First Snow For New Cooper AT3's

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Apr 20, 2014
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Location
Franklin County, PA
Back in August I had a set of Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S installed on my Tacoma. The factory tires at 20K miles were half worn and traction in rain was getting pretty sketchy, not to mention earlier on in the year we had one final winter event and they just did not grip. Bit the bullet and bought a new set.

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They have performed really well in the rain since then, much better than the factory Goodyear Wrangler's ever did even when new. Last week like many others got our first winter storm, this was technically our second, but I didn't have to go to work that day. This storm was a nasty mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain.

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I have to say they did really well. Never did I feel un-confident in traction. I did keep speed slightly lower than posted speed limit. Several icy patches and the truck didn't even wander like before. I did have it in 4HI, but didn't really need it, just wanted to use it. Fairly strait section of road.

Haven't gotten any deep snow, but I feel they'll be fine. I'd rather drive on somewhat fresh powder than the slushy mess they leave on the roads typically.
 
I installed these on my 2013 4xx4 Tacoma in September so I could avoid any shortages etc.

I've had these on my 98 ranger 4x4 with great success.

You may find that there is a wandering as you drive --yes, they grip so any deviation in the road surface will show up, but as you get used to them and the tires get warn in it will subside.

The tire size I have are the stock size 265-65-17 no P in the tire size and i keep them at 32 PSI original PSI is 29 on the door label.

CONVERT

Tom B
 
I installed these on my 2013 4xx4 Tacoma in September so I could avoid any shortages etc.

I've had these on my 98 ranger 4x4 with great success.

You may find that there is a wandering as you drive --yes, they grip so any deviation in the road surface will show up, but as you get used to them and the tires get warn in it will subside.

The tire size I have are the stock size 265-65-17 no P in the tire size and i keep them at 32 PSI original PSI is 29 on the door label.

CONVERT

Tom B

Yea when they were brand new, they definitely handled a little different. Almost too grippy if I say so. I've got about 2500 miles on them now and they've kinda evened out. They don't ride as good as the factory tires, but I'll take it as traction is far better. I've found 33 psi on my truck is the happy spot.
 
Yea when they were brand new, they definitely handled a little different. Almost too grippy if I say so. I've got about 2500 miles on them now and they've kinda evened out. They don't ride as good as the factory tires, but I'll take it as traction is far better. I've found 33 psi on my truck is the happy spot.
My dad has zero complaints about the Cooper AT3 4s on his F150. I did notice that you must keep up on rotations in an X pattern to keep the shoulders from wearing funny.
It seems like a lot of these mild A/T tires have some quirks - whether it is tramlining, wear issues, unable to stay balanced, etc.

I am considering a set for my truck, but I have zero need for off-road or even dirt road capabilities. It seems like I would be better off staying with a true highway tire.
 
It seems like a lot of these mild A/T tires have some quirks - whether it is tramlining, wear issues, unable to stay balanced, etc.

I am considering a set for my truck, but I have zero need for off-road or even dirt road capabilities. It seems like I would be better off staying with a true highway tire.

Yea I would usually only need a set of highway tires, but they're getting worse about keeping the roads clear. So I decided to get something with the 3 peak symbol (or whatever it is, I'm tired, lol).
 
It seems like a lot of these mild A/T tires have some quirks - whether it is tramlining, wear issues, unable to stay balanced, etc.

I am considering a set for my truck, but I have zero need for off-road or even dirt road capabilities. It seems like I would be better off staying with a true highway tire.
The best results from a mild AT I’ve seen has been from the Continental Terrain Contact AT. I never sold any that the customer was not pleased with long term.

But how much better would they handle light snow, wet grass or slightly muddy conditions than say a Defender Ltx or the General HTS60? That’s a question I don’t really have an answer for.
 
The best results from a mild AT I’ve seen has been from the Continental Terrain Contact AT. I never sold any that the customer was not pleased with long term.

But how much better would they handle light snow, wet grass or slightly muddy conditions than say a Defender Ltx or the General HTS60? That’s a question I don’t really have an answer for.
Judging by the long-term reviews on Tirerack, it looks like the Terrain Contact suffer the same issues that a lot of A/T tires do - they're great for the first 1/2 of their treadlife, then they have a sharp dropoff in traction, more noise and balance issues.
 
I don't have the AT3 4S but have the AT3 LT version on my F150 for the last 4 years and about 20K on them, still well over 1/2 tread left. I have no complaints during the bad winter conditions. Made this through the blizzard and snow storms the past week without any issues while traveling in the rural areas for holiday gatherings. They do like to throw the rocks on the gravel roads.

The only thing is that they do seem to break loose very easily with my F150 with the 3.5L ecoboost. I think this is mostly because my rear end is light being an ext cab short box. I put 280lbs of sand bags in my box and that has helped quite a bit.

Agree with the previous poster about making sure to do tire rotation to keep the edges from wearing funny.
 
I've had these on since the fall of '15 and never had an issue. I might have about 30k on them (I drive it a lot less since I got the 5.0). They still have tread, but due to age, will be replaced some time this year. No snow, but I've been on dirt roads and a very small bit of 4x4ing. No problem. A little bit of noise on the freeway and that's to be expected from an AT tire. I'd recommend them to anyone.
 
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