Light trucks and SUVs are the most popular family haulers these days, taking the place of minivans and station wagons that were in every suburban driveway 30 years ago. They’re comfortable and practical, especially when they’re equipped with all-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive. And if your truck has AWD or 4WD, you’re probably going to want a tire that will let you get the most out of that performance potential, meaning a tire that’s durable and tough with dependable traction in rough off-road conditions such as mud, snow, gravel, sand, or difficult terrain. Then again, you probably spend most of your time on the pavement so that tire also needs to be docile and civilized on the street with a quiet, comfortable ride, good road manners and stability at highway speed and handling that’s predictable and solid.

If this sounds like your situation, we’d really recommend you take a look at the Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek. The Discoverer Rugged Trek is a rugged-terrain tire – a category that’s designed for off-road performance that’s between that of an all-terrain tire and a mud-terrain tire. We think you’ll find it to be really capable in tough off-road situations without giving away any of the refined driving qualities you’re looking for on the pavement.

But that’s not just us blowing smoke here – let’s go in for a closer look with this product line review.

Features and Benefits

Here are just a few of the features you can look for in the Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek, making it a great value and a standout performer:

• Tread depth of up to 19/32” means long wear and aggressive traction on soft surfaces
• Earth Diggers are extra-large “scoops” molded into the tire’s shoulder to forcefully dig into sand, mud, and dirt, and deliver lateral traction for cornering or getting out of ruts
• Stone Blockades built into tread to eject rocks and debris, promoting traction and resisting stone drilling and damage to tire casing
• StableTrak technology package includes omnidirectional micro-gauge full-depth sipes that provide thousands of extra biting edges to dig into snow, slush, mud, standing water
• Wear-resistant silica enriched tread formulation with advanced polymer chemistry
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer tuned to help keep road noise to a minimum
• Available in sizes up to 22”, for a wide range of fitments
• Choose from two separate sidewall treatments – there’s bound to be one that will complement the looks of your truck or SUV
• 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty for SUV sizes and a 55,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty for LT sizes

Pros and Cons

This is a tire where the Pros really do outweigh the Cons:

PROS:

• Generous warranty coverage
• Noise level and ride quality are great for a rugged-terrain tire
• Can be used aired-down over rocks and rough terrain
• Great traction on mud, dirt, gravel, snow
• Good resistance to hydroplaning on wet pavement
• Feels solid and planted on the highway, with good steering feedback and road manners

CONS:

• Not Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rated for snow traction
• Should not be used in moderate to severe winter weather conditions
• Not as comfortable or quiet as some other tires

SimpleTire’s view on Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek tires

It’s our view that the Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek is a solid suburban cruiser, the weekend-warrior tire that’s more than capable for drivers who like to take it off-road from time to time. With sizes up to 22”, it’s a good fit for a wide variety of late model light trucks and SUVs. For long interstate road trips, shuttling the kids back and forth to school or just getting to work and back, its road manners and handling are pretty impeccable, with noise levels that are comparable to OEM tires and great braking response and cornering on wet or dry pavement. But when you get off the tarmac, the Discover Rugged Trek’s extra-deep tread depth, dense network of sipes, aggressive block tread, and scalloped shoulder all work together to get you through some of the sloppiest mud and roughest rocks and gravel. The stone ejectors don’t just protect the casing, they get rid of rocks and debris lodged in the tread so there’s always a clear section of tire that can dig in and deliver traction as the wheel turns. In addition, you can lower inflation on the Cooper Discover Rugged Trek down to 10-15 psi and it will easily conform to irregular rocks and obstacles for traction without sustaining any damage.

60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty for SUV sizes and a 55,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty for LT sizes is best-in-class for a category of tire that often doesn’t come with a mileage warranty at all. Over the decades, Cooper has earned a reputation for quality, performance, and value, and the Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek is right in line with that reputation.

Vehicles the Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek is a good replacement tire for

Rugged terrain tires are a cross between mud and all-terrain tires, meaning that they’re often paired with vehicles that are used on any terrain. Consider the Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek if you drive a vehicle like the:

• Chevrolet Silverado 2500
• Dodge Durango
• Ford Maverick
• GMC Yukon
• Honda Ridgeline
• Jeep Wrangler
• Nissan Titan
• RAM 1500
• Subaru Outback
• Toyota 4Runner