MT Tires -

[phxtlc]

One thing I would like to ask: Considering the soft compound of the KM2's, these wouldn't work well in, say, Phoenix, AZ where the summer pavement gets hot enough to fry eggs, right?

Being in the middle of the Desert - it would be nice to find something that runs well and doesn't get chewed up by the Summers.

One local recommended Nitto Terra Grapplers. How are the Nitto MT's?

John

According to what I've seen and read the Nitto MT's are real soft and honestly made specifically for rock crawling. It's all about where you want to wheel and how much you're going to run your rig on the road. Personally my truck is on the 101 more than any trail and I'll probably stick to A/T's if this remains the case. Anyway I use the TG's and honestly love them compared to anything else I've had. They're round, quiet, durable, and have done a real good job sticking to the rocks out here.

If your truck is going to be totally on the rocks then I've heard the Nitto MT's are hard to beat.

Here's one review

Nitto Mud Grappler Reviews

And Nittos website...(notice how low they rate their tire for everything but off road performance. That you can watch some of the videos for.)

http://www.nittotire.com/#index.tire.mudgrappler

 

[McDowra]

Anyone tried Firestone Destination MT's, they are tireracks highest rated MT tire.

 

[Nay]

Are you saying that AT's + 4' drifts = because the AT's make it too easy, or because you don't like AT's in those situations?

Part of the reason why I went with the AT2's is because they have holes for studs on them. Should make their handling in snow/ice leaps and bounds above any M/T.

No, I'm saying that AT's aren't good at paddling through the deep stuff here. Studs are for digging into ice and hardpack, they have nothing to do with drift busting, and chains don't work when the other side of the drifts is a bare interstate (they don't fit with 35's, either).

I can deal with the condition of 4' drifts in my 200' driveway busting out to an interstate that is wind blasted bare in spots to heavily drifted in others. Now I don't *need* to do this, unless there is an emergency, but of course I think of my neighbors who had a 1 year old girl spiking a 105 degree fever during a major blizzard and they couldn't get out if they had to nor would it be likely emergency response could get in. She ended up being fine, but I busted out to make sure we could get her out. I don't like *maybe* when it comes to emergency safety when I have four young kids.

This of course is where "snow" is not always apples to apples. If you went into the Cascades you'd be dealing with extremely high water content snow, where I may have wind packed snow with snow to water ratios of 40:1 where there is no such thing as getting on top of the snow with a 3 ton rig.

Which gets back to the point: tires that excel in one region are not great in others. I haven't used an umbrella in 10 years. That changes the kind of tire you need here.

If not for the incredibly variable snow conditions we can have, I think my ideal tire would look something like a Nitto Terra Grappler in a relatively narrow 37x17.

My minivan, on the other hand, is getting studded snows

 

[Cj80cruiser]

Maybe you should try this Nay. Green Diamond Icelander MT Tire Reviews

 

[Nay]

Maybe you should try this Nay. Green Diamond Icelander MT Tire Reviews

I've seen those. Well siped MT's that resist tread and sidewall damage in the rocks are ideal for the Intermountain West. I would still like to see a tire with a tightly grooved inner tread design with MT outer lugs - this is what people are accomplishing with grooving, although the practice seems to be relegated to the Krawler/Swamper crowd.

I will probably groove my inner lugs as the Toyos age, there is a perfect line already marked by the factory siping for the inner lugs. I think the biggest knock on the Toyos for example is the lugs are all pretty big and inflexible, and that won't be the best thing for crawling. Grooving would change this.

But, back to the initial thread, the BFG KM2 is probably the only truly different tread design to come on the market in years. Given it's heritage is the Krawler, I'd be hard pressed to pass it up if I couldn't find any serious drawbacks. In a dry climate a tire like Austin, that is a no-brainer.

 

[Sporin]

fwiw, this is the best AT I've ever owned, unfortunately they come in VERY limited sizes. IMO they combined some of the best aspects of an AT an MT. I suspect this would be a great "compromise" tread for the occasional wheeler who hits the mud on the weekends. AT-like center section with wider spaced MT-like outer lugs

Dunlop Radial Rover R/T

 

[WarDamnEagle]

I think you should keep the original BFG MT (T/A KO KM?? or whatever it is) on your list IF the only reason you are not considering it now is because of road noise. As a couple of others have already posted, this tire was redesigned in the last year or so and is much quieter on the highway now. I put a set on my 85 4Runner and was very surprised. I have not put very many miles on them yet so they may get noiser as they wear but for now they are not as bad as my old BFG AT's.

 

[tucker74]

Thanks for the input guys, reading this makes me realize people have vastly different needs based on where they live. I'm probably being a bit hard on the MTR's given how worn they are, they've been a great tire and have given more life than I would have expected out of an MT tire. I face tight trails with loose limestone rock and caliche, sloppy mud, and the occasional trip to ubber traction granite around here and they have never left me wanting something else off road. The on-road is what I'm not happy with at this point.

I had originally ruled out the Trxxus/Cepek/Interco because of their super-soft compounds, they don't wear very well in heat around here. I think from what I've read the Toyo's are going to be very similar to the MTR's based on the tread pattern and hard compound. I'm still leaning towards the new BFG MT KM2, though the price makes the Cooper STT very attractive.

Thanks for the input!
Tucker

 

[Nay]

fwiw, this is the best AT I've ever owned, unfortunately they come in VERY limited sizes. IMO they combined some of the best aspects of an AT an MT. I suspect this would be a great "compromise" tread for the occasional wheeler who hits the mud on the weekends. AT-like center section with wider spaced MT-like outer lugs

Dunlop Radial Rover R/T

I was hoping for large sizes in the Rover R/T 10 years ago, and it never happened. I've always wondered why somebody didn't put out a tire like this for the offroad community.

 

[Sporin]

I was hoping for large sizes in the Rover R/T 10 years ago, and it never happened. I've always wondered why somebody didn't put out a tire like this for the offroad community.

Yup, I put them on my first 4x4, an old boxy Isuzu Trooper and they were GREAT in the woods and the snow and decent onroad as well. But with the largest size being 265/75R16 it's pretty much a "stock-height rig" tire.

 

[80t0ylc]

Are you saying that AT's + 4' drifts = because the AT's make it too easy, or because you don't like AT's in those situations?

Part of the reason why I went with the AT2's is because they have holes for studs on them. Should make their handling in snow/ice leaps and bounds above any M/T.

Not to beat a dead horse, but if you think you're going to get studs installed in your AT2's after you've put some miles on them, you're going to be disappointed. Most tire shops won't do it. And you can't run studded tires here except from Nov-Mar. Nay's right on about different snow types, I know cause I've lived in both his area and ours.

One other thought: Traction tires, as defined by ODOT, (with the exception of studded tires) which are legally used in mountain passes (on pavement, of course) have the mountain/snowflake emblem on the sidewall. The more aggressive AT and MT tires do not have this emblem for a reason. Some have the holes to add studs, but then they have limited seasonal use. Their aggressive tread, which is highly desirable for our purposes on rock, dirt, mud(heeaven forbid), snot or whatever, does not have the traction necessary in snow, to be considered a traction tire. I think why they have done this, is because what is really necessary for good traction in snow, is not deep grooves or tread, but the proper rubber to surface ratio. To limit this post and not get too deep in theory, I think what people really need in a true "snow tire" prolly won't work for a "wheelin'" tire. And being that most of us have limited budgets, we run one tire, year around, whether we live in snow country or not.

 

[Bluetribal]

In your tire rotation, are you rotating tires from one side to the other? I thought that with steel belted radials if you rotated tires you kept them on the same side. I heard and read that this was necessary because the steel belts settle to the direction of rotation and if you reverse that the tires will eventually destroy themselves. Just curious. -Tom

Well yeah, one eventually gets put on the other side when you criss-cross them. Some people rotate them, Spare to FD, FD to RP, FP to RD and RD to spare. But others just put the spare in place of the tire with the least tread and rotate the rest around.

 

[Sporin]

another nice thing about those Dunlops, they are RMA-rated for Severe Snow Conditions.

If they made them in bigger sizes I bet they'd sell well.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

Some people rotate them, Spare to FD, FD to RP, FP to RD and RD to spare.

Still some prefer to ride on 4 tires instead of 3.

 

[aey_bee_see]

Still some prefer to ride on 4 tires instead of 3.

Good catch.

 

[Ebag333]

Not to beat a dead horse, but if you think you're going to get studs installed in your AT2's after you've put some miles on them, you're going to be disappointed. Most tire shops won't do it. And you can't run studded tires here except from Nov-Mar. Nay's right on about different snow types, I know cause I've lived in both his area and ours.

I would be installing them myself. I've already priced out the bits, it's not expensive at all, just time consuming.

I think what people really need in a true "snow tire" prolly won't work for a "wheelin'" tire. And being that most of us have limited budgets, we run one tire, year around, whether we live in snow country or not.

Considering us folks here in Southern Orygun get one (MAYBE two) months of actual snow I probably won't even need studs. If I do need them I'll just throw a handful on each tire, not fully stud it all the way around.

Heck, I'd probably just throw the studs on right before a snow run, and remove them shortly afterwards.

The ability to stud the AT2s gives me another option if we get a bad snow year like last year (where we got actual *FEET* of snow on the valley floor ). I was extremely impressed at how well the cruiser handled the slick surface, I was not particularly impressed with the Toyo M/T's I had. (But as Nay pointed out there's a big difference between their snow and ours.)


As you said, many of us are on a limited budget. I needed something that'd hold up better as a DD than the Toyo's did/do, would work for wheeling, and at least had the potential for decent performance in snow/ice/slush. The AT2's fit the bill for me, but they won't fit other people's needs/wants, especially once geography comes into play.

 

[Bluetribal]

Still some prefer to ride on 4 tires instead of 3.

Man that guy is right about that NEGATIVE thread!

You are all a bunch of NEGATIVE BASTARDS who don't let the littlest of mistakes get by.

 

[Cj80cruiser]

Man that guy is right about that NEGATIVE thread!

You are all a bunch of NEGATIVE BASTARDS who don't let the littlest of mistakes get by.

Just read that negative thread. I only paid attention cause I was wondering how you rotated your tires. Got to the passenger front and realized I aint got no damn tire.

 

[80t0ylc]

[/font]

I would be installing them myself. I've already priced out the bits, it's not expensive at all, just time consuming.


Hooo man!!! You not kidding! I've only taken studs out, not brave or strong enough to put back in. One thing I know, though, be sure your stud holes are clean before putting in a stud. I was also told by a tire shop here, that if studs are loose in holes, (like on old studded tires) they can wiggle and damage tire.

 

[Ebag333]

Hooo man!!! You not kidding! I've only taken studs out, not brave or strong enough to put back in. One thing I know, though, be sure your stud holes are clean before putting in a stud. I was also told by a tire shop here, that if studs are loose in holes, (like on old studded tires) they can wiggle and damage tire.

There's a tool to put the studs in, it looks very easy to do. I wouldn't use the "screw" type studs (I have enough problems with nails/screws getting into tires without adding to it!).

I would probably just throw in a handful of studs and fill maybe 1/4th to 1/3rd the holes per tire. That way if the hole gets messed up removing them (which some no doubt will), or even all of them that I use, I'll have enough holes to get me through 3-4 years, which will probably be longer than the life of the tire.

Heck, depending on how worn they are I might not even remove them. Around here we get folks from Kalifornia who don't know how to drive in snow (literally) and I'll see them run snow tires from the first sign of frost until WELL after they're supposed to be removed (I've seen snow tires on cars in June ).

I doubt any cops will hassle me for a half dozen studs, heck they probably wouldn't even know they were there.