Are All Terrain tires needed?

Bruce54

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Where we hunt in South Carolina there is a lot of low soft muddy areas and an aggressive tread is required. I have only hunted in Kansas for turkeys and Wyoming for elk and a good E rated truck seemed ok for what I drove on. Is the advantage of an AT tire beefier sidewalls?
 
Load range is the thicker sidewalls. There are plenty of C, D, E and SL all terrain tires out there. Higher rating doesn’t do a whole bunch unless you're in a heavy truck, hauling heavy loads, etc. Half ton? C or SL will ride better.
 
Not necessarily. Some load range E have two ply sidewalls and some load range C have three ply.
Ply in the sidewalk doesnt represent actual thickness and stiffness.

The load range explains the actual ability of the sidewall to flex under load.

I guess the proper term should have been stiffness rather than thickness.

But I dont think you can have a thinner, stiffer sidewall, regardless of the total plies, unless technology has really improved. Load range E sidewalls have always been thicker and stiffer than c/sl in my experience.
 
There are lots of reviews of different tires on YouTube with comparisons. I'd start there. We need 3 Peak tires out here.

As others have noted, the sidewalls vary by model/brand and that can matter. Generally speaking, tougher sidewalls also means rougher ride and less MPG.
 
I will clarify my question, Do you need an A/T tire or will something like a Michelin LTX suffice?
 
As someone who has LTX's on his Tundra (and I love the on-road ride and fuel economy of them)...they're absolute shit in mud.

On the other hand, My '16 Tundra 1794 4x4 with a GoFast Camper on back nets me 15.6 MPG average on highway.

But they ain't worth a dime in mud. Bring tire chains...and traction boards.
 
But they ain't worth a dime in mud. Bring tire chains...and traction boards.
Tire chains work better in the mud than any reasonable truck tire. A messy pain to put on and take off but they work.
TruckClaws are also awesome when the going gets really sticky like gumbo. They also work in deep sand.
 
I will clarify my question, Do you need an A/T tire or will something like a Michelin LTX suffice?

Tis a good question. I cant think of a time ive been out west hunting (only maybe 20 weeks total?) where something like a michelin LTX wouldn't have worked but i've also spent most of my time in mountainous stuff with more rocks/gravel than mud or just in cooler season when things are largely frozen. Also been lucky to have dry conditions in the limited time spent in eastern MT. I could see the more breaks and sage type country being a better fit for AT or MT tires.

Have done maybe 3-4 weeks on factory f150 soft as heck HT tires. Never a problem getting where I wanted but flats are another story.
 
E rated Michelins would be okay if it’s dry and not snowy, but you’re going to hate them if there’s any moisture. P rated tires will leave you with a lot of flats. I once helped change 3 flats in 2 days on a rental Ram 1500 with 20” wheels and P rated Goodyear highway tires in central Montana.

I don’t care how they ride, I care that I can get where I’m going, don’t get flats, and they don’t feel like marshmallows when I’m loaded down heavy. I’ve always used load range E tires on half tons.
 
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Tire chains work better in the mud than any reasonable truck tire. A messy pain to put on and take off but they work.
TruckClaws are also awesome when the going gets really sticky like gumbo. They also work in deep sand.
What are truck claws? Never hears of tgem. Ars they as durable as a good set of chains like Pewags?
 

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