I thought I would post my experience of this past weekend with my rig/tire set-up for those considering which rubber to go with next.
The Vehicle: 1993 FZJ-80. Lockers everywhere possible.
The Tires: 315/75/16 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ @ 80% tread and 27 psi.
location: East of Seattle, WA.
This was my first trip off-road in my new 80, so I did take it a little easy. Fortunately I had a lot of varied terrain to go over (and through) which made for some good "testing".
My buddy was with me and we started out on an unimproved logging road, gained some significant elevation until we hit snow. The weather was just terrible, lots of wind and LOTS of rain. The snow started out with just a couple inches until we hit a little bit of a landing, where it increased to about a foot deep. Again, not knowing how this 80 handled yet, I took it easy, put it in 4low and attempted to cross the landing (think going up the side of a mountain with these landings at the end of each switchback).
My first attempt I didn't have enough momentum and was quickly drug down in the snow. I was pretty surprised, as I have driven through plenty of snow before and thought for sure I would plow right through. I got out to see what was going on, and discovered that this was the nastiest snow I've been in. It was the wettest, gooiest muck I've seen, it reminded me of paste or cement. Super heavy and wet from the downpour of rain, it formed a slick base under the tires that didn't want to give at all.
I hopped back in and locked the rear up, and still nothing. Forward, reverse, steering back and forth... My gut started to sink, my ego started to feel punched... So what did I do? Lock the front up of course! I tried to go forward and still I didn't move! I had enough at that point, and cranked the wheels, put it in reverse and put the R's up. With the front locked and being in reverse, I basically was able to pivot/slide around 180 degrees, and was free from the nasty goo!
After we retreated under the shelter of the trees, I did a little scouting on foot ahead to see what was up. I thought that with enough momentum we could punch through the open patch to the next switchback, where the snow went down to a few inches and where there was bare ground about 2 feet wide along one side that was basically a stream from the melting snow. (mud and loose shale underneath). If I could keep one track of the 80 on the "stream", I thought we would be fine. The only problem being that the next switchback was at a no kidding 30 degree incline, and there was one thick patch of snow about 100 yards up that we would need to punch through. Oh yeah, there was also a VERY steep drop off on the left.
We succeeded in getting through the flat, and hit the stream with the drivers side tires, we tore up the hill pretty good, the tires (oh yeah, this is a tire review...) dug into the loose shale and mud like they were tractor tires and kept us going until we hit that one deep patch of white goop. It slowed us down and slid us uncomfortably close to the edge of the drop off, so we backed up and tried again picking a different trajectory, unfortunately with the same results. We tried once more before deciding that there was too great a chance of ending up down the side of the mountain on our roof. With our tails between out legs we backed down and retreated to the safety of no snow.
We were able to find a couple other trails lower down and I was extremely impressed with the gripping power in the slick mud, it didn't get too deep as the terrain had a fair amount of loose shale in it, but with the rain storm we were in there was a fair amount of goop. Lateral traction was excellent on side hills and I could pick a narrow path straddling deep ruts with ease without slipping off the side.
There were a few times after looking back on our path that my friend and I looked at each other with the expression of "did we seriously just go through that???!!!" Not only go through, but with ease and very limited slipping.
Overall I was very happy with the tires. I was disappointed with them in the snow, but then again it wasn't your typical snow! I have been through deeper stuff in Toyo Open Countries, both A/T and M/T and they didn't hesitate. However those times were in more of a powder condition where the snow would actually compact and take the tread underneath.
On the highway they handle pretty good, but have a slight "rubbery" feel to them going over bumps and such. The sidewall definitely is not as firm as I am used to. The road noise is pretty good, I would say on par with Toyo M/T that I have had in the past which are known for quiet road characteristics.
I am anxious to see how they wear, I've heard about 30/35,000 miles is what folks are getting out of them. Compared to my previous Toyo MT's which I got 55,000 out of, I hope they last a bit longer than folks are saying especially at being $300 a pop.
I hope this is helpful and apologize if I got a little long winded. I will update as I get more info with them. Let me know if I can answer any questions!
The Vehicle: 1993 FZJ-80. Lockers everywhere possible.
The Tires: 315/75/16 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ @ 80% tread and 27 psi.
location: East of Seattle, WA.
This was my first trip off-road in my new 80, so I did take it a little easy. Fortunately I had a lot of varied terrain to go over (and through) which made for some good "testing".
My buddy was with me and we started out on an unimproved logging road, gained some significant elevation until we hit snow. The weather was just terrible, lots of wind and LOTS of rain. The snow started out with just a couple inches until we hit a little bit of a landing, where it increased to about a foot deep. Again, not knowing how this 80 handled yet, I took it easy, put it in 4low and attempted to cross the landing (think going up the side of a mountain with these landings at the end of each switchback).
My first attempt I didn't have enough momentum and was quickly drug down in the snow. I was pretty surprised, as I have driven through plenty of snow before and thought for sure I would plow right through. I got out to see what was going on, and discovered that this was the nastiest snow I've been in. It was the wettest, gooiest muck I've seen, it reminded me of paste or cement. Super heavy and wet from the downpour of rain, it formed a slick base under the tires that didn't want to give at all.
I hopped back in and locked the rear up, and still nothing. Forward, reverse, steering back and forth... My gut started to sink, my ego started to feel punched... So what did I do? Lock the front up of course! I tried to go forward and still I didn't move! I had enough at that point, and cranked the wheels, put it in reverse and put the R's up. With the front locked and being in reverse, I basically was able to pivot/slide around 180 degrees, and was free from the nasty goo!
After we retreated under the shelter of the trees, I did a little scouting on foot ahead to see what was up. I thought that with enough momentum we could punch through the open patch to the next switchback, where the snow went down to a few inches and where there was bare ground about 2 feet wide along one side that was basically a stream from the melting snow. (mud and loose shale underneath). If I could keep one track of the 80 on the "stream", I thought we would be fine. The only problem being that the next switchback was at a no kidding 30 degree incline, and there was one thick patch of snow about 100 yards up that we would need to punch through. Oh yeah, there was also a VERY steep drop off on the left.
We succeeded in getting through the flat, and hit the stream with the drivers side tires, we tore up the hill pretty good, the tires (oh yeah, this is a tire review...) dug into the loose shale and mud like they were tractor tires and kept us going until we hit that one deep patch of white goop. It slowed us down and slid us uncomfortably close to the edge of the drop off, so we backed up and tried again picking a different trajectory, unfortunately with the same results. We tried once more before deciding that there was too great a chance of ending up down the side of the mountain on our roof. With our tails between out legs we backed down and retreated to the safety of no snow.
We were able to find a couple other trails lower down and I was extremely impressed with the gripping power in the slick mud, it didn't get too deep as the terrain had a fair amount of loose shale in it, but with the rain storm we were in there was a fair amount of goop. Lateral traction was excellent on side hills and I could pick a narrow path straddling deep ruts with ease without slipping off the side.
There were a few times after looking back on our path that my friend and I looked at each other with the expression of "did we seriously just go through that???!!!" Not only go through, but with ease and very limited slipping.
Overall I was very happy with the tires. I was disappointed with them in the snow, but then again it wasn't your typical snow! I have been through deeper stuff in Toyo Open Countries, both A/T and M/T and they didn't hesitate. However those times were in more of a powder condition where the snow would actually compact and take the tread underneath.
On the highway they handle pretty good, but have a slight "rubbery" feel to them going over bumps and such. The sidewall definitely is not as firm as I am used to. The road noise is pretty good, I would say on par with Toyo M/T that I have had in the past which are known for quiet road characteristics.
I am anxious to see how they wear, I've heard about 30/35,000 miles is what folks are getting out of them. Compared to my previous Toyo MT's which I got 55,000 out of, I hope they last a bit longer than folks are saying especially at being $300 a pop.
I hope this is helpful and apologize if I got a little long winded. I will update as I get more info with them. Let me know if I can answer any questions!
