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When you’re looking for tires for your truck, you have so many options to choose from, though of course, different tires are good for different things a truck can do. In a similar way to wheels, tires really shape the way our trucks perform as they’re at the very end of that big chain of energy transfer. There are many great tire manufacturers out there, but Cooper Tires seem to stand out in a special way with its unique approach to customer satisfaction.
Cooper Tires produces several lines of tires more specifically tailored to suit the specific needs of different customers who use their trucks for different types of activities in different types of locations. The company has a strong dedication to helping you stay safe out on the road and also off the beaten path. They prove that with the unique technology used on their tires.
Cooper Tires offers much more than simply all-terrain and mud-terrain when it comes to the world of full-size pickup trucks. Cooper Tire’s severe-duty pickup tire options will have diesel owners feeling like kids in candy stores. We stopped by the Cooper Tire booth at the 2019 SEMA Show and talked with on- and off-road product manager Aaron Conrow for more information on what makes these tires stand out.
Evolution M/T
The Evolution M/T is a tire built specifically for off-road pickup trucks. While delivering outstanding performance for the mud terrain, it’s a very durable tire for dirt and gravel roads as well, and the secret is in the tire’s sidewall.
“The sidewall on the tire is all about abrasion resistance and puncture resistance,” said Aaron. He also pointed to the high void areas on the sides in the tire’s tread. “We call these mud slingers. They’re going to sling out the mud and be highly capable whether you’re on the farm or on a muddy dirt road. It’s just going to work great.”
Also unique about this tire’s tread construction is the scalloped edges; it doesn’t just show off stylish looks, but it also provides extra grip in loose soil terrain to help you get out of any difficult muddy situation you may find yourself in.
Standing out on the Evolution M/T are the large, roughly 20/32-inch deep tread blocks for much longer lasting wear. The tire is also extremely cut- and chip-resistant, thanks to stone ejectors at the bottom of the void areas all throughout the tread.
“This avoids the stone drilling that can cause mayhem with your tire,” Aaron added. “You do not want that stone to drill down, get to your belts, get rusted, and then hurt the integrity of the tire.”
This is unlike many other mud tires out there as the rocks aren’t getting chunked up in the tread. The tire is even studdable for extra grip in the hazardous winter driving conditions. “A lot of our customers are in mountain areas like in Colorado, and they need to get over mountain passes in the winter months where they’ll need to be able to put in studs so their tires can work and perform throughout the year.” The new Evolution M/T comes in 12 sizes for wheels ranging in size from 15 to 20 inches.
Discoverer S/T MAXX and Discoverer STT PRO
Cooper Tire does well catering to different customer groups with the Discoverer tires, including the S/T MAXX and the STT PRO. The former is designed for enhanced off-road traction for work trucks that need to navigate into remote worksites, while the latter is designed for consumers who engage in extreme off-roading and mountain climbs for recreation. Both lines are built with the Armor Tek3 sidewall, which has a third ply that’s distinctively angled to provide advanced puncture resistance. The Discoverer STT PRO has lugs on its sidewall that help make it superior for rock crawling (even in slick, wet conditions), while the Discoverer S/T MAXX has a continuous sidewall pattern with an extra layer of rubber for puncture and abrasion resistance.\
“The S/T MAXX is more for the remote drives where you’re on gravel continuously,” Aaron said. “It’s also more of a hybrid design as opposed to a traditional M/T design used on the STT PRO, but both are supremely capable in terms of just being a great all-season product as well.”
The Discoverer STT PRO features large void areas, scalloped edges for strong traction in loose soil, and mud release dimples to help loosen the mud. “All of these are subtle elements that really help with mud traction,” the product manager added.
The PRO also features a special pattern that helps reduce some of the noise you experience on mud tires. In general, the PRO is a superior all-around performer for extreme off-roading.
Both tire lines now come with a few new sizes: three new load range F sizes in the Discoverer STT PRO (35X12.50R20LT, LT305/55R20, and LT305/60R18) and one in the Discoverer S/T MAXX (35X12.50R20LT). Because of their load range, they are specifically designed for three-quarter-ton and larger pickups. All-new 20-inch sizes have a 125 load index, and the 18-inch size has an index of 126. If you’re upgrading your rims to 20-inch sizes, these tires are designed to keep the 80 psi rating of your original tires!
Mastercraft Tires
The Mastercraft tire line has a similar application-specific focus to the Discoverer with the Courser MXT and CXT tires; the Courser MXT is designed more for extreme off-roading like the Discoverer STT PRO, while the Courser CXT is designed for work truck use on remote worksites like the Discoverer S/T MAXX. The tread patterns and sidewall construction are also similar for each respective tire. However, the Mastercraft series also has a new Courser AXT model: the AXT2.
“AXTs are very well-liked in the tire industry for just being a sold performer all-around,” said Aaron.
The Courser AXT2 is an A/T tire with an all-around, yet aggressive tread pattern that provides a nice, quiet ride, but it also adds elements that are more characteristic of mud tires for better off-road traction, such as sidebiters and scalloped edges. The deep tread grooves and sipes on the tire also help for superior snow traction performance. The tire even features chamfered edges built to resist cutting and chipping.
Noteworthy Tires
From these product lines, you can see that Cooper Tires has a tremendous attention to detail when it comes to designing tires. The tread design patterns and sidewall construction are probably the most noteworthy aspects of their tires, which are great at helping them to be strong in their specialties, but well-rounded for various terrains in general. Diesel pickups are used for various walks of life, as some owners use them for construction, farming, or landscape work; some use them for hardcore off-roading; and others simply use them as daily drivers. Cooper Tires does well catering to those walks of life, and even more so with their new upgrades. If you’re looking for a tire from a company that truly understands what keeps you connected on the road, it’s time to take a closer look at Cooper Tires.