ATV Florida Forum

need some new tires for my truck, (dodge 2500) LT265/70R17/E, considering (not sure if all the following come in my size):

BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A
Toyo Open Country M/T
Nitto Mud Grappler
Nitto Dune Grappler
Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ Radial
Mickey Thompson Baja Claw Radial
a few others in the MT line
Pro Comps?

stock is BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A.  I want something more aggressive that will get through the sand/mud in florida better, but still give a decent, not too noisy ride.  I'm less concerned about mileage than performance.

If you have any comments or better suggestions, please let me know, thanks

id go for the bfg mtz good on road n offroad thats what where gettin for or 250 when the atz where out

bfgoodwrench by far is the best i think. thats what im gonna get for the tundra when the other tires run out.

I have a friend that builds off road vehicles as a hobby as well as a mechanic for a large Ford dealership in S.FLA. I was looking for the same input and everyone is across the board on this issue. I told me that the Mickey Thompsons altough are popular as well as expensive, they are weak in the quality control department for off road use. His recommendation was BF Goodrich, which surprised me. He said for the on/off road tire quality BFG is the way to go. Thats what I am putting on my vehicle when I finish the lift. Good Luck.  

thanks all...from what I've read you can't go wrong with the BFG's...just looking at some of the other options.  I'm very happy with the OEM tires, they just suck in the soft stuff

there arent many tires that do exceptionally good in sand. and if they do thay SUCK on the road.

one thing bout bfgs is you will pay for them too. not so cheap.

no such thing as a good cheap truck tire with E load rating...I expect $200-$300 per tire...

probably close to 250. those are the same size on my tundra (except for rim size) and thats how much they are a tire.

If a tire don't say Interco on it, it ain't worth spit.

When I had big trucks the best tire that I found was the Buckshot Mudder.   They had a great ride and good tread life.  Even though they say Mudder they worked great in the sand.  One thing to remember.  If you will be in the sand moor go with a wide rim.  If you will be in the mud go with one that is narrow.  The wide rim lets more of the tread spread out on the sand ad disperces the weight better.  The narrow rim allows for the tire to dig better.

Mickey Thompson Baja Claw Radial are good my uncle has them and hes had them for a year

I have had a few sets of BFG MT's.  They are a great tire for mud and sand, they ride extremely well, but will get loud as they wear, and are on the expensive side.  I had the Mickey Thompson ATZ on the truck before the BFG's and they were good in sand but sucked in mud.  Also, I bought a set of the Pro Comp MT'S for my old truck.  They are close to the BFG, but they don't last as long.   Good luck

I run the Mickey ATZ's and hate them. They are loud and you cannot balance them. Chillin had the exact same tires (325x65x18 = 35x13.50x18) and just switched to a set of Khumos which seem to ride very nice and are a ton less noisy.

I'm switching to either the Nitto's, the Toyo's or the Khumos real soon.

Jim, which model tire would you recommend...i'll take a look

thanks everyone for the other ideas.  i'll look at them too.  Too many choices ???

add another option to the list: Bridgestone Dueler M/T

I'll second that .
They've got the  best  DOT mud tire on the market. The Interco Boggers are the best pullin tires in mud I've seen outside of AG tractor tires. The do a great job of staying clean in the thick stuff.

I'll find out for you what tire carlos use's on his truck, Not the same as yours, but the tires seem to be pretty good.

Mud Grappler is not for you if you want quiet. Dune Grappler, wont get much mud performance out of it since it is a sand oriented tread pattern. The BFG MT is one of the best performing and lasting on and offroad tire. Almost all interco tires you wont see a lot of life out of them for everyday driving. Id suggest the BFG M/T as that is what i am going with also for the on/offroad capabilities and the life on them. The Buckshots i have read you will not get very good life out of them.

I had 3 sets of the Buckshots and got 60k out of eack set.  One Set was on a GMC1500 and the other 2 sets on a Dodge 2500.   That is all I know.

Yep, i wasnt doubting you. Some get 50 some get 25 out of them. With those tires you have to be RELIGIOUS about rotating them more so than others!

I know..............Just wanted to tell him how many sets I had.

It surprised me how many miles I got also.  But boy were they good.  Closest thing to a military RVT that I could find for the road.

I was thinking along the same lines with each of the tires ;)

I don't want to sacrifice much in driveability/noise onroad.  some is o.k., but i don't want to have to yell to have a conversation at highway speeds.  Don't care if it stiffens up the ride, but it can't loosen it...that truck is loose enough in the back end unloaded or not, don't need any sidewall flex.  It must be able to be balanced, i don't want something that's going to vibrate or shake all the time, this is also my daily driver.  I'm not much of a mudder/rare occasion (tank on wheels), so parking in/driving to riding areas with trailer in this sugar sand seems to be a bigger problem for me.  I'm not going to change out rims this go-around, so they have to fit the stock rims and be "E" load rated...which somewhat limits my selections.  I realize stock rim limits width which you need in sand, but no $'s for new right now.  I need to find a chart that shows me what tire sizes will fit my OEM rims.

Heard the pro comps were good, little cheaper, but don't last as long as bfg m/t's...i'd rather spend more and have the tire last a bit longer.  any truth to that?  i figure they're mudder and crawler tires, they're probably a softer compound and have a shorter life.  the MT doesn't come in an E load rating, so I'd be concerned about that>>>http://www.procomptires.com/mtapps.htm the extreme a/t looks too wide...i don't like the looks of the AT, looks like the one's I got now.

as for the interco, if they have something that's not as aggressive as some of the mud tires, i.e., the TrXus Mud Terrain http://www.intercotire.com/site35.php, or the TSL/Thornbird http://www.intercotire.com/site31.php , I'd be interested in hearing all comments

the buckshot mudders look like what i'm looking for.  they don't seem to come in my size/load rating>>>http://www.maxxis.com/products/automotive/product_detail.asp?id=191  :-\

I don't like that you can't balance the Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ  http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/newproductpage.php?id=5, i've heard that before.  I'm sure I'd have the same problem with the Baja MTZ's http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/truck.php?item=BajaMTZRadialTrad which is the tire I'd prefer

The Kumho Road Venture doesn't come in 17"  :( http://www.kumhousa.com/Products/PtnDetails.asp?mainCatID=2&PtnID=834

The Nitto Terra Grappler looks like what I got http://www.nittotire.com/tires_terragrappler.asp , and the mud grappler looks more for off road with a lot of loss of onroad capability???  http://www.nittotire.com/tires_mudgrappler.asp

Toyo doesn't have anything in my size  :'( unless one of the 17" listed will fit?? http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_specsheet.cfm?id=17

if you believe the following survery http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORMT the Bridgestone Dueler M/T is worth looking at, although I've never heard much about it, certainly not like the BFG tires, and they don't seem to be on the bridgestone website, unless it's being replaced by the Firestone Destination M/T?

The good thing about the Pro-Comps is that the all-terrains have a 50,000 mile treadwear warranty. Not a great mud tire, but very quiet on the highway. I'm on my second set, not a bad tire for the money. They have them on sale from time to time, buy three get one free.

right now they are 10% off.

The truxs mud terrain is a good tire. I was thinking more along the lines of the SSR though. With proper maintenance you should get 25-30K out of them. The other guy was right about the Buckshot Mudders I have some I think they will last a lifetime. Dam things are like iron but you are right they don't come in 17's. I have been keeping an eye on tires as I will be getting a set soon the Nitto mud terrain or whatever they call it looked good to me. Then again you can't go wrong with the BFG's I have had 3 sets of them and realy liked them. Whatever you get make sure you are getting a 10 ply tire with at least a D rating preferably an E. I know the SSR's I was looking at were 10 ply and that will be a factor in my decision.

Buckshots are good with proper maintenance. My friend had them ona  Jeep and they wore kinda fast. Not bad though.

My other friend had them on and F-150 and they were about gone in less than a year. NOT a highway tire at all. He wasn't even on the higway that much either.

Did good in the mud.

I prefer my BFG M/T's over anything though! They are the best all around tire in my opinion and wear like a rock.

i agree i have a set with 1 year on and still great

As with any tire, proper inflation and scheduled rotations will greatly improve its' lifespan. Not to cause an argument 94 but the particular buckshots on my truck I have had for 4 years and they have numerous highway miles not to mention trips from AR to ILL, from FL to AR, hell and back off road and still have in my estimation 50% tread left. On the other hand my brother has some on his truck and they wore really fast mainly due to worn out shocks. So I think the lesson to be learned here is with a proper tire maintenance program and a vehicle in good operating condition you should expect a good life out of most any tire. Now if you are always underinflated, poor alignment, bad shocks, ball joints a squeakin', tie rod ends like a loose tooth, slack in your steering box, wanderin' down the road you can expect uneven tire wear and a short lifespan for your tires.

buckshot mudders are good i had 31 inchers on my bronco in sand i only used 2wd where my parents where spinnin in 4wd w/ atz on the f250

I have nitto 33 nice lookin and not to loud

Let me tell you, trying to find a mud terrain that fits a stock 17" rim with an E load rating or 10 ply is becoming a real project.  17" is not a common size it appears....anything you want in 15", 16", 18" and larger, but 17 is limited... :K  plus i'd like to go as large as i can without rubbing

both the truxs and ssr come in 10 ply 17's don't know about the load rating though.