Military tires

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Not to throw fuel on the fire, but there's a point to the compromises the military makes in spec-ing their tires. The main one is durability as the prime directive. They want a tire that doesn't give them trouble. So it's heavy and robust.

The military also tends to move en masse or at least with the prospect of assistance on call. Stuck in the mud? If your convoy buddy can't get you out, then wait for the wrecker. So ultimate off-road performance is less of a priority.

I've never seen any on anything other than a mil vehicle, but just because the military uses it doesn't necessarily mean it's the tire for the trail you'll be on next weekend. Durable, heck yeah, but if you have other needs, it may come up a bit short.
 
greentruck said:
Not to throw fuel on the fire, but there's a point to the compromises the military makes in spec-ing their tires. The main one is durability as the prime directive. They want a tire that doesn't give them trouble. So it's heavy and robust.

The military also tends to move en masse or at least with the prospect of assistance on call. Stuck in the mud? If your convoy buddy can't get you out, then wait for the wrecker. So ultimate off-road performance is less of a priority.

I've never seen any on anything other than a mil vehicle, but just because the military uses it doesn't necessarily mean it's the tire for the trail you'll be on next weekend. Durable, heck yeah, but if you have other needs, it may come up a bit short.
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That's a totally valid point, and something to consider.

Like I said, it's more designed as an all around tire. Much more aggressive than an AT, but less so than a true M/T (and even less than boggers/swampers/etc).
 
The bumper and 80 examples are just Koo-Koo seriously:rolleyes:

I not going to debate this anymore

For the average person who wants to run 37's they are just not practical period.
 
i think at sub $100 a tire- for someone wanting to have a "trail set" to throw on for abuse they arent too bad. If you have to have 1 tire all around- ud be wise to invest in a better all arounder like a toyo or bfg. fyi i got my set for $300 (5)............and steelie rims from 4wp (300). No brainer trail setup at 60%less than a bfg or toyo

Im running my 16.5s as DD- and dont mind the wobble.They actually smooth out around 67mph-so hwy travel with em is just like any other mt. As far as tread- seems more like a combo at/mt tread. Airing down helps out- but these are really more of an expedition tire than a wheeling grippy tire. They are tons better than any A/T----so if you already have some ATs for driving around town---and happen to come across some el-cheapo 16.5" steelie rims from 4wparts etc......you could have a sub $600set of backup/trail tires which are cheap to replace should you tear or pop one beyone repair. Alot better option than at/s and bargain priced for someone looking to have a trail option on the cheap for occasional adventures.

also mine are measuring out to 36" and still have a good 75%tread-----so not as big of a gearing penalty vs. a truer 37"

Its cheap- its durable- its a huge step up from any AT offroad. for people who will roll Mts daily driver- id look elsewhere and invest in something better all around. For people who venture offroad a handful of times a year and dont mind doing a tire change- looking for a cheap alternative to their ATs those 4 times year.......id say go for it and save a bunch of loot for your next set of ATs.
 
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I don't know what you consider tough, but I tore the sidewall up on quite a few sets of Military tires in Iraq jumping curbs and clearing Trash piles of IED's. On the flip side, I never got a flat as a result of a blast. This includes running over a "suspicious object" that turned out to be an IED. I don't know if the HMMWVs use the same tires as what we ran though.
 
bugsnbikes said:
i think at sub $100 a tire- for someone wanting to have a "trail set" to throw on for abuse they arent too bad. If you have to have 1 tire all around- ud be wise to invest in a better all arounder like a toyo or bfg. fyi i got my set for $300 (5)............and steelie rims from 4wp (300). No brainer trail setup at 60%less than a bfg or toyo

Im running my 16.5s as DD- and dont mind the wobble.They actually smooth out around 67mph-so hwy travel with em is just like any other mt. As far as tread- seems more like a combo at/mt tread. Airing down helps out- but these are really more of an expedition tire than a wheeling grippy tire. They are tons better than any A/T----so if you already have some ATs for driving around town---and happen to come across some el-cheapo 16.5" steelie rims from 4wparts etc......you could have a sub $600set of backup/trail tires which are cheap to replace should you tear or pop one beyone repair. Alot better option than at/s and bargain priced for someone looking to have a trail option on the cheap for occasional adventures.

also mine are measuring out to 36" and still have a good 75%tread-----so not as big of a gearing penalty vs. a truer 37"

Its cheap- its durable- its a huge step up from any AT offroad. for people who will roll Mts daily driver- id look elsewhere and invest in something better all around. For people who venture offroad a handful of times a year and dont mind doing a tire change- looking for a cheap alternative to their ATs those 4 times year.......id say go for it and save a bunch of loot for your next set of ATs.
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If you ever needed to air down to a low pressure you cant because you will need beadlocks or else you will pop a bead on a 16.5 inch rim but I am sure you know that

I agree it is not an all around tire for the average 80 user that sees alot of DD usage and only has the option of one set of tires and wheels
 
There are 4 main military tires in the 16.5 variety
RTII $50
MT $75
MTR $120 (when you can find them)
all are Goodyear wranglers the last one be exactly like a regular old style MTR just with a bit more plys in the sidewall
There are also the BFG baja TAs which are good in almost any terrain.
The reason the RTII and the MTs are not as "good" as other 37's on the market is the fact that they are a 20-30 year old design where as most toyos, pitbulls... etc are under a 10 year old design most under 5 years, so of course they are going to be better.
They are also not that much more heavier, i've seen some of the "regular" tires weigh in the upper 80's lower 90's a tire with is right were the 16'5's are or a little bit more.
Cheap double bead locks are also a good reason to look into these.
There are also the guard dog retreads which are pretty cheap.
I wheeled with both RTIIs and MTs and they did fine for what they are, where they as good as pitball rockers.... of course not. They will however do ok in most terrain if you are good.
Adding a safety bead costs almost nothing if you have a welder.
I aired mine down to 10lbs on many occasions and never lost a bead but it was in the back of my mine the whole time.


The XML's are heavy (around 110lbs a tire)
the XZLs and the Xls are lighter due to only being 11" wide
They do flex but only when they encounter something to flex on not just because they are aired down. They are not the greatest tires but they are ok for the $$$ and look mean as hell.
Most people who have these tires like them, the times you get bad reports on them are mostly over on pirate where people spent 15k building a hard core rock rig for the hammers and thought that they could skimp on tires. Of course they aren't going to do that great on terrain like that.
 
I would have tried the XML's if they were ever available. I broke down and went tall and skinny with our trusty out of round manufacturer Interco. I swear their molds must look like eggs! Once I got my boggers shaved round it really helped. A little thread jack... Sorry. The 16.5" wheel switch kept me from going this route. I like that the stock wheels are hub centric, and a skinny tall tire stuffs nicely with stock backspacing. Obviously talking about the stock 16x8's on the FZJ's.
 
dafun1 said:
I like that the stock wheels are hub centric, and a skinny tall tire stuffs nicely with stock backspacing. Obviously talking about the stock 16x8's on the FZJ's.
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Hub centric is nice, wish the recentered Hummer rims were hub instead of lug centric. Not the end of the world, early 80's rims were lug centric.

FWIW 3.5" backspacing actually tucks better than the stock 4.5" backspacing. With stock backspacing you tend to rub the inside of the wheel well or the frame. With 3.5" BS, you might rub the fender or flare (if you still have them) depending on how wide and knobby your tires are, lift, etc.
 
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3.5" would be nice but the only way to get it hub centric would be a custom wheel. The 9" tread width on my 38.5x11 boggers tucks in great. I'm a tall skinny fan.
 
I think I will try this Military tire beadlock combo. The more I read KidGloves' reasons not to use them, the more I like them. The Quote "for the average guy, 80 dd driver" dosen't make much since to me. Why would someone need 37's for daily driving? The stock size tire is much smoother and fuel efficient. I also can't imagine some one driving a rock crawler as their daily driver. So having a low cost solution to 37's for off road use makes perfect since to me. Just keep the stock set up for all that daily driving. Now I just have to get some bead locks! L.B.
 
I use my truck with 35's as my dd. my stock tires were awesome in the city, but sucked fuel on the highway. With 35's it has dropped my highway rpm's by 400ish. Enough to save fuel big time when going long distance. That extra 2" might just help that much more, but with the military tires weighing more, I just don't think it's a good option. Keep in mind I have a manual hdt
 
bcguy said:
I use my truck with 35's as my dd. my stock tires were awesome in the city, but sucked fuel on the highway. With 35's
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Stock gears?
 
I DD my 38.5" boggers on stock gears at 7000ft!
 
Camino said:
I think I will try this Military tire beadlock combo. The more I read KidGloves' reasons not to use them, the more I like them. The Quote "for the average guy, 80 dd driver" dosen't make much since to me. Why would someone need 37's for daily driving? The stock size tire is much smoother and fuel efficient. I also can't imagine some one driving a rock crawler as their daily driver. So having a low cost solution to 37's for off road use makes perfect since to me. Just keep the stock set up for all that daily driving. Now I just have to get some bead locks! L.B.
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The OP DD's his truck that is why I said what I said and was concerned about mpg's
If you are not going to drive your turck all the time it is a decent affordable option

If you DD your truck and dont have gears it is not a cost effective option in my opinion unless you have 2 sets of wheels

With EBagg being the exception;)

Hell I run 37 inch grooved boggers which are not much lighter
But my truck only sees about 4k a year
My last off road trip, including trail time I saw only 8 mpg:doh:
 
kidglove13 said:
The OP DD's his truck that is why I said what I said and was concerned about mpg's
If you are not going to drive your turck all the time it is a decent affordable option

If you DD your truck and dont have gears it is not a cost effective option in my opinion unless you have 2 sets of wheels

With EBagg being the exception;)

Hell I run 37 inch grooved boggers which are not much lighter
But my truck only sees about 4k a year
My last off road trip, including trail time I saw only 8 mpg:doh:
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If you're concerned about MPG's, you're driving the wrong vehicle. You can go out and buy a vehicle that will get 5 times or more the MPG for just a couple grand.

Doing some quick back of the envelope math, based on driving 12k per year and $4 per gallon, here's the breakdown.

An 80 with 10 MPG (lifted, armored, 37's will give you about that) gives you a yearly fuel cost of $4800.

A pretty much completely stock 80 should net you about 14 MPG on average (if you drive like an old lady and almost entirely freeway might hit 16). That's a yearly cost of $3400.

OTOH if you buy a cheap econo-box and drive carefully, you could hit as high as 50 MPG. But even assuming you only hit 30 MPG, that's a yearly cost of $1600. That means that econo-box pays for itself in as little as two years (assuming you pick it up for around $3k).

If you get 50 MPG (Geo Metro, some Honda's, some diesels) then your yearly gas costs are only $960. So you'll pay for that econo-box in a bit over a year.

While $1400 per year in gas is not insignificant, you're far better off having a different DD. And that's just based on gas. Take maintenance into account, insurance costs, etc etc etc and you'll be even further ahead.



There are other reasons why we DD our 80's. Because we like to, for one. Because I want to wrap my wife and kid in 6k lbs of steel that won't fail even if I roll at 70 MP (knock on wood). But MPG ain't one of them, even with a completely stock 80.
 
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