Mud Tire Selection / Help me out

[reffug]

So I bought some crap tires? Sucks to be me, I guess. I did 85 mph with them back from Moab last week, and they managed to stay in one piece. Maybe I got lucky and bought a good set.

No I wouldn't say that.

Just my personal experience was one that I wouldn't want to repeat.

This is not to say that don't make some fine tires, its just that after having one come apart at road speed on the drivers side front I wouldn't buy them again. Call it gun shy, or fool me once, whatever applies. Just not something I want to have happen again.

I hope yours hold up for a long time and you are quite pleased with them.

 

[liljlandon]

Sorry to pipe in so late but im mainly in the minitruck section,

Personally I would go trxus in a heartbeat, ive had no major concerns. I ran them on my K-5 Blazer (a boat on wheels) for ever (30,000miles) and just recently purchased a mini truck so naturally ive swapped them over. The now have over 45000 miles on them and there still kicking!

Heres pic of when i got em 2yrs ago.

And then i went to my toy, wonderful choice, love it to death!
These were taken about 2weeks ago, around 700 miles ago...

Theyve done everything from mud to rock, the only weakness ive seen yet is wet grass, or mud thats to shallow to allow the sidewall to grip. Heres a current pic at 46,891miles.

This one has really bad wear because of a bad ball joint in my blazer for a couple thousand miles, and once they start wearing one way theyll never stop.

Id say these have 20% tread, which really isnt bad. They do really well at 75mph+ or on slippery rock, what little sand ive been in theyve out preformed our tsl's and thornturds. As soon as i get the money saved up agian a new set are on there way!



Ive had only three holes, 2 were plugged, the other was in warranty and they patched it. two were screws the other was one hell of a sharp rock and the heavy metal boat that was pushing them around.

Hope this helps,

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Interesting thread...lot's of nice photos of worn out tires.

In the FWIW category, I have had BFG MT and AT's on several vehicles over the years. A few months ago I put the "new" BFG MT TA KM (not the KM2's) on my 85 4Runner. A good friend installed them and said that he couldn't believe how little weight they took to balance (of course these are only 31-10.50x15).

They are very smooth on the road, very smooth. Better than any MT that I've ever had. If I thought I needed an MT and drove a lot on the highway then I would go with them. BFG changed these tires a year or so ago so anyone who ran them before the change would have a different perspective on the tires.

I can't speak for the KM2's but they look really cool!

 

[badboytires.com]

I've been in tire manufacturing for 20 years now, First with Bridgestone and then Continental. Something to think about when looking for off the road or mud tires is a company's specialty or where do they spend their research dollars and their sponsorship dollars. Bridgestone makes a very good regular old light truck tire and Continental does not. Conti makes very good ultra high performance tires. When something like mudding or off roading became hot we could make a tire pretty quickly in a General ATX2 or a Grabber. It didn't mean we spent a lot of money on it or did a lot of research on it but we knew how to build tires.

I would look for tires from companies that really get specialized into light truck, of road and mud tires and also sponsor a lot of professional race teams. Sponsorship is where they learn.

BFG - great off road tires and you'll pay a lot for that
Maxxis tires - great off road tires and priced good
Mickey Thompson -great off road tires and priced good
Nokian tires - great MT tire and priced great
Super Swampers - great all around


These are just a few that do it and also do it well. Yok is a "good tire" no doubt but they would much prefer to spend their research dollars on performance tires where they sell the most units.

 

[woodcanoeguy]

What I learned from 10 years of living on a ranch in BC where all the roads are dirt (aka mud)is that narrow tires are best in mud...so I use 235/85 Firestone
mud tires on my FJ80 if it is mud I am facing. The rancher I worked with used 6.70/16 on his farm truck. He was oftern bumper deep in goo and got thru!

 

[powdahbonz]

How about ProComp xtreme M/T's

I just bought 4 used of a guy for $300, 2 of them had 14/32nds, the other 2 were 9/32nds. But at Archie's OffRoad in Wells, Maine, they had a special on 285/75/16's for $165 a piece. I believe they're normally $200+ each so I got 2 new, and new depth is 18/32nds so the 2 more worn will be my spare and other spare. Never had them but the ply seems pretty solid and the reviews seemed positive. Will mount these up for November thru May weather and use my "city slicker" tires for summers.

 

[lenross1]

BFG are quiet on the street and a proven winner. dont know about the new design but the old one is great in mud and great all around tire. if they had a size in the first gen mud terrain that was wider than a 12.50 than i would be running them now. I currently run the mickey thompson ATZ 36x15.50 that have great road manners ( not loud but track a little) and a semi agrressive tread for an all terrain.

I have a set of remington mud brutes that worked well offroad and a hell of a lot cheaper than similar other brands. i have a set for sale if anyone is interested : )

 

[Guambomb]

Just to throw another option at you:

I was planning to buy the Toyo MTs a few weeks ago and couldn't find them anywhere.
So I ended up buying the Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ Radials. Just got back from Cruise Moab where the tires performed outstanding! These are a fairly new design, unlike the Dunlops and the regular BFG MTs (not the KM2s).

I second this nomination. I travel 1.5 hours at 80 mph to my property in the boonies on these. Once I leave the pavement, I travel through deep mud, water and loose rocks. They perform great!

 

[BooKilla]

Of the three....the original BFG Mud. However, I would get what I've got if I had to do it again....Super Swamper TSL SX

 

[whodat]

yoko's are good had them in a all terrain good wear also look at remington mt's currently running 255 85 16's...like them alot

Got pics? Thin is in...

 

[tblume]

can't be to thin or rich

The 33 " X 8 BFG AT's I had on my '60 were awesome, not mudders by any stretch, but adequate even in southern Or. red clay when they got down there and digging. very good in snow, good on road, wear like iron.

tall skinnys IMHO; MT or good AT are where it's at 'round here.

 

[Nay]

Thin is in...

True, in the sense that anorexia is also in

 

[nicholas]

A friend ran the Geolander AT's here in AZ for many years and had no complaints. Not the mud you referred to though so take that for what it is worth.


He went to 35's in the cooper sst and has noticed a lot of chunking and has had two sidewall punctures. The Coopers are great tires, just don't expect to get more than 25 or 30K on them.

I've put about 20K (mostly street) on my 285 cooper sst's and I would say they have at least 75% tread left on them. I am rotating in a spare, so that has to be factored in. They have been a great all around tire, but I haven't been on any slick rock or big rocks with them, just sand dunes and dirt/small rock trails, snow and ice. I met a guy who had them on a newer F150 and he had over 35K on them and there was at least 50% of the tread left on all the tires and they wore perfectly. However, I am unsure how much wheeling he did.

 

[Nay]

This is just one case, and the rigs were different, but after watching a Rubicon jk get completely stuck on MTZ's in the snow spinning all four, and being slowly extracted by a Disco (which was struggling, but nowhere near as badly) with open diffs running BFG AT's, I will never buy these tires.

They did not self clean at all, it's actually been awhile since I've seen a tire perform that poorly in deep snow that has decent lug spacing and tread depth. Spin, pack, stuck. Over and over again.

 

[EnriqueAutana]

36" Super Swampers TSL

 

[4LLC]

i had the geolander m/t when they first came out they were amazing offroad on road they were smooth
riding the only problem was i got 10k out of them and they were completly worn out i contacted yokohama and all i got was a oh well from them i won't buy yokohama again

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

The cooper stt's are working just fine. Seem to work well on the street, in the light snow, rock crawling and the little bit of mud i have been in. A perfectly adequate "all terrain" tire so far.

 

[jfz80]

Kumho Road Venture MT KL71

YotaTech Forums - View Single Post - kumho Road Venture MT KL71. Anybody running these??
I have no experience with these but saw them on an Xterra and a H1 today and the reminded me of some of the monster michelins. Reviews say it handles wonderfully on wet and dry pavement but is not the most puncture resistant choice available, plus is available in 15'' and 18''+ only currently i believe. The link shows plans for the 17 possibly. Maybe best for the pavement pounder that occasionally wanders off road. (ie 100s w/ their 18'' wheels)
Tire Specs for Kumho Road Venture MT KL71

 

[subspd]

Anyone have pics of these Kumho in a 285/75/16?

Seems like the best deal going in tires right now. @ tire rack.com