Difference in AT vs. HT traction off road

[blake]

Is there any REAL, USABLE difference in off road traction in a standard AT vs. HT tire?Let's take a 265/75/16 load range E:BFG Rugged Trail vs. BFG All TerrainMichelin LTX/MS vs. Michelin LTX/ATTransforce HT vs. Transforce ATOpen Country HT vs. Open Country ATIs there enough extra off road traction in an AT to justify the shorter life span of the tire?

[Wild and Free]

The bigger question is where and how do you use your rig and how much do you tow and haul? This is what you need to decide as to what tire you choose. as far as traction there is a huge difference in off road and on road traction. Anytime you have an open tread face you will have more bite over highway tires which are designed soely to be quiet and ride nice longevity is just a plus with them having solid tread bands, and a sacrifice traction wise also.

[Mopar1973Man]

Personally if I'm empty and traveling dirt roads is fine for AT tires. But If I'm loaded or plan on working long periods offroad (like firewood season) I normally switch to my Cooper STT to aid in traction.

[blake]

I drive about 80 highway miles a day every day for work, and however much extra on the weekends riding around. During the fall and winter I spend a good bit of time in the woods hunting and camping, and travel a lot of public hunting land dirt and gravel roads, along with forestry service roads. It's all nasty southern red clay, but I've never gotten stuck using four wheel drive riding on BFG Rugged Trails. I drive way too much highway to justify mud tires, but I just can't grasp that a BFG AT will do that much better in thick clay than a BFG Rugged trail, or any of those other tires that I listed for that matter. Have any of you gotten stuck with a HT tire in a situation that an AT would get you unstuck?

[AH64ID]

It all comes down to how you plan to use it.. There will be a noticeable difference in HT vs AT vs MT..Since I was using my truck as a DD for a couple years I ran an AT, and lacked what I wanted when camping/hunting/etc... Now I have a car for a DD and switched to a MT, couldn't be happier... AT's are great because they do a good job of both on and off-road, but aren't the best at either.. not bad, just not the best. We run a HT on my wifes rig as it doesn't ever see dirt, and really all the siping in an HT makes it a good ice tire.

[blake]

During the week my truck does a lot of highway miles. On the weekends I go in the woods for recreation. From what I'm reading it looks like an AT will actually make a difference, however, I've still not gotten stuck running the BFG Rugged Trail. Is it considered an AT or HT? I guess it's sort of a middle ground tire. Is there anything else out there that's not just a slick highway rib, but will run for 80K+ miles like the Rugged Trail?

[AH64ID]

Is there anything else out there that's not just a slick highway rib, but will run for 80K+ miles like the Rugged Trail?

I would be happy with 40K decent miles! Tq kills tires.. And tires that get good traction are a little softer. Some friends with diesels are getting good mileage with the BFG AT's, thou I doubt 80K miles. I am also quite certain that a M/T will outlast a A/T in a high torque truck, assuming the rubber compound is the same. The reason being is there are fewer biting edges and the lugs are bigger, so the tq can eat the tire up.

[blake]

I am also quite certain that a M/T will outlast a A/T in a high torque truck, assuming the rubber compound is the same. The reason being is there are fewer biting edges and the lugs are bigger, so the tq can eat the tire up.

Is this true? If I can get more miles out of a MT I'll definitely go that route. I don't mind road manners or noise, just usability on and off road, and somewhat affordable. What mileage do y'all have on your tires and what are they?

[AH64ID]

Is this true? If I can get more miles out of a MT I'll definitely go that route. I don't mind road manners or noise, just usability on and off road, and somewhat affordable. What mileage do y'all have on your tires and what are they?

The folks I have talked to have gotten about 10K more usable miles from MT's than the AT's I ran... My AT's were useless at 25K miles, I only got 40K out of them due to 2 run to AZ, and a mild winter. So if get 25-30K out of my M/T's then I am happy!.

[blake]

Ok, I've done some more reading and I think I'm leaning toward the Transforce AT. It definitely LOOKS like it would be better off road than the HT and I've read reviews of pretty high mileage (60K+), and not too expensive. Anyone here have experience with these?

[Wild and Free]

I got 110k out of a set of 285-75-16 BFG AT's but I had them siped when they were brand new and that made a huge difference in traction and longevity. They were super bald when I took them off, you could barely make out the tread pattern. But up to 85-90k they were good.