On a recent flight from Japan came four of the very first new Nitto Trail Grapplers just for our exclusive testing. Nitto has a reputation for some wild yet capable tires. Though the Terra Grappler isn't too feral, the flame tread of the Dune Grappler and the claws covering the Mud Grappler have always raised an eyebrow among conservative tire buyers. However, with the new Trail Grappler M/T, Nitto aimed for a great all around off-road tread without any crazy tread pattern and hit a bull's-eye.
We bolted a set of 35s onto 18-inch Spyderlock beadlocks and headed for the hills to see what they could do. In order to get the tires from airport to magazine page, we skipped a true mud test and will need to give a long-term update down the road, but our initial testing returned a thumbs-up for Nitto's new Trail Grappler.