Any thoughts on Hercules A/T or M/T tires?

Hercules tires seem to fly under the radar. I never heard of them until I saw a set of Hercules Terra Trac II on a truck at work at few years ago. They seemed pretty good - I drove on them for a whole year through all four seasons. Not many shops sell Hercules tires, and those that do say it's often to fleets, small business and farm/agriculture, and a few consumers in the general public.

I'm trying to whittle down my list of tires so I can finally make a decision. There are very few reviews on Hercules tires. It's nice to see that those people who have them really like them, but when there are (what seems like) less than 100 reviews online for each specific model of Hercules AT and MT tires and literally thousands for AT and MT tires from Falken, General, etc or tens of thousands for Cooper, Toyo, BF Goodrich, etc, you're more likely to get a large enough sample size to hear from everyone who loves them, hates them, is indifferent and the fanboys. (You don't see Hercules fanboys like you do BFG, Falken, etc). Maybe Hercules tires are seen as more of an appliance? People aren't getting excited about them like other brands?

As for price point, they seem to come in a bit higher than the (usually off-shore) entry level brands but not as expensive as the bigger, well known brands. Saving money is great, but not if safety is at stake - which I don't think it is with Hercules. I believe they're made by Cooper in the US and owned by American Tire Distributors. But even big, reputable companies can make duds, or make a tire that excels in one area but lacks in another, because you can never have a tire that's perfect at everything.

I'm considering, in LT275/65R18:

Hercules Terra Trac II (All-Terrain tire with 3 peak mountain snowflake, nice feature though I run a set of studded winter tires from mid-November to mid-January for the worst of winter)

Hercules Terra Trac T/G Max (Commercial traction, all-season, hybrid/AT)

Hercules Terra Trac M/T (Mud Terrain, all-season)

I'm most interested in the Terra Trac T/G Max (NOT the one I had experience drivng on). It looks like it would give just a bit better traction in mud without being as loud as a mud tire and still giving decent dry and wet road manners on paved roads/highways though the Terra Trac II would probably be a bit better for that since it has more sipes.

If anyone knows how many plies the sidewalls have please let me know. Hercules does not publish this on their website. The tire shops I called didn't know, or said they would get back to me but didn't (I guess they didn't have any in stock to look at the sidewall). I've searched online and found one tire review that mentioned the Terra Trac II has a two ply sidewall, but not sure about the T/G Max or the M/T. I found an email address on the Hercules website so I sent my question to them, about the number of sidewall plies, but just in case they don't reply, or it takes a while, I though I'd ask here in case anyone knows. Thanks!

 

I use the terra trac II on my work truck. They ride nice and are quiet. I only get about 30,000 miles out of them though.

 

We got about 30,000 miles on the Terra Trac II on the F150 at work. I didn't keep track of it, the tires were on it when I started working there but were fairly new, we drove quite a bit, in just over a year they were ready for replacement. Probably could have gone a bit longer, but it was a work truck and winter was approaching again, so for liability reasons they changed the tires again. I forget which brand, it wasn't Hercules though. They probably went with whichever was the best deal.

The Terra Trac II is probably the most popular light truck tire from Hercules because it's an All-Terrain tire with a 3 peak mountain snowflake and not too aggressive of a tread to be loud, but aggressive enough to handle gravel roads, light off roading, farms (as long as it's not driving through muddy fields). We took the F150 with the Terra Trac II tires on highways, rough back roads, gravel roads, dirt roads, farms but nothing hardcore. We towed trailers, drove year round though the winters here aren't that bad and by boss didn't want us driving until a day after it snowed so the roads would be cleared if it was really nasty.

Yeah, so far everyone seems to like them, the Terra Trac II seems to be the most popular. Hoping to hear if anyone used the T/G Max and MT versions too. And if anyone knows how many plies the sidewalls have on those tires.

 

While going through some of the YouTube reviews on the Hercules Terra Trac T/G Max, I finally found one where the small print on the sidewall of the tire was clear enough to read, for a split second. This is on a LT285/70R17 but presumably it has the same amount of plies as on other sizes, namely my size, LT285/65R18. For a commercial traction tire that's promoted as being cut and chip resistant to hold up to construction sites, work sites, etc, I was surprised to see that it's only a 2 ply sidewall (polyester). Perhaps they're thicker than normal plies? Must be considering the market they're targeting it towards. Or maybe that's how they keep the price lower?

Here's the video about one second before he shows the info on the sidewall: https://youtu.be/V8uk2S2tuCA?t=99

I was sure the Terra Trac T/G Max was going to have a 3 ply sidewall. Maybe this is why Hercules doesn't publish that information? They're afraid people will dismiss the tire as not being up to the task of a commercial traction tire that can hold up to cuts and chips in a work environment. I have to admit, I'm a bit skeptical. Other commercial traction tires like the Toyo Open Country CT and Cooper ST Maxx are 3 ply. The BFG KO2, and General Grabber ATX which are not commercial traction tires, just regular All-Terrain tires, have a three ply sidewall (although many All-Terrain tires have just a two ply sidewall). One of the reasons I'm considering a commercial traction tire is for the peace of mind that if it can hold up to heavy duty commercial work environments, it should hold up to my own less severe use. I usually travel alone, and I'm not the most able-bodied person out there, so anything I can do to minimize the risk of a tire puncture is very appealing. I enjoy venturing off the main road sometimes, and even a good 3 ply tire can get an unexpected sidewall puncture, so the thought of trusting a 2 ply tire is a bit worrisome. Yes, if I'm careful and don't go too far off the dirt road I should be fine, but that's not what I wanted. Maybe I need to pay a bit more and get a 3 ply tire from another manufacturer? Then again, lots of people drive around on two ply tires and never get a sidewall puncture while off-roading. Maybe they're lucky? I hate to count on luck. No tire is indestructible - even three ply tires are not immune to sidewall punctures, but I believe they are less prone.

That's too bad, because I really liked the Hercules Terra Trac T/G Max. I'll wait and see what reply (if any) I get from Hercules. Maybe their two plies are as thick and strong as other tires three plies? From another review, it seems the Terra Trac II also has a two ply sidewall. Based on this, I wonder if their Mud Terrain tire also has a two ply sidewall?

Not that I'm trying to be a killjoy, but on one hand I found it great that everyone who reviewed Hercules tires had nothing but (mostly) positive things to say, with a relatively small number of reviews I thought it might not be a large enough sample size to accurately judge its reputation, as no product is ever that good that everyone is totally satisfied. Finally found one negative review in another YouTube video on the Hercules Terra Trac T/G Max, he a set on an F150, "after 15K they were so loud with road noise and cupping bad, all new front end components and 2 rotations...traded them in for the AT's."

 

I had the terra trac ii on my 4runner and they performed really well in all weather. I towed a pop up camper for thousands of miles on them and never had an issue at all. Put about 35k on them before the 4runner got totaled.

 

Hercules are made by Cooper. Cooper's 3 ply technology is called ArmorTek and used on the Discoverer line tires, not on Hercules. Cooper also makes Dean tires. No 3 ply either. Hercules and Dean are Cooper's brands sold by Independent tire dealers. You can get Dean's at Les Schwab for example. Hercules can usually be ordered at your local smaller one off Independent tire shops. There's a reason similar sized Hercules will cost less than Cooper Discoverer ST Maxx for example. Costs more to make the ST Maxx. Top quality materials. Doesn't mean Hercules suck, just cheaper to manufacture.

 

From all accounts, it seems most people who buy Hercules tires are happy with them. But, it sounds like none of the Hercules tires are 3 ply. It probably would be just fine in most circumstances, but I'd rather have that extra safety margin since I do go off road sometimes and would like to do so even more. That's where a 3 ply tire is most beneficial. If I were mostly driving on paved or gravel roads, with little chance of harming the sidewalls, a 2 ply tire would be fine. So, I'll have to increase my tire budget a bit and get a 3 ply tire like the Cooper ST Maxx. Or, pick one of the otherwise great 2 ply tires but not do any serious off roading that could cause sidewall punctures.

 

Getting (4) Hercules Terra-Trak TG-MAX put on tomorrow....(305/70 R18) plus an alignment after the 3" lift.....will post PICS this weekend

 

FYI, Hercules is a brand owned by ATD or American Tire Distributors. They are the largest independent distributor in the nation. Tires were being made by cooper, but not necessarily anymore. Nexen had the contract for output for a while and the quality increased significantly. It’s been a few years since I’ve had privy to this info so it may have changed a bit since.
Note, Nexen’s capacity for tires above 33” has been pretty limited as their factories were not designed to handle them. So above that size will likely come out of another manufacturer.

 

Also, regarding ply ratings... tire manufacturing has changed drastically over the last decade, which is why ply numbers have changed drastically. Officially most tires have reduced their ply count. A E rated tire used to be almost always 10 ply, yet now it has dropped to 2 thanks to better construction technics (weaving vs layering for example). For the average buyer being concerned about ply rating is a waste of time. Focus in on P vs Lt, overall weight, utqg, weight capacity, and long term recent reviews.
Unfortunately tire manufacturers have really gotten away with way too much, stating it is proprietary information. Personally wish that requirements would be made for declaring rubber and component compositions.

 

So Far, I LIKE'EM ALOT!!!!

 

I used a set on my Tacoma once. The Terra trac R/S ATs. They where great handling especially in snow and gravel but they wore kind of fast