Load Range E truck tires.

Who makes a good mud traction tire in load range E? I’ve been looking for years and I’m not impressed with what I see out there.
Was hoping to limp through one last winter and summer with Firestone Winterforce that are on there.
In case you havent guessed I buried the truck/trailer in the wood lot

FYI Winterforce is a darn good snow tire on light vehicles. Once you get into tires designed for weight they had to change the tread design and they arent worth much. Same goes for most truck tires in that weight range.

 

Toyo open country m/t. Not the greatest on ice but pretty much unstoppable every where else

 

Goodyear Duratracs! I’ve been through a couple sets. Love em, especially in the snow. This current set are not E’s and I’m not a big fan. Little squishy. Got my BIL hooked on em and now my dad too.

 

Falken Wildpeak AT3W or the M/T if you want aggressive.

 

lve seen those. Seen em all mentioned so far. Was just looking at the duratracs last night. Wherever I was looking was out of my size. Just looked again at Good Year. There’s a little disclaimer that 18” E’s lose one of the snow ratings. Sounds like they’re fudging the tread patterns for xtra weight ratings too.
I did just see these. Good Year just released a Wrangler Boulder MT. Now that’s sorta what I’m looking for.
I worked at a tire distributor when I was just out of school loading, unloading, weaving un weaving 1000’s of tires a day. Doesn’t mean I know anything about todays tires but it means I think I do. LOL. Dangerous combination Anyway I guess I’ve always been opinionated about tread design. I’m not a fan of all the angled cross block patterns on the market these days. For high speed stability I like some parallel grooves to keep things running straight.
If nothing else they’ll aerate the lawn

 

Mine were 275/65/17 load E and had the little snowflake symbol like this on the sidewall:

And.. all I've bought were made in USA. This latest set I just found for my dad were made in Mexico, no symbol and his are 18's so you're definitely on to something there. Tread looks identical to mine. FBMP seller took 650 for 4, stated 3,000 miles on em and 17/32 tread depth.

 

Darn good price. I won’t be finding any used Boulders around. They came out at the end of September. If I want em I’m gonna need to start saving beer cans.

 

Those boulders, to me, look like they'll be kinda loud on the freeway. But, probably great offroad and snow performance. We ran Mickey Thompson MTZ's on the Jeep for many years. Unstoppable offroad but howled like a wolf on the road. We bought it with Cooper Discoverer STT's. Those were pretty awesome offroad too.

 

Yeah I’m sure they will. Probably not even that good in snow at speed. But I’m deaf and I can slow down a bit now.
I’ll never forget the day I put 4 Winterforce on my Honda Civic. That thing screamed like a banshee on the way home. Noticed a lot of drivers spinning their necks looking for the 18 wheeler coming at em. LOL
But that winter those tires performed in that car. Even drove half way across the state after the guv had done an emergency shut down. Just cruising down the unplowed highways at 60+. Passed two four wheelers stuck or in the rails. Toot Toot!

 

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great tires, as are the Nitto Duragrapplers. Average 40,000 miles on my dually b4 I get nervous about tread.

 

I don’t know the load range on them but put these on my jeep earlier this year. No snow or ice yet but they are nice on the road and chew up and spit out the mud. About 3000 on them and I am impressed. Firestone Destination MT.

 

I'm running the Wildpeaks right now. Sure do like them! Great in snow. BUT, I've gotten them pretty caked in mud... a little too easy.

I've run the Duratracs in the past and really liked them, too.

I think I'll switch to the Duratracs for my next set assuming they'll be just as good in the snow, better in the mud, look a little more aggressive, but be louder on the highway.

 

I don't get road noise from them.
I never tracked mileage but my BIL is over 65k on his set.

 

Not bad. I’ve seen those elsewhere. Not quite the size I need. Closest is 1” smaller tire. That would be good for an old short man who bought a high truck There are literally days I really do have to pull myself up by the bootstraps LOL
Very similar pattern to what I posted above and the price is much more reasonable. It’s not a daily driver. More around the town truck. Thanks.

 

I’ll share my opinion on tire tread design. Just an opinion, I have no education in the matter beyond what I think I’ve taught myself over the years being a hooligan in the snow.
Most traction tires these days have a lot of 45* angles which is fine for traction at slow speeds. At higher speeds in the snow I believe much of the stability is gained by having parallel grooves and blocking. Your basically skiing at highway speeds in the snow. Hydrosnowing? The parallel groves keep you skiing straight whereas the 45 angles don’t know which direction they want to go.

Two tires for comparison
The 45’s I speak of. No parallel lines or angles to keep you running straight.



Snow tire with parallel grooves and blocking. Good for snow, not so good in the mud

I’m looking for the best of both worlds maybe. Once again just my opinion but I think modern tread designers has left some things on the table.
Appreciate all the replies.

 

That’s why I suggested the Falken Wildpeak AT3W.

it’s got the siping (the actual name for this parallel grooves) you want and a more aggressive that the AT/ trail. (Similar tread pattern, but more a highway tire).

the Wildpeak M/T is a lug off road tire but doesn’t have the siping you want.

the AT3W was suggested to me by our local farm coop as they put that on their propane service trucks that service grain driers and livestock barns and have to get to the propane equipment on farms in less than friendly places with deep mud and snow year round.

compared to the highway tires that have come on my pickups that got stuck on just wet grass, these things are incredible.

 

technically the siping is perpendicular to the tire. The grooves like on the Wrangler run parallel. Those are the grooves that give stability at highway speeds in snow and rain also.
Siping is also essential for good snow traction. It’s one of the things that makes a Winterforce tire work so well in snow only. In a smaller, lighter tire. To achieve the weight range they had to do a lot of cheating on the sipes and blocks. Basically with a WF in E range it’s not much better than a highway tire and once 25% of the tread is worn off it gets worse from there.
The snow tires specifically made in E range work ok in the snow. On wet grass they’re not much better than drag slicks either.

 

I'm a big fan of MasterCraft, a cheaper brand but USA made I believe. If your spending the big bucks bfgoodrich tko2s