Perfect off-highway tire = LTX? What?

[XJLI]

Mud, no. The tire tests I've seen conclude that even ATs are useless, as the grooves immediately fill with mud. Not all mud is the same though, so maybe there are varieties where a typical AT would be more effective than an LT.

Tests are irrelevant unless you are testing the same circumstances. Mud isn't the same everywhere geographically, and testing tires on a 3800lb Jeep is different than testing them on a 6500lb truck. And tire constructions, from the sidewall to the tread, is vastly different now between different load ratings (flotation, XL, SL, etc) with totally different tread compounds and even designs on the same tire.

I had OG Michelin LTX M/S tires on my stock XJ and they were great tires. But the voids on the new MS2s seem a lot smaller, and I'm worried about puncture resistance. I really love the ideology behind the Toyo M655 and M55 tires... a good, beefy tire that is built for trucks doing long highway hauls and trips on construction sites, ag, mining, etc. But those tires are very limited with sizing. Michelin has seemed to favor fuel efficiency, quiet ride, and lightweight on the last few redesigns of the Defenders.

 

[MidnightCAmper]

I drove Michelin Defender LTX over Donner Pass (I-80 not US 40) in slushy snow in the 2009 Tacoma (now sold.) They felt very secure. On graded or dirt roads I dinged the sidewalls a few times and they held up very well. I didn't off-road over sharp rocks. Sorry - don't know if they were M/S or M/S 2. Bought from Toyota dealer in 2020 only lists Toyota part number.