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Topic: Tire Review Thread- What do (and have) you run, and how do you like 'em?

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ChevelleSSLS6
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Tire Review Thread- What do (and have) you run, and how do you like 'em?
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Perhaps this should be a sticky...
It's pretty simple, list the brand, size, etc. of tires you're running and how they perform in varuious conditions and stuff.  It'll help fellow members find which tire is best for them and help the noobs out too.

Size: P235/75R/15
Brand: Toyo Open Country A/T
Pavement: handles really good... considering it's a solid axle four wheel drive. No hydroplaning unless it's crazy buckets of rain and over 65mph. They run quiet till about 65 then it lets ya know they're there a little bit.
Mud: nothing too soupy... keep your momentum otherwise you're screwed. "surface mud" (really shallow) it goes pretty good.
Sand: not yet
Rocks: in Michigan? Who sees big rocks in Michigan besides along piers?
Snow/Ice: pretty impressed running in axle deep white stuff, even stopped and turned around. You might need to back up and go forward a couple times to get a little "starting track" started to get moving in deeper-than-axle deep snow.
ice: just put the tranny in Neutral to stop better in the slippery stuff.  In the spring I had bad rear axle seals... brake shoes were nice and greasy.  That probably didn't help stopping!

Overall: I like em alot, will probably go to BFG A/T.

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I've ran my share of tires, so where to begin. I'll only comment on tires I've purchased new.

ProComp MT's
I had a set in the 33" flavor on my Toyota. I think they've probally changed the design a bit since I purchased my set. Tire wear was ok, not the best. They were loud on the road. Offroad they performend ok as long as you didn't get them wet. Wasn't a bad purchase, but probally wouldn't buy another set.

BFG MT's
Ran them in the 31" flavor. I purchased them new and ran them on my XJ for quite awhile. They wore good on the road, were ok in the mud and good on the rocks/trails. I than put them on Rebecca's XJ and she had them on her daily driver until we sold them to a fellow GLXJ member. Overall an OK tire. Overpriced for what they are however.

Trxus MT's
Ran them in the 33" flavor. I bought into all the hype at the time and purchased a set brand new. We had a terriable time getting them balanced. I ran them for about 2 weeks, took them off, and sold them for 1/2 of what I had in them. I hated them. On-road they sucked, offroad I only did 1 day of very mild wheeling and wasn't impressed either. Wouldn't buy again.

Maxxis Bighorns
Run them in the 35" flavor. Love them. Best bang for the buck if you ask me. Hands down the best MT I've purchased/ran. Great on-road handling in both rain/snow (they are siped). Good offroad in a vast variety of different conditons. I'll be buying a set of new one's again for Rebecca's XJ.

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yennerXJ
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Size: 31 x 10.5 on 15" AR 767's
Brand: BFG A/T KO's
Pavement: Great handling. Smooth ride. Minimal road noise. Good traction.
Mud: Pretty good for what mud I have been in. I have only gone maybe axle deep since I have had them. No problems there.
Sand: No sand. I live in the middle of Ohio amongst a crapload of friggin' corn fields.
Rocks: Gravel count? Done well on rocks I have climbed, but those were few and far between. No real test.
Snow/Ice: Performed great for me last winter. Good traction. Normal slickness that comes with bad weather condition but when driven properly for the current weather conditions I think they worked pretty well.
Ice: No experience on ice alone, just with normal Ohio winter back country roads. OK but what can be expected with the friction between rubber and ice?

Overall: I like....no, LOVE them. The tire's originally on the AR's when I got the from my buddy sucked. I can't even remember the name but the slightest amount of rain and I hydroplaned into oncoming traffic. After reading many Jeep and 4x4 sights I found the majority of ppl doing an ample amount of pavement driving ran the BFG A/T's. I took their advice, found them for $120 +/- per, and have not regretted it since. When going back a little more than a year after original purchase for a balance the shop manager asked how much driving I had been doing. I explained that I had driven about 18K+ miles on pavement the past year and mild wheeling and he didn't believe me. "Those tires look almost new. I would have thought 3, maybe 6 months at most." is what he told me if I remember correctly. I would HIGHLY recomend this tire. Even if you go into any tire shops here and ask for their best A/T that's what they'l tell you. The best part is they aren't the priciest A/T.

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firehawk
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Size: 31 x 10.5 on 15"
Brand: Interco TrXus MT
Pavement: Not too bad, they will hydroplane BAD if even slightly overinflated.  Fairly quiet at first, but have become loud as they have worn.
Mud: No problem in mud the only time I've been out wheeling.
Sand: Never been in sand with them, so I can't comment.
Rocks: Same as above.
Snow: Snow, what snow. I never knew it had snowed.  Plows right thru with no problems. 
Ice: No experience on just ice, but nothing short of studs work on glare ice, I don't care who makes the tire.

Overall: I have had no problems balancing them, no excessive weight as some have had. They rode fairly quiet when new, but now they are about half worn out (17,000 miles) they are much noisier.  One tire has a bad belt in it I guess.  When it is on the front it will set up a wiggle in the steering wheel.  On the rear it isn't a problem.  They do tend to want to wander/follow the ruts in the road.  I'm running 30 psi, anything over that and if it is wet, they will slide VERY easy.  I like the looks of the tire, and really the biggest complaint is the slight wander they cause.  Soft sidewalls I guess.  Higher psi will solve most of that problem, but not worth it because of the willingness to slide on wet pavement.  Would I buy another set, most likely not, but I suppose they are worth the price compared to what some other MT tires run.

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89eliminator
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size: 33x10.50
brand: BFG Mud T/A
pavement: pretty good, not to loud but loud enough to know they are there
mud: excellent traction until axles bury in
sand: never really in to much sand besides at the badlands.  good i guess
rocks: same as above
snow: spin too easy, kind of dangerous at high speeds.  i had to put the stockers back on in the winter.
ice: hardly any tire is good on ice

overall:  if i were to purchase a new tire, it would either be the same ones or Pro Comp M/Ts



-- Edited by 89eliminator at 14:24, 2007-09-27

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aci4369
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Size: 31 x 10.5 on 15"
Brand: Hightec ReTreads OTR MT's
Pavement:  Drove fine on the road, but were loud.  I don't mind the loud tires so they didn't bother me.
Mud: I thought that they perofrmed well in the mud.  No problems
Sand: Didn't do so well.  The only sand that I was in was at the Badlands, and I wasn't impressed.
Rocks: Not much experience in rocks but they seemed fine.
Snow:  Didn't have them in the winter.  They do make a "diamond studded tire" that is designed for snow but can be driven through the summer, for only a few bucks more. Not really studded some, "diamond" thing is put in the rubber.
Ice: Same as above
Overall: Would I buy them again, Yes.  It cost me $400 for 5 of them shipped to my door. If money is a problem and you want new tires this is a great option.  They are loud though so if that is a problem I wouldn't get them.  The only thing that I was warned with before I bought them was to make sure to watch the tire pressure as the temp. changed.  Life of the tread on the road is good.  A guy on another forum got almost 50,000 on his set.  Overall if you short on cash and want new tires this is the tire for you.

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Motion Offroad
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Maxxis! biggrin

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ChevelleSSLS6
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Motion Offroad wrote:

Maxxis! biggrin



Does Maxxis offer more of an 'aggressive' A/T type tire?  Any word on what people think of those?



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dogwonk
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I went on the hunt for you regarding this as I LOVE my Bighorns so I figure most anything from Maxxis is good.

HERE is a link to a variety of tires that might fit into what you call an "Aggressive A/T". There are several.  Interesting enough, the Bighorns are in this group!  biggrin.gif

I know that Motion Offroad carries several different types of tires, but I am not sure if they have any of these on their site.  I am sure that they can get them for you if you contact them.

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Size: P235/75R/15
Brand: Wintermark (snow tire, made by Kelly?)
Pavement: Handles pretty good for an aggressive snow tire, but quite noisy
Mud: Good traction as long as you don't bury the axles.
Sand: Not good. Like to dig holes, like any other agressive tire.
Rocks: Pretty good because of soft rubber.
Snow: This is what they are designed for, and they are great. 2wd can go where 4wd on AT's do. 4wd is almost unstoppable.
Ice: They can be studded, but have never run studs. Without they are as bad as any other tire.

Overall: Love them, especially in the winter. Soft rubber will wear quite fast if used in the summer.

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Current Tires:

Size: 33x14x15
Brand: TSL Super Swamper Bogger
Pavement: lol - yeah, don't run them on there much if you want them to last a few miles.
Mud: It's what they are mainly made for and do an excellent job.  Be ready to do lots of cleanup later though cause they will fling mud everywhere.  They do have a tendency to slide sideways do to lack of lateral traction
Sand: so-so, but depends on your gearing and horsepower.  Undergeared / powered they will dig and you are stuck
Rocks: Can be used, but not real great unless you have beadlocks and can air down to single digits.
Snow/Ice: Haven't tried any with on this setup
Ice: Same as snow/ice - haven't wheeled in this stuff on these tires.
Overall:  Cool looking tire, but overall best for mud.  Now for any usefulness you can run them in the back, and super swampers up front so you can, at times steer.   Best left to big rigs, with more hp.  If you DD but want an aggressive tire - TSL super swamper or even IROK would be better.


Size: 285/70/R17
Brand: BFG A/T KO's
Pavement: Nice AT tire, run smooth, wear good
Mud: If the mud is sticky forget it - best left to light trails and roads.  If occassional mud comes up can be doable - don't self clean well (but its an AT so wouldn't expect that much)
Sand: Haven't tried sand much with em.
Rocks: Rock - eh, again wasn't expecting much for an AT, but gravel they have a tendency to pickup the little pebbles and fling em against your body.
Snow/Ice: Did great, and surpased my expectations
Ice: same as snow/ice

Overall: Great overall tire for a person that spends most of their time on the highway and firetrack roads.  Can be used offroad if needed, but can lead to trouble if the going gets deep. 


Previously Owned Tires:
38x12.50x15 Super Swampers:

Faired pretty good on the highway and were loud but "doable" at the time.  lol - I was in college and drove a fullsize chevy so they were definetly cool at that time.  Gripped great in mud and rocks, but snow they could get squirrely.  Would get a set again if I could fit them.  Balanced good too, in fact when I was running them didn't have any balance weight used, and could drive without any major vibrations.

35x12.5x17 BFG Crandon tires

Hmm for the price can't beat em, but the sidewalls crack quick, well before you use up the tread.  Most sets can be bought for around $100-$150, and they only have one race on them.  Street legal, but can get flat spots depending on how the tread pattern was cut.  Drove them on the highway for a few years, and did fine at speeds on 90+ mph.  Had some road noise, and did good on pavement, and wet conditions.  Okay in mud and rocks, but not much for side lugs.

37x14x16 Super Swamper IROKs (bias)

Well if you keep them rotated they can last a few miles, but being a bias tires they don't like the pavement as much.  If they sit for a day or so, better hang on, cause they get flat spots quick, taking a few minutes to warm up.  Mine took a lot of weight to balance, and still didn't feel right, ever.  Worked great in the mud and rock along with some sand.  Never tried them in the winter so can't attest for that terrain.  On wet roads they could and would spin easily.  Good cheaper mud tire, but if you are DD alot, then I would recommend looking else where or go with a radial. 



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