Any driver will tell you that radial truck tires have innumerable advantages over bias ply truck tires. In fact, the tire industry has almost completely abandoned manufacturing bias truck tires, save for a few exceptions. Yet despite that bias truck tires come attached with a number of disadvantages, they still have their advantages when it comes to offroad conditions.
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0 Are You Ready for Taller Off-road Truck Tires?
Buying a set of taller off-road tires for your 4x4 is like making a marriage work; it involves sometimes drastic changes, sacrifices, and commitment, along with constant care and maintenance. On the other hand, at least you won't have to remember anniversaries.
The first thing to keep in mind is that upgrading to taller truck tires means upgrading a number of other truck parts in your vehicle as well. Additional inches of vehicle clearance are needed for the truck tires to fit without rubbing against the vehicle fenders. Truck parts like a suspension lift, body lift, or a combination of both can provide those additional inches. For off-road purposes, a suspension lift is preferable for the increase in wheel travel ability, whereas a body lift simply allows for the fitment of larger offroad tires without any offroad performance enhancements.
Larger truck tires also mean that your vehicle will be working harder to tote additional weight, which can result in significant strain to your axles and shocks, and also alters the gear ratio set by the manufacturer.
To compensate for these changes, new ring and pinion gears and performance shocks (many complete lift kits typically include shocks) are strongly recommended. To counteract the additional weight and loss in performance, custom intakes, exhausts, computer chips, or any other performance-enhancing truck parts are also advised.
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The first thing to keep in mind is that upgrading to taller truck tires means upgrading a number of other truck parts in your vehicle as well. Additional inches of vehicle clearance are needed for the truck tires to fit without rubbing against the vehicle fenders. Truck parts like a suspension lift, body lift, or a combination of both can provide those additional inches. For off-road purposes, a suspension lift is preferable for the increase in wheel travel ability, whereas a body lift simply allows for the fitment of larger offroad tires without any offroad performance enhancements.
Larger truck tires also mean that your vehicle will be working harder to tote additional weight, which can result in significant strain to your axles and shocks, and also alters the gear ratio set by the manufacturer.
To compensate for these changes, new ring and pinion gears and performance shocks (many complete lift kits typically include shocks) are strongly recommended. To counteract the additional weight and loss in performance, custom intakes, exhausts, computer chips, or any other performance-enhancing truck parts are also advised.
0 Off-Road Truck Tires - The Truth
Whether you're sand-racing, rock-crawling, mud-plowing, or whatever other off-road activities conceivable, it's important to understand precisely why you need a set of off-road truck tires.
A common misconception with regard to offroad tires is that you need them for improved traction on rugged terrain, and naturally, the general consensus suggests that larger tires equate to more traction. While such an assumption makes sense, it is not entirely accurate. True, the right off-road tires can provide some additional traction in off-road conditions, but there are better, more efficient ways to improve traction than simply bulking up the rubber.
If traction is your primary concern, trucks parts like a traction differential (locker) with stock offroad tires are more beneficial for your rig than just adding a set of taller, more aggressive offroad tires. Or for that matter, a winch is probably a smart idea before anything else.
A locker or other 4x4-related truck parts could inspire excessive boldness, causing you to get caught in some real jams and then you’ll wish that you opted for the winch instead. The point is larger off-road tires are meant first and foremost for the purpose of raising the height and ground clearance of your rig to enable steeper ascent and descent in off-road terrain.
Simply put, when driving over boulders, slogging through mud, coasting across the desert, or even just making your way through the occasional forest trail, higher ground clearance facilitates negotiating certain obstacles.
Not to downplay the traction aspect of offroad tires, as a set of mud terrain bias offroad tires will most definitely perform better in the mud than a set of all-season radials.
Rather, improved traction is more of a secondary function that still bears importance, but should not the sole consideration when it comes to buying truck tires, as there are far better truck parts available for meeting that goal.
Read more
A common misconception with regard to offroad tires is that you need them for improved traction on rugged terrain, and naturally, the general consensus suggests that larger tires equate to more traction. While such an assumption makes sense, it is not entirely accurate. True, the right off-road tires can provide some additional traction in off-road conditions, but there are better, more efficient ways to improve traction than simply bulking up the rubber.
If traction is your primary concern, trucks parts like a traction differential (locker) with stock offroad tires are more beneficial for your rig than just adding a set of taller, more aggressive offroad tires. Or for that matter, a winch is probably a smart idea before anything else.
A locker or other 4x4-related truck parts could inspire excessive boldness, causing you to get caught in some real jams and then you’ll wish that you opted for the winch instead. The point is larger off-road tires are meant first and foremost for the purpose of raising the height and ground clearance of your rig to enable steeper ascent and descent in off-road terrain.
Simply put, when driving over boulders, slogging through mud, coasting across the desert, or even just making your way through the occasional forest trail, higher ground clearance facilitates negotiating certain obstacles.
Not to downplay the traction aspect of offroad tires, as a set of mud terrain bias offroad tires will most definitely perform better in the mud than a set of all-season radials.
Rather, improved traction is more of a secondary function that still bears importance, but should not the sole consideration when it comes to buying truck tires, as there are far better truck parts available for meeting that goal.
