My experience with Nitto Terra Grappler's on an XJ

I was in the market for some new tires a few weeks back, my Goodyear MT/Rs just weren't cutting it for my mostly city driving. I loved how they looked but they were just too luggy for me. I used to have Nitto tires on a Camaro and I really liked them then so I decided to try something different and I looked into what they had to offerin an AT tire. Their Terra Grappler tires seemed to be a good equivalent to what I needed, and the specs looked right. The problem was, when I started to look around on the boards that I frequent or lurk on (like this one) for some reviews, I couldn't get solid feel for what people thought of them. I think it is because they there weren't enough folks out there who were willing to bite the bullet and give them a try. Well, the reason that I am posting this is because I did bite the bullet on a set and wanted to maybe share what I thought about them with anyone else out there who is looking to get the same tire but aren't sure if they will like it.

First of all, my Jeep has a 3" lift and Rubicon tires. As you probably know, 245/xx/16 tires are standard for that wheel, but the Nitto Terra Grappler's smallest size is 265/75/16. I figured that would still be enough clearance so I ordered a set up. Once they were installed, I took them out for a spin (naturally) and I was pretty impressed. They rode VERY smooth and VERY quiet. I was immediately happy with them. Going from the chunky MT/Rs to this was like going from a dirt road to fresh pavement. They gripped well, they handled well and they looked pretty damn good. The tread pattern is deceptively aggressive for how smooth and quiet they are. Sweet, I knew I made the right choice!

Until...

I went to pull into my driveway and like most driveways, there is a slight grade to it. I pulled in like I have for the past 7 years and RRUUUBBBBB!! WTF? Well...I thought I had enough lift, but I was wrong. The tire has a pretty square shoulder, and when turning and braking or hitting even a slight incline that makes the front dip even just a bit, the tire scrapes right on the front lower fender/air dam piece (see pic). UGH... The tires were on backorder and I waited so long to get them and by the time I got them and tried them, I was thrilled. Now I couldn't use them without adding more lift but I am not in the position to do that. Besides, I didn't want to go any higher due to what I use the Jeep for. I was BUMMED and I still am a bit.

All I could do it pass them onto my buddy who has a 6" lift on his Cherokee and does some semi-aggressive wheeling as well as daily city driving. Needless to say, he loves the tires. They seem to be at home on the street as well as on the trail. Of course they aren't as good off-road as a mud tire but for an AT, we are both impressed. As for the tires I wound up having to go with, well...I had to go to my old standby of BFG A/Ts. I think most will agree that BFG A/Ts are basically the standard of all-terrain tires. I have to say, if I could have easily kept the Nitto's without them rubbing, they would be what is on my truck right now, no question about it. The BFG's are good, but I think they have been trumped by the Nitto Terra Grappler for an AT tire. I have had BFG's for years but I just liked the Nittos a bit better based on my short experience with them.

So my whole point in making this thread is to let everyone know who is comtemplating getting a set of Nitto Terra Grappers as an all-terrain tire to definitely give them a shot, especially if you do mostly street driving. Hopefully this post can give someone the info that I was looking for. Oh yeah, make sure you have more than a 3" lift on an XJ.

Here's some pics...
http://www.phantomss.com/jeep/nitto1.jpg
http://www.phantomss.com/jeep/nitto2.jpg
http://www.phantomss.com/jeep/nitto3.jpg
http://www.phantomss.com/jeep/nitto4.jpg

Wish I could have kept them!

-Jason
2000 XJ Classic
3" Lift and Misc. Mods

Im still lovin mine!Was wheelin awhile back at FJ on a muddy playhill.Was backing up the hill and it just wouldnt climb up.Im thinking the "tires" when my buddy called on the radio to say"turn on the lockers"!!I was really impressed then!
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=94468

or trim your fenders

If you liked them so much, why didnt you just trim the air dam or remove it all together. Seems weird that you let a piece of cheesy body moulding effect you decision to run a tire you sound like you were really happy with.:dunno:

Hey, your call. Hope you didnt lose too much money!

ktm racer 419 said:

or trim your fenders

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mattyj said:

If you liked them so much, why didnt you just trim the air dam or remove it all together.

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Yeah, that was something that I thought about for quite a bit, but I didn't want to go that far with it. I am not as hardcore as you guys.

I figured at least I could pass on my thoughts about them for someone who might want to look into getting them.

Expensive tires VS cheap plastic air dam? I would have busted out the sawzall faster than you could say Fender Trim! :viking:

I had a friend way back in high school who had a simmilar issue with tires rubbing, some very careful and selective cutting the tires didnt rub and it didnt looked hacked.

AARON

jdebler said:

Yeah, that was something that I thought about for quite a bit, but I didn't want to go that far with it. I am not as hardcore as you guys.

I figured at least I could pass on my thoughts about them for someone who might want to look into getting them.

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Thanks for passing on your experience.

Now go buy a sawzall and start cutting and dont stop till you end up with this.:laugh3:

an extra isolator and some trimming on the inside of the dam/flares and you would be fine

Definately would have kept the tires. Pulled off the airdam, trimmed the caps to match the bumper height, and used 53guy's relocation writeup to move the flares up. I pulled the airdam and trimmed my bumper caps and no one has ever even noticed unless they were an xj person

mattyj said:

If you liked them so much, why didnt you just trim the air dam or remove it all together. Seems weird that you let a piece of cheesy body moulding effect you decision to run a tire you sound like you were really happy with.:dunno:

Hey, your call. Hope you didnt lose too much money!

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Smae reason he thinks MT/Rs ride rough, haha.

Besides my current MTZs, MT/Rs were the smoothiest tires I have had on my Jeep and those are both smoother than my old BFG KOs.

ZachMan said:

Smae reason he thinks MT/Rs ride rough, haha.

Besides my current MTZs, MT/Rs were the smoothiest tires I have had on my Jeep and those are both smoother than my old BFG KOs.

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Yeah, i dont really think the MTR's are a very "luggy" ride............... hey we're not talking about Boggers or TSL's

I love my MTR's

I have noticed the difference in going from the 245/75/16 MTR's to 285/75/16 MTR's. The larger sizes seem to be a little more quite on the road than the smaller ones did.

Not that I complained about the noise. It's a lifted jeep and I expect more road noise from it than I do my car.

I would have trimmed until I was satisfied and kept the tires.

I roughness of the MT/R was no big deal at the time that I installed them, but remember I am more of a street driver/poser/mall crawler/whatever you want to call it. Just some light trail stuff is all I really did and not often. The problem is that I let the MT/Rs get rather cupped and that just made it worse. Coming to a stop on pavement really vibrated the hell out of things.

I thought about trimming, quite a bit actually. At the time, I was considering on selling my Jeep in a few months down the road and if I wasn't sure if trimming would hurt the resale value. Besides, like I said, I am not as hardcore as you guys are. Just wanted to let everyone know what I went through, maybe get a kick out of it.

-Jason