MT vs AT Tires

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latinoguy

latinoguy

10 Year 15 Year
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I see a lot of expedition vehicles with MT tire thread patterns. BUT, if you stick to the same size tire, why are some many expo rigs with MT tires?

Wouldn't an AT tire make more sense?
Scenario:
More Dirt and Sand driving than rock crawling
80% Pavement 20% off highway
Socal and Baja Environment: little rain and ice...
 
latinoguy said:
I see a lot of expedition vehicles with MT tire thread patterns. BUT, if you stick to the same size tire, why are some many expo rigs with MT tires?

Wouldn't an AT tire make more sense?
Scenario:
More Dirt and Sand driving than rock crawling
80% Pavement 20% off highway
Socal and Baja Environment: little rain and ice...
Click to expand...

If you are doimg mainly road miles and occasional light terrain ,then the A/T make the most sense.
If you are travelling long miles on dirt roads ,the M/T tread will give you a little more protection.
Most aussies use M/T for tackling our central desert regions where sharp rocks and sticks cut tyres to pieces.
And in the wet ,the dry dusty roads can turn to slush in minutes if it rains

After losing a BFG 33inch A/T to a toothpick sized splinter through the tyre wall ,I will be giving more thought to wall thickness.
 
Since I live in the middle of the country (Kansas City, Missouri) and have to drive over 700 miles of highway (Colorado, Moab, etc) to get to any place really fun I prefer BFG A/T's....They perform excellent on highway, rain, snow, gravel and rocks and I don't have any of the noise or cupping issues....I've run M/T's in the past and just wasn't happy with them for the type of long distance driving I do...
Good luck.
 
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Hi All:

AT-type tires are fine for general use, but MT-type tires are needed for tracks with a lot of muddy conditions.

That said, for expedition use I'd choose a tough, aggressive tread tire.

Regards,

Alan
 
I have to agree the AT is a great highway tire but does not work well in the mud. Your call!
 
I have AT's but have not run them in the MUD yet. I hear they loose traction pretty fast in the mud. On the opposite side what is the trade-off when using MT's on the Highway. Does the ride suck? Or are they just too noisy?

Mark
 
FWI, Today I run Nitto ATs...but I am contemplating this as I need to add a 5th spare for my tire carrier...I could go with an MT in the same size and replace my ATs with an MT when the time comes...
But I live in Socal with little mud action so not sure mud is the reason I would need an MT. I just posted this thread to read comments from others in general...
 
open diffs suck! Just remember that. No matter what your contact patch looks like on the ground, traction is like a black hole. The more you need it, the closer you are to entering it. And pretty soon, no matter what tire you got, it's got no traction and your SOL. (would be different if power went to the wheel with the MOST traction, think about that for a moment;))

IMO the reason you see more aggressive tires is to make up for the lack of traction diffs. Now, you can do what you want, but if mileage was important (hence the type of tire) traction is where I'd be focusing my attention. More traction = you can run a less aggressive tire.
 
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How about BFG ATs for general use, and slip on a set of tire chains if the dirt track gets too muddy? That is the way I am going. I already have the ATs and just got two sets of RUD GRIP 4x4 tire chains. It isn't a perfect solution, but everything has it's compromises.:D At least the GRIP 4x4 tire chains are of the style that you can put on without moving the vehicle.:cool:
 
Depending on where you are driving should dictate the tires you run. Regardless of the type of terrain you run on if you are truly doing expedition trips your biggest concern or factor for tires should be how tough the tire is not so much the tread of the tire.

the MT is tougher than the normal AT but mileage and ride suffer over the AT. You can spend a little more and get the At with extra sidewall treads, they work pretty good.

Cheers,

Michael
 
1st, it's better to have it and not need it than it is to need it and not have it.
2nd, "mild" mud t/a's are not noisey. Swampers are noisey. BFG mud t/akm is not a noisey tire, nor are the mickey thompson baja mtz tires I'm running now.
 
Well I stayed practical and went with a 5th Nitto Terra Grappler AT. I have been very happy with them, have used them in a muddy trail in Mainland Mexico, and found they perform very well on loose dirt, and sand...Which is where I mostly wheel around so cal deserts.
 
latinoguy said:
Well I stayed practical and went with a 5th Nitto Terra Grappler AT. I have been very happy with them, have used them in a muddy trail in Mainland Mexico, and found they perform very well on loose dirt, and sand...Which is where I mostly wheel around so cal deserts.
Click to expand...

Those are very similar to the Toyo Open Country A/Ts that I run. I love the tire on the highway but not so great around here off road. Unfortunately for me very little sand here, mostly volcanic mud. Guys in my club run mostly the Maxxis Buckshot or the Creepy Crawlers. I'm looking for M/T radials with more sidewall protection than the Buckshots which here means either Maxxis Bighorn or Trepador radial M/Ts. Anyone got experience with either of those tires?
Thanks.
 
I ran A/Ts for the first few years I owned my truck and I absolutely hated them. Great on the street, terrible everywhere else. I have to deal with deep snow, deep wet mud, deep thick clay mud and lots of rocks. In those environment, with the exception of the rocks where they did okay, they just did not do me any good. I switched to BFG mud terrains, then Cooper Discover (old style) Mud terrains, and lastly I am running some Goodyear MTRs and I have to say the BFG muds and the MTRs have impressed me the most in terms of street-ability and offroad traction. They are not as good in the mud as the BFG mud but still do really well.

The way I see it, with long highway miles it would be silly to run a pure offroad tire like an Irok, but the bfg mud and MTRs both drive really nice on the road, hardly any worse than any of the ATs i ran (Bfg and Chapparel) in terms of noise and road life. MTRs have worn a little faster than the BFG muds did but their street life is still great. And the great thing is, they perform excellent off road. I would much rather have the extra traction of the BFG or MTR in a sticky situation offroad than the longer tire life and quieter ride on the highway. I got stuck all the time with my ATs, especially thick mud and deep snow.
 
FFT.

My 1st truck was a 91 regular cab 4cy, 4x, 5speed. It religiously got 100 to each 1/4 mark of the tank...i.e 400 miles to the tank.

AS SOON AS I went from light weight street tread tires, to 30/9.50x15 BFG AT's, I lost 100 miles to the tank...


I would have never thought that going from a 29" to 30" tire would do that....but it did. BFG's are great (IMO) but they come with a price. They are some heavy tires.

I lost 100 miles to the tank and did NOT pickup any substantial traction advantages from doing that. I cou...would, have gotten stuck in the same places with the same street tread tires...
 
jabxyz said:
Those are very similar to the Toyo Open Country A/Ts that I run. I love the tire on the highway but not so great around here off road. Unfortunately for me very little sand here, mostly volcanic mud. Guys in my club run mostly the Maxxis Buckshot or the Creepy Crawlers. I'm looking for M/T radials with more sidewall protection than the Buckshots which here means either Maxxis Bighorn or Trepador radial M/Ts. Anyone got experience with either of those tires?
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I would go Super Swamper TRXUS M/T. I run them in a 31x10.5R15. I keep up with the big boys, but im locked front and rear... I got ALOT of miles off of my last set and even kept them around for spares... I ran them on my old K-5 Blazer. Had two days of nothing but limestone and quarry rock in Disney OK. Bigbeast+V8+traction=hell on the tires.

Other than that I recomend the Cooper STT's. My moms mail route vehicle runs them, and either shes gotten better as a driver or they get her out of what shes in...
 
liljlandon said:
I would go Super Swamper TRXUS M/T. I run them in a 31x10.5R15. I keep up with the big boys, but im locked front and rear... I got ALOT of miles off of my last set and even kept them around for spares... I ran them on my old K-5 Blazer. Had two days of nothing but limestone and quarry rock in Disney OK. Bigbeast+V8+traction=hell on the tires.

Other than that I recomend the Cooper STT's. My moms mail route vehicle runs them, and either shes gotten better as a driver or they get her out of what shes in...
Click to expand...

The Super swampers are great but just too much to import here into the country. One guy in my club runs them and loves them. He better, he had to take a trip to Miami by plane , rent a car to go to the store to buy them and then go to a customs broker and rent a container. they put the tires into a container and then shipped them on a boat.... just too much trouble. Toyo, Maxxis and Hankook, are all I have seen so far here in serious off road tires.P.S. I would like to refine my earlier comments re the Toyo ATs. They are great on the highway, barely serviceable in thick mud, however great in water crossings and in sand, not so much on rocks.


VajaFJ70 said:
right now I goeng to bye new tires for my FJ70 tire size 235/ 85/ 16R

MT or AT this is the question........
Click to expand...
If it were me I'd get the best radial Mts, good thick multui ply sidewalls, I could find, if for nothing else you get the best of both worlds with them, mud and all of the rest. Also you can avoid what I have to do is buy a second set for the rainy,muddy off road season here.
Good luck,
John
 
Coopers STT if you're in the thick stuff, Coopers ST for gravel/sand/outback work.

It really depends where you live in the world.

I run STT's all day long forever. Yes, mileage suffers but I cannot remember the last time I had a flat, you can even do stupid s*** like run over a beer bottle and when it explodes it won't even scratch the tread.

I'll easily get 70,000kms out of a set with a lot of tarmac driving. They last FOREVER if you drive 90%+ on gravel.
 
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