I have a 96 ram 4x4. I am looking for some mud terrains or all terrains that won't break the bank and will last. I drive on the highway and off road and live in virginia so we have snow/ice. I heard mud terrains are horrible on ice and hurt your mpg is this true ?

 

Depends on which tire you get, that being said... Ice is not a mud terrain tire's best environment. The high void/tread ratio doesn't really lend itself to getting good traction. Snow, on the other hand, they will do just fine.

As far as fuel consumption goes, if you go to larger/heavier tires, yes, you are going to lose a couple points there. If you stick with the same size you have now, you probably won't notice much difference.

And cost...... Keep in mind, you get what you pay for. There are some good deals to be had... you just gotta be able to find them. If you have some tire shops in your area, look around, and see what they got, that you find affordable. (let 'em know what you are looking for...) Also, if there are used tire dealers, check with them as well. I have gotten some excellent deals on used tires in the past.

 

I recommend Procomp Muds if you end up going that route. Last longer than BFG's and usually 4wheelparts will give you buy 3 get 4th free. Also the road noise is much less.

We don't get much snow in Cali so I don't know how they would do...

 

Where packed snow and ice are a concern (as where I'm from in Colorado), you do not want MT's. They're a quick way to find out that the insurance company values your truck a lot lower than you do. Chaining up when things get really ugly will save the vehicle but at the cost of shredded tread lugs that throw the wheel out of balance.

If you want the best of both worlds, get two sets of rims and load one with summer MT's and another with winter snow tires. Myself, I'm too cheap for that and just run AT's.

 

The more aggressive a mud tire is, the less surface area it puts on the road, so as a rule M/Ts are poorer on wet pavement, hard packed snow and ice than an A/T tire would be.

A/T tires as a rule also offer a lot more siping (cuts in the individual tread blocks) that allow the tire to grip a smooth surface better.

Probably the single best choice in an A/T that would also do fine on the trail and in light mud would be the Nitto Terra Grappler, which is also a very quiet tire for a semi-aggressive A/T. They also have been consistently rated as one of the better wet pavement and ice A/Ts on the market.

Price is in the mid level range. Some posts in 3rd Gen have guys claiming 60k out of a set when properly rotated.


Another option is to do what I did an purchase a hybrid. They are becoming very popular and Nitto (Trail Grappler), Interco (M16) have joined the venerable Dick Cepek FCIIs as a true cross between an A/T and M/T tread. I have the Cepeks and love them, although they are among the higher priced tier of tires. I have to travel 360 miles almost all interstate between Florida and the farm in Georgia, so I knew I'd chew up mudders, but I hog hunt in the swamps and fish in a lot of pretty remote places. So the FCIIs were perfect for me. So far, like the Mickey Thompson tires I've owned in the past (Mickey Thompson and Dick Cepek are sister companies), I'm getting tremendous wear. About 30k on them now and a good 90% tead on them. A little noisier than your average A/T, but not so much as some of the real aggressive M/Ts...

 

i agree with Nitto Grappler as well. But if you want a pretty damn good tire for a good price, go with Hankook DynaPro. they are a new tire only been out for a bout a year or two. they are a heck of a lot lighter than the grappler. they still have a good agressive tread and shoulder. they do have sipes, and you can always have the tire company sipe the tires for you so you can have more grip. i'm telling ya, try discount/americas tire. they will price match and all balancing, repairs, rotos, etx are free for the lifetime of the tires. look into it. go to discounttire.com to look for yourself. and yeah, MT aren't the way to go especially driving on HWY and ICE

 

I've had good luck with the Dayton Timberlines for my MT's. they do make some road noise but turn the radio up lol. I had them studded the first winter i drove with them and they weren't too bad, I used my old rims and a set of hankooks the nest winter as all the stubs came out of the Timberlines.

 

www.treadwright.com. Retreads with great reviews and better prices. Even have a 10 dollar option to put a blend of crushed glass and walnut shells in the compound for snow and ice grip! Called kedge grip!

 

+1 on treadwright. I bought my M/Ts from there and love them. I got the 265/75/16 Howlers and i have had no problems. They do pretty well on ice and great in the snow.

 

Im running General Grabber AT2's and I love them. U get a ten ply rated tire that so far has been great everywhere i have put it. Handles nice on the road, good in the snow, both deep and road snow, and hold their own in the mud. I play off road with a guy who has 35" toyo MT's on a Nissan Titan, I can go everywhere he does, maybe more places if i can keep my frame off the ground. I have just the 265's on my truck but these grabbers r earning their keep, and 50thous. treadwear warranty, I payed 145. per tire but they have gone up to around 155 at my store now