so i took the GX out today on a good drive... went back a twisty windy country road that fallowed a river up a canyon, the tires felt great super impressed with handling characteristics especially considering the depth of the tread, i would have guessed they were a much shallower tread more like the Nitto Terra Grapplers are(not quite as good on road i dont think) or the BFG ATs, but they are a much deeper tread, and typically that speaks of more "wandering" or less feed-back and precise in handling on road. the road basically ends and splits into two options both are gravel logging/FS roads and go way back into the woods. i took one i knew i could turn into a nice long loop. it had a good climb and some long down hills. anyhow yeah the tires did great, way better than my KM2s but thats to be expected as are new and have a lot more tread on them. i ended up finding a couple new landings that didnt even have the bigger rock dumped onto them yet, so they were just a clay dirt base and with the rains we have had the past couple of days it was just enough to allow it to pack down a little with all the equipment traffic and get some mud mixed in. nothing to crazy as we didnt have any hard rains but it was enough to not be lose dirt if that makes sense, anyhow the tires did great in this a didnt really pack up, and the little bit that they did, they quickly cleared up as soon as you drove a little. as i continued on i found another area that some people have made a little wheeling mecca under the power lines. this spot was actually a great spot to find because i have been looking for a place to do some SAR training at that has some basic off road, stock SUV friendly trails or obsticals as well as some more aggressive harder stuff, but yet is close enough to a road that anyone can get to and watch participate. anyhow i was able to really put the tires to a good test on one of the power line access roads that dropped down a steep slope to the next tower about a 1/4 mile away, anyhow it was super steep and a lot of good sized loose rock. i got to a point where i didnt feel comfortable going any further without a winch or another vehicle due to a high brake over angle in the road, so i had to make like austin powers and turn around and head back up and out. i got to a ledge where i had some concerns coming down in and crunched one of my running boards pretty good. anyhow i tried climbing up the face of the ledge but i was denied(a locker probably would have helped) so i had to take the side of it where i had crushed my running board coming down. this time i took it wider from the stump and made it with out any contact. had it been much wetter out im sure it would of had a much more challenging time, not matter what tires i had. the amount of wet was just enough to get the dirt to stick, but not be mud, and not be lose dust (perfect traction conditions). once back up at the top i found a couple good mud holes and these ST MAXXs along with the GX make quick work of them -granted they were not too deep, nor on any slopes, but they did have a good shelf ledge to climb out of the hole.
all in all it was a good trip and i was more concerned with not scratching the GX or putting a door into a tree or stump so i didnt take too many pics. so far i am very impressed with these tires, they have done a lot more than i thought they would have. i think i would have struggled a little more with either the Nittos or the BFGs (the other two tires i was considering) once back on pavement the tires did a great job of clearing up, except for a few rocks that had lodged themselves deep in the tread lugs. they were deep enough to not only not fling out at hwy speeds but also not make contact when going down the road and making a "click" sound every time they do. all of the rocks that were going to clear out cleared out withing about a mile or so of hitting pavement and under 30mph...
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