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Nitto Terra Grappler or Ridge Grappler?

TurnThePage
Explorer
Explorer
My tow vehicle is a half ton pickup and I will be putting P metric tires on it, and due to certain circumstances, my choices are restricted to these two. I live in the mountainous inland northwest, and do occasionally drag my travel trailer off road, but by far most of my driving will be commuting about 50 mile/day. I want a capable tire, and I want a comfortable tire. I would like a reasonably quiet tire too.

Anybody have knowledge of how these tires compare?
2015 Ram 1500
2022 Grand Design Imagine XLS 22RBE
14 REPLIES 14

twodownzero
Explorer
Explorer
I have had both tires. The Terra Grapplers on my 1 ton and the Ridge Grapplers on a K5 Blazer. I'm angry right now with Nitto and so I can no longer recommend them.

The Terra Grapplers, I bought in June 2014. Last year I had a tread separation just past 4 years of use and 15,000 miles. I bought another tire on the prorated warranty and didn't give it another thought.

This spring I had another tire separation, this time with 18,000 miles. They offered me another warranty replacement. I told them I wanted to prorate out all 4 remaining tires (I bought a spare when I bought my tires). They said no but offered me $270 in credit, the approximate cost of one full new tire. My thought was that two failed tires out of one set was a pattern and all of them needed to come off. They still refused.

I used the money to buy a competitor product (the Goodyear Wrangler All Terrain Adventure). I just got them installed last week, so I can't comment on the new Goodyears. I chose this tire because it has a treadwear warranty and the mountain snowflake symbol, which is my current standard for tire choices for the truck.

The Ridge Grapplers on my Blazer have been excellent. The off road traction isn't as great as I hoped, but they are super quiet on the road and even in the 37x12.50 size, they balance nicely and ride very smooth. I have had them for ~2 years. I rotate and balance them religiously. There has been some chunking from rock crawling but that's the nature of the beast. Overall, they are excellent. I spent a lot of time agonizing on what tire I was going to use on this rig and I really have no regrets. If I was going to buy another set of tires, I'm not aware of anything better in the 37" size. If the GY Wrangler Duratrac came bigger than a 35, I'd consider it, but it doesn't. I don't need tires this aggressive on my tow rig, though.

I am furious about the Nitto Terra Grapplers coming apart on my Ram after 4 1/2 years and them trying to claim this is normal. I am religious about checking tire pressures and I have never overloaded the tires. They failed at 18,000 miles after less than 5 years. I had hoped to get one more season out of them.

The treadwear and traction of the Terra Grapplers were excellent throughout their life, until two of them (out of five) failed and came apart on me.

I am frustrated and I do wonder if I was just expecting too much out of a set of tires. I think just about anyone should expect five years of solid service out of a tire, though.

If I were you, I would, if you're stuck on Nitto, use the Terra Grappler.

And in any event, I would NOT tow anything on P rated passenger car tires, that is dangerous. Metric sizing is fine, but LT only and nothing less than a D rated tire, even on a 1/2 ton. For 3/4 and 1 ton, E rated/80 PSI tires only, no exceptions.

transferred
Explorer
Explorer
Have not tried the Ridge but I like the Terra Grappler and have put hundreds of thousands of miles on the version one and now the G2 version. Very reliable tire, in D or E range depending on your size of truck.

GoodYear Wrangler Duratracs are another bit of rubber I rate highly and would be my choice if you often work out of muddy job sites or fields.
05 Ram 3500 SRW QCSB Laramie 4x4 Cummins, 610lbs, 23k GC, 9.9k GV
(totaled) 16 Ram 3500 SRW RCLB SLT 4X4 Cummins Aisin, 900lbs, 25.3k GC, 11.5k GV
06 F550 4x4 PSD, 570lbs, 33k GC, 19.5k GV

FishOnOne
Explorer III
Explorer III
ShinerBock wrote:
I have been running Ridge Grapplers for 50k now. There is still plenty of life left in them. Had Trail Grapplers on before these and they didn't even get to 35k. The Ridge Grapplers are very quiet for how aggressive they are.


Ironically, on NITTO's website, the Ridge Grapplers either exceeds or matches all the aspects of the Terra G2's.

Nitto Ridge Grappler

Nitto Terra Grappler G2

The Ridge Grapplers are about 5 lbs heavier than the comparable Terra Grappler though.


I know a guy at work who ran both these tires on his 09 Super Duty. He claimed he got a little over 60k miles on the terra grapplers. He decided to try a more aggressive tire and went with the ridge grapplers and complained they made the truck ride worse even while going to a next size taller tire. He ran those tires ~6 months until he recently purchased a new Super Duty.
'12 Ford Super Duty FX4 ELD CC 6.7 PSD 400HP 800ft/lbs "270k Miles"
'16 Sprinter 319MKS "Wide Body"

AlmostAnOldGuy
Explorer
Explorer
TurnThePage wrote:
I expect to get mine next week.

I'll share my impressions, light duty and all. 😉


Will be curious how they run and looking forward to your report for both summer and winter driving.

Like ShinerBock mentioned I thought it was interesting re: the Nitto published characteristics of the two tires. Per the web sites characteristics the Ridge Grapplers exceeding the G2 in a few categories. However it occurred to me they do not show winter / ice in the list. The G2s appear to put more rubber on the ground with more full depth sipes that should help on packed snow and ice.

Take it easy,
Stu
2012 F150 HD/Max Payload (8200 GVWR, 2176 payload) SuperCrew EcoBoost
2008 Komfort Trailblazer T254S

TurnThePage
Explorer
Explorer
I expect to get mine next week.

I'll share my impressions, light duty and all. 😉
2015 Ram 1500
2022 Grand Design Imagine XLS 22RBE

ksss
Explorer
Explorer
I may have to try a set of the Ridge Grapplers and see how they do.
2020 Chevy 3500 CC 4X4 DRW D/A
2013 Fuzion 342
2011 RZR Desert Tan
2012 Sea Doo GTX 155
2018 Chevy 3500HD CC LB SRW 4X4 D/A
2015 Chevy Camaro ZL1

TurnThePage
Explorer
Explorer
camp-n-family wrote:
Grit dog wrote:
^Depends on how much traction you're looking for. Yes good AT tires with good OE sipes are good in snow and ice. Additional siping just makes them better.
Ran 1st winter on a set of Toyo ATs on my work truck and they were good in snow. Siped them before this past winter and they was better.


Interesting. I have the Toyos on my current truck and they are horrible in the snow. I need to put it in 4wd just for an inch of snow or else I get stuck. I saw a slight improvement airing down for the winter but I'm going to have to look into siping.


Yes, siping can REALLY improve a tire's wet and winter performance. I've stretched the life of several sets of tires by siping them.

Nitto states that the Terra Grapplers are siped the entire depth of the tread. They should be great in lousy weather. In my case, I don't want to run my aftermarket rims in the winter, so I've already committed to the OEM wheels with winter tires.

And interesting side note, my current winter tires are just plain AT tires that I got siped. When they wear out I'll get the real thing.

Thanks for the input!
2015 Ram 1500
2022 Grand Design Imagine XLS 22RBE

camp-n-family
Explorer
Explorer
Grit dog wrote:
^Depends on how much traction you're looking for. Yes good AT tires with good OE sipes are good in snow and ice. Additional siping just makes them better.
Ran 1st winter on a set of Toyo ATs on my work truck and they were good in snow. Siped them before this past winter and they was better.


Interesting. I have the Toyos on my current truck and they are horrible in the snow. I need to put it in 4wd just for an inch of snow or else I get stuck. I saw a slight improvement airing down for the winter but I'm going to have to look into siping.
'17 Ram 2500 Crewcab Laramie CTD
'13 Keystone Bullet Premier 310BHPR
Hitched by Hensley

ShinerBock
Explorer
Explorer
I have been running Ridge Grapplers for 50k now. There is still plenty of life left in them. Had Trail Grapplers on before these and they didn't even get to 35k. The Ridge Grapplers are very quiet for how aggressive they are.


Ironically, on NITTO's website, the Ridge Grapplers either exceeds or matches all the aspects of the Terra G2's.

Nitto Ridge Grappler

Nitto Terra Grappler G2

The Ridge Grapplers are about 5 lbs heavier than the comparable Terra Grappler though.
2014 Ram 2500 6.7L CTD
2016 BMW 2.0L diesel (work and back car)
2023 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 3.0L Ecodiesel

Highland Ridge Silverstar 378RBS

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
^Depends on how much traction you're looking for. Yes good AT tires with good OE sipes are good in snow and ice. Additional siping just makes them better.
Ran 1st winter on a set of Toyo ATs on my work truck and they were good in snow. Siped them before this past winter and they was better.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

camp-n-family
Explorer
Explorer
I had Terra Grapplers on my Tundra and loved them. Aggressive looking but quiet and smooth on the highway. Very minimal difference in mileage over the stock tires too. Can’t speak for winter conditions though as I had dedicated snow tires.
'17 Ram 2500 Crewcab Laramie CTD
'13 Keystone Bullet Premier 310BHPR
Hitched by Hensley

ksss
Explorer
Explorer
I don't see a need to sipe the G2. There are enough biting edges in the block tread design that it makes siping unnecessary in my opinion.
2020 Chevy 3500 CC 4X4 DRW D/A
2013 Fuzion 342
2011 RZR Desert Tan
2012 Sea Doo GTX 155
2018 Chevy 3500HD CC LB SRW 4X4 D/A
2015 Chevy Camaro ZL1

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
Pick either one and sipe them for winter driving.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

ksss
Explorer
Explorer
I cant speak to the Ridge Grappler, except to say that I see a lot of them. I do have a set of the G2's on my wife's 4X4 2016 1500 GMC. I have really liked them, she stays on the highway but drives back and forth to Montana throughout the year. The G2's are really good on ice packed roads and quiet on the highway. They have never been in the mud but I would imagine they wont cleanout real well until you really spin them. They wear very well, and what else I like about them is there are no raised portions in the tread design, meaning they maintain their tread through out the depth of the tread. I will put those back on when she wears them out. They are P series as well.
2020 Chevy 3500 CC 4X4 DRW D/A
2013 Fuzion 342
2011 RZR Desert Tan
2012 Sea Doo GTX 155
2018 Chevy 3500HD CC LB SRW 4X4 D/A
2015 Chevy Camaro ZL1