I'd suspect any rim damage occured in the loose rock on the Iron King hill. The right side tires grabbed a ledge to get up and over. By the time the last rig got thru, the ledge was hacked up pretty good.
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As mentioned, the P rated stock tires are junk. Pure and simple junk. IMO upgrading tires should be #1 on the list after the basic safety and recovery equipment are in place.
For my type of wheeling an AT doesn't provide enough traction when I need it the most. My experiance with AT's in the Prescott area over the last 21 years hasn't been good. They just don't "get it" in snow or mud. Perhaps if I did more wheelin' in the desert...
I'm also willing to live with the decrease fuel mileage and road noise of an MT. Some folks don't like it. Mileage with a M/T will drop at least 1MPG - maybe more.
I'm not a fan of BFG M/T's. I've had nothing but problems with the set on my Tacoma, and I knew better when I bought'm...
One was warrenteed out for being out of round by over 1/2 inch, and the rest don't balance well either. The tread compound is too hard for my use, they have large chunks torn out of them from what I consider to be moderate wheelin'.
I'm considering replacing them with a set of the new Cooper STT - they are getting good reveiws. For a daily driven vehicle that sees weekend trail use, they look like a good tire. They are round, and take very little weight to balance. The local Discount Tire here can't keep'm in stock.
I really like GoodYear MT/R's - perhaps the toughest radial tire on the market. I've gone thru 2 sets on my beater with no flats - blown beads don't count - and the sidewalls are very, very tough too. In most Arizona conditions, they provide excellent traction. For snow and mud, I've found they need to be aired down to lower than normal pressures. The set of siped MT/R's on my wife's '05 Tacoma now have 16,800 miles on'm - I expect they will get about 50,000 total. With the center lugs siped, they do extremely well in the ice and snow up here. Down side is relatively high cost, and some road noise, although its less than the BFG's M/T's. A good shop with a Road Force balancer can get'm running true.
I'd consider either the Nitto Terrra Grappler or Yokohama Geolander A/TII for a rig used for commuting in the Metro area and used for moderate wheeling. They both have a good reputation.
If you want to upgrade, yet maintain great highway manners, and have good traction for mild/moderate wheeling, nothing beats the Michelin LTX.
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This brings up another point. On board air is a get help when wheelin'.
Even for just plain dirt roads/trails, I drop down tire pressure to 15 PSI to make the ride smoother, and to avoid stone bruising tire cords. At street pressure a tire can actually get tread seperations caused by impacting rocks at speed.
I carry a ViAir 400P in the Tacoma's, and use a 20LB CO2 system on the beater. The portable unit is great, it airs up a 265/75-16 from 15 PSI to 35 PSI in about 3 minutes. The CO2 system has enough volume and pressure to reseat a blown bead, but it's a reoccuring cost to refill tanks. The CO2 system is faster than a gas station for airing up - I have the regulator set at 120 PSI.
Mark
Much appreciated !The scratches on the alloy did not bother me as much as having a piece of juniper wood lift up and gouge (not scratch) a rim edge for two inches. Rocks I can understand. If I decide to get serious about off roading different tires will be a priority. But for $12.00 in getting the tire worked on it was worth it as they got the FJ on one of them new floor lifts so I could walk underneath her. Lots of oohs and aahs from the shop owner and mechanics! I think I may have sold 2 more FJs. 
Gonna have to start asking for commissions. These folks are new in my area and are facing a lot of competition from two other shops down the road. We discused specializing in the off road market as there are no shops in the area(and one is needed) and he has a core group of good mechanics and body workers. His problem is that he has been approched by many new companys and their products lately so I suggested getting on this forum to see what the real off roaders are doing to their rigs. Maybe we can get him to be a sponser for our site.
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