Selecting Off Road Tires For Your Truck Or SUV
Posted on: 22 February 2023
When you are considering installing off-road tires on your four-wheel drive truck or SUV, the way will use them can impact which tires will work best for your needs. Off-road tires are different from standard truck tires in many ways, and there are some things you need to understand before you purchase a set.
Tire Designs
Off-road tires come in many different tread designs and may work better in specific situations. Mud tires often have large tread lugs with large gaps to allow them to grip the ground but clear mud from between them when spinning the tires.
All-terrain tires use a much less aggressive tread pattern to minimize road noise but are often still good on hard-packed surfaces like gravel, dirt, and rocks. Hybrid tires are also available that fall somewhere in the middle and work well in a combination of situations you may find yourself in.
A tire shop can help you choose the best off-road tires for your truck and may recommend a tire design you have not seen. Doing some research can be helpful before buying tires because many manufacturers are trying to create better off-road tires, so there are so many options that you need to see what works for your situation.
Multi-Ply Tires
Large off-road tires are often made with multi-ply sidewalls and tread areas to help reduce damage to the tires when you are traveling over rocks, logs, and other materials that may be sharp. It is essential to balance the amount of protection from additional rubber with the tire performance, and the sidewalls need to flex as you drive over items off-road.
Tires with too many rubber layers may be too stiff to work well off-road, so often it is better to use lighter tires and carry a spare than to try and use heavy truck tires that may struggle with traction over obstacles.
Soft Tires
The rubber used on off-road tires is often softer than standard tires and will allow the tires to grip better on hard surfaces. Several manufacturers offer tires that use the same tread pattern as the tires they sell but are soft and sticky, so they are better for rigs that are trailered to the trail and only driven off-road. Often these sticky tires are best for rock crawlers used in competitions or are not used as daily drivers.
Choosing off-road tires can be challenging because there are many options to consider. However, every truck or SUV used offroad will perform differently, so one tire type may not be better for everyone. Testing different tires is often the best way to pick the perfect tire for your offroad rig, but using tricks like lower air pressure and wide tires to spread the footprint over a larger area can also improve the performance of the tires you have on your rig.
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