I have a 05 4x4 QC ram that I am going to put a 2in leveling kit and 3in body lift on. Right now I am stuck between two tires. I am going to go with 35x12.5x17 tires and the prices of the tires are pretty close. Right now I am looking at the Mick Thomp Baja Claw-Radials and the Toyo open country MT's. I have heard good things about both and would appreciate your imput on performance in mud and on the highway, treadlife expectancy, and noise factor.

 

dont really know much about them, but I like the Toyo M/T's...JMO

 

I like the MT's too, but I think that the Radial Claw's look alot more aggressive. I know that both have 3 ply sidewall's, but I know that the radial's have 6 ply tread. I don't know what the MT's have but I would guess that they are pretty close. The radial construction says that it gives the claw high milage with a smooth ride, but does anyone know how that works. I know that Mick Thomp's are usually a long lasting tire but how many miles can I expect out of them?The toyo's are good too but what can I expect out of those also?

 

I don't remember how many miles I got out of my MT Claws but I LOVED the way they looked! The drawbacks were that they kind of sucked in the snow (when I got stuck in the mountains...) and once they get worn down to a certain point, you can't even hear yourself think from the road noise...[:@]

 

Do you have an idea on how much you got out of them. Just an estimate would do fine. Did you do mostly highway driving? If so how did they handle at higher speeds?

 

I did a mix of highway and in town. Man I just can't remember for crap how many miles I got out of them but a really wild guess would be maybe 40k...??

Until they got worn out they seemed to handle pretty nice on the highway. I switched out to a little less agressive MT after the claws and they have handled even better but that's to be expected

 

can tell you anything about the mickeys...but the toyos i'm extremely happy with.

 

I borrowed a buddys truck with 33x12.50 baja's on it. They were great mud and road tire. not as noisy as you would think, handled well, clear mud well. But they are not real great in snow, a little too agressive, you just dig yourself a hole.

 

I was just watching trucks on spike, they put them on a huge hemi, according to them, if you offroad and switch the tires to the other side, so the tread is backwards, they are the sh*t for off roading

 

The Claws are an awsome tire!!! But just like Boggers are a special purpose tire. Even though it's a radial, it's not at all at home on pavement. Acceptable performance on dry roads, but far from the best in the rain. It will totally outperform the Toyo's in just about EVERY type of off-road environment except maybe sand. The Bias Ply version RULES the rock climbing circuit and is second to only the Boggers for mud competition. However, if your truck is a daily driver, you are much better off with the Toyo's. Plus, just like the Boggers, the Claw is loud as hell on pavement.
I rate the Toyo M/T's and the Mickey Thompson MTZ's the two best mud terrain tires for use as a daily driver. For a slightly less aggressive tire that will handle better on the highway and last longer the Dick Cepek FCII's are hard to beat. The Nitto Mud Grappler is another great mud performer, but also loud and I have a few friends who love them, but resolve themselves to the fact that they wear down in no time on the road, like 18k-20k miles topps, and replace theirs every year to year and a half - I don't have that kind of $$$...[:@]