Best All Terrain Tires for 20 Inch Rims – Review in 2021

LAST UPDATED: June 1st, 2022

All terrain tires having the features of both on and off-road driving has become a top choice for Truck, SUV and Crossover owners. Albeit a bit pricier than single-purpose tires, it gives the versatility that all desire.

You can guess that combining both features and reducing the few drawbacks of both is a hard task. But brands like Falken, BFGoodwill, Bridgestone produce the all terrain tires for 20-inch rims and other rims sizes that do a good job of combining the best of both worlds.

When it comes to brands, there are lots to choose from, some pricier than others according to their premium branding.

We chose the bang-for-buck tires from a few quality brands. Before we do that, let’s do a recap on the benefits of all-terrain tires.

Benefits of Using All Terrain Tires

All terrain tires attract those who want or need the best of both worlds. By merging the feature of on and off-road driving, it gets quite a few advantages. But in which points do they stand out among other tires?

Stability in All Terrains

The tires’ stability in different conditions is due to two main features in the tread design — the rugged large tread blocks and support ramps inside the tires for rigidity.

Rugged Tread Blocks

The all terrain tires got the deeper and wider grooves from mud terrain tire features. These are specifically designed for muddy and rocky terrains. All the mud and dirt are prevented from lodging in the tires, and the car wheels stay free from being tangled up in the mud.
Not only that, but the larger tread blocks also work as a support for the wheels to stay clear of the mud.

Support Ramps

To make these rugged, chunky tires stable in highway driving, the manufacturers use support ramps to make the contact surface as rigid as possible. And this rigidity keeps the tire stable and gives better handling during driving.

Less Wear

Wear is a big concern with off-road tires driving on pavements due to the wide tread patters. To solve that issue, manufacturers came up with different techniques. One is the compound tread pattern that stables the gaps between each tread block, and another is stronger sidewalls.

Compound Tread Pattern

This compound tread pattern also has stone ejectors in between the grooves that stop stones from getting lodged in them.

Stronger Sidewalls

Better sidewalls are also a product of a cross between on and off-road tire features. The stronger sidewalls provide more safety to the interior of the tire that prevents the tire from wearing fast. Some even have a heat dissipation technology put in them.

Best All Terrain Tires for 20 Inch Rims Review

In the market, there are lots of tires to choose from for your 20-inch rims. Products of different price ranges and brands are available.

It might seem quite puzzling to you. That’s why we have reviewed 5 all-terrain tires for 20-inch wheels for you.

BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO2 Tire – LT275/65R20/E 126/123S

If you know a bit about tires, you should’ve heard the name Michelin. One of the most sought after tire brands. And this BFGoodrich tire is produced by none other than Michelin itself.

Targeted towards pickup truck, jeep, and SUVs, this BFGoodrich KO2 tire is designed to tackle both on and off-road driving. As an added benefit, you’ll be able to run with this tire all throughout the year.

Just like its previous version KO, it has a long tread life thanks to the compound tread design. This tread design includes interlocking tread blocks that reduce wear significantly.

For off-road driving, you’re getting the usual wider tread pattern, but the steel frame gives the tire high rigidity.

This rigidity comes in handy when you’re putting the rugged tread blocks on rough pavements and highways.

The rubber compound used in BFGoodrich’s sidewall is twice as thick as its previous versions, and yes, it’s tougher as well.

Moreover, the structure of the tire is reinforced with nylon covered twin steel frame and a polyester cord sidewall construction called Tri-Gard.

Along the sidewall’s upper portion, it has a serrated shoulder design with staggered blocks that give traction and easy maneuverability on muddy and snowy roads.

The thick and tough sidewall protects the tire’s interior from getting damaged. You’re getting more durability and handling due to the sidewall design.

It has a 3D Sipe technology that gives it more biting edges that helps to handle the driving in deep snow conditions.

The mud-phobic bars on the shoulder tread cut away mud swiftly for enhanced traction on soft soil. And then there are the stone ejectors for pushing away stones. You can guess how good it performs in all weather.

Suggested Guide: Tires for F150

Goodyear Wrangler SR-A All Terrain Tire – 275/55R20 111S

Although built to run on highways, the Wrangler tires from Goodyear have very good off-road capabilities due to good design and construction.

The tires are targeted towards mainly pickup trucks, but these will suit crossovers and SUVs too. Let’s see how its performance stacks up in the competition.

The tread compound of this Wrangler SR-A tire uses Goodyear’s WeTrac technology that gives it its symmetrical tread pattern. This pattern provides good traction in wet conditions as well as mud, gravel, and light snow.

In deep snow, it faces some difficulties. And to reduce the risk of hydroplaning, it has wide circumferential grooves that channel off the water from under the tire. But the performance is not constant.

The gripping power is enhanced through the wider tread pattern, lateral grooves, and free tread blocks. It can handle both hard pavement and off-road driving without making much noise.

With the ability to resist vibrations, Wrangler SR-A tires give a quiet ride on highways. Consumers appreciated the low noise during driving.

To give the tire more stability and easy handling, they have fit in two highly tensile steel frames that give the tire a good amount of rigidity.

Goodyear built this SR-A tire in P-metric, and it has D and E, both heavy-duty load-ranges. It’s rated at 50,000 miles, but some have complained about this while others appreciated.

Although the Goodyear Wrangler tire provides good quality, it’s a no match for the top tier competitors. It has a shorter tread life compared to those and could do well in performing better in wet conditions.

Related Guide: Budget All Terrain Tires

Falken Wildpeak AT3W Tire – 275/60R20 115T

Falken is one of the best producers of tires. Specializing in high-performance tires, they really brought the features of both on and off-road driving in a compact manner.

Bigger wheels need more stability, and these Wildpeak series tires can provide you all that and more.

When you bring in the main features of mud terrain tires, a stronger sidewall comes first to the design of an all terrain tire.

In a Wildpeak AT3W tire, you’ll find that the upper half and bottom half of the sidewall adds to the overall durability by protecting the structure.

How does that happen? Well, the upper sidewall with its offset shoulder blocks prevents stones from getting in between the tread blocks while protecting the interior of the tire from sharp objects.

Then you have the lower sidewall with a heat diffusion technology. What this technique does is that it dissipates heat from the tire, which is caused by friction. And in this way, your tire’s interior stays cool.

If the heat isn’t dissipated, then it would’ve made the structure of the tire very soft, and that means it would wear out faster.

The 3D Canyon Sipe technology gives wear resistance during high torque. And you’ll notice better handling too.

However, the main feature of an all-terrain tire is the rigid and rugged compound treads. Engineers at Falken added support ramps in the tires that give stability to the otherwise weaker chunky tread blocks of mud-terrain tires.

These support ramps help the rugged tread blocks keep its shape while giving better handling during driving on hard pavements or highways. And there’s no reduction of performance during off-road driving.

Falken’s Wildpeak performs quite well in snowy conditions too. And it’s from the cheap all terrain tires for 20-inch rims.

When you consider all of the features above and Falken tires’ affordability, you have to appreciate its value per dollar ratio.

Related Article: Best Tires for Jeep Wrangler

Travelstar EcoPath All Terrain Tire – P275/60R20 115T

Known for its high tread life, at number 4, we have the Ecopath all terrain tire from Travelstar. While Ecopath all terrain tires are for running on all terrains, it can also perform quite well as an all-season tire.

Travelstar gave it a rating of 50,000 miles. While we don’t have the time to test it, consumers seem to have no issue with this claim.

The Ecopath tires are geared towards SUV and light truck users. And its load rating is SL; Standard Load means a max pressure of 35 psi.

With the staggered tread blocks, it has better traction in different weathers like snow, rain, and summer. The tires have a strong gripping power, which will give you good handling on multiple terrains.

Self-cleaning ability is something all modern tires have in their design. The tread pattern is used to clean the tire from sticky messes.

When you drive on snowy, muddy roads, different substances fill up the grooves, reducing traction and the chances of skidding increase.

However, due to the tread design, all of that unwanted bits are dispersed away when the wheel keeps spinning. And the result is a clean surface area for better road contact.

Hydroplaning is a strong possibility on wet roads. And the tire’s tread is designed in such a way that it channels away the water from the tire.

The technique lies in the circumferential design of the grooves. This water gets dispersed from under the tire, and the tires constantly stay in contact with the road, which gives better handling.

The upper sidewall, as usual, prevents sharp objects and stone from getting inside. Moreover, when you’re driving on deeper mud, this sidewall increases the vehicle’s forward motion to stop you from getting all tangled up in the mud.

Suggested Guide: All-Terrain Tire for Highway Driving

Westlake SL369 All Terrain Cruiser Tire-275/55R20 113S

We’re ending our review with the all terrain driving solution from Westlake. This set of tires is built to tackle both on and off-road conditions.

Westlake designed these SL369 tires for SUV, truck and crossover users. You’re getting long tread life at a comparably lower price point due to its aggressive design on the tread area.

The tread pattern on SL369 All Terrain Tires consists of deep and wide grooves and large tread blocks on a compound tread pattern. The wider and deeper grooves, coupled with its blocks, give the tire high traction during on and off-road driving.

Moreover, the compound tread pattern reduces tread wear on rough pavements. All of these combinations give the tire stability and durability.

If you look at the groove, you’ll see that it has a circumferential design. The purpose of this design is to channel the water away from the tire.

In this way, hydroplaning risk is reduced significantly. That’s why it’s also used as an all-weather tire by many users.

When you have large and deep grooves on the tire, you run the risk of experiencing extremely loud noise during highway driving. To solve this issue, Westlake has put in a pitch tread sequence on these SL369 tires.

This sequence will give you a much quieter driving experience.To make the tires highly rigid for stable highway driving, it has a twin steel frame inside and a polyester cord sidewall.

The Westlake SL369 tire provides a smooth driving experience on all terrain at a lower price. While it’s not a premium tire, its value per dollar ratio can’t be ignored.

What to Look for Before Buying?

So, you have decided to upgrade and buy a set of all terrain tires, but how will you know which is the greatest all terrain tire for 20-inch rims?

Simple, you look for the best features of all-terrain tires. And for that, ask these questions before you buy.

Does It Have the Capacity to Handle Pressure and Weight?

First, you have to understand and calculate your own needs. Then the answer to this question becomes easy. Are you looking to use these in your commercial trucks to carry loads?

Or just a normal truck for household purposes? If your purpose is the former, then the tires need to have higher pressure and weight handling capacity.

SUVs and normal trucks need a lesser amount of handling. But still, they also need good stability during on and off-road driving.

How Strong is the Sidewall?

One of the most important factors for the durability of a tire is its sidewalls. Sidewalls protect the interior of the tire, increasing its longevity.

Thicker sidewalls will provide more protection by preventing sharp objects from entering inside.

The thickness also helps with absorbing shock and vibration. This is a must if you’re frequently doing off-road driving.

What’s the Speed Rating?

The speed rating of a tire is determined by the speed limit of the tire. After this speed limit, the tires start losing their stability and start gaining frictional heat. And this frictional heat makes the tire wear out faster.

Since it can’t dissipate the heat quickly enough, you’ll risk failure in the middle of the road. There are other factors that we have discussed below.

The Measurements and Sizing

You should have completed the process of sizing and measuring your wheels before you even think about which tire to buy. If you are not equipped with the know-how, we’re providing a short summary about it-

The outer diameter in inches sets your tire requirement; it’s the same for any terrain. There are tire size conversion guides that will help you figure out the size after you measure your wheel diameter.

And also, you need to consider the amount of tire in each wheel, and the add-in wheel size. These will determine the right tire size. As for the available tire sizes, you’ll find tires from 15 inches to 22 inches.

Measure your rim’s diameter and see what tire sizes will fit your rim.Take it to your automobile expert if you don’t feel confident (which you shouldn’t). Y

you’ll find video tutorials online. Don’t rush in this step, as the wrong size will reduce the benefits of the tire.

Compound Tread Pattern

The compound tread pattern is available mostly in all terrain tires. And the necessity of a compound tread pattern arose due to the quick wearing of mud terrain tires on hard pavement.

This is important because the wider and deeper tread pattern is too weak to run on hard pavements.

Tires wear out quickly due to low stability. But the compound tread pattern gives that durability to the tires. For this, they create different rubber patterns in between the tread blocks.

So, now the wider treads can do their job on mud terrain while holding its own on hard pavement.

Larger Tread Blocks

Along with a wider compound tread pattern, you need to have larger tread blocks on your tires because these chunky looking blocks work as a contact surface that creates higher traction on different terrains. This is a must-have feature for all terrain tires.

Silica or Carbon Treated Rubber

This is common knowledge that rubber is the main material used in tires. But the rubber tends to wear out due to friction and heat.

That means for stability; it needs something more. And for this reason, engineers use different coatings on the tire. Silica and Carbon are used regularly as the coating.

And this coating increases the tire’s gripping ability. Not only that, this silica or carbon compound also prevents mud and debris from getting stuck in between the tread grooves.
Strong grip of tires is vital in soft, muddy, and snowy terrains. Without enough grip, vehicles will skid.

Tire’s Rigidity on Tough Terrains

On tough terrains, mud terrain tires have a tough time keeping its shape due to the wider tread pattern. But it’s a feature that’s vital to making the all terrain tires. It’s important to make sure the tires are highly rigid.

To solve this issue, engineers insert supporting ramps or steel frames inside the tires to give it a strong structure. This technique supports the tread blocks to be stable when driving on hard pavements.

An added benefit of rigidity is that the tire wears slowly compared to less rigid tires.The higher the rigidity, the more stable your vehicle is.

Prevention from Puncture

A tire getting punctured in the middle of the road is the most irritating thing to a driver. And it’s more irritating when that happens on a muddy, rocky road.

Many times stones and sharp objects get stuck on the tire surface, and some even go inside the tire and puncture the tube. It’s due to less protection of the tire interior. Sidewalls help in this case.

And those stones that get stuck in the tread grooves create problems such as slowing down the wheels and damaging them in the long run.

To solve this problem, manufacturers create stone ejectors in the treat patters that push back the nasty rocks and stones. That way, your tire stays safe from puncture.

Brand

Buying from brands does have an advantage due to quality assurance. Brands like BFGoodrich, Falken, Goodyear, Federal, and others are known to provide good quality products.

They built their popularity by satisfying the consumers, and they have a wide range of tires to choose from. Moreover, brands provide warranties with their products.

Price

Premium brands will ask for a higher price, but there are brands that provide the same quality for a lower price. Whether you’re on a budget or not, your preference should be on value per dollar. Do you really want to go all out unnecessarily only on the tires?

All-Season Tires vs. All Terrain Tires

While the names may sound similar, they have quite a few dissimilarities when it comes to their purpose and features.

Purpose

All-season tires and all terrain tires are built for different purposes. The all-season or all-weather tires are exclusively designed for driving on hard pavements meaning the highways.

And of course, you can use them all year round. So a better name for them would be all-season highway tires. And all terrain tires are made for driving on all terrains from muddy roads to snowy ones, which include highways

Fuel Consumption

Due to their difference in usage, they use different levels of fuel. All-season tires, being highway tires, is more efficient than all terrain tires in fuel consumption.

Tread Pattern

All-terrain tires have a compound tread pattern with rugged, chunky tread blocks while all-season tires have narrower simple tread pattern.

Noise Level

Due to the off-road features installed in all-terrain tires, they make a louder noise on highways compared to all-season tires that are made for highways.

Tread Wear

The treads on all-season tires seem to wear less than all-terrain tires in the same running period. But it’s not that much to be taken as a negative point for all-terrain tires.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

By now, you should have all the information you need to figure out which is the high-quality all terrain tire for 20-inch rims. If you’re still confused, then why not take our recommendation?

And that’s “BFGoodrich All Terrain KO2 tire” at number 1 on this list. However, any of the products on this list is a great buy.