Check this tire

[James Morse]

It could be a little noisy.
Doing a reality check on my logic, see if this makes sense.
1. I only got the '97 because I wanted 4x4. The plan was, if I could get into 4x4 for $10k, and sell the Mazda for $5k, that would be only $5k out of pocket - a serious upgrade for not much cash. Granted that now I have both and don't want to part with the Mazda as it's all sorted, and gives me a spare vehicle, and actually I often use it going to store because the XLT is like, almost perfect, and I don't want dings, the Mazda, not perfect, cosmetically. So I kind of am abandoning the original plan, not saying I won't eventually sell the Mazda, but $5k isn't going to kill me one way or the other. The point of all that is that -if- I keep the Mazda, then I always have a 4x2 daily driver if I want. I'm losing interest on $5k cash, and the Mazda will devalue, but, not too much. I don't know what I'd get for it, but I think $5k would be about average. And yes I could use the $5k for upgrades on the XLT, but, it's not a must, XLT I expected to put some money into it anyway one way or the other and so far I have spent almost nothing on it.
2. In light of the above, the '97 is really just something I wanted, so, you could say, a toy, or, "recreational" vehicle. Versus a need (unless you get addicted to 4x4 then it's a need, lol).
3. I hardly ever go out of town and when I do it's almost always on my way to 4x4.
4. If we went on extensive long highway trips I'd either rent a car or more likely take the Lexus. No sense to put thousands of miles on the XLT.
5. So the XLT can be more/less dedicated to 4x4 but I still want it at least driveable on the highway and those tires should be fine for that, not ideal, but shouldn't be horrible.
6. Tentative upgrades for the XLT include things that are all 4x4 oriented. This upgrade puts the tire size back to oem size, gives me a bit more clearance, and should look great.
7. These tires seem like they'd be good for the kind of thing I run into so far. Would also work ok in snow, or so they say; not a snow tire, but I don't think you'd be stuck either.
8. They are symmetric, which you don't see a lot (look the same side-to-side). That's not a requirement for me, just a plus. Nice open tread so rocks don't stick in them. Very aggressive look to them but not too crazy. Yes you can only rotate front/rear.
9. If they were horrible they can be changed in the future, tires aren't permanent. Alternatives - K03 probably or others that have been mentioned in other thread about this. Lots of good choices, but not as aggressive as these. I do run into mud and the rest of the time it's dirt and rocks of all various sizes. I go through a lot of creeks.

I'm still mulling it over, and normally I wouldn't look at something quite so aggressive if I had just one truck and if I were, say, commuting to work, but that's not the situation. There is nowhere I -have- to be, well, let's say it's real rare. So my thinking is telling me, it's ok if they are a little noisy, because when you do get to your 4x4 road, you have something that should be up to the task (for the tires, anyway). And the whole reason I got the XLT was for 4x4, so why not gravitate more that direction.

I don't think this is a tire many people here have? If you do I'd sure like to hear about it. I've been thinking about this a few months, got lots of help here, and would like to pull the trigger on something this spring. Comments?
RBP Repulsor MT 31x10.50R15LT | RBPMT15105010 | Custom Offsets (customwheeloffset.com)

 

[rusty ol ranger]

It could be a little noisy.
Doing a reality check on my logic, see if this makes sense.
1. I only got the '97 because I wanted 4x4. The plan was, if I could get into 4x4 for $10k, and sell the Mazda for $5k, that would be only $5k out of pocket - a serious upgrade for not much cash. Granted that now I have both and don't want to part with the Mazda as it's all sorted, and gives me a spare vehicle, and actually I often use it going to store because the XLT is like, almost perfect, and I don't want dings, the Mazda, not perfect, cosmetically. So I kind of am abandoning the original plan, not saying I won't eventually sell the Mazda, but $5k isn't going to kill me one way or the other. The point of all that is that -if- I keep the Mazda, then I always have a 4x2 daily driver if I want. I'm losing interest on $5k cash, and the Mazda will devalue, but, not too much. I don't know what I'd get for it, but I think $5k would be about average. And yes I could use the $5k for upgrades on the XLT, but, it's not a must, XLT I expected to put some money into it anyway one way or the other and so far I have spent almost nothing on it.
2. In light of the above, the '97 is really just something I wanted, so, you could say, a toy, or, "recreational" vehicle. Versus a need (unless you get addicted to 4x4 then it's a need, lol).
3. I hardly ever go out of town and when I do it's almost always on my way to 4x4.
4. If we went on extensive long highway trips I'd either rent a car or more likely take the Lexus. No sense to put thousands of miles on the XLT.
5. So the XLT can be more/less dedicated to 4x4 but I still want it at least driveable on the highway and those tires should be fine for that, not ideal, but shouldn't be horrible.
6. Tentative upgrades for the XLT include things that are all 4x4 oriented. This upgrade puts the tire size back to oem size, gives me a bit more clearance, and should look great.
7. These tires seem like they'd be good for the kind of thing I run into so far. Would also work ok in snow, or so they say; not a snow tire, but I don't think you'd be stuck either.
8. They are symmetric, which you don't see a lot (look the same side-to-side). That's not a requirement for me, just a plus. Nice open tread so rocks don't stick in them. Very aggressive look to them but not too crazy. Yes you can only rotate front/rear.
9. If they were horrible they can be changed in the future, tires aren't permanent. Alternatives - K03 probably or others that have been mentioned in other thread about this. Lots of good choices, but not as aggressive as these. I do run into mud and the rest of the time it's dirt and rocks of all various sizes. I go through a lot of creeks.

I'm still mulling it over, and normally I wouldn't look at something quite so aggressive if I had just one truck and if I were, say, commuting to work, but that's not the situation. There is nowhere I -have- to be, well, let's say it's real rare. So my thinking is telling me, it's ok if they are a little noisy, because when you do get to your 4x4 road, you have something that should be up to the task (for the tires, anyway). And the whole reason I got the XLT was for 4x4, so why not gravitate more that direction.

I don't think this is a tire many people here have? If you do I'd sure like to hear about it. I've been thinking about this a few months, got lots of help here, and would like to pull the trigger on something this spring. Comments?
RBP Repulsor MT 31x10.50R15LT | RBPMT15105010 | Custom Offsets (customwheeloffset.com)

Before i paid that much for a set of offbrand mud tires that will be noisy, wear like shit, and who knows the kind of overall quality you would get...

Id buy a set of BFG A/T's in whatever size ya want. IMO best all around tire out there.

 

[ericbphoto]

I agree. I’d save the extra $80 and get a set of BFG mud terrains. Proven quality and performance.

 

[James Morse]

BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 | 31X10.5R15LT (tirerack.com)
You are talking about these?
That was my alternate I said K03 but I meant those. Because I heard a lot of good about them. Asymmetric doesn't bother me, the look to them is good.

I didn't realize RBP was off brand I thought they were mainstream. They sure cost like it.
KM3's then it is, not for 100% yet but just about. I'd be hesitant now to go RBP since seems like not many people use them but tons use KM3, they are widely known and liked.

Thanks.

 

[Shran]

I have mud tires on my F250. They are really good for getting me out of a pickle if I have to pull a trailer through the mud somewhere... but at the cost of horrible traction on ice and snow and a lot of road noise. I had some generic street tires on it before that were night and day better in the snow.

I wouldn't want to run those on a daily driver, the only time I'd consider something like that is if you spend a considerable amount of time on really muddy roads or use it for offroad fun purposes.

 

[Blmpkn]

Holy cow.. yeah. Don't buy those tires.

Last set of China tires I bought were 30x9.5r15s, and they only ran me 380$.. including shipping lol.

If your willing to pony up that much cash, my vote is for a "real" tire for sure.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Heres what i was talking about...

BFGoodrich Tires 69948 BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 Tires | Summit Racing

Free Shipping - BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 Tires with qualifying orders of $109. Shop Tires at Summit Racing.

www.summitracing.com

Mud tires basically suck for everything but mud. The BFGs A/Ts are what i run and they do equally well in about everything off road but have good road manners/wear

 

[Blmpkn]

Christ... Mickey Thompson MT's can be had for 300$ less than those on fleabay

 

[Shran]

31x10.50R15 Tires in Shop by Size - Walmart.com

Shop for 31x10.50R15 Tires in Shop by Size. Buy products such as Pirelli Scorpion ATR All Terrain 31X10.5R15 109S Light Truck Tire at Walmart and save.

www.walmart.com

 

[James Morse]

K02 looks like it would be better in snow than KM3. But you know how many snows we had this winter? Zero.
I like MT's too.
Walmart if it's actually the item I wouldn't rule them out.
So this is really pushing me away from muds or mud-A/T.
Any way you look at it it's a chunk of change.
I think it ends up with two or three A/T choices where you can hardly go wrong but I'm really tending K02's now.
Thanks.

 

[Blmpkn]

K02 looks like it would be better in snow than KM3. But you know how many snows we had this winter? Zero.
I like MT's too.
Walmart if it's actually the item I wouldn't rule them out.
So this is really pushing me away from muds or mud-A/T.
Any way you look at it it's a chunk of change.
I think it ends up with two or three A/T choices where you can hardly go wrong but I'm really tending K02's now.
Thanks.

Look into the general grabber atx.

Essentially a carbon copy of the ko2, only (last I knew) cheaper, ever so slightly deeper tread, and they boast a warranty 10k miles longer than the bfgs.

 

[sgtsandman]

I can highly recommend the BFG KO2s. The General tires mentioned above are only rated slightly lower and the tread looks identical to the BFGs. I've used the BFGs in some pretty serious off roading and they didn't disappoint. Perhaps not at the level that someone like Eric might do but for what you are talking about doing, the BFGs will be definitely up to the task. The Generals probably would be as well.

 

[ericbphoto]

I ran the BFG ATs for a few years and they worked well. If your mostly driving on pavement and want a little more tread life, I’d go with them.

 

[James Morse]

I'd say it's always the situation that you are driving mostly on pavement because you have to drive from your house to the 4x4 roads, and once you are on the 4x4 roads, you're probably going slow. And it seems like you're going a long ways off road but you look at the miles and it's small relative to the distance to get there. If the main reason you got the truck was to do 4x4 then it seems like sacrificing some road handling for gaining 4x4 usability would be ok.
Of course the ultimate would be a vehicle that you trailer to the 4x4 road and doesn't drive on the highway at all. Or if you live on a farm, and never go on the highway with it.
What's Eric running for tires, just out of curiousity?

Let's say just average if I drive 30 miles (or more) to get to a road, then drive 5 miles off-road, or even 10, which would be quite a bit, that's still a small percentage of driving. Then you add in driving around town. Off road will be a very small percent of the total. So unless the tire gives me distinctly better performance off-road, then I wouldn't want to sacrifice highway performance very much or I suspect I would be not happy.

So most likely I'm headed for the K02 or Grabber per posts. Should be a good all-around tire. Just getting the truck back to its stock height will help (and speedo will read better), and having new tread vs pretty worn tread will help. If it's the right tire long term, where I end up going off road will tell me.

I look at it this way. I knew zero about Rangers, talked on here seemingly endlessly about them, got a lot of advice, out of that focused in on what I wanted, looked for it, found it, bought it, really like it (the XLT). Thus I'd be an idiot to go counter to advice now.

 

[ericbphoto]

I’m currently on KM3s 35x12.50-15 on cheap, steel 15x10 wheels