Mud Terrain vs All Terrain

I have just changed to Coopers AT.

Checkout:
http://www.coopertires.com.au/
for the written gaurantee

and then:
http://www.coopertires.com.au/tyres/index.htm
for tire selection

Rest is over to you (hint: my mum always told me that a price tag is nothing more than an invitation to haggle)

Cruza : as you said... the problem is just you !!

What do you want a tyre to do / be ??

MT are for 80% mud... AT 's are for 80% tarmac... and you reckon we have a problem ?

Horses for courses, if you do a lot of sand/bitumen A/T's, if you are likely to find youself in mud more than a couple of times a year M/T's. You've only got to need your muddies once in a blue moon to make them pay for themselves, likewise muddies and sand will bog you to the axle and a wish that you had bought A/T's.

Whatever your decision is you will be wrong, Murphy's Law says so!!

I used to believe the theory about muddies being bad in sand, until i bought a set and tried them. Admitedly mine are 33x12.5, so when you let some air out of these babies they cover a whole lot of real estate.

I did 60 000 kms on my muddies and they've still got another 10 000 in them. I now use them a spare set for when i go out to play, and wear 31 x 10.5 ATs at other times.

On road the ATs are much nicer and performance is better, though this has much more to do with size than type. I do miss the ability (confidence) provided by the muddies, but it just means i need to be more organised.

In terms of use, it would be a very rare week that i do not put the hubs in, and I'll quite often go a week without disengaging them.

Also rather than talking about a percentage of your mileage, think about a percentage of time. An hour in low range might see you travel only a couple of kms, rather than a hundred on the highway.

Did you buy the fourby for comfort up the tarmac or for confidence/ability off of it??

We travelled to Barrington Tops ~1000kms each way, a few months back, obviously the troopy was wearing the ATs, when we got there and started exploring we were wishing that we had the muddies.

So in not answering your question i'll say this, even with two sets of tyres there are still compromises to be made.

I have muds and wouldn't have a less agressive tyre as i think why limit yourself offroad just for on road driving, by the way they arn't that noisy on road and have no complaints other than they do tend to bog down in sand.

Hi
I run muddies and find them good for all road surfaces. Wet/waterlogged bitumen is a place they excell aswell as mud and gravel. The AT tyre is probably more suited to my 95%onroad, but when i do go adventuring, i like to hold all the aces.
As stated above, you can live with muddies on all surfaces, but i cant live with an A/T in mud. (Might have to say to Colicab Patrol that im stuck in the mud)
Andrew LC80

IF YOU'RE GONNA BE A BEAR......................BE A GRIZZLY !!!In here - thinking of out there !!!

Heres some pics against my BFG MT's.
MTR's

yes I would say they are an MT compared to a Coopers ST which is an AT.

if you do 70% road and 30% offroad/mud I would go STs.. The ultimate is to run 2 sets of wheels, I did for ages, when I get $$ again I will do it again.

Some Simex Extreme Trekkers on rims, and some ST's for the road.

Simple answer - Muddies can cope on the road
A/T's can't cope in the mud.

In the right conditions, without lockers, I can drive through big patches of mud deeper than the top of my 30" tyres using Mud Terrains - you can ask me for the photos if you want proof. With All Terrains in those conditions, you'd be knee deep in the mud with the snatch strap out.

If you do any significant work on clay or mud surfaces, your A/T's will end up as slicks within seconds. There is truly no comparison.

If your 4wding consists of wet muddy terrain, there is simply no choice - well maybe between muddies and boggers....

If you do all dirt roads, sand or outback (dry season) then A/T's are the better option.

However, there are many types of A/T's (most companies these days offer multiple All Terrain patterns - usually some are almost Highway Terrains, and some damn near Mud Terrains.

Remember if you're buying new - not just to assess what you need now, but what you might encounter in the next 3 years your tyres will probably last. Even if you decide you want All Terrains, my tip is to go for something with a little GRRRR in them, because you can't call up your tyre dealer to come and change them when you're knee deep in it in the bush.

gday cruiser.
we do most of our time on road about 4weeks a year hollidays.
on hollidays we go camping of road.
lots of time spent relaxing and as much time as we can of road site seeing ect.
total time spent of road would then be.???
well we do roughly 30000ks per yer.
hollidays we might clock up 5000ks
take away your time traveling there and back maybe 3000ks
take away your time not spent in the real of road stuff 2000ks.
so time in one year spent of road 1000ks.
so thats roughly 3%.
now i dont live in the out back and dont drive on dirt roads all day wich some people do this is just what we do.
i use cooper st.
why??? great milage good grip wet and dry good in sand and in the mud and a lot quieter than the deset duelers i had on.ps i work in a bridgestone store,
looking foward to september(landcruiser park/fraser island)

Cruza, no matter how many times this question is asked, the answer will always be the same. It depends on what you need them to do.

You mention you'll be "off-road" about 15% of your annual kms and that you'll likely encounter the whole range of terrain (just like most of us). But you haven't indicated the degree of difficulty of that terrain. There are rocks and then there are ROCKS. There is mud and there there is MUD, etc.

The guys who look for extreme conditions, even if it is only 15% of their driving, want and need more extreme tyres. The ones that enjoy more moderate conditions off-road can opt for a more moderate tyre (and enjoy the benefits of better on-road performance). What are you - a moderate, or a Tuff Truck kinda guy?

Think hard, be honest. Making this decision will help narrow your decision. Moderate guys go for moderate tyres, ie. ATs (note, there are varying degrees of AT). Tuff Truck kinda guys go for Tuff Truck kinda tyres like MTs.

It also depends to some degree on the capability of your vehicle. Particularly if you're a "moderate". The more capable your vehicle is, the less help you'll need from your tyres. I fit into the moderate group but my Pathie needs a little more help than diff-locked Patrol so I'm going for a slightly more aggressive AT (the Cooper ST). Once you've "categorised" yourself honestly, the type of tyre is the easy decision. The hard bit is choosing the best make, and if you ask that question here again, .... Life just ain't that serious.
Rohan (Sydney)