LT or SL? Toyo Open Country A/T III

ramoftherose · Thursday at 9:06 PM

planning on upgrading my stock Michelins to the A/T IIIs. Just wondering if I should go for the LT or SL.

Apologies if this isn’t a good question, in a bit new to this!

I would want the peace of mind of having stronger tires in the LT but they are a bit heavier and might make my ride stiffer.

SL would be lighter and would keep a more comfortable ride but a bit iffy on the wear and durability.

I don’t go crazy rock crawling but I do go on dirt, gravel, roads when I go camping quite a bit.

Thoughts? Opinions? Criticisms? lol anything helps!

RideWithYanu · Thursday at 10:29 PM

It’s a very thoughtful question! For your described use case I would highly recommend an SL tire. If you’re not driving on terrain that’s high risk for punctures (sharp rocky roads) nor carrying very heavy loads, there’s no reason to suffer the downsides of an LT tire (degraded fuel efficiency and harsher ride). This coming from someone running E-rated A/T tires!

ramoftherose · Thursday at 11:09 PM

RideWithYanu said:
It’s a very thoughtful question! For your described use case I would highly recommend an SL tire. If you’re not driving on terrain that’s high risk for punctures (sharp rocky roads) nor carrying very heavy loads, there’s no reason to suffer the downsides of an LT tire (degraded fuel efficiency and harsher ride). This coming from someone running E-rated A/T tires!

Thank you for the very supportive and thoughtful reply. I do have a 180 pound rooftop tent, a Victory 4x4 full roof rack, OEM skids, OEM rock rails on mine full time. And the usual camping gear (refrigerator, cooking stuff, tables, etc). Would that change your opinion? Or would that still not warrant Lt tires?

Ron1637 · Thursday at 11:09 PM

Note the tread depth on the SL is less than C or E rated. Doesn't look as aggressive.

RideWithYanu · Friday at 12:14 AM

ramoftherose said:
Thank you for the very supportive and thoughtful reply. I do have a 180 pound rooftop tent, a Victory 4x4 full roof rack, OEM skids, OEM rock rails on mine full time. And the usual camping gear (refrigerator, cooking stuff, tables, etc). Would that change your opinion? Or would that still not warrant Lt tires?

Yeah you’ve got a bit of weight. I’d check your weight vs the tire specs, but that might move me towards the light end of an LT tire.

AlexGates · Friday at 7:48 AM

For your case, the SL are fine. I would only go with the LT if I was going somewhere with jagged rocks or nasty brush/sticks, or if I was going to load up the vehicle with a bunch of aftermarket stuff, or if you think you will need to air down.

ramoftherose · Friday at 9:39 AM

Ron1637 said:
Note the tread depth on the SL is less than C or

RideWithYanu said:
Yeah you’ve got a bit of weight. I’d check your weight vs the tire specs, but that might move me towards the light end of an LT tire.

Definitely will!

ramoftherose · Friday at 9:40 AM

AlexGates said:
For your case, the SL are fine. I would only go with the LT if I was going somewhere with jagged rocks or nasty brush/sticks, or if I was going to load up the vehicle with a bunch of aftermarket stuff, or if you think you will need to air down.

I currently have a 180ish point rooftop tent, a full roof rack, OEM skids and rock rails. And then when I go camping, I have the usual cooking stuff, water supply, Jackery, etc…

Maybe that would warrant LT?

PDPete · Friday at 9:54 AM

You're probably fine either way...if you decide to go LT, I'd probably opt for tires with a "C" load range, however...which shouldn't be too heavy or affect the ride or MPGs that much, at least not compared to a "E" load range tire, anyway.

D-mac · Friday at 11:22 AM

PDPete said:
You're probably fine either way...if you decide to go LT, I'd probably opt for tires with a "C" load range, however...which shouldn't be too heavy or affect the ride or MPGs that much, at least not compared to a "E" load range tire, anyway.

I'm running the LT C range Toyo A/T IIIs and can confirm they have a compliant ride and handling, especially if tire pressures are kept close to stock. Great performance off road and in snow, as expected with deeper tread. Tire noise is somewhat elevated and there is probably a 1-2 mpg hit.
I potential alternative for those wanting to keep OEM levels of ride comfort and MPG are the A/T III EV.

Nor Cal Cruiser · Friday at 11:47 AM

I have the same LTs that are C rated and love them. I think they ride massively better than the take off Michelins and if anything I think they are quieter as the Michelins would squeal in almost every corner and the Toyos are planted.

https://g.co/kgs/bYwggmG

ramoftherose · Friday at 1:33 PM

D-mac said:
I'm running the LT C range Toyo A/T IIIs and can confirm they have a compliant ride and handling, especially if tire pressures are kept close to stock. Great performance off road and in snow, as expected with deeper tread. Tire noise is somewhat elevated and there is probably a 1-2 mpg hit.
I potential alternative for those wanting to keep OEM levels of ride comfort and MPG are the A/T III EV.

Oh that’s great! Which size do you have? The only one I see on Toyo’s website is this:

ramoftherose · Friday at 1:34 PM

Nor Cal Cruiser said:
I have the same LTs that are C rated and love them. I think they ride massively better than the take off Michelins and if anything I think they are quieter as the Michelins would squeal in almost every corner and the Toyos are planted.

https://g.co/kgs/bYwggmG

Awesome! What size are you running? I only see this size in the C rating:

Nor Cal Cruiser · Friday at 1:43 PM

Mine are LT285/75/R17

D-mac · Friday at 5:18 PM

ramoftherose said:
Oh that’s great! Which size do you have? The only one I see on Toyo’s website is this: View attachment 42754

Yes that's the one. Apparently there are two slightly different versions for white letter and black sidewalls. I believe it is a Tundra OEM size so it is plenty strong enough for a LC250.

Nor Cal Cruiser · Friday at 5:47 PM

They’re fantastic and the sidewalls are black

Yosemite Sam · 2025-07-19T02:18:22-0500

I've run both LT and SL tires on my 2024 FE, and like each for different reasons:
Same size 265/70 R18 LT Toyo A/T III and SL Michelin Defender MS2.
On the highway, the Michelins are very stable, smooth as silk and quiet as a mouse. I've put over 8,000 miles on 'em. These are my long-range highway rubber.

The Toyos are very stable, quite firm but supple, and have a nice hum that is relaxing. I've put 3,000 miles on 'em. Obviously these are better on rough roads and dirt.