AT or MT for snow/ice?

[poidog88]

I'm looking for an aggressive looking all around AT or MT tire. I don't want a street looking AT so im leaning towards a MT Tire. I will be doing a little off roading but nothing major but I will also be driving up to and through the mountains to hunt and snow board which has a lot of snow and ice.

Therefore, my main concern would be traction in the ice and snow. Not going to do a whole lot of mud off roading but I do like the look of the mud tires.

I am seriously considering the dynapro MT RT03 and the Mickey Thompson BAJA MTZ. I have read great reviews on it being the best bang for the buck but I'm just worried about the handling on ice and snow. (mostly on paved roads). I do not have a whole lot of experience with AT vs MT tires but I have read that the MT generally handle lesser than the AT in snow/icy conditions. Is that true?

Would it be a smarter investment to go for an AT tire such as the Toyo Open Country AT or the BFG AT or will i not notice a significance difference in the handling in ice/snow.

Thanks in advance.

[DevinSixtySeven]

You will be better off getting an A/T tire. Mud and snow/ice require tread at complete opposite ends of the spectrum...

Mud needs deep lugs and large voids. Sticking isn't as important as clawing, digging and cleaning. Sipes tend to lead to early chunking.

Snow and ice ideally need variably spaced lugs with medium voids to keep the tire from digging, with many small edges to improve traction on ice, and a soft compound to keep the tread supple in cold weather.

So the perfect mud tire will be garbage for snow and ice, and the perfect snow tire will leave you stuck in the mud pits.

You gotta pick one for each season, or run something like the BFG AT/KO with lockers to deal with mud.

Where are you gonna use this tire? Is it really HI or on the mainland somewhere?

-Sean

[poidog88]

Hey,

Thanks for the reply. Yes I am from honolulu, hawaii but I go to school in Oregon. I go hunting so I drive through the passes and occasionally go snow boarding.

Do you have any experience with the MTZ?

Thanks again.

[DevinSixtySeven]

Just looking at the tread design, it's not gonna do snow and ice very well...large tread blocks, little siping, massive side lugs for digging and climbing out of ruts. That'd be a great summer tire, but not for snow and ice.

Here's a 10min-ish video of purpose-built snow tires around the magnetic north pole. Note the tread design, siping and studs...compare that to any tire you want to drive on snow and ice. IMHO that is the "gold standard" for truck snow tires, unfortunately it's 38" tall, takes a 15" rim, and is only readily available in Iceland LOL...

But you'll find many tires with similar tread and smaller radii. Michelin and Nokian are easily among the best of the bunch.

If I were you and needed a single set of tires to do almost anything, I'd look at the BFG AT/KO and the Interco TrXus M/T.

The AT/KO is the classic "do everything" tire. It's very good in snow, it'll last about three seasons before you notice the tread is getting too hard and too thin to really perform in deep snow or on ice. It's great in sand, good enough on rocks, withstands sharp rocks and roots well enough for most people, and is adequate in thin and shallow mud. Thick mud and gumbo will pack it up and you better have lockers or skill at the wheel, but it can work with some wheelspin.

I haven't got my TrXus M/Ts yet but can tell you why I'm getting them. They've received many reviews as being excellent in deep snow, apparently have fairly soft tread which I hope will perform better on ice, and have a void/lug ratio between an all-terrain and a mud tire, which is right about where a snow tire should be. They're also radial. They do run a hair large and can be tough to balance if the shop isn't very experienced with large, heavy tires. They've been raced in Jeepspeed comps on sand at high speed, and they work much better in mud than all-terrains. They were designed as a "do everything" tire but a bit more aggressive than the BFG AT/KO.

If you have the money and can justify a set of purely snow tires, don't hesitate to get a set of Nokians. They make sizes up to 315/75R16 aka 35x12.5R16 now.

-Sean

Hope that helps.

-Sean

[poidog88]

Cool. Thanks for all your advice. I appreciate it.

[daewoo]

Honestly, I have had Firestone Destination MTs on my truck for 3 yrs and they are by far the best tires I have ever owned. They are pretty much bald now but I still never slide. Rain, Snow, Ice, etc.

I drive like a psycho and have been able to rip my back around with every tire I have owned except the Destinations MTs. And to boot they are quiet (for Mudders) and offer amazing tread wear. lasted 60k+ miles.

My .02

[Bakemono]

Id suggest going with an A/T tire. M/T tires often have a very soft compound, so they will wear out very quickly.
Ive always been partial to Bridgestone Dualler A/Ts. I used to have a '91 4Runner with those tires on it and that thing was unstoppable in snow/ice.
I can remember one time when I was driving home at 2:00am (from work, not from the bar) and that night we got over a foot of snow. I was driving down a country backroad with farm fields on either side, so the road was all drifted over.
I was literally having to blast through 3' deep snow drifts and the 4Runner chugged through 'em like nothing.

[Haytundra]

I have had 1 set of revo's and 3 sets of BFG AT/KO's on a previous vehicle.

Honestly I think the BFG AT/KO is the best tire I have ever owned on any vehicle period. Excellent mileage 60,000 +, wear pretty good, stick on ice and snow like glue and good in the rain.

They are expensive, not great in thick mud and unless you rotate they will get noisy although less than a M/T.

Ice/snow = AT
Mud= MT

Years ago when I lived close to the sierra nevada mountains I would frequently take my 2WD truck up into the snowy backwoods, with the AT/KO's and a couple hundred pounds in the bed I never got stuck and never put on my snow chains.