO2 is another top contender. Incorporating some of the best features of BF Goodrich’s Baja T/A KR2, the KO2 features a tread design and rubber formulation designed to reduce chips and tears on gravel, as well as a footprint shape and interlocking tread design to offer more balanced wear. Owners will also appreciate the stone ejectors in the design along with the company’s CoreGard Technology, which uses “split- and bruise-resistant” sidewall rubber (derived from the Baja T/A KR2 tire) to ensure further toughness. Mud and snow can also be taken on with confidence thanks to the added side-biter lugs in the sidewall and raised bars in the shoulder to ensure you get through quick and effortlessly. What’s more, the 3-D sipes give added bite when you need it and the T/A KO2 successfully meets the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake requirements. Like all the company’s tires, T/A KO2 has a standard Manufacturer’s Limited Warranty, which covers defects of the life of the original usable tread or for six years from date of purchase. www.bfgoodrich.com
6. Goodyear Wrangler AT Adventure with Kevlar
If you’re looking for a quality, all-terrain tire, the Goodyear Wrangler AT Adventure won’t disappoint. Probably the most impressive feature of this popular tire is the DuPont Kevlar overlay that has been incorporated for added strength, durability and strong traction. Even better, the light truck tire sizes include not one, but two layers of Kevlar, offering 30 percent more steel for enhanced toughness, plus a Severe Snow Conditions Symbol for winter weather driving. To reinforce its toughness, the tire is backed with Goodyear’s Durawall technology for increased tire life and to prevent cuts, nicks or other common damage to the sidewall. You’ll also find more traction—as well as stopping power—with the biting edges and the tread design that has been optimized to offer even pressure distribution across the tire’s footprint for improved mileage and on-road performance. The Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar is available in 27 sizes to accommodate truck camper rigs of all sizes and comes with a 60,000-mile limited warranty. www.goodyear.com
7. Michelin LTX A/T2
The next time you’re thinking about upgrading, you may want to check out a set of Michelin LTX A/T2 tires. One of the highlights of the LTX A/T2 is its optimized contact patch shape, provided by the company’s MaxTouch Construction, which offers extended tire life and added reliability under tough conditions. Two other notable features are Michelin’s light truck rubber compound on its tread block design and the company’s biting edges that work together to handle various surfaces such as mud, loose gravel, dirt, and snow. On-road, highway driving is enhanced with the LTX A/T2’s Comfort Control Technology that reduces road noise and vibrations for quieter, more comfortable drives. Behind the rubber are two steel belts for added durability and resistance against punctures (Load Range D and Load Range E sizes add a third steel belt). Backing the LTX A/T2’s reliability is a 60,000-mile Manufacturer’s Treadwear Limited Warranty and the company’s standard materials and workmanship warranty for treadwear or mileage. www.michelinman.com
8. General Tire Grabber AT2
The General Tire Grabber AT2 is another versatile, all-terrain tire and a popular choice with overlanders. The Grabber AT2 features an aggressive tread pattern consisting of multiple traction edges and five rows of uniquely shaped (and deep) blocks, allowing it to better grip sandy-, gravel-, or snow-covered roads and trails. The tire also sports a double V-shaped tread pattern that not only increases off-road toughness, but also reduces highway noise. In spite of its aggressive tread, the tire runs exceptionally quiet on pavement. Certified with the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake Certification, the Grabber AT2 is also stud-friendly thanks to the small indents throughout the tread that provide more traction in wintry conditions. The Grabber AT2 comes with a 60,000-mile Limited Treadwear Warranty. www.generaltire.com
9. Hankook Dynapro AT-m (RF10)
The Hankook name isn’t as well known as some of the other “big name” brands, but the Dynapro AT-m is starting to change that. This excellent, all-terrain tire not only looks good, but also performs well in all types of conditions. The Dynapro AT-m’s zigzag block edge tire pattern and deep, two-step sipes combine to provide optimum traction in wet or inclement road conditions, while durability is provided by its wraparound tread design, the rim flange protector, and incorporated stone ejectors. The Dynapro also sports a wide footprint to prevent uneven wear—not to mention optimum grip and acceleration on a variety of road conditions. What you don’t see is just as impressive. The AT-m has a reinforced under-tread gauge that prevents internal damage, a reinforced carcass, a rubber gauge (to enhance steep hill climbing and added stability), plus a jointless bead wire to prevent bead separation when driving in low air pressure conditions. Rounding the AT-m is a 60,000-mile mileage warranty for tire sizes ranging from 15 to 18 inches. www.hankooktire.com
Kinda shocked the BFG HD Terrain’s didnt make the list. They are designed for HEAVY loads, and face it, truck campers are always heavy! Load range F keeps you solid on the road and the feel is very comforting. https://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/auto/tire-highlights/hd-terrain-t-a-kt
Check out the Kamari Commandant for a load range F tire. Give an extra margin of safety for carrying truck camper.
I jumped into this thinking it was a new post as it came in an email today, but see it’s now 8 years old!
Are there any newer options to consider, and is this review laid out in order of ‘best to worst’?
My loaded rig has 6700 lbs on the rear axle, (4700 front) and I do a lot of off road driving, so love to get some advice on the best tire for my weight & use.
+1 on Toyo E rated MT or AT. On my 3rd set with zero flats or problems.
I think you should include the Continental TerrainContact in this list, too. I have been using these tires for over a year with excellent performance. They are the quietest AT I have ever used and they perform excellent in rain and on dry pavement. I’ve used them in snow with excellent results even though they do not have the 3PMS symbol. We don’t get a ton of snow here in KY so I don;t really need that kind of snow performance. What we do get here are buckets of rain. Having a tire that sticks to the pavement and sheds water is of paramount importance around here. I have been through 4″-6″ of mud and they pushed right through it. I am super impressed by these tires and would buy them again.
Awesome! No words. You always go one step beyond.
There is so much great, useful information here. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Read our guide if you wish.
Thanks again 🙂
Any recommendations for 20 pounds inch wheels?
I have a Northstar Arrow U on a 2017 Ram 3500 SRW
with stock Firestone Transforce AT (LT285/60R20) tires that are
showing wear and need replacement. Thanks for your advice!
That should read 20 inch wheels (hate auto-correct ?)
GT Radial Adventuro AT3 Tire – 275/70R18 125S
I found this to be an excellent choice and the price is very good. My last set made me go for it again!
I fully agree with the Cooper AT-3 XLT’s as being the over all best choice for a truck camper. However, if you never, ever, go off road with your TC, a 19.5 wheel and tire would be a good choice. But don’t even think about airing them down. For a truck camper, the most important number on the tire is the maximum weight bearing, load limit number. My 315-75R16, 35 inch Coops have a 3860 pound max on Stockton Wheel steel super single ‘Power Wagon’ wheels. @7720 pounds of tire capacity per axle, I’m not close to overload on the tires. But my criteria may be different than yours. I still run 16 inch wheels and tires with a tall sidewall to be able to deflate the tires down to 28, or even 20 pounds if the sand is deep and steep. The AT3’s have large tread blocks and small voids extending the miles per tire and because of the irregular blocks the noise level is low. I’ve used them in sand, mud, snow, and highway use and find the only downside is deep, gooey mud. Only a genuine mud tire with huge voids will work, and even then you need the chops to work them to best advantage. Then again, real mud tires are notoriously noisy and short lived, which gets real old on long highway trips. One other lacking is the AT3’s lack of sexy. In rating all the tires I’ve seen (I’ve had about 45 sets of tires on 13, 4WD’s of all stripes in my lifetime) I take into account the stiffness and strength of the sidewall; longevity; ability to air down; max load; do they fit my super single wheels; weight; noise rating. With all this taken into account, the Cooper AT3’s fit the bill.
jefe
OK, one last time. I would like to offer one more suggestion for those of you who have rigs like mine. I see Steve has mentioned the Goodyear A/T with Kevlar as his number sixth pick. Goodyear Wranglers are well represented in the charts provided by Tire Rack, but as I found out, some Wranglers are not as good as others. The Wrangler that went up against the Continental was the Wrangler Trail Runner A/T. Some people referenced balance issue’s with the Continental. The Trail Runner had no such issue’s. Those of you who may buy the Trail Runner should diffidently buy the LT model, additionally ask for the 5 lug version that displays the snow flake certification. The 4 lug version lacks the certification and the non LT model is not rated for heavy snow. The specifications between the two top performers are very similar. The Continental’s look like more of a street tire where the Wrangler has a noticeable off road look. IMO, either tire would be a big step up from OEM. I like the tread a little more on the Trail Runner so that would be the deciding factor.
Well, some say the third time is the charm. On this search I would have to agree. The tire’s that I previously mentioned are obvious more aggressive than my OEM Michelin’s. The bottom line with my truck is it will spend 90% of it’s life hauling or pulling, not 4 wheeling. With that said a great A/T tire designed for mostly highway use would fulfill my needs. I came across the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 and thought it was a step in the right direction based upon it’s looks and specs but then I noticed there was a category listing all of Tire Racks rated A/T tires. I have always associated Continental’s with BMW’s and Porsche’s not pick up trucks but there it was, the number 1 rated A/T tire that TR sells. The TerrainContact A/T received a 100% rating. The Dueler was around 7 on the list. Both have a slightly more aggressive look than the LTX. Both come in all the standard sizes and both are cheaper than the LTX. Surprisingly the Continental is the cheapest. The 245/75/17 runs 204 apiece. With the exception of a couple reviews that spoke about balancing issue’s the bulk of the reviews praised the Continental’s very highly, hence the rating. For a rig like Mike’s these tires might not be aggressive enough, but for my 8100lb dually they might be just perfect for bridging the gap between street and trail.
They sound good. Would love to see some pics and possibly a review.
So far, I’ve run Cooper STT’s, Nitto Grapplers and most recently, Toyo Open Country 12 ply – load range F’s. Very happy with all tires, and they all had one thing in common: Centramatic auto-balancers http://www.centramatic.com/balancers.rhtml
All my tires were sized 35×12.5×18 and these balancers have 110k miles without any problems. It makes things very easy at tire shops for rotations, as the tech only has to move the tires, with no fiddling with weights. Never worry about throwing weights and effecting balance for highway driving. Only thing I’ve noticed is that after rotation, it takes the balancer about 15 seconds to ‘relearn’ the balance of the new, or rotated tire.
Make sure the tech keeps the balancer on the hub, and not moved with the tire. The balancer for my F350 is marked for front and back for initial installation. No experience with other vehicles, so follow ALL instructions. As you can see on their website, they make them for buses, trailers and even motorcycles.
Mine cost $200, and never having to think about tire balance, driving on a non-balanced spare, the money saved by not having to pay for tire balance, and increased mileage by having tire balance always correct, has paid for them.
After doing a little more research I found 2 tires that might meet my demands. First choice would be the Cooper Discover ST MAXX. The 255/80/17 size is rare but this tire offers that size. Comparing it to the OEM LTX it weighs 58lbs, 14lbs more. The payload is 3185, that’s a gain of 100lbs. The tread pattern is much more aggressive and the cost is 40 bucks less. Unfortunately, the reviews are slightly mixed, much like the more expensive Toyo M55. The BFG KM2 also comes in a 255/80/17. Weight is 54,payload is 3195 and cost is around 270. I have had AT’s and mudders on my jeep with less than expected results. Here is a side note for those of you who own dually’s. The numbers per a web site for 235’s and 255’s were as follows. 235 diameter is 31.8, width is 9.25 and circum is 99.91. The 255’s are 33.06 diameter, 10.4 width and 103.87 circum. I would love to see how that inch and a half gain looks on my truck.
I know I’m late to the party but I did want to thank Steve for the article. I have always been interested in tires, much like battery’s. My GMC came with 6 of the Michelin LTX’s. Performance on the street is fine but off road they leave a lot to be desired. I am looking forward to installing a more aggressive AT tire when the time is right. I normally go to Tire Rack to compare brands. Two things I noticed immediately were the lack of 80 width tires on a 17″ wheel and the fact that 16″ wheels have a much higher payload than 17’s. Don’s endorsement of the Toyo 55’s caught my eye but when I read on, the reviews were all over the place. My biggest challenge will be to find a larger size than 235/80/17 that offers more payload along with a more aggressive tread suitable for street and trail work and that won’t create clearance issue’s. My 17″ wheels appear to be the reason for a limited selection. So far it looks like I will have to change to a 75 size in order to have much of a selection. Thankfully I have plenty of time to shop for the best tire for my truck as well as my needs.
Confirmation bias forces me to mention the tires I chose after a long period of research. Toyo M-55s. My criteria included the lowest probability of ever having a puncture, the mountain/snowflake rating for winter use and long tread life on gravel and off-road. Note that mud, literal rock-crawling and quietness aren’t listed. M-55s are used by logging companies around here (Black Hills), in the U.S. Rockies and in western Canada for fleet pickups. After 20k miles, there’s nothing much to report. They work well, haven’t punctured, and don’t have enough tread wear to show up in a snapshot. Kinda loud. For more info, use Google.
What no Toyos? Wow! Toyo RT in 285/75r18 have a 4080 payload capacity for each tire. Plus rhe AT and MT have sizes with matching or higher capacity. Ive had horrible experience with bfg all terrains on anything bigger than half ton trucks. Handled like it was on marbles.
Chris
This has been my experience as well. I have a set of the Toyo’s and last year completed a 15,000 mile trip from VA to AK and back including the Dalton without one flat. That was running just shy of our MGVR the whole way. I’ll be needing a new set of tires soon and will be buying these again.
Excellent review. I’m still running the tires that came on my 16 Ram 2500 Laramie. At this time I’m starting the search for new tires. Thank you for posting the review.
All great choices and I’ll add one more that may be harder to find but that has worked well for me and many others here in snow country. Not sold as an off road or all terrain tire, the Nokian Rotiiva AT Plus gets the snowflake for winter driving but also works well on gravel, asphalt, mud and various other surfaces. With E rated tires available in many commonly used sized and great tread life these should make the list for consideration when they are available in your area. We have used them on two trips to the south and a trip to Alaska and many local expeditions (probably close to 30,000 miles with the Northstar Igloo on board) and still have 60% tread left. Local contractors swear by them for their work trucks because of the great traction on the worksite and their long life, saving money over the long run over cheaper brands that have to be changed more frequently. Just another data point for consideration.
Thanks, Shawn. Never heard of them. We’ll have to look into them.
Are all of these tires E rated?
Yes!
Mike, the Nokians are pretty common up here in the Northeast and in the Eastern Townships of Canada. You can also find them online but most of the warehouse tire operations don’t seem to carry them, perhaps because of corporate pricing restrictions. Nokian tires are well known in the snow belt for great winter tires. The Rotiivas are E rated, load rated for around 3,700 pounds.