Kanati Trail Hogs

Last week, I unexpectedly had to replace my Tundra's tires (see my most recent thread in here). For a variety of reasons related to tire construction, planned use, and budget, I decided on the Trail Hogs. I went with E rated 37x12.50r17s, which is the same size I had previously with my Dick Cepek Fun Countrys, which were D rated. The tires arrived yesterday and went on this morning.

My first impression of these tires is very good. On my RW wheels they measure 36.65" tall and exactly 12.5" wide, which is slightly taller and narrower than the Cepeks. Discount Tire blew them up to 52psi, I'm not sure why they always do that. I dropped them down to 35, and the side walls didn't flex much. The contact patch still isn't quite what I want so I'll probably try dropping them to 30psi, which is what I had in the Cepeks.

The first thing I noticed was how light the steering is compared to before. I'm not sure why that is, because my half worn Cepeks were about 75# each, and the brand new Trail Hogs are 73#. The other thing I noticed is these new tires are smooth as warm butter on the road. On the Cepeks, my truck had a nasty grinding-like growl at 30-60mph that was getting worse. I felt it in the floor boards. I thought I had a bad bearing or CV axle, but no, that is completely gone now with the Trail Hogs, so it must've been something with the Cepeks.

The other thing is that these tires are so quiet. They're more aggressive than KO2s, which I had in 35s earlier this year, but they're noticably quieter. They are dramatically quieter than the Cepeks.

I will continue to update this thread at intervals with my evolving thoughts on these tires (and better pictures) but I'm expecting to love them.

 

52 is actually very close to what an e rated tire should have on a tundra.
I hope you have good luck with them. I however prefer name brand only tires on my vehicles. They are the only thing between me (and my family) and the road and I prefer not to gamble with lower quality tires.

 

How have they been holding up @BlackSheep ? Seriously considering these or the Patagonia XT

 

Kanati is a sister company to Goodyear, I'd run these if I didnt snag some goodyears off of craigslist.

 

I ran Kanati Trail Hogs for a while. Rotated every 5k. They got to be unbearable. Really loud as they wore. Had some cupping begin. I liked them early on, but did not have long term success with them. Had about 20K on them when I sold them on Craigslist. I would not go back to them. Maybe I just had a bad set. Hopefully, you will have better luck with them.

 

So far, I have 3,400 miles on them. They appear to be pretty evenly worn all around (some of you tire experts may see something different in the pics below), but the rears are wearing a hair faster than the fronts, perhaps I should ease off the gas
When I got them, they measured about halfway between 17/32" and 18/32" on my gauge, though Kanati's website says they are supposed to be 18/32". The rears are now a tick above 15/32" and the fronts are right at 16/32". Soooo...if they continue wearing at that pace, and I don't have any issues with them, I guess I could expect to get about 34,000 miles out of them by the time they have 3/32" left. I am doing a five tire rotation, so I multiplied my four tire mileage estimate by 1.25 to get this. Not that impressive. I drive nearly all city miles on pretty damn rough roads, FWIW, but so far, no cuts or chunked off tread blocks. I've definitely curb checked and scraped the sidewalls on some rocks, and they are holding up well.

They seem to be a few decibels louder now than when I first got them in September. I'm not sure if it's because they are starting to wear, or because the pavement is colder and harder in the winter. Still not nearly as bad at the MT/Rs or Cepeks I had on the Tundra, probably a little louder now than the 35" KO2s I had for a while.

They still run smooth and steer pretty easily. I checked my pressure the other day for the first time this winter (oops). With the colder temps they have dropped from the 30psi I had set them to in the fall. Now they measure 26-27psi. I probably ought to bump them back up to 30psi. I'm not sure what a higher pressure would do for the pace of wear. I know my contact patch would get narrower, so I imagine the center tread would wear pretty fast.

Here are some pics, with close-ups of both driver side tires, if that helps...

driver front




passenger front


driver rear




passenger rear

 

Thanks man!

 

Time for an update. I've put about 4,500 miles on these tires in the six months I've had them, so I took them to Discount Tire to have them re-balanced and rotated for the first time. First thing they noticed was a screw sticking out of one of them, right at the edge of the tread. Fine, ok, that BS can happen to anyone. Hell, it happened to my last set of tires, although I have no f***ing idea how a screw lying flat on the road goes into the tire at that angle. Discount said it was too close to the sidewall to repair, I don't know if it is or not.


I took it out when I got home, and it was in the tire about 1/2". Removing it didn't release any air. I'm not sure about keeping the tire and trying to keep using it, but I'm definitely wishing I'd have bought the tires from Discount and got the certificates to replace it.

Second thing they noticed, which I had also noticed, is that my fronts were wearing faster than the rears. They were all wearing pretty fast for only 4,500 miles. The rears are down 2/32" and the fronts are down 3/32". I attribute this to all the slow speed turning I do on city streets, since nearly all my miles are on those, not highways or off road.

The third thing they said they noticed is some slight cupping developing on the fronts. I understand this is typically an indicator of worn out suspension components. I have nearly brand new coilovers, they only have 8k miles on them, so I don't know how this could be my problem. Maybe they used the wrong term, maybe they meant patchy wear. I could see this being the issue, as for the past couple months I have noticed some steering wheel wobbliness at about 50mph, so I probably had at least one tire out of balance. But that still shouldn't happen with such new tires, IMHO, as I hadn't lost any weights.

So, overall, I'm none too impressed with these. They perform fine on wet or dry pavement, hold their own off road, and look great, but given these early issues I don't think they're going to last me very long. For all five, I spent $1,185, plus the cost for lifetime mount and balance at Discount. Perhaps they last me 20k, I don't know. I was hoping to get 35k out of all five, but that doesn't sound realistic anymore. Bottom line is, I'd have rather spent more money on some Cooper STT Pros or Toyo R/Ts if it would have meant not having these issues.

 

They didn't advertise what mileage you should get out of them or did I miss that fact reading over this thread? Im about to join the dirty seven club, ordered 4 Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT from discount for only a couple hundred more than you spent. I'm hoping to get the 60-65 thousand miles out of them that they advertise. I guess just keep rotating them every 5k and maybe take turns slower? I noticed my Duratracs really started cupping when I drive my truck like a sports car.

 

2nd rotation update: I have 9,000 miles on these tires now. I'm much happier now than I was at my last rotation. I just got back from a trip to Crested Butte and Breckenridge, where I finally took the truck off the pavement. While a little noisy on the highway (but not bad, considering the aggressive tread pattern), these tires still ride well. They feel smooth on pavement and light on the steering wheel. I was also impressed with how they performed on the trail. I had them aired down to about 28psi and was able to go a long way up a steep, rocky trail in 2WD before switching to 4LO.

All five now have 14/32" tread depth remaining. They seem to have worn less since my first rotation than they did in the first 4,500 miles I put on them. They started with 18/32". So, at that rate, if they continue to wear evenly, I guess I should be able to get about 34k out of them, which is in the range of what I had hoped when I bought them.

 

DuraKO2?

 

Not hating, they look good.

 

Pretty much lol. I've seen them described that way before. They held up well in the rocks! I didn't try to spare them, and am surprised at how unscathed they are afterwards.

 

So you're getting 39x12.50r17 Mud hogs next, right?

 

dammit, what have you done

 

Time for another update...I had these rotated a couple weeks ago, hard to believe it has only been 4,500 miles since last July. I even took the truck to Colorado and eastern Wisconsin since then. Not much has changed in their performance. They might be a touch louder than last summer, but it's hard to say. They're sitting at 12/32" remaining, so I'm still on track to get about 34-35k out of them, barring any issues.

Discount Tire had to balance them twice for me this time, as I had a terrible shake after the first attempt. They said there was some error made in the input of the road force balancer, and that they fixed it the second time around. After that, I still had a noticeable shake around 55mph until I aired them down to 30 psi from the 50psi that Discount inflated them to when they balanced them. Lowering the PSI has all but gotten rid of the shake I was feeling.

 

25k mile update on these tires. I just had them rotated again a few days ago, still doing the five tire rotation. I think my previous balancing job done by Discount Tire was poorly done, because I had a bad steering wheel shake that was noticeable from 50-65mph. It was the oddest thing...driving down the highway, the wheel would wobble for a little while, then go away for a little while, then come back. And it seemed to diminish when I was going around a curve. I just dealt with it, but now that shake appears to be gone entirely, after having the tires balanced again and rotated.

The tires are wearing pretty evenly. They're all around 10-11/32" tread remaining. One tire has some cupping going on, but it doesn't seem too bad. They are fairly noisy, but not getting louder, at least that I can tell. I think they still ride comfortably. I've been leaving them at 50psi for a while now. I'm sure that will cause the center tread to wear faster than the outside, but so far it's not noticeable. Based on my previous update, they've only worn about 2/32" in the past 10k miles. At that rate, and barring any issues that require immediate replacement, I think I might be able to get over 40k out of these, instead of the 35k I thought initially.

I haven't taken them off road in a long time, so I can't comment on their performance in that environment. I've driven a lot on snow and ice this winter, and overall, I've been happy with the traction they provide there. I have not had any flats or issues losing air pressure. I haven't noticed any tread blocks chunking or cracking, either. The rubber seems to be holding up well on these crappy Missouri roads.

 

30k mile update on the Trail Hogs. Still pretty happy with them, they seem to be holding up well. I have not had them rotated and balanced since my 25k mile update. I probably should, because I'm noticing a little excessive inside tread wear on the fronts, but I might just rotate them myself and not have them rebalanced unless I notice new shaking after rotating them. I occasionally get some shaking at highway speeds but it's very inconsistent and sometimes I think it's just the pavement. The two fronts have 9/32" tread remaining, the rears have 10/32" and 11/32". They seem to be wearing slower as they age, but I'm not sure. They have a lot of tread left. The siping in the center blocks is all but gone, and I have noticed a decline in wet traction. I'm still keeping them at 50psi, so I could probably lower it a bit and gain some of that back. I don't notice them being any louder as they wear down. They are three years old now, and I'm starting to see some hairline cracking around the base of the tread blocks, so I don't know if I'll fully wear them out before I need to replace them, since I only drive about 10k miles a year.

 

I'm glad to hear your experience has been good so far. My truck came with 33x12.5R20 Mud Hog M/T so I've been worried if they were decent tires or not since I've never heard of the brand. You've made me feel better about not pulling the trigger just yet on another brand.

 

Had DT rotate and balance the tires today. Despite not doing a five tire rotation like I requested, I think this is the best balance job they’ve done so far on these tires. They drive so smooth at all speeds now, probably the smoothest they’ve been yet. With as much tread as they have remaining, I’m starting to think that I might get close to 50k out of these. I’m already happy with the purchase, if I get that much from them, I’ll be very pleasantly surprised.

 

Can't believe it's been a year and a half since I last updated here. I now have about 49k on these tires and they still have about 1/4" tread left on them. I occasionally have a steering wobble but it has not gotten any worse with added wear on the tires and actually, since my previous update here, all the balance jobs they have done at DT have resulted in less of a wobble than I used to have, so I am pleased with that. I think they have gotten louder as they have worn, but I am not certain because the wearing is such a gradual process and it's not like a have a decibel reader in the truck, so I don't know if my perceptions have changed or if the noise level is different. I have noticed I spin the tires more than I used to, which I partially attribute to 5.29 gears and partially to decreased traction. The siping on the center tread blocks is gone, as it was only about half the tread depth to begin with. Early on with these tires, I would run them at about 30psi to get a good contact patch, but for the past 20k or so I have left them at what DT airs them up to at each rotation, which I think is 52psi. So the centers are wearing faster than the shoulders, oh well.

I've been doing a five tire rotation, though not without some difficulty thanks to screws being in a couple of them close enough to the sidewall that DT won't touch them anymore. It has been 5k since my last rotation and balance and I am not sure if I will take them back to DT again since they will only balance the other three and may not even put one with a screw in it back on the truck.

I will keep these tires going until I have to replace two of them for not holding air or until the ride quality becomes bad or until the tread wears out, which ever comes first. I will not buy another set, but overall I am pretty happy with their performance. Definitely a good value.

 

I am retiring these tires today. I have not rotated them in over 10k miles now and the front two have worn faster on the inside shoulders than the outside. The tread there is nearly gone on both. Wound up getting a little over 55k out of them.

 

New thread to document next set of tires, Hankook DynaPro XTs, here: Hankook DynaPro XT