how "multi-purpose" can a mud tire be?

[vortec]

i'm used to all terrains. pirelli scorpion a/t on my 94 c1500. great on the road, and excellent in minor offroad stuff. sand, and shallow mud and snow. but, i haven't tested them in the same level stuff i drive the blazer. the k5 will need new tires soon, and i'm not sure if i should go with some 33x12.5 scorpions or the, more aggressive, slightly cheaper dunlop mud rover(also 33x12.5). i mostly want to maintain and improve the truck's ability in mud. but, i do not want to compromise ability on sand or slickrock. i've heard mud tires will just dig a hole in sand and that the large voids lower actual contact area on rock, hurting traction. opinions, experiences, thoughts?

 

[gravdigr]

I know for rock crawling a lot of people sipe, or cut more grooves, in their tires. It's supposed to help the tires grip when aired down. I almost had a set of mud rovers when I found a place with a set of sidewinders 33x12.50x15 for $100 a tire. Very nice tires, not too loud on the highway. Of course I also listen to the cd player pretty loud

 

[firefighter184]

I have a set of Dayton Timberline Muds, similar in price and design to the Mud Rover (better tread, IMO, but same plys and stuff). I havent siped them. They do great in rocks, mud, etc. Sand is OK, I just air way down. I'd definitely go with an MT over an AT for the K5.

 

[vortec]

sounds good. i like the look of the sidewinders. where we usually go, there is a lot of thick clay that packs tires easily, so those big voids could really help fling the mud out. road noise isn't a major concern, even though it takes a lot of street miles to reach somewhere in the dallas/fort worth area that isn't paved. it's not my dd. thanx

 

[mudhog]

for sand you will do much better with ANY tire if you run about 8-10psi in them. i have ran both iroks and tsl swampers in the sand and when aired down they do awesome.

 

[dirtwarrior17]

I see siped or cut tsls own rocks all the time... only question is how cheap can you cut em?

 

[gravdigr]

So far my sidewinders seem to clean out very well. I've had to drive through some wet sticky clay the past week as my road is dug up for a water line and all I leave are tracks, the clay doesn't seem to stick in the treads which is nice. I'm hoping to get into some rocks and mud this summer