My 4-year tire review of the Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ (1 Viewer)

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GRM

Finding new adventures in old jalopies.
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I’ll be honest, when I was looking for a tire on my old Toyota; the Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ wasn’t on my radar. I wanted a tire that could handle daily driving, a long trek through the desert and be comfortable driving through Rubicon. It needed to be durable, well balanced, and have exceptional traction.

yotaJV.jpg


Then someone turned me onto the MTZ. I had assumed that as of recent, the tires were better suited for a street truck than a rockcrawler. With minimal expectations, I purchased a set, mounting them on my un-balanced beadlocked wheels and went for a test drive. To my amazement, they were very quiet, smooth and the traction was excellent.

Photo Dec 31, 11 51 54 AM.jpg


With the initial road test behind me it was time to put some real miles on the truck. It was time for King of the Hammers '09, and I was headed south, proceeding into the desert of Southern California. You must remember, at this point I’m driving a 185k old Toyota Hilux with a well worn 22re engine. Previously the truck has been fitted with a set of 31” BFG Mud Terrains. I was expecting the additional weight of the tire to slow me down, and the bigger voids to cause additional noise. To my surprise the tire was quieter than the old BFG muds, and the truck easily cruised at 70mph along highway 5.

The passed my initial road test by leaps and bounds.

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Then came the real challenge: The Rubicon trail. It was May of 2009 and the trail saw a late snow melt. Most of the creeks and crossings were deep with 2’ of water. Rocks were slick, and I was being made fun of for not purchasing a set of super swampers. The other trucks on the trail ride were equipped with 37”+ swampers. I felt a bit out of place with my 35” radials, as I was the odd man out. As one can imagine, I was worried for the durability of these tires under harsh terrain. But again, to my amazement, the Toyota was able to conquer the trail, grabbing traction where the swampers slipped. So not only did I feel the MTZ to keep up with the super swamper counterparts, it in fact surpassed them with a better ability to conform to rocks. I was amazed how I was going as far or father than the ‘bigger’ trucks on the trail.

Photo Dec 31, 11 52 06 AM.jpg


Then, I was sold. I had been proven that both on the trail and on the highway that these tires flat out worked.

Now here we are, 4 years and 25,000 miles later. The tires have since seen many more Rubicon trips, the California Desert, a move to LA, many days of commuting, more days driving through the central valley, and still doing strong. While they are now a bit chunked from rocks, the Mickey Thompson name worn down from wheeling, and having 70% less tread than when they were new, the tires still continue to impress me both on the road, and on the trail.

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Here are my Pro's and Cons:

Pros:
  • Great traction
  • Quiet for a Mud Terrain
  • Good tread wear

Cons:
  • White lettering wore out, turning into a white wall
  • Tires started to chunk bad after 4-years

Now the big question: Would I buy them again? The answer is Yes.
 
I am running these on three vehicles right now. 315/75/16s on my 80 and on my wife's 80 and 305/70/16s on my 1 ton Dodge/Cummins. I am also very fond of them.

The way to fix the sidewall issue is to mount them white letters in. That's what I did on both of the 80s. I did whites out on the Dodge truck because it "looks right" and that truck is not wheeled agressively. Being a 22-foot-long crew cab it is not a very good trail truck...:lol:
 
These were never even on my radar. Frankly I thought them to be more suited for the giant jacked up Bro trucks that rarely leave pavement. Thanks for the long term test and write up.:cheers:
 
Not the OP but I have. They do well for me.
 
I've got them on my fj40 and love them except on ice. they suck on ice in my opinion but I haven't found a real mud terrain tire that does well. snow they're fair to good but ice no. would I buy them again yes. I live in Canada and have winter tires for my other vehicles so I'll do the same for the 40. the rest of get year I'll go with them for sure!
 
Had them for 7 years now and half worn, they are coming into there own now on the beach as the tread wears down. When new they were a little to aggressive for beach work as they will dig holes but now the tread has worn they are coming good. They are ok on the Hwy but the 40 lives on the beach permanently, would buy them again but they will probably last another 10 years.

PS. I run the lettering on the inside, that way it stays intact?
 
Anyone else running these? Just came up on my radar than I found this thread. What milage would one expect from mild wheeling with them?
 
I think it looks different because the picture I posted was of the tire with 80% tread worn.
 
Well I have smothened cooper st maxxes now I am in search of little less noisey than cooper tire ,so mickies are in my mind for my 80lc am fond of traveling also guys need help .am I on right path
 
The manager at the tire store in moab said these tires are made by cooper.
 
Just got a set of 5 285/75/16 MTZ's from Pep Boys on clearance plus buy 3 get 1 free for an amazingly cheap price. Hope they do good.
 
I just replaced mine with the new version MTZ P3. The tread pattern is about the same but the shoulder and sidewall have been changed.
20171130_140545.jpg
 
I just rode around on them yesterday and today in the first snow storm we've had since I got them. It was sure-footed with fully inflated tires. I tried a couple times to break them loose with a little throttle (not real hard however) and the grip was quite good.
 
^^^thanks. I’m trying to compare with the newer breed of hybrid tires, which would include the ATZ.

I’ve never felt like good softer compound MT tires suffer in winter conditions compared to AT, despite the hive claiming that over the years, but most reviews just focus on not being good on ice, which nothing is that is round and lacking studs.

My 80 is no longer doing family duty, so a long life AT stops making a ton of sense...
 
I really like these tires. Part of it may be that I like to buck the BFG wind. That bias aside, after 44 years behind the wheel I think these are my favorites.


I can hardly wait to wear out the BFG KM2s on my BJ74 so I can replace them with MTZ P3s:)
 
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The Golden Question (for me anyway): do they come in 33x10.5x15?
 

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