Winter tire upgrades are common for both commuters and off-road drivers. If you use your vehicle for both, it’s a good idea to consider a couple sets of snow tires. An all-terrain option gives you great performance on snow and ice when compared to standard road tires, and an investment in off-road snow or mud tires can help guarantee that no amount of powder, melt, or slush will stop you from exploring off-trail adventures all winter.
Tires for Any Terrain
When you opt for an all-terrain tire like the Mickey Thompson Classic III, you get solid performance on and off the road. For most trail rides, unplowed service roads, and other situations that send you out in the weather, it’s perfect. All-terrain tires even handle mud well if it is not too deep.
A lot of truck owners invest in all-terrain tires all year to make it easier to hit the trails for a while after work, even if they also invest in specialty tires for extreme events or off-trail overlanding adventures.
Sand Tires for Dune Rides
One of the terrains that can challenge even all-terrain tires is loose sand. If you are talking about a ride across the beach to set up for a day in the sun, the all-terrain options are great. For high-speed dune runs in shifting sand that runs deep and provides you a lot of opportunities to go for broke, you need tires built for the job.
That means heavy, knobby treads that can dig into loose sand and gain hold, allowing you to handle well on steep dune faces and flat plains alike. The biggest thing to keep in mind when dealing with specialty tires like sand or mud tires? Using them for everyday situations will run down the tread faster than expected.
While the specialty pattern might last longer in its ideal environment than any other tire, that tread is not designed for pavement. Keep this in mind as you shop, because it leads many off-road drivers to a really obvious conclusion about how many tire sets they actually need to be happy.
Traction Through Mud
There are limitations to what you can do with standard all-terrain tires, though. Some mud is deep enough that it takes larger tires just to get traction at the bottom without compromising your engine’s performance. That usually means investing in specialized tires, as well as additional upgrades like an air ride suspension that are meant to make those rough rides easier.
Typically, traction through mud requires deep treads that are only possible with an oversized tire upgrade. Preparing for that upgrade means lifting most trucks and Jeeps, as well as making additional suspension changes.
The right rim size might surprise you, but if you shop for complete packages that include the wheel and tire, you can make it easier to swap them in and out. That means you can keep an all-terrain set for everyday occasions while saving your dedicated off road tires for when you really need them.
Also read: Road Rage is on The Rise. Here’s How to Handle an Angry Driver
