Mud/Terrains in the winter?

[SR54RNR]

I'm currently running on 31x10.5 dunlop all terrains. they are pretty worn out, it wont be too long before its worn to the wear bars.
I got a new set of Bridgestone dueler M/T tires just waiting to be mounted. but I hear that its not a good idea to run M/Ts in the winter.
opinions?

[Iqoair]

You just have to be more cautious how you drive on the icy parts of the road. They suck on slick pavement.

[5000Audi]

i have m/t's of my jeep, they are awsome in loose/fresh snow but once it becomes packed or ice then its like having racing slicks..no traction at all..i would go out and find a used a/t tire for your truck of a cheapo new one.. dont use the m/t's

[CelicaST-162]

I have a set of Michelin M/S tires, 70% tread. 235-75-15 Lets say $100 for all four?

[SR54RNR]

Originally posted by CelicaST-162
I have a set of Michelin M/S tires, 70% tread. 235-75-15 Lets say $100 for all four?

sounds like a [retty good deal, except I live in Edmonton Thanks for the comments. Now im looking into getting the M/T's Siped, but still not aware of any shops in Edmonton that can sipe tires.

[SR240SX]

M/T's arent the best for winter, But if you're tires not are already down to the wear bars, You can most likely get the M/T's siped, Which will improve traction in icy conditions.

[RedApe]

Agreed on the siping comment...

If you're buying a mud tire, I'd recommed getting some that are pre-siped...

I'm about to put a new set on my 4Runner...will likely go with the Mud Countrys, as I believe them to be one of the better designs right now.

Some examples to look at:
Interco's TRXUS MT
Dick Cepec Mud Country MT
Nokian Vatiiva MT


If you're not wheeling....stick with an AT. The above examples are an offroad tire, that are manageable on the street, not a street tires that are good offroad.

[joyridder]

mud terrains are terrible in the winter, they are made of a very hard compound for off road purposes, which freeze like hockey pucks. Even switching to all terrains would be a much better idea.

[RedApe]

Originally posted by joyridder
mud terrains are terrible in the winter, they are made of a very hard compound for off road purposes, which freeze like hockey pucks. Even switching to all terrains would be a much better idea.

The below comments are purely based on my experiences...

Not to contradict....but most of the "specialty" off road tires are far from a "hard compound"....in fact, quite the opposite. The rubber compound itself will be very soft...and to make it resillient, they add layers (you would likely see this labeled as 'plys' in the sidewall and tread descriptions).

I've run Interco Swamper SX's (known to be the toughest tire available in NA until the IROK), Radials, SSRs, Big O XT, Yoko's, and currently run Interco's TRXUS MT on the TJ. On dry pavement, pulling into a parking stall at Walmart....I leave rubber on the tarmac (open diffs). At -20, the lugs are still soft in nature, and the siping still expands to take up and release snow and ice.

IMHO, poor design in tread pattern has given MT's a bad name in the snow:
BFG MT, and all of it's rip off's in tread design.


Incidently, the worst tire I've ever run in the snow is the BFG AT KO in a 30x9.50x15 on my last XJ....

Nothing more than my $0.02...

[SR54RNR]

thanks for all the imput. I wheel my truck, so its not just going to be another street queen with M/T's on it.
I'm getting the tires off a friend at work, they have about 1000kms on them and he's giving them to me for $500 (so at that price im going to run 'em)

still looking around edmonton on a place that will sipe them before I get them mounted.

[TKRIS]

You should be able to buy a siper/groover off ebay for ~$100 shipped. You'll spend more than that getting some monkey to run your tires through one of those automated machines that will ripe them apart and generally do a shitty job.
Took a couple hours to hand sipe and groove my set of 33x12.5 MTs, but they worked just fine in the winter once I was finished with them, and because they were uniform, they looked good and didn't result in noticeable tread wear issues.

[barmanjay]

Originally posted by joyridder
mud terrains are terrible in the winter, they are made of a very hard compound for off road purposes, which freeze like hockey pucks. Even switching to all terrains would be a much better idea.

I have a set of Mickey thompson baja claws and they are a very soft compound,.. they were very unimpressive till I siped them,.. now they are great

[joyridder]

well my experience has been with procomp mt's 33" which are currently on my truck. I found that bf goodrich at's and nitto terra grapplers are much better on ice and snow

[SR54RNR]

I've been driving on the Bridgestone dueler MT's for a few weeks now in winter, and they are GREAT. even on ice. Quite a bit more road noise on the highway than the A/T's though.

[RedApe]

UPDATE to post above:

Dick Cepek Mud Country's were installed on New Years eve, on my 94 4Runner.
I have yet to wheel with them (it's my mini van, and likely won't see much extreme terrain), but:

- highway on snow and ice
- gravel
- gravel with snow and ice
- aired down to 10
- highway at 28

Very impressed so far...

[r3ccOs]

I have 31" MTRs on my tracker and though perhaps the softest silica compound, I just don't recommend them unless you're wheeling

General Tire - AT2
BFG A/T
Cooper ST-C
Canadian Tire M/S

Those are my recommendations in that order

The Canadian Tire M/S are likely the best price'd and in fact the most capable that I've seen wheel outside of a full out mud tire and the best I've seen performed Winter Wheeling

There are pro-comp M/Ts which have a sipped inner core, or you could always get some M/T's sipped, but personally that's not the best option as I've seen them wear strangely

Then again, if you find some cheap M/Ts like Dunlop Mud Rovers and have the time to sipe them, go ahead!

[CelicaST-162]

I have the General Grabber AT2's, when aired down to 20psi they're great!