MT Maxxis or AT BF for my rig?

[Matty R Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matty R]

Im on my second set of Maxxis Bighorns on my BT50. I love them. They are almost unstopable off road and I have no complaints on road, even in the wet.

Get a price from a bob jane dealer and dont be afraid to bargain them down!

The only downside. They are noisy and it only gets worse as they wear.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Hi Glen Im going to be running two set of wheels, factory alloys for round town with the grandcraps, and a set of steel rims for off road, are these a LT tyre your referring to ?? You say about the muddies been the best for off road except sand, whats your personal opinion with running muddies on sand ? reason I ask is say we do a trip from home to Frazer and decide to do another off road trip on the way obviously I will run the muddies but how will they go on the sand ?? Am I going to bury myself on the sand ?? I have always run B/F A/T's on all previous 4wd's but find these useless as soon as you hit a bit of mud or clay, clog up turning them into slicks in seconds, but as Im running two sets of rims whats your opinion ?? I have seen the coopers Declan had on first and thought they did quit well ( I wouldnt buy coopers anyway) but havnt seen his mickeys in action, does he do better with the mickey's over all ?? also I want to stick to the factory size tyres (265/65/17) for insurance issues dont want to take any chances...........Sorry for the long question.Cheers Steve

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Hi Glen Im going to be running two set of wheels, factory alloys for round town with the grandcraps, and a set of steel rims for off road, are these a LT tyre your referring to ?? You say about the muddies been the best for off road except sand, whats your personal opinion with running muddies on sand ? reason I ask is say we do a trip from home to Frazer and decide to do another off road trip on the way obviously I will run the muddies but how will they go on the sand ?? Am I going to bury myself on the sand ?? I have always run B/F A/T's on all previous 4wd's but find these useless as soon as you hit a bit of mud or clay, clog up turning them into slicks in seconds, but as Im running two sets of rims whats your opinion ?? I have seen the coopers Declan had on first and thought they did quit well ( I wouldnt buy coopers anyway) but havnt seen his mickeys in action, does he do better with the mickey's over all ?? also I want to stick to the factory size tyres (265/65/17) for insurance issues dont want to take any chances...........Sorry for the long question.Cheers Steve

I've been on sand twice with the MTZ's and they went fine, also once with my skinny BFG MT's at 28 psi.. which is way too high of course, but it managed. MT's are not ideal for sand but they won't necessarily let you down either. As long as you drop preasure below 20 and go easy on the throttle. Hard throttle from a stopped position is likely to dig straight down - this can happen in mud as well. Bottom line, I would recommend MT unless you expect to spend more time on sand then dirt/rocks. I'd have no hesitation to take on Fraser with my skinny MT's.

I'm pretty certain Declan found his new MTZ's to be a huge leap foward in terms of offroad grip, but best get his opinion.

The biggest problem i see is finding some decent MT's in that size. All the decent Mickey Thompson tyres, including the ATZ 4 rib come in 265/70R17.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Yes that is my problem finding an LT muddie in factory size, I can get a muddie but not LT in the form of bighorn, really like the BFG in the muds apparantly nice and quit to on the black stuff and fairly good in the wet, my BF's A/T's I found to be skittish in the wet on all 3 prados and especially the hilux. This stupid rule about rolling diameter is a pain in the arse as it makes me ilegal straight away if I go the 70 profile. I know a lot of prados have the 70's but maybe they havnt had to make a claim or god forbid ever hit or killed anyone, this is what worrys me in regards to running bigger tyres. Mind you every time I have enquired I think only one tyre place has informed me Id be ilegal, no one else has said any thing in regards to that. Cheers Steve

[williade Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close williade]

Yes the MTZ's left the Coopers for dead off road. I only drove on sand once with the MTZ and didn't find them too bad, but I did have them at <15psi.

The best thing about MTZ's on sand is the gnarly footprint they leave behind :-p

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

I honestly think that when I had the other 2 prados both with Bf/At's and I had been on the beach prior with the grandtrecks and I reckon the a/t's performed better, I think they gave me just that bit better grip to pull through where as the grandtrecks seem to slip a bit over the sand and I have seen (picture) a D4D 120 with bf at's versus a 4L V6 120 withgrandtrecks going up side by side running the same pressures going up the same dune and the petrol dropped down and buried itself half way up and the D4D went to the top, you would think the petrol would have the advantage with been able to rev more to get more speed up, so seems to me the bf's had the advantage in pulling itself through the sand, this was actually at the 2010 GTG I went to (was in different group so I only saw (piture) and heard about it) with big fella and I think it was Mat ?? Whats your opinion on my theory ?? Cheers Steve

[williade Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close williade]

Steve, your observation of the D4D with A/t's outperforming a V6 with roadies could be explained by the difference in the coefficient of friction between the different rubber compounds, but I think its more likely that some other variable has come into play (driver skill, weight of the vehicle, varying sand conditions between driven lines etc).

All else being equal, a more aggressive tread pattern should not offer any advantage in sand.

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Yes that is my problem finding an LT muddie in factory size, I can get a muddie but not LT in the form of bighorn, really like the BFG in the muds apparantly nice and quit to on the black stuff and fairly good in the wet, my BF's A/T's I found to be skittish in the wet on all 3 prados and especially the hilux. This stupid rule about rolling diameter is a pain in the arse as it makes me ilegal straight away if I go the 70 profile. I know a lot of prados have the 70's but maybe they havnt had to make a claim or god forbid ever hit or killed anyone, this is what worrys me in regards to running bigger tyres. Mind you every time I have enquired I think only one tyre place has informed me Id be ilegal, no one else has said any thing in regards to that. Cheers Steve

Have you checked if the BFG MT 265/65R17 size is available? They're not quite as good as Mickey's, but with limited choice it may be the best you can do. They could do with more aggressive side lugs but their only major failing, IMO, is the lack of sipes, which is probably why my BFG MT's are being ripped apart quicker than my MTZ's ever were.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Ok Glen now Im gunna ask really dumb question !!!! what is sipes ???. (side impact some thing ??) Also I have rang that many tyre places trying to see what fits/brands etc so now I forget if I asked about the 65 in the BF muddie or not will have to find out again and write it all down LOL bad memory....Do you think there is a big difference between a muddie and all terrain ?? the bf' a/t's I had actually had a really good side wall and pretty aggresive lugs on the side but the actual tread its self was useless in mud or clay or even really wet soggy grass, was like it was running on slicks but my question before about the sand was as we do go to stockton a couple of time a year take the kids up etc but would be no more then 3 times a year........and if I was to do say a Simpson run would I be better with A/T's or muddies ????? Cheers Steve

[Matty R Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matty R]

my question before about the sand was as we do go to stockton a couple of time a year take the kids up etc but would be no more then 3 times a year...

I go to Stockton a lot. Every time on muddies and I've never been stuck due to the tyres. Ive towed my camper trailer on there as well. Ive never done a desert trip so I can't comment on that side of things

I have also done a Fraser island trip with the trailer on muddies.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Thanks Matt, thats good to know. I want to make sure this time I get the right tyres for generally evrything I want to do/go. As mentioned before I had the BF at's and while they never gave me any issues/punctures etc they did let me down in the wet stuff, I know you cant have a tyre that does everything eg quit on blacktop and not use more fuel compared to say grantreck that is super quit and smooth but useless for rocks/mud/snow etc hence why Im running two sets of rims, one alloy the other steel, alloys for around town with grantrecks and steel for off road with what looks like will be muddies and if I gouge the steel rim I wont give a shit compared to if gouge an alloy @ $1200 each for a new one....fussy prick yeah I know........Cheers Steve

[Matty R Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Matty R]

If you are going to have 2 sets of wheels, definatly get muddies. Puting a/ts on spare wheels is kinda pointless. You won't reget having muddies

I had BFG all terrains before I had the bighorns and I'll never go back a/t's.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Yeah Matt, I got a price the other day for the bighorns and were $100 cheaper each against the bf muddies, BUT I have been told the BF's are a heap quiter then the bighorns then other people have said bullshit the bighorns are quit too ?? LOL I really liked the wranglers untill a 4wd come past me the other day and was so friggn noisy I thought holy shit, pulled up beside him at the lights and was running wranglers, as soon as he moved of they were humming straight away, reckon that would give me the shits been that noisy........Cheers Steve

[glen_ep Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close glen_ep]

Steve,

Sipes are the very thin cuts built into the tread. They were designed to improve traction, but also serve to increase durability (by allowing the lugs to flex more, thus less chipping). One drawback is increased noise.

Do I think there is a big difference between a muddie and all terrain? YES definitely, huge difference! Whilst they can still get filled with sticky mud, they will go much further than any AT.

Noise? That's just "4x4 music"! It's never bothered me or any of my passengers.

Anyway, I recommend weighing up the number of times you will go offroading in (mud/rocks/dirt) vs (sand) per year. Whichever ever is higher will determine the most suitable tyre.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Thanks Glen, sounds like the muddies are the way to go, I have the grandtrecks on the alloys anyway for Stockton beach, and will definately spend more time on rocks/dirt more then anything, not a big player in mud, my mate always says to me mud means money but I find it very hard to stop myself from having a play, lol half the fun.. Looks like I will be doing some searching for some muddies at the legal size, one last question I forgot to ask, is it a major issue if I cant get a LT construction in the mud tyre ?? Obviously I want some thing that will have a reasonably strong side wall or would you not buy them unless they were LT ?? Thanks Glen and Matt for the answers it helped me figure out which way to go in regards to tyres.......Cheers Steve