SL rated sidewalls what adventures

[Mad Ghost]

I love cars, but I grew up in the JDM world of tracking cars so this off road lingo is new to me. I have plans in a month to go to Sedona AZ, Yosemite, Death Valley and Page AZ and have trails picked out in each location. My plan is to air down to 20 psi with the Falken Wildpeak SL rated tires on easy to moderate trails should I me super concerned? I did buy a side wall repair kit. As a newbie going with my family I really want the adventure without hopefully the being stranded and broken part. Basicly am I nuts for using the stock TRD ORP tires or do I have to upgrade to some KO3's or something

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[4RunnerStan]

I put this in another thread a few weeks ago and it applies here as to the research I've done

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I did a lot of research on it this am actually, not specifically in relation to the hybrid per se, but I believe the only trim that comes standard with "e" rated tires is the TRD Pro, and that (as far as I know) is not due to the powertrain weight, but due to the type of off roading a TRD Pro buyer would be doing.

From what I researched, a SL tire is basically good for easy to moderate off road trails, and can possibly handle more if you air down. A lot of opinions on this tho, I see people who say you should get E if you are doing any off roading, and then I've also see people say they've done light rock crawling with SL tires.

as far as where I'll put my money, I plan on doing light to moderate off roading, and I'm going to get the nitto terra grappler G3 SL. My thought process is 3 things:

1. this is going to be my daily, I don't want a rough ride or to lose MPG going with E
2. From what I read, most people who I've seen in the forums who actually use SL to off-road say it's fine.
3. I can't imagine that nitto made an off road SL tire that is so delicate off road, it's basically only for looks.

not to say that E wouldn't do better off road... I just think that for the off roading im doing, SL is more than enough, and airing down should get me thru most situations.

 

[zgreen]

I put this in another thread a few weeks ago and it applies here as to the research I've done

************

I did a lot of research on it this am actually, not specifically in relation to the hybrid per se, but I believe the only trim that comes standard with "e" rated tires is the TRD Pro, and that (as far as I know) is not due to the powertrain weight, but due to the type of off roading a TRD Pro buyer would be doing.

From what I researched, a SL tire is basically good for easy to moderate off road trails, and can possibly handle more if you air down. A lot of opinions on this tho, I see people who say you should get E if you are doing any off roading, and then I've also see people say they've done light rock crawling with SL tires.

as far as where I'll put my money, I plan on doing light to moderate off roading, and I'm going to get the nitto terra grappler G3 SL. My thought process is 3 things:

1. this is going to be my daily, I don't want a rough ride or to lose MPG going with E
2. From what I read, most people who I've seen in the forums who actually use SL to off-road say it's fine.
3. I can't imagine that nitto made an off road SL tire that is so delicate off road, it's basically only for looks.

not to say that E wouldn't do better off road... I just think that for the off roading im doing, SL is more than enough, and airing down should get me thru most situations.

I'm pretty sure the Toyo's on the Pro are de-rated SL tires. More for MPG and then anything else...

 

[4RunnerStan]

I'm pretty sure the Toyo's on the Pro are de-rated SL tires. More for MPG and then anything else...

I forgot to edit this but yes, someone told me that in the original post I put this in.

 

[DustyLens]

I'd be interested in which trails in Sedona you'll be exploring. I'll also have to have a look at what tires I have on my 5th gen.
We use Michelins which are a good balance between road and off-road -- it's my daily driver.
I have never aired down my tires on any road I've taken a 4Runner on -- here in AZ, NV, or in SoCal.
Some Sedona trails I've driven : Broken Arrow to Chicken Point and back via the stairs , Soldiers Pass to Devil's Kitchen , Dry Creek to the Vultee Arch trailhead.

I have also taken a Corolla to some places I shouldn't have.

Having said that... Keep your family's safely in mind and air down as you see fit.

 

[nubbins_]

3. I can't imagine that nitto made an off road SL tire that is so delicate off road, it's basically only for looks.

not to say that E wouldn't do better off road... I just think that for the off roading im doing, SL is more than enough, and airing down should get me thru most situations.

Agreed, and besides, durability depends so much on the specific tire choice that it's pointless to tar tires with the same brush just because they're SL or LT.

Falken made a lot of noise about their new branded 3-ply sidewall, yet quietly excludes it from SL or even some LT sizes. Yet GY apparently applies their 3-ply sidewall to all Duratrac RT, even SL size - and the tire weights seem to corroborate that.

 

[Mad Ghost]

I'd be interested in which trails in Sedona you'll be exploring. I'll also have to have a look at what tires I have on my 5th gen.
We use Michelins which are a good balance between road and off-road -- it's my daily driver.
I have never aired down my tires on any road I've taken a 4Runner on -- here in AZ, NV, or in SoCal.
Some Sedona trails I've driven : Broken Arrow to Chicken Point and back via the stairs , Soldiers Pass to Devil's Kitchen , Dry Creek to the Vultee Arch trailhead.

I have also taken a Corolla to some places I shouldn't have.

Having said that... Keep your family's safely in mind and air down as you see fit.

Will be doing the trail to Devils Bridge , Broken Arrow and possibly Robbers Roost

 

[DustyLens]

For Devil's Bridge, you can drive out Dry Creek Road and save yourself some walking.

 

[DangItsDen]

Summary bc I got long winded: SL stock tire is gonna be a bit sketchy if you plan to go on trails that have sharp rocks or mud. I feel like the sweet spot is probably a C rated AT tire that doesn't exist yet in 18".

The TFL guys have run their totally stock ORP on some trails. Here's one posted today from MOAB.

It really depends on the trail and the line you take. If you take a super pointy rock to a sidewall on an SL, you're gonna have a bad time. On the other side of that, I have taken VERY pointy rocks at different speeds to every single part of a Ko3 in baja, moab, and the rubicon trail and never had a flat.

For my 5th gen, I ran E rated Ko2s for 8 years in 33" size and while I never got a flat, the ride quality and MPG suffered big time (it was my daily for a decade). Those tires weighed like 60 lbs each. That truck gets 14mpg(without the tent) and the E rated tires feel like wagon wheels. So when it came time to get new tires on it, I went C rated Ko3. Nice compromise, much more comfy, but still durable. That truck is now my weekend warrior/beater rig that I will probably never sell.

For my 6th gen that's a daily that will occasionally see dirt and snow for ski trips, I went with an SL Toyo AT3. It's super comfortable on road and gets same MPG as stock in the stock 265/70/18 size. It should handle light trails and ski trips just fine.

If I plan a MOAB trip for this new truck, I will probably go throw some Ko3s in a D rating on it for peace of mind (they come out feb 2026).

Biggest challenge for finding tires for these is the 18" wheel. Go down to a 17" and you will have a bunch more options including the Ko3 in C load.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

 

[4RunnerStan]

Summary bc I got long winded: SL stock tire is gonna be a bit sketchy if you plan to go on trails that have sharp rocks or mud. I feel like the sweet spot is probably a C rated AT tire that doesn't exist yet in 18".

The TFL guys have run their totally stock ORP on some trails. Here's one posted today from MOAB.

It really depends on the trail and the line you take. If you take a super pointy rock to a sidewall on an SL, you're gonna have a bad time. On the other side of that, I have taken VERY pointy rocks at different speeds to every single part of a Ko3 in baja, moab, and the rubicon trail and never had a flat.

For my 5th gen, I ran E rated Ko2s for 8 years in 33" size and while I never got a flat, the ride quality and MPG suffered big time (it was my daily for a decade). Those tires weighed like 60 lbs each. That truck gets 14mpg(without the tent) and the E rated tires feel like wagon wheels. So when it came time to get new tires on it, I went C rated Ko3. Nice compromise, much more comfy, but still durable. That truck is now my weekend warrior/beater rig that I will probably never sell.

For my 6th gen that's a daily that will occasionally see dirt and snow for ski trips, I went with an SL Toyo AT3. It's super comfortable on road and gets same MPG as stock in the stock 265/70/18 size. It should handle light trails and ski trips just fine.

If I plan a MOAB trip for this new truck, I will probably go throw some Ko3s in a D rating on it for peace of mind (they come out feb 2026).

Biggest challenge for finding tires for these is the 18" wheel. Go down to a 17" and you will have a bunch more options including the Ko3 in C load.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Good write up. Like I posted in mine, I fully concede that a C or E rated tire would be better, but this is going to be my daily and I don't plan on doing anything that requires rock crawling or anything like that. Plus, one of the only SL tires I can find in the size I want (275/70/18) is the Nitto G3's. I plan on going to mt Zion and doing the trails around there and then doing some off roading in Colorado so I'll write up a report here in a few months and let you know if I regret going SL or not

 

[spyder40]

Why did Toyota change the hub from Gen 5 to Gen 6. Was going to swap my TRD 17" rims/KO2's from my 2021 to the 2025 but don't want to deal with the rings to shim them out.

 

[Rellims]

Good write up. Like I posted in mine, I fully concede that a C or E rated tire would be better, but this is going to be my daily and I don't plan on doing anything that requires rock crawling or anything like that. Plus, one of the only SL tires I can find in the size I want (275/70/18) is the Nitto G3's. I plan on going to mt Zion and doing the trails around there and then doing some off roading in Colorado so I'll write up a report here in a few months and let you know if I regret going SL or not

I use to run stock tiers on my Tacoma on the trails all over Colorado for 2 years without airing down, never had an issue.

 

[4RunnerStan]

I use to run stock tiers on my Tacoma on the trails all over Colorado for 2 years without airing down, never had an issue.

Yeah this is my thinking, it's 2025. My thinking is don't be stupid and try to do things that the tires clearly aren't meant for and you should be fine

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