BFG AT's or MT's better in snow?

Goodyear Wrangler MT/R:

I am with Bill on this particular recommendation: to hell with Goodrich, buy American.

Jerry

Jeff, I run 31x10.5's and have absolutely no qualms about my BFG AT/KO's . I took into account the fact that the TJ is also my everyday transportation, and was concerned about added highway noise and the potential for lower tread life. I think I decided on the AT's since I didn't need any of the additional strengths of the MT.

A/Ts are better on packed snow and ice. MT/Rs are better in really deep fresh snow. You can sipe the MT/Rs and gain a little braking power on ice, but it will not help your directional control any. I found my siped MT/Rs to be scary in real world winter conditions (commuting).

My solution is MT/Rs in summer, Dedicated snow tires in winter (Yokohama Geolander I/T+). It is a _very_ satisfactory arrangement, except for those in-between times when the snow melts and I want to do a little trail stuff on those winter tires. Then it's hopeless... Thank God for lockers ;)

John Davies

AT's are better for packed snow, ice, rain slicked roads, and are generally quieter for highway use.

MT's are good for fresh snow, heavy mud, and general trail use. The don't know which direction is forward on packed or icy roads.

Goodrich AT/KO's are a very good compromise but still not as good as a dedicated tire. They will clog in deep mud, run noisier thatn most other AT's.

Ya pay your m> My AT's, on my TJ, handled snowy elk camp great last year, including towing a

I was doing a trail once about 8 inches of fresh snow with my AT's. They packed so badly, I could barely get my jeep to move. A freakin Geo tracker blew by me and he flipped me off. Nick

Jeff:

I have 31 x 10.5 x 15 BFG All Terrain TA's on my '02 TJ. They go great in the snow.

Check out front and rear view photos of the TJ in snow up to the axels. Went right through, with no problems. Was hard packed, frozen dirt under about 8" to 10" of snow. No other vehicles had been on this road before me, so I made LOTS of tracks (heh, heh.)

alt.binaries.pictures.autos.4x4.

See "Jeep TJ snow front" and "Jeep TJ snow rear" posts which I just sent.

Sometimes winter IS fun!

That being said, I do believe that BFG MT's or Goodyear MT's would go better in deep snow, although I have no experience with these tires to back this assumption up.

Tom

snip

It was in the mountains here in Az. About 8 inches of fresh snow, I think on a bed of packed 2 or 3 inches, on a dirt road. I grew up in Missouri and definatly know how to drive in snow, but on this day my Jeep failed me! Or, more like my tires failed me miserably. They were PACKED with snow and it took a ton of work to get my Jeep just to move a foot. When the tracker passed me I noticed his tires were shedding the snow real nicely, always providing fresh grip. Oh well... Nick

No, I don't think the geo tracker guy was much into airing down. Some young kids it was... I hadn't aired down either though. I don't have any onboard air and wasn't close to civilization. Nick

Hi Jeff,

I drove 33x10.50 BFG MTs on my XJ all winter with no problem. MT's are not as good as AT's at high speed on snow packed roads, but they work just fine if you drive accordingly. In deep raw snow, on road or off, the MTs are much better.

In February I was driving around on unplowed roads in a blizzard that eventually accumulated 95 cm (three feet). That morning I rescued a Grand Cherokee and a Ford Ranger. Both were spinning helplessly with BFG ATs.

I too choose to avoid mud if at all possible, but where I hunt and fish it sometimes must be faced. For me, having MTs instead of ATs has often made the difference between staying mobile and getting stuck. If you can put up with a slight increase in road noise and you're willing to rotate frequently, do your Jeep a favor and get the MTs.

Steve

Steve Handywired wrote:

I have both BFG AT's and Muds and I agree with Steve.

Mike

Steve wrote:

Ok....so then the question is...where's the middle ground between the A/T and M/T?

So do you cycle between the two based on the season or the trip?

LOL!

Yup, but I have to swap Jeeps too....

Around here, give me my tall skinny muds on my CJ7 over the AT's on my Cherokee in any winter driving. On or off road!

During the ice storm last year I followed around my Boss in his service truck to make sure we could get to the job site or out of it. I have an XD9000i winch on front.

I have 33x9.5 muds with a 7.5" wide tread on the road and they grab 'really' well!

I keep tearing up engine mounts and exploding hubs and cracking frames because they just don't spin so things twist and torque up...

Mike

SB wrote:

How wide are stock '02 TJ rims? 10.5??

Ok so....throw it at me.....benefits of narrow tires as opposed to fatties... And wall size was something someone brought up once (which would go with rim size no?)