Need help choosing mud / street tires

Ian

Ian

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2017
Messages
49
Location
North Dakota, United States
Right now I have no lift and 33's which are fairly agressive. I know that sounds crazy and yes I had to take of the fender flares to get them on. Yes they rub when I turn too sharp, no I don't wheel it how it is right now for that reason. I will be putting a lift on it soon enough. I have a set of rims that I have bfg a/t 31's on but the tread is pretty much shot. I have to drive across the country in a few months and I'm not going to wear out my 33's on that drive. Also depending on how long it takes me to get that lift on I'll still want to mud it. So the real question is should I go with the same bfg a/t's? Or is there a better mud/street tire? As in tire life and performance. Thank you.
 
BFG KO2's, Goodyear Duratracs, General Grabber AT2's... All good tires that perform well on and off road. Get a load range "C" in the appropriate size and you're good to go. The problem is mud tires and street tires are almost the direct opposite in design. The Toyo M/T comes closest, I think. It doesn't do great in the mud, just OK. But it doesn't completely suck on the street either.
 
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StG58 said:
BFG KO2's, Goodyear Duratracs, General Grabber AT2's... All good tires that perform well on and off road. Get a load range "C" in the appropriate size and you're good to go. The problem is mud tires and street tires are almost the direct opposite in design. The Toyo M/T comes closest, I think. It doesn't do great in the mud, just OK. But it doesn't completely suck on the street either.
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I rock the Toyo MTs, 8k miles on them so no noises yet. They clean out fairly well, much better than my KO1s. I would look at the Nitto Ridge Grapplers, a hybrid tire. They are a strong contendor on my next tire choice.

KO2’s are great tires. Its up to you to find a happy median.
 
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JamesAndTheSahara said:
I rock the Toyo MTs, 8k miles on them so no noises yet. They clean out fairly well, much better than my KO1s. I would look at the Nitto Ridge Grapplers, a hybrid tire. They are a strong contendor on my next tire choice.

KO2’s are great tires. Its up to you to find a happy median.
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I've run the Toyo M/T's on my Suburban for about 100,000 miles now. (2 sets of six each) 255/85R16's on 8" wide wheels. You're right. They have been almost noiseless in all that time. They don't clean out as well as I'd hoped with the snotty, fir needle reinforced mud that we have around here, but they don't clog up horribly either. It helps that the 454 spins them easily. They've worked OK in snow, and haven't tried to kill me in the downpours and standing water. I get about 50,000 miles out of a set of six.
 
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I’m getting a set of Nitto Terra Grappler G2’s tomorrow for our Yukon. Might throw them in as another hybrid to check out. They’re an A/T tire.
 
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For what it’s worth, I took a gamble on a set of Kenda Klever MT’s last year.

A guy in our local club had just opened a tire shop and had them for ridiculously cheap.

At the time, I figured, eh, what the hell.

Here I am a year later, DD’ing them and having taken them through snow, mud, loose rock, and the driest conditions I’ve ever seen and have been nothing but pleased. Shocked even.

I imagined they’d be loud as hell on the road, but they aren’t. I imagined they’d wear quickly. They don’t. I’d imagined they’d go out of balance quickly. They haven’t.

For a set of 33’s I paid less than $700 for mounted balanced, and out the door, I couldn’t be happier.

Worth a look anyways.
 
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I've had the Duratracs and now have the KO2s. The little extra traction you gain with the Duratrac is out weighed by the KO2's quieter ride, better wear, and more durability. I have a river rock gravel drive and had two punctures in the tread area of the Duratracs and none with the KO2s. I think the Duratracs more open tread pattern causes rocks to lodge and eventually puncture the tire.
 
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StG58 said:
I've run the Toyo M/T's on my Suburban for about 100,000 miles now. (2 sets of six each) 255/85R16's on 8" wide wheels. You're right. They have been almost noiseless in all that time. They don't clean out as well as I'd hoped with the snotty, fir needle reinforced mud that we have around here, but they don't clog up horribly either. It helps that the 454 spins them easily. They've worked OK in snow, and haven't tried to kill me in the downpours and standing water. I get about 50,000 miles out of a set of six.
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Wait... your Suburban is a dually?
 
Ranger_b0b said:
Wait... your Suburban is a dually?
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Nope, two spares. I used to run it all over Eastern Oregon on the basalt fields. You really should to have two spares to make sure you have enough tire to get out and back. Some of that basalt is like running a tire through a shredder. Les Schwab tires hated me.
 
StG58 said:
Nope, two spares. I used to run it all over Eastern Oregon on the basalt fields. You really should to have two spares to make sure you have enough tire to get out and back. Some of that basalt is like running a tire through a shredder. Les Schwab tires hated me.
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Gotcha...makes sense
 
BoldlyGoing said:
For what it’s worth, I took a gamble on a set of Kenda Klever MT’s last year.

A guy in our local club had just opened a tire shop and had them for ridiculously cheap.

At the time, I figured, eh, what the hell.

Here I am a year later, DD’ing them and having taken them through snow, mud, loose rock, and the driest conditions I’ve ever seen and have been nothing but pleased. Shocked even.

I imagined they’d be loud as hell on the road, but they aren’t. I imagined they’d wear quickly. They don’t. I’d imagined they’d go out of balance quickly. They haven’t.

For a set of 33’s I paid less than $700 for mounted balanced, and out the door, I couldn’t be happier.

Worth a look anyways.
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I had the Kendra tires on my TJ when I bought it in November, I did not move 6 feet on a gravel parking lot and realized these had to go. I had to drive from Philly to Long Island NY on them white knuckled the whole way and loud as hell. I have them in my shed now for Duratracs and will hopefully sell them or just dump them in the spring.
 
TJ2 said:
I think there is no tire for both Mud/Street yet.

Mud needs a skinny tire wherein street needs a regular tire.
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I agree finding something that does well at both ends of the spectrum (wet mud to dry tarmac) is very tough as they both need different sidewall strengths and tread patterns.
 
o_O
cliffish said:
I had the Kendra tires on my TJ when I bought it in November, I did not move 6 feet on a gravel parking lot and realized these had to go. I had to drive from Philly to Long Island NY on them white knuckled the whole way and loud as hell. I have them in my shed now for Duratracs and will hopefully sell them or just dump them in the spring.
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Oh well I guess... been really happy with mine. I figured by now I’d have used them strictly off-road, but nope.o_O
 
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Are you driving cross country one way? What do you intend to do with your current tires?

If it’s a one-way drive, my suggestion would be to sell your current 33’s and put on the 31’s and drive them cross country, then pick up some true M/T’s when you get out there. I’d also wait to put the lift in until you get there. It’ll be more stable for the drive without the lift.

If the 31’s are too shot to make the drive safely, sell them as well and pick up a decent set of used tires/wheels that would be up to the drive. Around me, you can pick up something decent for $150. And don’t forget you can still sell them when you’re done with them.

The last thing I’d do is make a cross country drive on 33’s if I didn’t have to, especially if you’re not re-geared. And I definitely wouldn’t compromise for A/T’s if that’s not what you want.

That’s my two shillings.
 
Want a cheap aggressive tire that rocks in all conditions but also wears like iron?

Goodyear Authority.

I like em so much that I had/have em on my Tj, XJ, current 4runner, and about to slap em on my new old XJ. Still have yet to wear down a set past half tread.
 
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