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Cooper Discoverer ATR - Good or Bad

Castle Bravo

Hundredaire Socialite
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Arizona
What is the general consensus on Cooper Discoverer A/T tires?

I know Cooper has a less than stellar reputation, but I'm curious as to specific examples of failure that people might have.

I've had one where the tread separated on me on my CUCV. I need some new (maybe just new to me) tires for my M1028, and I'm trying to decide if I want to trust Cooper (again).
 

gunrunr

New member
12
0
0
Location
Parsons Kansas
Had a set a few years ago and would never buy them again. Got 25K out of them. Replaced them with Yokahamas geolander AT and got 60k only rotating them twice. Just put on some Hankook MT's and so far so good
 

319

Lieutenant
Steel Soldiers Supporter
3,348
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48
Location
Michigan
Had a set a few years ago and would never buy them again. Got 25K out of them. Replaced them with Yokahamas geolander AT and got 60k only rotating them twice. Just put on some Hankook MT's and so far so good

I've installed the Hankooks on my contact maintenance truck. Good so far here too, both on and off road.
 

OL AG '89

Member
743
9
18
Location
Kingwood, Texas
I'm running Toyo Open Country M/T's (33x12.5x15's) on mine. They seem to be doing pretty good so far. Probably 2k miles on them, mostly blacktop and no issues. I do know they are a "soft" compound and I will probably only get 40 - 45k miles from them if I drive them only on the asphalt. I also like the Yokohama tires, just put some on my GMC 3500 (H/T's). I ran through a set of Toyo A/T's in about 40k miles, but again it's a HEAVY truck and is 99.9% driven on the highway.
 

86m1028

Active member
1,687
16
38
Location
Murphy TEXAS
Had a set a few years ago and would never buy them again. Got 25K out of them. Replaced them with Yokahamas geolander AT and got 60k only rotating them twice. Just put on some Hankook MT's and so far so good
Same here I have run the cooper stt's & had the first set replaced with less than 12k miles all 4 tires had seperatiion issues. My replacement set has started to do the same.

Im looking hard at the Hankooks also.
 

OD_Coyote

Active member
887
58
28
Location
North Bend, WA
I am biased toward American products and Coopers are made in the USA. I have been running Cooper ATRs on my wife's grand cherokee for 2 years & 30k miles with no issues. I have been buying Cooper tires for the various 4X4 pickup trucks I have owned for more than 15 years and I do not have any complaints. One of my favortie tires in the past was the Armstrong Norsman, but when they were bought out by Pirelli, I had to look for another American tire company and that ended up being Cooper.
 
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armytruck63

Active member
1,663
9
38
Location
Redlands, CA
I had a friend who ran Coopers on his Jeep Wagoneer back in the '70's and '80's. They had a pretty agressive tread because of the mud that developed whenever it rained at his ranch in Nevada.

They were quite loud on the highway and we had a lot of treads fly off, usually at 70 MPH. We usually had a few seconds of warning before we saw tread in the rear view mirror. The Coopers were great in the mud, though.

I had a different type of Coopers on my Jeep Scrambler in the '90's and I had no problems with them. I would consider Coopers again and I like the fact that they are made in the USA.
 

wallew

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Location
San Angelo, Tx USA Planet Earth
When I got my first M1009 about four years ago, I thought I was having suspension problems it vibrated so badly when I drove it anywhere.

It also needed new rubber. I don't even remember what I took off, given it was four years ago.

I bought and mounted six Cooper Discoverer Mud & Snow tires.

All of a sudden I find the ONLY problem I had was bad tires. Mine now rolls quite well. And I'm not worried about how many miles I'll get. I've already gotten four years out of them and I've only put about seven thousand miles on them. The more CUCV's I collect, the less I drive all of them.

I LOVE MY DISCOVERER M+S tires. And we get snow. I don't off road a lot. But these are great all weather tires. I flat love them. Very quiet at all speeds.
 
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bugei

New member
402
3
0
Location
reno nevada
cooper tires

fwiw, i am running cooper discoverer stt's on my ford 4X4 1 ton dually. i needed the meanest baddest e rated tires because if you get stuck with a trailer of horses, its BAD. these tires are a bit noisey, but have done well at high speeds driven by a 750hp motor right up to the 70 mph speed limit. i have had everyother vendors m&s's on this truck, and i like these the best by far.

even my tire guy, who cant sell coopers agrees that if you need BAD BOY e tires, these are the setup
 
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Preacherboy

Member
701
3
18
Location
North Branch, MI
I normally buy Coopers whenever I need tires, I have ran Cooper Discover ATR's on 2 pickup trucks...one around 50,000 miles on a 1999 Z71 and they looked like they could go another 50,000!

I really like Cooper tires and I've not had any problems with them. Mine were weight class C and I also have gone as fast as the truck would go on them, but I rotated them religiously every 15,000 miles. My wife's Tahoe will need tires soon and I've priced out Coopers and they are $700 installed (steep because Chevy decided to put 17" wheels on their trucks now).
 

91W350

Well-known member
4,414
57
48
Location
Salina, Kansas
I have a set on one of my M1009s and I much prefer them over the Goodyears that are on the other truck. They are much better in the mud and go great in snow. I cannot tell any difference in noise levels. Glen
 

SmokeyDod

New member
206
2
0
Location
Easley, SC
I got a M1028 from GL a couple of years ago and it had a (looked like) brand new set of the Cooper. I used the tires on my 97 Chev Z-71 as I needed a set on it. I drove it until 2 months ago & fortunately on back road near home, one tire had the thread break loose . Next day a bought a new set of other tires. I carry my grandchilden around & I could not risk an accident because of tires.
I'm sure Cooper makes a fine tire and if I could get that thread design now, I would buy a set. The PROBLEM IS one of two things:
1) Look at the MFG date that's on every tire. The tires that are on these vehicles can be 10+ years old and still not have 500 miles on them. Mine was 8 years old.

2) As stated above these tires are made to haul heavy loads "E" rated. This means the sidewalls of these tires are much stiffer. To keep the sidewall from flexing too much, you need to keep them inflated at a much higher PSI than normal tires. These should be kept 60+ psi. When you put less in them to make it ride smoother, the lower psi lets the sidewalls flex too much thus can cause the "cap" to separate. This is something to ponder
 

randyman

Member
56
0
6
Location
Keyser, WV
The m1028 I have had Cooper tires on it when I got it. The tread seperated on two of them, the second one at 50 mph. When it came apart, it hit the passenger's side tail pipe forcing it up into the bed side and leaving a nice dent. My dad works for the railroad and they took all their smaller vehicles with Cooper tires out of service until the tires were replaced. Needless to say, I'm a little skeptical of Cooper tires.
 
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