Trucks and mud tires?

[Arkel23]

Hey yall, I'm not sure if the Admins will like this being in here but if they don't they'll lock it up anyway. What kind of tires do you have on your truck, and what kind do you recommend that are not the regular pattern that everyone has besides Nittos and Super Swampers?

 

[zxcvbob]

I have a 2WD half-ton Chevy. It came with P255/70R16 Generals and I never had any traction in the winter. It was as bad as if I had summer rib tires. I replaced them last fall with tall skinny Kuhmo all-season radials (Road Venture AT KL78) in a size LT215/85R-16D. The difference in traction in snow and slush was *amazing*. And my gas mileage has gone up about 3 MPG.

(when I lived in Texas, the tires to have if you were into that sort of thing were called "Gumbo Monster Mudders")

IBTL

 

[Hoxviii]

I've run quite a few aggressive tires, what are you looking to do, how aggressive do you want to go, tread life important, quietness an issue, and what size do you want?

 

[Magoo]

If you like the sound of mudders going down the pavement, ignore this. However, if this truck (like most) will see 95%+ pavement duty I have to put in a kudos for the BFG ATs. They have decent offroad tread, pretty darn good on-road grip, are quiet, and will last you a while. I might be way off here as I'm in the upstate and I see you're deep in swamp land down there.

 

[ArmedBear]

BFG TA/KOs on the Jeep here for a long time. Ditto what Magoo says.

If it's a specialized truck with a high lift that is used only in deep, thick mud, I haven't ever had those tires and I'll defer to others. If it's a daily driver, I'd skip the specialty mudders.

 

[zxcvbob]

I appears that Gateway Tires went out of business. I don't think anyone makes the GMM tires anymore, but "Boggers" are very similar.

 

[Hoxviii]

the gumbo monster mudder still exists, but not through gateway. Denman bought gateway (and is now a subsidiary of Interco, i believe) and makes them- or at least did about 18 months ago.

The GMM is a mud tire *only*. They will not float on sand or loose snow, they just dig and bite which is the worst possible thing that can happen in sand. They're also bias ply only so they flat spot until warmed up and wander.

 

[ole farmerbuck]

A tall narrow tire will go where a short wide wouldnt think about it. Ever seen the old Model A's muddin it? Plus, the heavier load rating, the less flex and less traction and rougher riding. Load range 'D' is good for all around if not loading the vehicle really heavy all the time.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

One of the best mud tires of all time is the proven 9.00x16 military tire (provided you have the running gear to spin them). 4.11 gears work wonders. For mud I always prefered a tall, narrow tire. I tried the fat mud tires, but went back to the 9.00x16 super traction. DOT outlawed the old military tires as they were unsafe for highway use especially in the rain (ask me how I know).

Before you go spending a ton of money on tires and wheels I sugguest you find out what your gear ratio is. Most trucks nowdays come with an intermediate gear and with larger tires you loose a lot of power and it decreases your fuel mileage. I tried the swampers, but they wore out very quickly due to their soft rubber.

 

[Arkel23]

Thanks for all the help so far, Thingster, I forgot to put all the preferences, and Magoo, it's not too swampy where I go. I prefer a 33'' tire, some mudding, mostly hunting going into woods, kinda aggressive the more the better, quietness is not an issue. 351, I will check those.

 

[ddeadserious]

I had some Super Swamper trXus(not your typical swamper) on my old lifted Cherokee. They are not too loud, have decent tread life(have seen 30k+ miles on some people), are nicely priced, absolutely amazing in the snow and great in the mud. They also have good road manners, honestly.

 

[Zak Smith]

You gotta at least try to make it relevant - Sorry!