Tires are not only among the most important item on any off-road vehicle, but they are also often the most overlooked as well. After the excitement of a new set of rubber wears off tires are often forgotten about until there’s an issue. Being the only item that touches the road surface, tires play an important role in any vehicle’s handling, ride quality, comfort, and noise level. And neglecting to give tires the love and care they deserve can lead to dire consequences.

Despite having “plenty” of tread depth left, upon inspection we realized that the tires on our new-to-us 2012 Ford F-150 Raptor were nearly nine years old. Tire manufactures generally agree that going past six years is not suggested as the rubber compounds breakdown over time. Armed with this information we set out to find the perfect new set of off-road tires for our truck.

Understanding Off-Road Tire Load Rating

There are a few things to know before replacing your truck’s tires with something other than the OEM offering. When it comes to trucks, SUVs, and off-road rigs, tire load ratings play a critical role in safety and performance. The load rating, or load index, is a number stamped on the tire’s sidewall that indicates how much weight a tire can safely support when properly inflated. For instance, a tire with a load index of 121 can carry about 3,195 pounds, and when multiplied across four tires, it defines the maximum vehicle weight that setup can handle. Choosing the correct load rating ensures your tires can handle everything from daily driving to towing and hauling without risking blowouts, overheating, or premature wear.

For off-road enthusiasts, load ratings matter just as much as for heavy-duty haulers. Rough terrain and lower air pressures put extra stress on sidewalls, which is why higher load range tires, such as Load Range E, are often preferred for their strength and stability under pressure. However, stiffer sidewalls can result in a firmer ride compared to lighter-duty tires. While you can upgrade to a higher rating for added durability, it’s important never to downgrade below the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended load rating, as doing so compromises safety and performance.

What Type Of Off-Road Tire Is Best?

Choosing the right all-terrain (A/T) tires for your truck isn’t just about looks—it’s about finding the perfect balance of durability, performance, and comfort. There are quite a few things that need considering before jumping into a fresh set of rolling stock. Afterall, buying tires these days is no small purchase.

Knowing the type of terrain that you frequent will help sway the decision between a more aggressive mud-terrain and simpler highway-terrain tire. For trucks that live life as a daily driver and weekend warrior it’s important to strike the proper balance. For desert trucks, such as our 2012 F-150 Raptor, tires with reinforced sidewalls, heat-resistant compounds, and wide tread voids to handle sand and pebbles during high-speed use are ideal. If it’s more rock crawling that you’re into then it’s important to prioritize sidewall protection, thicker tread blocks, and tread patterns with biting edges for grip on slick or uneven surfaces. On the flip side, those driven primarily on pavement might benefit from a milder all-terrain with tighter tread spacing.

Our truck will be spending its life primarily as a weekend warrior. While the majority of time will be spent on the highway, we need the truck to remain as capable as a Raptor should be for weekend excursions. This led us to a standard all-terrain style tire, and specifically, to Toyo’s Open Country A/T III.

The Toyo Open Country A/T III

Toyo Tire’s Open Country line of all-terrain tires has been a mainstay of the industry for decades. Now in its third generation, the Toyo Open Country A/T III is designed to offer a solid combination of gripping off-road traction with responsive and predictable on-road handling. The company also offers a treadwear warranty of up to 65,000 miles on certain sizes, which is typically unheard of in the realm of off-road tires. Additionally, Toyo offers a 45-day, 500-mile, trail offer. If you aren’t happy for any reason, they’ll take them back (obviously terms and conditions apply.)

The Toyo Open Country A/T III isn’t the newest all-terrain on the market having been launched in 2020. That said, the company made a bevy of enhancements at the time that still allow it to rank as one of the top off-road tires. One of the largest improvements to the Open Country A/T III over the A/T II is the addition of the three-peak mountain snowflake severe winter rating. In testing other outlets have found the A/T III to be wildly good when it comes to snow traction. However, because our test truck is living its best life in central Florida wet weather traction was top among our considerations when looking for replacement rubber.

The Open Country A/T III shines in this area as well as it is designed with an advanced tread compound, an evenly distributed void area, increased lateral grooves, and 3D multi-wave sipes. What this creates is an all-terrain tire that maintains maximum traction even in the hardest of rainstorms. We’ve had the opportunity to test this and can attest that these tires are beyond fabulous on wet roads.

For our F-150 Raptor we opted to keep the factory size of 35×12.5R17. These LT tires come with a Load Range E and a maximum load of 3,195 pounds. From the factory Ford equipped the Raptor with a Load Range C tire, which means that while the new Toyo Open Country A/T III tires are a substantial upgrade in sidewall strength, there’s potential for a firmer ride than the stock rubber, especially off-road.

Off-road traction is fantastic, as well. Staggered shoulder lugs enhance off-road traction with biting edges while stone ejectors work to keep errant rocks from becoming wedged in the tread. A bit of extra airing down is necessary for the best traction and comfort, because of the higher load range, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. We’ve had the truck out in loose dirt and sand and thoroughly appreciate the traction these tires offer. It was easy to keep forward momentum and we never felt like the tires were getting bogged down thanks to their self-cleaning abilities. Deep mud isn’t going to be a strong suit, but that’s true of any all-terrain. And were confident that should be encounter any jagged rocks that the rugged sidewalls are up for the task.

Toyo offers the Open Country A/T III in a staggering 157 sizes in 27 to 37 inches in diameter and for wheels from 15 to 22-inch. Interestingly, Toyo offers three different shoulder designs depending on the tire sizing model (flotation, LT metric, P/Euro metric). Select sizes offer outlined white letters as well.

KMC Wheels Enhance The Package

While Ford has had a pretty decent run of gorgeous wheels on its F-150 Raptor trucks. That said, the early days had some of the least attractive wheels of the breed. To fix this we paired the new Toyo Open Country A/T III tires with a set of 17×8.5-inch KMC KM729 Range wheels in matte black. These wheels offer a -10mm offset and 2,500-pound load rating. The wheels feature a 360-degree Bead Retention System (BRS), which is a ring of machined grooves in the wheel’s bead seat that grips the tire at low psi. This allows you to air down safely for off-road traction without the need for bulky (and expensive) beadlocks.

Final Thoughts: Toyo Open Country A/T III

Ford’s F-150 Raptor is an off-road icon, but the wrong tires can limit its potential. After acquiring our truck, we noticed that the on-road handling wasn’t great, the suspension felt like it was ready for a rebuild, and it was incredibly noisy. All things that we brushed off as just being an “old truck.” Boy, were we wrong. Swapping out the worn-out old tires for a new set of fresh all-terrains made all the difference in the world. It was like driving a new truck. Suddenly the truck was quiet inside. The ride became smooth and stable. Everything just felt right with the world.

The bottom line is this: even if your tires appear “good,” it’s important to keep an eye on the date. Old tires can cause far more issues than you might suspect.