After running a bunch of different tires on a number of trucks over the years, the staff at OFF-ROAD has been able to gather some pretty good opinions on how a lot of tires work. We're sure you've probably read a number of tire test articles in various off-road magazines throughout the years, and we know we've certainly written our share. The problem we've always seen with these tests is that they are done as quickly as possible after a new tire becomes available. Therefore most tire tests revolve around brand new tires with barely any tread worn or chunked off. Well, we think the real story is later in the tire's life ... like 10,000 miles down the road.
We wish we could do all equipment testing after thousands of miles of use. In fact, start looking for Long-Term Updates in future issues for input on products that we've been using for extended periods of time. We'll give you the skinny on how stuff has been holding up and what we've worn out, starting with this very story on how all these tires have held up for us.
BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A KO
Size Tested: 285/75R16, 305/70R16
Wheel Used: 16x8OEM Suzuki wheels, 16x8 American Racing Chambers
Tested On: 2009 Suzuki Equator, 2000 Toyota Tacoma, 2005 Toyota Tundra
Thoughts After Extended use: Over the past several years this tire has become a favorite of ours. The ATKO doesn't have the most aggressive tread pattern or the most street friendly; it's tucked right there into the middle making it a great all-around performer that wears very well and evenly. This tire should last you a minimum of 30,000 miles. The tire remained quiet on the road even after years of abuse and held its traction driving through rain, rock, snow and loose gravel. If you find yourself driving in a lot of mud you may want to look into a different tire, as the ATKO does not clean itself very quickly when caked with mud and traction can also become an issue.
Get Them For: Stock to moderately modified vehicles. Extreme vehicles such as race trucks and rock buggies should look into a more purpose-built tire.
BF Goodrich Mud Terrain KM2
Size Tested: 305/70R16
Wheel Used: 16x8 American Racing Chamber Teflon coated
Tested On: 2005 Toyota Tundra
Thoughts After Extended use: Much like their predecessor the BFG M/T, these tires are fairly loud on the road and continue to get louder as they get worn out. They are based off the BFG Krawler tire which means they have a very aggressive tread design. This tire excels crawling through rocks and in light mud. It always made rock gardens look easy. If you off-road through sand and snow often you may want to consider another tire.
Get Them For: Moderately modified vehicles and rock buggies. This is a great trail and rock tire that should be put in the dirt most of the time. This would also be a great Jeep tire.
BF Goodrich Baja Race T/A
Size Tested: 37x12.50R17
Wheel Used: 17x8 KMC Street Lock / 17x8 Walker Evans
Tested On: 2002 Chevy Silverado / 2000 Toyota Tacoma
Thoughts After Extended use: These tires are bigger, stronger, thicker and able to be driven faster than just about any other off-road tire on the market. Just look at its scorecard with over 20 SCORE Baja championships under its belt! Although this tire definitely has the "cool factor" down for driving around town, sadly the on-road performance is sub-par. They flat spot when cold and don't hold traction well on wet roads due to a lack of siping. But this tire out shines in the dirt. With a 124-mph speed rating and a six-ply nylon sidewall, we never had to worry about the tire when off-road either. If you don't have the horsepower to push these heavy tires, be prepared to feel a noticeable difference behind the wheel.
Get Them For: Race vehicles as this is a race specific tire-not to mention the will run you roughly $300-$400 per tire if you can find them. If you have a need for speed and your truck can keep up, you can't beat the Baja T/A.
BF Goodrich Krawler
Size Tested: 39x13.50R17, 35x13.50R15
Wheel Used: 17x9 Centerline I.C.E., 15x8 Pro Comp Alloys
Tested On: 1974 Blazer, 1993 Cherokee
Thoughts After Extended use: The Krawler has been around for a number of years now, but no one since BFG has challenged Interco's Swamper Bogger for the "most aggressive looking tire" award. But the Krawlerbenefits from years of research and technology and is a much more versatile tire. It's a very heavy tire that will have a slight flat spot for a few minutes of driving on cold mornings, but it still rolls very well down the road for such an aggressive tread pattern. It works excellently in the rocks and most other off-road conditions, but seems to fall a bit short in mud. While it does drive adequately on the highway, be aware that there are no sipes in the tread, so wet conditions can be a little tricky. Don't expect 50,000 miles out of these.
Get Them For: A truck, Jeep, or buggy that sees a lot of intense off-road use and not too much deep mud.
Dick Cepek Fun Country II Radial
Size Tested: 285/75R16 (33X11.50R16), 37x13.50R15
Wheel Used: 16x8 Mickey Thompson Classic II, 15x10 Mickey Thompson Alcoa Classics
Tested On: 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, 1994 Dodge Ram 1500
Thoughts After Extended use: This is a great all-around tire. The FC II was driven extensively on the street and highway, where the tires provided a smooth, quiet ride. The FC IIs were also excellent in the desert, sticking well to hardpack as well as the coarse sand that's common in the Mojave. Zero flats were experienced, and the knobs held up well to 2WD power slides with a locked rear end.
Get Them For: All-around use. The SLT sizes of the FC II have high load ratings, so you can put these on your tow rig, too.
Dick Cepek Mud Country
Size Tested: 35x12.50 R17, 35x12.50R15
Wheel Used: 17x9 Dick Cepek DC1, 15x8 American Racing Chambers
Tested On: 1993 Ford Bronco, 1993 Jeep Cherokee
Thoughts After Extended use: A full-fledged mud-terrain tire with very large lugs, these Mud Countrys are extremely capable in a wide variety of environments. Case in point: we've run them with equal success on the slickrock of Moab and at high speeds in the California deserts. They're somewhat mild-mannered on the asphalt too, with a very quiet hum. The tread wear we've experienced is right in line what we've expected from such a tire, and they look pretty cool to boot. They're a bit heavy, but other than that, we've been very happy with just about every aspect of these tires.
Get Them For: Just about anything. They won't ruin your highway ride, they're plenty grippy, and they hold together well.
Hankook Dynapro MT
Size Tested: 37x12.50 R17
Wheel Used: 17x8.5 GT Wheels
Tested On: 2001 H1 Hummer
Thoughts After Extended use: We first paid attention to the Dynapro MT from Hankook when they came out a few years ago. We looked into them, found out that many sizes have an amazing capacity for weight, and put them on the heaviest vehicle we had at our disposal, an H1 Hummer. Simply put, they were very versatile. Dirt, sand, highway, rocks...they ate up terrain and held up admirably. The H1's owner tells us that they're his favorite tires he's mounted on the Hummer yet.
Get Them For: Heavy vehicles. We understand if you feel squeamish mounting mud tires on your HD truck, but these Dynapro MT's are built to take on weight and abuse, all while maintaining a decent road ride.
Kumho Road Venture M/T
Size Tested: 35X12.50R18
Wheel Used: 18x8 Pro Comp X-Series
Tested On: 2007 Toyota Tundra
Thoughts After Extended use: This tire worked great traversing through small rock gardens and decent mud, and held a solid line on wet pavement. Sand on the other hand was a problem, as the tire seems to dig its way to China fairly often. Lowering the tire pressure to 20psi brought this tire to life as the sidewall seemed to be fairly flexible on our half-ton truck. Although we never tore a sidewall it would be nice to see the next design incorporate more sidewall protection for the crawlers out there. We'v unfortunately had some bad cupping on our set due to not rotating the tires. This is definitely one you need to move to other corners of your truck.
Get Them For: Mid-sized trucks that are looking for performance without breaking the bank. Our 18-inch test size worked well but we feel this tire would shine in 16-inch sizing with more sidewall.
Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ
Size Tested: 285/75R16 (33x11.50R16), 35x13.50R18
Wheel Used: 16x8 Dick Cepek DC-1, 15x8 Pro Comp Alloy
Tested On: 2004 Toyota 4Runner 4WD, 1993 Jeep Cherokee
Thoughts After Extended use: These tires have excellent highway manners, and are much quieter than their MTZ counterparts. We recently blasted these tires over a mangled road that included fine dust, hardpacked clay, and rocks varying from baseball-sized to watermelon-sized. The ATZ's gripped it all and inspired confidence. In the sand, the large contact patch of this tire with its large tread lugs and small tread voids kept it floating on the sand well, though the thicker sidewall necessitates a little more air being let out of the tires than normal. In the mud, you might as well have street tires on, as these pack up and sit-and-spin very quickly. But they work great on the street, light-duty trails, and in the sand.
Get Them For: A fullsize truck that doesn't see deep, nasty mud.
Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ
Size Tested: 285/75R16 (33X11.50R16), 37x13.50R18
Wheel Used: 16x8 Mickey Thompson Classic II, 18x10 Mickey Thompson Classic IIs
Tested On: 2003 Toyota 4Runner 4WD, 2002 Chevy 2500 4x4
Thoughts After Extended use: These roll smoothly on the highway, but they're noisy enough that you'll want to bump up your audio volume a notch or two. They excel over desert terrain and have an aggressive enough tread for decent performance in the rocks. After a long trip over the Mojave Road which included sections full of sharp rocks there were a few damaged knobs, but they never flatted. The Sidebiters, a mainstay of Mickey Thompson and Dick Cepek tires, are a big plus as they increase traction and sidewall protection. The MTZ's have some siping, but they're not a great choice for wet or icy roads and they're only average on the highway. On the flip side, these tires worked well in the woods, over slickrock, across the desert, and in lots of mud.
Get Them For: A trail rig that still needs good highway manners.