4x4 TYRES ALL TERRAIN VS MUD TERRAIN

All Terrains has got me all over Australia without a drama

Part of the problem with your examples of "highway terrain" tires is the sidewalls are weaker mainly because they are "P-metric" tires designed for passenger vehicles. They're softer for comfort and lightweight for economy. Whereas most "real" all-terrain and mud terrains are "LT-metric" or Light Truck. They're built with stiffer sidewalls and are heavier because they're ment for use on work trucks. So gym shoe vs Work boots/hiking boots. Proper footwear for the tasks.

Very good review but you forgot one important difference. Mud terrains are terrible on wet pavement. They also have less grip on pavement so worse cornering and braking. If you only consider time, most off-roaders would do well to do 20% off-road. But if you consider milage it's probably less than 10% off road. I'd rather have the safer tire on road where you're much more likely to have an accident or close call.

Great video Ronnie and hello from the Scottish Highlands. I have both MT (KM2s) and AT (KO2s) for my old Hilux and one thing that may not be an issue in Perth WA but very much is in Perthshire, Scotland is snow and ice. I have had disappointing and terrifying moments with MT in snow. They are worse than a winter highway tyre on a snowy road. The ATs are phenomenal in wet or powdery snow on or off road. So if you live in a colder climate, consider what my 2 decades experience here has taught me: MTs for summer and autumn and ATs for winter and spring (still snows here in April).

Never have we had tyre issues for 5 years with running a good set of mud terrain tyres, driven the toughest conditions and in the outback. Deflating the tyre pressures and reducing speed on the dirt helps. Mud terrain is the best option, and our only option, for all the points you said. Good video Ronny, thanks for sharing.

In my country when the world is covered by snow from November till April 3peak snow flake rated tires are a must unless you switch to true winter tires.

They have hybrids that are a blend of both, they are called R/T for rugged terrain.

If you're in a location that gets frequent snow, that might tip the scales towards good ATs. The edges of the tread blocks give grip on snow, so the large solid tread blocks on mud tires give dismal grip in the white stuff. The additional edges of the more intricate AT tread patterns, combined with siping that isn't usually present in a mud tire tread, give the AT a much better grip on snow. I'm in Colorado and I see jeeps with big mud tires off the road all over the place when the snow rolls in, while my Duratracs are pulling along nicely.

Ronny I think, is one of me the most informative 4x4 YouTubers

I bought and used a set of those Maxxis MTs for a year, mostly from watching your reviews. Here in the states,.... I have to say I abandoned them. Super quiet on the pavement, but off road the tread sliced up very easily. After two years of the milestar Patagonia MTs, I felt much more confident. But this year I'm going with the Patagonia XT, which is their hybrid. Man, I love you Land Cruser. Wish we could get them here.

Good review Ron. Side wall size, strength and protection at different tyre pressure is probably the most under considered aspect of 4x4 tyres and their use. "DOT" codes also need attention. The DOT code describes the tyre rubber, composition, sidewall AND date of manufacture. Tyre rubber hardens up as it ages. This means it loses grip, strength and wares faster the older it is. That means you get fewer kilometres out of them. I'm pretty sure many have been caught out buying what should be "good" tyres, but because they sat for 3 years on the shelf in stock you only get 2 thirds of the life out of them and they handle like crap with little grip. My guess is that OLD tyres at the time of sale is probably a main reason people change tyre brands and type, blaming the tyre, when the real problem is they were just sold OLD tyres. I'm going to stick with strong side walled, aggressively lugged All Terrains because it suits my use. The All Terrain - Mud Terrain argument is a spectrum with a lot of in between areas. Cheers.

Nice video production quality mate - looks great 👍🏻 Pity you forgot about performance on the road in the wet, particularly if you’re towing. Considering most of us live in urban areas we need to get to the off road tracks first 🤔

I guess a quick way to sum things up. MTs are for extreme terrain, the more the path is unlike the road, the better the MTs will usually do. ATs are a good mid ground between the extremes of on and off road optimized, provided one gets a good quality AT with a good quality side wall. Highway tires are for the highway (duh), if one brings them off road, then one is taking their chances with having the wrong tool for the job.

Fantastic that you have revisited this armed with real world experience and knowledge. Well done Ronny

I've run A/Ts for ~10 years now on my jeep. First 5 years was 90% street / 10% off road, mostly beach with trail riding / rock crawling once a year. The last five years has mostly been trail riding / rock crawling. The A/Ts have done just fine.  Definitely lacking on the muddy trails. The A/Ts have not been the weak link rock crawling, the suspension has been. Building the rig more for rock crawling theses days, next set of tires will be M/Ts.

Had MT Nitto Trail Grapplers on mine for 50k and still got a heap of life left on them. Noise is not an issue as the roof rack is way noisier in a modern 4WD. No problems in the wet on roads just drive to the conditions. I’ve even had a 40mm tech screw from a construction site go through the tread block and once I got it out it didn’t puncture the tyre. I’d rather have MTs and have them rather than be stuck in a situation where I wish I did. Just my opinions though.

Very very good information on types of tires and their pros and cons. Thanks.

One thing not mentioned is MTs are made of a softer rubber compound. Better grip, wear out faster. Same sliding scale for AT and HT. Everything's a compromise.

Some other folk have hit rain / snow as a nissed point. I'm going to add one last thing.... Is it a daily driver? Mud terrains on a dedicated adventure rig are a no brainer. But if you're doing 80-90% highway driving.... with light forays offroad.... AT's are probably the better buy. All depends on your use. Great vid though!

AT’s are usually (brand dependent) far better than MT’s on wet tarmac and also in snow. But given that you live in WA neither are likely to be a common occurrence. Especially snow.. For daily driving I prefer AT’s but I have a second set of wheels with MT’s on.. Here in Scotland I use AT’s most of the time. The difference between the BFG AT’s and MT’s in snow is huge. Totally agree that Road Tread’s are crap.