Post by ES_97Sport on Jan 12, 2017 19:02:15 GMT -5
When I bought my '99 Limited, the tires were beyond trashed. It was a miracle none of them blew out getting it the 5 miles from the PO's place to the office. This is the same vehicle that's in the process of getting a solid axle swap and 37" M/Ts so there wasn't any point to replacing the tires with my usual choice of the Geolandar A/Ts. I just needed something safe, round and that would hold air for a couple months. 
I called up the buddy that runs a Peerless and told him I wanted a set of four of the cheapest A/Ts he could get me. What I ended up with was a set of four 31x10.5x15 Trail Guide AP all-terrain tires.
I didn't expect to have anything to post on these tires, but like all good builds, what was supposed to be a 6-8 month project has turned into a 16-18 month project. Because of that, I've had the chance to drive these tires through almost a full year and a half of seasons here in CO. This runs from 100F bone dry summer to sub-zero snow and ice winter and everything in between. I haven't had these officially 'off road', but my secondary driveway is unpaved rough and rutted loose pea gravel at a 30 degree incline or so, and a pretty good representation of a lot of the trails in CO. 
I've been running Geolandar A/Ts on all my Sports since 2000 and it is my tire of choice for a dual purpose "all-season" tire capable of handling almost anything mother nature can throw at us here in CO as well as light to medium off-roading and the drastic differences in weather between my place in the mountains and the plains. I run the same tires on a '97 LS 4WD M/T, '98 LS 4WD M/T and my '03 Limited AWD 3.5L. With the exception of and ARB and winch and rock skids on the '97, these vehicles are unmodified.
The Trail Guide APs are on my '99 Limited 3.5L which is unmodified except for a 2" body lift and the removal of the rear anti-roll bar.
There are a few things that I noticed in short order:
They don't like grooved concrete. They track even worse than the Geolandar A/Ts. I have a minimal mount of that around so its not a big deal to me. Otherwise, neither tire was better or worse on pavement - neither displayed any awkward or unpleasant behavior.
They pick up a LOT of rocks. If you drive a lot of gravel, best have mud flaps or flairs or something because they trow rocks everywhere. I have a couple miles of gravel so this is kind of a PITA. The Geolandar A/Ts are not near as bad. This is one situation were I prefer my Geolandar M/Ts.
The carcass is much stiffer both in the tread area and sidewalls than the Geolandar A/T. Absolutely no surprise to me there. EVERY tire seems to be stiffer in the tread and sidewall than the Geolandar - either A/T OR M/T. Handling is better with the AP due to the increased stiffness in the sidewalls - I wouldn't say a LOT better, but its definitely and immediately noticeable. Unfortunately, this is a negative off road as they pretty obviously don't conform as well as the Geolandar A/Ts.
The Trail Guide is slightly noisier than the Geolandar A/T. Enough to notice a difference but that's about all.
Off road-ish:
The Trail Guide AP is a LITTLE more aggressive in the tread. The only place I could make that count for something was in the pea gravel on top hard pack dirt. My Geolandar A/Ts slip just slightly more than the Trail Guide APs do. This was also somewhat noticeable on county gravel roads on inclines.
The Trails Guide APs don't flex as well at the Geolandar A/Ts. That's obvious just driving down the road. MAYBE this will improve if they were aired down from the 34-ish PSI I run to 20-25 psi but they still won't keep up with the Geolandar if its also aired down to the same level. The Geolandar, on the other hand, rarely need to be aired down at all.
The Geolandar A/Ts are softer and stickier. Quite a bit more than the Trail Guide APs. I haven't had any real chance to compare these features directly, but its obvious when in 4WD making tight corners. The Geolandars just don't want to let loose of whatever they're attached to and it doesn't matter if its 95F or -10F.
Weather:
I can't tell any particular difference between the Trail Guide AP and Geolandar A/T in the rain. They're both reasonably aggressively, evacuate water well and are siped pretty extensively. I've had both through 1-1.5 of standing water on pavement.
The Trail Guide AP seems to do a little better in very dry powder on graded hard pack snow and ice. I had the Trail Guide APs though 14-15" both on road and off road (on incline). There was enough difference to notice but it wouldn't be a key deciding factor for me if I were choosing tires, especially considering the following ...
The Trail Guide APs suck in wet snow and slush and it doesn't matter if its 2" or 2'. There is no comparison to the Geolandar A/Ts - even the OLD early 2000's Geolandar A/Ts. The Trail Guide APs don't self-evacuate worth a damn. In 2" of slush, my '99 was sliding all over the place. I've spent the last week and a half re-learning how to drive with the throttle in 4WD because once the snow started melting I might as well have had bald tires.
The tread packs up with and won't release which may be great for 'really dry powder on graded hard pack snow and ice' in 0F temps but miserable annoying hell @ 30F. So far, I've run the Trail Guide APs in 1-12"ish of slush and wet snow. Depth makes no difference. Any amount of wet packs the tread.
The Geolandar A/T definitely does better on hard pack snow and ice when the temps start dipping down to 0F and below. Again, softer, stickier compound and softer carcass. That, of course, means the lifespan is shorter. I expect the Trail Guide AP would definitely outlast the Geolandar A/T.
I haven't had the Trail Guide APs out to UT, but based on their behavior here in CO, I'd guess they'd do 'ok'-ish. Maybe. I wouldn't choose these on purpose but if I had no other choice I guess for the price one could do worse. I'd just make sure to stay out of anything wet.
Over all, on a scale of 1-5 I'd give them a 2 and the the Geolandar A/T a 4.5. If I didn't have to deal with 1-2'+ of slush and wet snow on a regular basis I might give them a higher rating. But, for an all around CO tire, these aren't the best choice out there even of the 'cheap' tires.
Edward
I called up the buddy that runs a Peerless and told him I wanted a set of four of the cheapest A/Ts he could get me. What I ended up with was a set of four 31x10.5x15 Trail Guide AP all-terrain tires.
I didn't expect to have anything to post on these tires, but like all good builds, what was supposed to be a 6-8 month project has turned into a 16-18 month project.
Because of that, I've had the chance to drive these tires through almost a full year and a half of seasons here in CO. This runs from 100F bone dry summer to sub-zero snow and ice winter and everything in between. I haven't had these officially 'off road', but my secondary driveway is unpaved rough and rutted loose pea gravel at a 30 degree incline or so, and a pretty good representation of a lot of the trails in CO. 
I've been running Geolandar A/Ts on all my Sports since 2000 and it is my tire of choice for a dual purpose "all-season" tire capable of handling almost anything mother nature can throw at us here in CO as well as light to medium off-roading and the drastic differences in weather between my place in the mountains and the plains. I run the same tires on a '97 LS 4WD M/T, '98 LS 4WD M/T and my '03 Limited AWD 3.5L. With the exception of and ARB and winch and rock skids on the '97, these vehicles are unmodified.
The Trail Guide APs are on my '99 Limited 3.5L which is unmodified except for a 2" body lift and the removal of the rear anti-roll bar.
There are a few things that I noticed in short order:
They don't like grooved concrete. They track even worse than the Geolandar A/Ts. I have a minimal mount of that around so its not a big deal to me. Otherwise, neither tire was better or worse on pavement - neither displayed any awkward or unpleasant behavior.
They pick up a LOT of rocks. If you drive a lot of gravel, best have mud flaps or flairs or something because they trow rocks everywhere. I have a couple miles of gravel so this is kind of a PITA. The Geolandar A/Ts are not near as bad. This is one situation were I prefer my Geolandar M/Ts.
The carcass is much stiffer both in the tread area and sidewalls than the Geolandar A/T. Absolutely no surprise to me there. EVERY tire seems to be stiffer in the tread and sidewall than the Geolandar - either A/T OR M/T. Handling is better with the AP due to the increased stiffness in the sidewalls - I wouldn't say a LOT better, but its definitely and immediately noticeable. Unfortunately, this is a negative off road as they pretty obviously don't conform as well as the Geolandar A/Ts.
The Trail Guide is slightly noisier than the Geolandar A/T. Enough to notice a difference but that's about all.
Off road-ish:
The Trail Guide AP is a LITTLE more aggressive in the tread. The only place I could make that count for something was in the pea gravel on top hard pack dirt. My Geolandar A/Ts slip just slightly more than the Trail Guide APs do. This was also somewhat noticeable on county gravel roads on inclines.
The Trails Guide APs don't flex as well at the Geolandar A/Ts. That's obvious just driving down the road. MAYBE this will improve if they were aired down from the 34-ish PSI I run to 20-25 psi but they still won't keep up with the Geolandar if its also aired down to the same level. The Geolandar, on the other hand, rarely need to be aired down at all.
The Geolandar A/Ts are softer and stickier. Quite a bit more than the Trail Guide APs. I haven't had any real chance to compare these features directly, but its obvious when in 4WD making tight corners. The Geolandars just don't want to let loose of whatever they're attached to and it doesn't matter if its 95F or -10F.
Weather:
I can't tell any particular difference between the Trail Guide AP and Geolandar A/T in the rain. They're both reasonably aggressively, evacuate water well and are siped pretty extensively. I've had both through 1-1.5 of standing water on pavement.
The Trail Guide AP seems to do a little better in very dry powder on graded hard pack snow and ice. I had the Trail Guide APs though 14-15" both on road and off road (on incline). There was enough difference to notice but it wouldn't be a key deciding factor for me if I were choosing tires, especially considering the following ...
The Trail Guide APs suck in wet snow and slush and it doesn't matter if its 2" or 2'. There is no comparison to the Geolandar A/Ts - even the OLD early 2000's Geolandar A/Ts. The Trail Guide APs don't self-evacuate worth a damn. In 2" of slush, my '99 was sliding all over the place. I've spent the last week and a half re-learning how to drive with the throttle in 4WD because once the snow started melting I might as well have had bald tires.
The tread packs up with and won't release which may be great for 'really dry powder on graded hard pack snow and ice' in 0F temps but miserable annoying hell @ 30F. So far, I've run the Trail Guide APs in 1-12"ish of slush and wet snow. Depth makes no difference. Any amount of wet packs the tread. The Geolandar A/T definitely does better on hard pack snow and ice when the temps start dipping down to 0F and below. Again, softer, stickier compound and softer carcass. That, of course, means the lifespan is shorter. I expect the Trail Guide AP would definitely outlast the Geolandar A/T.
I haven't had the Trail Guide APs out to UT, but based on their behavior here in CO, I'd guess they'd do 'ok'-ish. Maybe. I wouldn't choose these on purpose but if I had no other choice I guess for the price one could do worse. I'd just make sure to stay out of anything wet.
Over all, on a scale of 1-5 I'd give them a 2 and the the Geolandar A/T a 4.5. If I didn't have to deal with 1-2'+ of slush and wet snow on a regular basis I might give them a higher rating. But, for an all around CO tire, these aren't the best choice out there even of the 'cheap' tires.
Edward
