Cooper Rugged Trek

Hello All,
I finally had my tires changed out a little over a week ago. I waited to drive it on all my normal driving so I could determine what changes were happening, if I could notice any thing different, and if I was happy with them. I also took pics to prove that it happened.
I went from the stock Michelin 275/65/R18 to the Cooper Rugged Treks in275/70/R18. I ordered them from my dealer. I also had them mounted, balanced and an alignment done all at the same time. We (my son) chose the "mountain" sidewall pattern. (I know there are a lot of negative comments about dealers online. I assure you, this dealer is a trusted source for me. It is where I purchased the truck, pre owned. It is not a Toyota dealer. Also, my stepfather is the General Manager of the dealership, and has been with the organization for over 20 years. I know how much they made on the sale, I know what I paid, and I am happy)
As for the tires, I absolutely love the look of them! I have noticed better handling performance, in turns and swerves. Handling over bumps and railroad tracks is definitely better. I have tried running 35psi, 40psi, and now 48psi and mid 40s seem to be the best.
I initially recorded a drop of around 3 MPG. I was driving gingerly the first day or two. Once I got back to driving normally and even...more aggressively, the mileage came back up to almost the normal levels.
now on to the pics:
Old tires:


New tires


Mounted and back home!

 

How is the noise with them?

 

Looks awesome! Can’t wait for my ridge grapplers to wear out to get these!!!

hopefully, you are are able to drive them in lots of snow. Keep us posted if so how they perform.

 

I put a set on my Tacoma before I sold it. In the 3 months I had them on, I really liked them. When I go to a larger tire on my Tundra, I will look for a set.

 

I don't know what a "noisy" set of tires sounds like, because I've never had anything but highway tires on a vehicle. These have a VERY slight amount of road noise that can't be heard with the windows up, and audible with the windows down and radio off. Nowhere near as loud as I have heard other trucks that drive past. Supposedly, the tires have a built in Whisper Groove Technology that is to help quiet them down. The noise is perfectly acceptable for me as I generally have the radio on anyways.

 

I'll be happy with one snowstorm, just to see how they do. I wouldn't be upset if it all melts after that and we can get back to springtime! lol
I'll let you know how they do when the snow starts to fly.

 

I have these tires and love them. The noise is very minimal for the aggressiveness of the tread. Haven't done too much off road but the perform well on dry and wet pavement. Just put 300 miles in last weekend in the rain mostly mountain driving. Never felt like I was gonna lose traction. Cant wait to try in the snow.

 

Love the Rugged Treks. Put them on my son’s Tacoma. Performs well in all conditions so far.

 

What prices are people getting for their Cooper Rugged Treks? NTB here in Harrisburg has the "package" installation for $1,755, which includes alignment and lifetime rotation and balance. Seems high to me but I have always bought and managed tires differently. Thanks

 

Best price I found for 275/70 R 18s was just under $300 a tire (from Walmart). I ended up going to a local shop to get them instead of Walmart and paid $4 more a tire. I was $1440 out the door with tires, mount & balance, and an alignment with their 2 year/24k mile protection plan.

 

Got them for about $1300 out the door. I go to a local tire shop not a chain. The guy was about $200 cheaper than everywhere else. But no protection plan or alignment. I dont drive my truck enough to be worried. I drive my company truck during the week. I got an alignment at schwab it was like $100

 

Sounds like the NTB deal is not too high, so long as i use the maintenance they offer, which includes regular alignment and regular tire rotation. Like monthly if I want. My truck is my mobile office, and I’m in it constantly. Log landings, rural gravel roads, woods roads, hauling trailers. So getting this done right is important. Thanks for the info

 

UPDATE... Well, finally have had a few days with some snow around here. Several trips through the 3" of unplowed snow, plowed roads, and a mixture of slushy and icy roads included. I can assure that these tires handle better than the old tires, (obviously...did you see how bald the old tires were) but they are also better than the previous vehicle I've had which had decent highway snow rated tires. How much of that is because of the better vehicle for handling the snow? Not sure, but I am still EXTREMELY happy with these tires. I have already had to have one patched, roughly 20 days after purchase, but they have gotten so many compliments from people, I even had another Tundra owner flag me down at the stop light, Grey Poupon style to ask what brand style and size they were! I hope he got his tires too. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and holiday season!

 

My report on the Cooper Rugged Treks is this: My Tundra crewmax churned its way through icy mushy mud up a long driveway onto a muddy log landing, through and around, and back down again. It’s about as off-road as I care to get, and it’s pretty standard for my work. Last few weeks we have had a substantial amount of snow and ice in central/ Northcentral PA. The Cooper Rugged Treks have churned their way up, and down, steep snowy roads. Have not yet put the chains on, because thus far these new tires (November 2021) have really dug in. They are not noisy on the highway. Mileage has dropped significantly, even with airing up in cold weather, from 20 mpg with street tires to 14.5 mpg with the Coopers.

 

@pamtnman How are these at speed? I have stock tires on my 21 Crewmax and I can go 90+ mph without thinking about it. I was contemplating going to the Cooper AT3 XLT because I know they are closer to a street tire, but the Rugged Trek still carries a 118 mph speed rating. Do you ever get these tires up over 90 mph? How does it feel?

 

In the winter months when these kinds of rugged tread tires are on my pickup trucks, my top speed might be 65-70. Going 90 mph on a muddy, rocky, uneven logging road would be an awesome one-time YouTube hit video. So I can’t answer most of your question. Overall it’s a good enough street tire that requires some effort to turn at low speeds like parking lots, street parking. Not a whole lot of highway noise. Definitely more than my regular highway tires, but quite tolerable.

 

One more Cooper Rugged Treks update: Real icy conditions have required the use of chains. Starting out with chains only on the rear tires, the Tundra in 4WD Low has crawled its way up some pretty treacherous pitches. Coming down was even more exciting. Overall these are very good snow and mud tires.

 

Guys

3 weeks ago I changed the wheels and tires of my tundra, I put the Cooper Rugged 275/70/18, I liked the tires a lot, but I'm finding the driveability very bad after about 65mph, the truck is shaking as if it was unbalanced, the mechanic who mounted the wheels said it's normal for the type of tire, is this true?

 

Not normal, maybe more common. Out of balance or out of round. Have them road force balanced and see if it improves.

 

Tires should not feel bad at any speed. Coopers new rubber compound they are using isn't as good as what's in the Cooper ST MAXX since they were purchased by Bridgestone...but regardless, the tires should be good to go...you may need to rebalance them or flip them around to the other pattern to see...some tires are not always round based on the "law of numbers" they are produced in...What pressure are you running them at? I would stray much past 45psi...if you're int he low 30s, crank them up to 42 and try it...or rotate them and see if that changes anything...new tires, especially now days with places so proud they charge an arm and a leg, should ALWAYS feel true and build your confidence when driving...your mechanic is wrong in my opinion.

 

I’m now at another mechanic to put on the Bilstein 5100 and I will check the tire balance, I was not believing that everyone who uses this kind of tires had this bad experience

I’m using 40psi front and 42psi rear

Thanks guys

 

Cooper was bought by Goodyear

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story...ying-cooper-tire-2-5-billion-deal/4538105001/

 

Yeah no, my Coopers did not behave this way. Something is wrong. By the way, my Coopers are my winter tire. They get pulled in early May and reinstalled in late October.

 

I have 35” rugged trek on my tundra. They took a ton of weight to balance. But they are completely smooth to at least 80mph. Rotate them every 5k. They are an aggressive tire, so they do wear a little different.