35x11.5R17 Tires (Nitto Ridge Grapplers) on Stock Badlands -- On and Off-Road Test

I’ve seen people talk about this topic a few times but never found an off-road report, so here’s mine!

I just upgraded to 35x11.5 r17 Nitto Ridge Grapplers on my non-was manual Badlands with a 1” level and stock rims.

ON ROAD:
These feel great on road; even though they’re a load range E tire vs the stock load range C KO2’s they actually feel more supple just due the extra side wall. When accelerating you definitely have to sit in each gear longer and put your foot in it a bit more if you really want to accelerate at a decent rate, but under normal driving around town there’s not a big difference. Steering is noticeably heavier, which makes sense for 66 lb tires vs. the stock ones were 54 lbs believe. Last week my wife and I road tripped to Hurricane Utah from Colorado Springs (10 hr drive) and averaged only 13 mpg, although I suspect a lot of that was due to wind and not just bigger heavier tires.

OFF ROAD:
Now for the important part. While in Hurricane we drove two trails: Toquerville Falls (rated 4 on TrailsOffroad) and West Rim Trail in Sand Hollow (rated 4-7 on TrailsOffroad). Aired down to 18psi on second trail and through sand whoops and full articulation during rock crawling the tires never rubbed. A few times I had the bronco on 3 wheels with no rubbing. Starting on steep angles takes a little more effort with the manual and I found myself leaning on the crawl gear more then I did with the 33’s, however felt way more confident tackling big obstacles with how well the 35’s grip and roll over taller ledges. I even bottomed out the suspension a few times in the whoops and still no issues. I’ll most likely put a 2” inch lift on it someday , but for now the level and 35’s is perfect!

Do you have any similar before/after pics on flat ground? Just curious on how it looks as I'm exploring similar options

Tmkimler said:

Do you have any similar before/after pics on flat ground? Just curious on how it looks as I'm exploring similar options

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I didn’t get perfect before and after pictures, but I did some digging and this is the best I have.
Before:
After:

Tconley said:

I didn’t get perfect before and after pictures, but I did some digging and this is the best I have.
Before:

After:

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Perfect. Thank you

Do you find the gobi wind screen makes a big difference?

Great review. We are planning on switching to the Ridge Grappler on both of our Wildtraks soon. Still have some life left in the Good Years and tires are pricey. Especially when you have to but 10.

Nice rig! So I see you live in CO. My only complaints with the Nitto Ridge Grapplers is there manors in snow and life. I had 2 sets of them in my F-150 and could only get 30k out of a set and they were like ice skates in the snow! Other than that they performed well off road.

What was your gas mileage before putting on the 35s?

I like your size choice for the stock wheels. I also have a non sas manual 4D Badlands but with the optional factory wheels. I’m looking at all tires in this size but leaning towards the Toyo’s because they make that size in a C class. Running the KO’s till they’re finished. Great to know that there’s no rubbing issues with that size, very important, thank you for sharing. I’ll probably do the Ford Performance tuner at the same time to offset any noticeable loss from the bigger tire size.

cjmiller said:

Nice rig! So I see you live in CO. My only complaints with the Nitto Ridge Grapplers is there manors in snow and life. I had 2 sets of them in my F-150 and could only get 30k out of a set and they were like ice skates in the snow! Other than that they performed well off road.

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That is the one thing that might prevent me from getting ridge grapplers. Some people say they are just fine in the snow and others say what you said.

Bigmoose said:

Do you find the gobi wind screen makes a big difference?

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The noise isn’t terrible, or I’m just deaf now from road tripping the soft top over the last year, but I haven’t ever run the rack without it so I can’t say how much of a difference it makes.

Trialmx said:

What was your gas mileage before putting on the 35s?

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I was only getting about 17.3 mpg average before, pushing 19 on road trips. Now around town I’m at 14-15 mpg. This last trip where I got 13 mpg we had 20mph+ headwind for a lot of the drive.

I realize this thread is about the tires but I could not help notice that you have the. Gobi racks. I am deciding between Gobi and TrailRax and on another thread the person noted a lot of wind noise with the Gobi. Would love to hear your feedback. Thanks!

Stock SAS Wranglers are 26# if i remember correctly, some will disagree but others like myself don't think they have enough toughness to depend on them for more demanding uses. Almost anything else is heavier.

I heard from one of the KOH race teams that we are close to, that the NItto's are uniquely both tough and capable of going at high speeds, and that they were super competitive tires for the King of Hammers race in particular. I have no idea how that translates to the street but it was high praise.

BFG does make some great stuff, but I think there are better options then the KO2 these days, and the Nitto is one of them. I'm also partial to the Kenda Klever RT right now if I were to switch from a MT.

Canyon Coolers said:

Stock SAS Wranglers are 26# if i remember correctly, some will disagree but others like myself don't think they have enough toughness to depend on them for more demanding uses. Almost anything else is heavier.

I heard from one of the KOH race teams that we are close to, that the NItto's are uniquely both tough and capable of going at high speeds, and that they were super competitive tires for the King of Hammers race in particular. I have no idea how that translates to the street but it was high praise.

BFG does make some great stuff, but I think there are better options then the KO2 these days, and the Nitto is one of them. I'm also partial to the Kenda Klever RT right now if I were to switch from a MT.

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Stock SAS tires are listed at 55 lbs.