New to Wheeling in AZ - MT's vs AT's

[crawler#976]

couple of questions:

1. What type of terrain do you drive on the most? Arizona has so much to offer - from high speed desert blastin' to hard core rock trails, to the wildly varied conditions in the high country - sand, gravel, hard pack clay, lava topped mesas, to bottomless mud and the occasional heavy snow.

2. Is the vehicle a dedicated trail rig, a daily driver that's used hard on weekends, or a commuter occasionaly used off highway?

For my type of wheelin' an A/T tire is not an option. I had a set of BFG A/T's years ago that gave me great tread life, but when I needed traction the most, they always fell a little short.

We live in Chino Valley, just north of Prescott, so the majority of our wheelin' gets done up in the high country. I own one of each of the above catagories: a '87 Toy rock rig, a '98 Taco used hard on weekends, and an '05 Taco that gets it's fair share of Forest Service road use.

In 2001 the rear spooled '87 trail beater started out with a set of 35" BFG M/T's. They were not up to the task - I got less than 8000 miles out of a set, and had major failures on sidewalls and tore entire lugs off the carcass. 3 of the 5 were warrenteed out. I bought a set of Goodyear MT/R's - they are an awesome rock tire - the first set went about 20,000 miles, so I'm now working on the second set. No failures - not one, zip, zero. They've been severely abused at Table Mesa and the Hammer's, and have logged thousands of miles of dirt time. If aired down to very low pressure (8 to 4 PSI) they work great in snow and mud.

For some strange reason I've not figured out, I bought another set of 31-10.5x15 BFG M/T's for the '98. Bad move...one I regret. Same problems as above - major tread chunking, prone to cutting. I though that they would be OK for moderate use, but I was wrong. I'll probably get a set of the new Cooper M/T next time...

The '05 wears a set of siped 265/75-16 MT/R's. The snow/ice traction is awesome, yet they also do very well on the easy stuff the Taco sees. Again, when aired down they perform well in all conditions. They currently have 16,000 miles on them and at the current rate of wear should get about 50,000 miles on'm before they need replacement.

Later

 

[ShottsUZJ100]

It's funny how things differ. Me, I'm never looking for traction. My buds with MTR's seem to be though. ???

 

[offroader5]

MTR's become like slicks in the wet, they don't seem to do very well on wet rocks for sure.

 

[MaddBaggins]

MTR's become like slicks in the wet, they don't seem to do very well on wet rocks for sure.

That's been my observation to. A buddy of mine loves to use MTR's at the dunes around Yuma but won't run them on the trails around here. I get OK traction when wet with my Yokohamas, but I have seen those Nittos really grab well, wet or dry. Funny thing about Nitto Terras, they kinda look like a granny street tire, but damn they wheel good.

 

[S&S1stCruzer]

Hmmm...I'm really curious about the Nitto Mudd grapplers wonder how well they'll do in AZ

 

[MaddBaggins]

Hmmm...I'm really curious about the Nitto Mudd grapplers wonder how well they'll do in AZ

I don't know anybody who has them, but my thinking is if they are the made of the same materials and quality, then they should be sweet.

 

[ChaseTruck]

I have about 25k miles on my MTRs (D-rated 315/75x16), with about 50% tread left. They've worked well for me, but I've been 'wheeling mostly in dry conditions (Moab, and AZ). I don't have the issue in wet rocky conditions that everyone talks about, at an outing in Missouri with driving in and out of a creek all day and rocky climbs up the banks, the tires worked very well. Now mud is another story; we've been to an OHV area in Kansas last summer, and it was pitiful to say the least... I needed four tries even at the bypasses. Then again, on that occasion, it was so greasy that even the Swamper guys had their hands full.

Regarding wet traction of MTRs, here's another issue to consider: vehicle weight. My truck is 6200lbs - so the contact pressure is higher than with e.g. a TJ. I'm also running more air pressure - 14psi on a heavy truck like mine is out of the question without beadlocks. I'd say the weight factor might contribute enough that I haven't experienced the traction problems on wet rock that everyone else talks about. For most of the things I do, contact pressure is where it's at, not flotation.

As I stated earlier, skinny tires are easier on wheel bearings, ball joints, and steering joints. My next set of tires will either be skinny ATs, MTRs again (possibly siped), or siped and grooved skinny Swampers. I wish someone would make something like a 36/10.5x17 or 16 that 's a bit more civilized that the old Q78-size swampers...

 

[crawler#976]

The only problems I've had w/ MT/R's was in mesa top caliche clay - sticky, slicker than goose grease, and only about 2" deep...really makes ya wonder where the rocks go. When it's dry, it's hard as concreate, and just plain rough with all the lava chunks sticking outta it.

The Nitto Mudders come in some really funky sizes...nothing common.

http://www.nittotire.com/popup_mudgrappler_sizes.asp