well, one thing to keep in mind is bias ply to a radial ply tire, the ltbs are a bias ply, as were my tsl SSR's are a radial tire... my 37X12.50 tires are quiet as hell for being a mud tire. byut sense you are not doing much street drivig they should work just fine

and to comment on the wide to skinny, i know im kinda late here... i am from upstate NY, we get jsut as much snow here as most other places, im talkin 2' snow drifts.... skinny tires do the best, i have the 12.50's and they do ... ok.. wear as my buddy has a set of tsl's that are 34X10.50... does much better

as for mud and offroad, ive have seen both tires do very well on various rigs, kinda depends on your driving habbits... my next set will be a set of 41X15.50 Tsl's or the great 40" boggers