tires for gravel roads

I recently bought a 2014 Explorer Sport. I don't do much off-road driving, but I need to drive on logging roads. Everyone seems to agree that the tires it came with, Hankook H429s, which are only 4 ply, are not well suited to logging roads and that I am likely to suffer flats if I use them. I therefore looked into buying more rugged tires. To my surprise, both an independent tire dealer and the Ford dealership tell me that no more rugged tire is available for my Explorer. I find this hard to believe - surely a common use of SUVs is on rough roads, or off road. Is there really no more rugged tire available?

 

[RangerX]

Yeah, seems hard to believe. What is your exact tire and rim size?

Welcome to the forum!

 

[CDW6212R]

Welcome, and there are many tougher tires, for most SUV sizes. Try the Cooper AT3 LT, that's a newest model which is 10 or 11 ply and made for gravel roads. I'm aiming for that in a 245/70/16 next Spring I expect, that's a $150 tire size.

 

[Bill Poser]

Yeah, seems hard to believe. What is your exact tire and rim size?

Welcome to the forum!

The current tires are Hankook H426s: P255/50R20 104H. That is the manufacturer's specification.

 

[CDW6212R]

Cooper has a Discoverer SRX and Discoverer CTS tire in that size. I don't know what other brands carry, I only checked the Cooper brand. Both of those are 109H tires, which is stronger than the 104H, but they don;t say how many plies, 5, 7, 11 etc.

 

[toypaseo]

One of the only tires in that size I would consider being somewhat off-road is the Michelin Defender LTX M/S.

Maybe this thread, Tire size for 2014 Ford Explorer sport might be helpful, if you could minus-size your wheel size, to get better tire options.

 

[BKennedy]

I looked up your tire size on discounttire.com and there are over 50 different tires made in that size available.

 

[boominXplorer]

I'd change wheels to a smaller diameter to widen your options and make them more affordable.

 

[Bill Poser]

I'd change wheels to a smaller diameter to widen your options and make them more affordable.

The Ford dealership considered going down to 18 inches, which he thought would do the trick, but then reported that there still wasn't anything suitable.

 

[boominXplorer]

Are you on gravel roads year round? Police interceptor wheels are 17" and are steel so they would be stronger than the aluminum wheels but are not the best looking compared to aluminum wheels. I don't think 17" aluminum wheels will clear your brakes.

 

[Bill Poser]

Are you on gravel roads year round? Police interceptor wheels are 17" and are steel so they would be stronger than the aluminum wheels but are not the best looking compared to aluminum wheels. I don't think 17" aluminum wheels will clear your brakes.

Most of the time I am driving in town or on paved highway, but now and then I have to make long trips on logging roads. In the winter that means snow and ice, with the gravel underneath, so my present concern is really more for the warmer months.

The guy at the Ford dealership told me that he considered going down to 17" but decided it was not a good idea with the Explorer. I don't care whether it looks spiffy so steel would be fine.

 

[karlos2]

Michelin LTX M/S2. They are pricey btu wear like iron.

 

[CDW6212R]

Michelin LTX M/S2. They are pricey btu wear like iron.

BS, I wore out two sets in about 20 months. I bought nine and have one left as a spare(it's half gone).

 

[SeventhAlkali]

IMO, I love the Hankook Dynapro AT/M's. I've used them on my explorer on 6 inches of snow on gravel roads, and it didn't slip all that much, if at all. That was my experience with them. They wear slowly for an all terrain too

 

[SeventhAlkali]

I'd do what everyone else said. The link toypaseo gave was useful, the 2nd comment gave the size of P255/60 R18 the same size as your current wheels (rims and tires). Most, if not all tires in your current wheel size will be Highway Terrain. Search up tires in size 255/60 R18 and then 255/50R20. I haven't seen all-terrain in your size, only highway terrain and winter tires. If you look at P255/60 r18, there are 4 All-terrain variants that I've seen. Winter tires wouldn't be your best option either since you also have warmer months, so grippy tires that are also all-season would be your best bet. If it also has a M+S rating (mud and snow), that's even better, but not necessarily required.

Here's a quick search on discount tire: https://www.discounttire.com/fitmen...es&diameter=18&width=255&aspectRatio=60&text=

(The Dynapro's are there)

 

[RBNASLT]

Nitto Terra Grappler G2's work well with the Explorer. I had a set on my 2015 Limited and they worked great on two tracks and my hunting property.