Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Mud tires on the street


The off road or 4x4 tires comes in various types depending on the use its intended for. Mainly they are classified in to three types
  1. H/T - means Highway Terrain : build for the smooth roads
  2. A/T - means All Terrain : Build for both highway and off road. The tread patterns are more aggressive than the H/T tires. Some AT tires tends to sway towards the street and some towards off road
  3. M/T - means Mud Terrain. Also Called Mud Tires. These tires are build with off roading in mind with deep grooves and aggressive thread patterns.


Recently my supplier delivered me a set of Mud Tires when I ordered All Terrain Tires. They were awesome. Deep and aggressive thread patterns looked so great. So I faced the universal problem of all 4x4 owners who primarily use the vehicle on road. How suitable is a mud tire for street use. After speaking to some friends who use mud tires and going through a lot of internet discussions I could come up with some pros and cons of mud tires on street use.

Cons Pros
The tires make a loud noise similar to a hum when driving on the street. They look awesome on my 4x4
Deeper and wider gaps between the lugs means that the total surface areas which touches the road (footprint on the road) any time is lower than ATs and HTs. Therefore under bad weather conditions it might perform worse than ATs and HTs They look awesome on my 4x4
The lugs are made of softer material than the other types of tires thus it will wear down faster than the ATs and HTs on street use. They look awesome on my 4x4
So the final conclusion ? Call the guy and ask him to deliver my All Terrain tires and return the mud tires

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