After six months of traveling we upgraded our tow vehicle with the Nokian Outpost AT tires. Over the next month we set out on a camping trip in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. A fitting place to test out our new tires; an area with rough terrain and even tougher and hostile floral environment.
We began our journey heading west from Tucson, Arizona, on a two-lane road, lined with Saguaro cactus as far as the eye could see. As much as we find ourselves on dirt and gravel roads scouting campsites that extend our boundaries and get us away from city life, we spend a great amount of time traveling on highways and backroads of all different conditions.
When making the initial decision to upgrade our tires we knew we needed to find an option that was versatile enough to handle all types of road conditions as well as durable enough to carry heavy loads for towing our Airstream. The Outpost AT tires fit the bill.
On our drive towards Organ Pipe National Monument, we took some time to turn down the music, roll up the windows, and just listen to our new tires. Going up a tire size and width from our previous tires, we were interested to see if we would hear a bit more road noise on the highway. Happy to report no difference in sound levels in the cab, and not a whole lot of difference at the gas pumps right now—well, other than the sky-high gas prices as we continue to make our way west.
Arriving in Why, Arizona, a tiny town with one major intersection, we turn right and head twelve miles north towards Ajo to look for a place to camp and drop the trailer. A few minutes later and it is time to head into our first option for camping on public land in the area. We leave the pavement over a cattle grate and promptly hit the gravel. After a mile or two of washboard road, we found a small campsite to drop the trailer at. We try to unhitch the Airstream as soon as possible, so we can scout further ahead and find a good campsite without getting ourselves into a sticky situation towing into the unknown.
Once the Airstream was temporarily setup, we set out to do a little exploring around the area. This would be our first time testing the Outpost AT tires off-road since getting them installed on the truck.
We drive a light-weight truck with almost nothing stored in the bed—pair that with street tires, and we were a very floaty vehicle on gravel and dirt roads. Right away, the first thing we noticed with the Nokian Outpost AT tires was the traction and grip on the road. Further into this public camping area there are long stretches of gravel washboard road that are broken up with sudden large dips for the washes. We never needed to switch into 4WD on the roads here, but there was a significant difference in how we were crawling up loose and solid rocky portions of the roads.
These 10-ply all-terrain tires boast their puncture resistance with the Aramid Shield Technology. As noted on the Nokian website, this technology “provides extreme resistance to potholes, road hazards, rough terrain and off-road obstacles”, making these the perfect addition to our towing setup for traveling and camping with our Airstream. We are very much looking forward to where these tires will take us this year.
And, on that note, it is time to pack up and get back on the road!
