What Brand Mud Terrain Do You Use?

[85_Ranger4x4]

Not really a "MT" but we have had very good luck with Duratracs on our service trucks. They seem to go everywhere and do everything while being decent in snow and on the road in general.

 

[Craig0320]

Not really a "MT" but we have had very good luck with Duratracs on our service trucks. They seem to go everywhere and do everything while being decent in snow and on the road in general.

I forgot all about those. The reviews are good on them but I don't know anyone who has ran them.

 

[Shran]

I have a couple friends who ran Duratracs on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks and didn't like them. Seemed to wear out fast and were prone to more flats than usual, why that would be, I don't know and it's just 2nd hand information... I thought they looked kinda cool though.

 

[Craig0320]

I have a couple friends who ran Duratracs on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks and didn't like them. Seemed to wear out fast and were prone to more flats than usual, why that would be, I don't know and it's just 2nd hand information... I thought they looked kinda cool though.

Yeah every 3/4 or 1 ton truck I have known ate tires. It is just what they do.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have a couple friends who ran Duratracs on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks and didn't like them. Seemed to wear out fast and were prone to more flats than usual, why that would be, I don't know and it's just 2nd hand information... I thought they looked kinda cool though.

On the rear of a 2wd F-250 service truck that runs on crushed limestone most of the time. They are getting chunked out after 5 years but that truck would be a torture test for about any tire.

Truck only gets stuck when it sinks enough to get hung up... or about once a year. It’s a friggen tank up to that point.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I run Duratracs on my F350, E rated 315 75 16's I think (my brother has it or I would look, I know they're 315's) basically a 35" tire, I've put probably 25+ thousand miles on them almost all towing and are wearing very even, especially considering that thing crab walks by around 3"... love the tires, they do all I ask and handle the weight very well. I've heard of them getting holes easy but never checked to see if they were running the C rated tires on their big diesel trucks... I have another buddy that runs 265 Duratrac's on his duramax carrying a 10' cabover camper while towing, runs them at 85psi when doing that and they're troopers... another buddy ran them on his F350 with good luck as well...

I don't have experience with the C rated tires though, very durable and affordable at least when I bought mine...

 

[Jim Oaks]

I put Duratracs on my Excursion, but I couldn't find a tire shop that could balance them.

 

[4x4junkie]

I just do not know what brand mud tire I want to use anymore...

I had been a BFG MT fan since the early '90s, but with each redesign they've put forth since the KM (KM1, whatever) they have become less & less appealing. The new KM3 that has just come out is still a full half-inch short of claimed size just as the KM2 is, but topping that off, they also reduced the tread depth to 9/16" (most MT tires including the old KM and Goodyear MT/R are 21/32" tread). I'm sitting here trying to figure out what makes this different from buying 15%-worn used tires for brand-new tire prices?? (I guess BFG thought their tires lasted too long and/or gripped too well?).

I've had two separate bad experiences in a row with Goodyear MT/Rs (one majorly), so not going there again...

I put 33x12.50R15 Toyo Open Country M/Ts on my Ranger a couple years ago... These are the first set of actual round tires I've owned in over 16 years. They are very quiet (almost AT-like quiet), a full 33" on the dot, 21/32" tread. Excellent off road, and crazy-thick sidewalls (but heavier too).
I want to put them on my BII... They don't make a 35x12.50R15

I'm currently leaning toward the General Grabber X3 I think it's called (not the one with the weird square-block tread, the X3 has a more traditional MT pattern)... They are claimed to be an honest 35" and 21/32 tread. I don't know much else about General tires though (anyone else here run them? Are they round and do they balance well?)

I put Duratracs on my Excursion, but I couldn't find a tire shop that could balance them.

They were probably out of round. Every Goodyear tire I've owned (all 4 tires of two sets bought nine years apart) was out of round. The last set I had was bad enough to be warrantable, so I washed my hands of them.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I've used the Cooper STT Pro:

And I'm thinking about trying the Cooper MTP's:

The 35x12.50x15 is 34.57" with 13.10" section width. Tread depth is 21/32" and they weigh 67 lbs. They're $211 each.

 

[adsm08]

I'm currently leaning toward the General Grabber X3 I think it's called (not the one with the weird square-block tread, the X3 has a more traditional MT pattern)... They are claimed to be an honest 35" and 21/32 tread. I don't know much else about General tires though (anyone else here run them? Are they round and do they balance well?)

A few guys I used to work with really liked the Generals. One was a mall-crawler TJ, and the guy had more money than brains and was putting new (bigger) tires on it about once a year. He said he liked the red letter sidewalls.

The other guy was replacing them every two years. He bought them because they were cheap and his road was getting tar and chip every 6 months, which is rough on tires. He said they balanced well and rode nice enough though, and Scott was picky about such things, so they must not be too bad in those areas.

 

[adsm08]

I have a couple friends who ran Duratracs on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks and didn't like them. Seemed to wear out fast and were prone to more flats than usual, why that would be, I don't know and it's just 2nd hand information... I thought they looked kinda cool though.

I have a pair on the back of the Ranger and I hate them. They aren't noisy, they just don't grip well on pavement. But they were second hand tires, so I live with them for now.

 

[4x4junkie]

The 35x12.50x15 is 34.57" with 13.10" section width. Tread depth is 21/32" and they weigh 67 lbs. They're $211 each.

See, that is the problem I'm running into now... So many tires already don't live up to their diameter, and now we're starting to see tread depth disappear too (there was at least one other tire I just ran into that was 19/32" that I know used to be 21/32", though after getting bleary-eyed looking at so many tires I can't remember which it was).

I know this probably seems petty to some of you, but each 1/32" of tread is the equivalent of about 4000 miles of use (it is for me anyway, my current tires have around 30K and have lost what looks to be about 7/32").

A few guys I used to work with really liked the Generals. One was a mall-crawler TJ, and the guy had more money than brains and was putting new (bigger) tires on it about once a year. He said he liked the red letter sidewalls.

The other guy was replacing them every two years. He bought them because they were cheap and his road was getting tar and chip every 6 months, which is rough on tires. He said they balanced well and rode nice enough though, and Scott was picky about such things, so they must not be too bad in those areas.

That is encouraging on the Generals (at least the 2nd one is... Not sure if I can trust someone without brains though lol). Appreciate the report.
FWIW, I don't think the red letters come on the 35s, but no matter... I seem to recall reading somewhere they turn to normal white after a few rocks have rubbed against them anyway.

 

[Shran]

A lot of locals are running Maxxis Trepadors too, and seem to like them. You can get them in a 35X12.50R15LT. Or a variety of other sizes... including a bias ply sticky variant. They'd be high on my list to try out if I was in the market.

Junkie, what was your issue with the MT/R's? Were they the old style or the new ones? I know a LOT of guys ran the old ones, and generally liked them but they were also well known for being very thin all around so they got a bad reputation.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have a pair on the back of the Ranger and I hate them. They aren't noisy, they just don't grip well on pavement. But they were second hand tires, so I live with them for now.

Our service truck doesn't have that problem, it is a heavy turd and all the weight is on the back.

Couple that with a 5.4... not much wheel slippage on pavement.

It is a heavy turd to tug out which is why it got the Duratracs. It was rather helpless with street tires and it got old running out with another truck whenever dad found a wet spot. Now he just gets hung up in ruts about once a year.

Otherwise it is a tank in snow and pretty respectable for the hippo that it is in mud.

 

[4x4junkie]

Junkie, what was your issue with the MT/R's? Were they the old style or the new ones? I know a LOT of guys ran the old ones, and generally liked them but they were also well known for being very thin all around so they got a bad reputation.

I had one set of each bought nine years apart.
As I mentioned to Jim a few posts ago, they were out of round (the second set very much so, to the point they had to be warrantied).

That's not all though... The first set also spun on the rims when aired down, throwing their balance off each time, and this was the first time I discovered tires to be grossly short of size (about 32.4", somewhere in there for a 33x12.50R15, I don't have the exact # anymore... By the time I got rid of them at 30% tread left they measured less than 31.5").

2nd set, MT/R-K, 35x12.50R15.
These were downright awesome in the very beginning, but after about 800 miles is when vibrations slowly began to appear. It got to a point that I tried to have them rebalanced, but then everything went straight to hell and that's when it became obvious all four were 3/16" or more out of round, and one had an obvious discontinuity (wobble) right next to the bead.
When I turned them in at ~12K, they had also worn a tad over 30%, a much higher wear rate than any of my BFGs or my 1st set of MT/Rs (a friend of mine thinks they may have come from a bad batch (which may be true), however two bad experiences in a row is enough for me).