Jwestpro
Explorer
LEAST aggressive "off road" tires used ? Full size E rated Michelin M/S 2 ?
So we are all familiar with the common quest for the most aggressive tire for off road use that will hold up, etc. I'd like to hear from those who are not caught up in having the most aggressive tire possible but instead one that lasts a long time and does just fine most of the time.
I started thinking about this because my first 4x4, a 1996 Land Rover Discovery 1, came stock with a factory spec "Michelin XPC 4x4 " in 235/70x16. Not knowing any better, I used this tire in goopy NC mud with the Rover club outings and on other trips until it wore out. Still not knowing much but assuming "more is better", I then put on the BFG AT KO as seen on many D90's and LC 80's around that time.
Yes, the BFG AT KO just plain works, 98% of the time, and lasts so long you can just not have to think about tires for a long time. Next Land Rover got the same tires, and so on.
Those years were when fuel cost so little I didn't really care about "rolling resistance" or fuel cost to go across the US and back for fun. In the recent years, especially when premium was over $5/g, mpg got my attention.
Has anyone had good luck with a more efficient rolling tire, like a modern XPC, possibly the Michelin LT MS2 ? I have these now and they run so efficiently it's amazing, but I am wondering how these would fair on Colorado trails with rocks, where mud is not really an issue too often but durability could be questioned. Obviously any tire can be cut on the sidewall if you aren't careful.
I always "air down" for off road and base the amount on the terrain so that would presumably help a less durable tire like the MS2 compared to the BFG AT KO2 but on most surfaces, they should both work almost as well. Moab comes to mind where low psi should be more important than the actual tread aggressiveness.
I use the same size in either tire, 32" 275/65x18 but will be using a 33" next time around. Due to my LR3 7500lb weight, I run no less than 30 psi, maybe 25.
What I've been doing is running the MS2 most of the time and then swapping to the wheelset to the BFG for special trips. Some trips though are cross country with 6000 miles of highways and only 200 miles of actual trail (not just forest roads, actual Colorado rough trail). These trips are also solo so nobody to help, which means less likely to try anything too crazy either.
So we are all familiar with the common quest for the most aggressive tire for off road use that will hold up, etc. I'd like to hear from those who are not caught up in having the most aggressive tire possible but instead one that lasts a long time and does just fine most of the time.
I started thinking about this because my first 4x4, a 1996 Land Rover Discovery 1, came stock with a factory spec "Michelin XPC 4x4 " in 235/70x16. Not knowing any better, I used this tire in goopy NC mud with the Rover club outings and on other trips until it wore out. Still not knowing much but assuming "more is better", I then put on the BFG AT KO as seen on many D90's and LC 80's around that time.
Yes, the BFG AT KO just plain works, 98% of the time, and lasts so long you can just not have to think about tires for a long time. Next Land Rover got the same tires, and so on.
Those years were when fuel cost so little I didn't really care about "rolling resistance" or fuel cost to go across the US and back for fun. In the recent years, especially when premium was over $5/g, mpg got my attention.
Has anyone had good luck with a more efficient rolling tire, like a modern XPC, possibly the Michelin LT MS2 ? I have these now and they run so efficiently it's amazing, but I am wondering how these would fair on Colorado trails with rocks, where mud is not really an issue too often but durability could be questioned. Obviously any tire can be cut on the sidewall if you aren't careful.
I always "air down" for off road and base the amount on the terrain so that would presumably help a less durable tire like the MS2 compared to the BFG AT KO2 but on most surfaces, they should both work almost as well. Moab comes to mind where low psi should be more important than the actual tread aggressiveness.
I use the same size in either tire, 32" 275/65x18 but will be using a 33" next time around. Due to my LR3 7500lb weight, I run no less than 30 psi, maybe 25.
What I've been doing is running the MS2 most of the time and then swapping to the wheelset to the BFG for special trips. Some trips though are cross country with 6000 miles of highways and only 200 miles of actual trail (not just forest roads, actual Colorado rough trail). These trips are also solo so nobody to help, which means less likely to try anything too crazy either.
