The choice of tread pattern is important in your new tire decision making process. Tread pattern should be chosen based on the intended use of the Jeep. The most popular tread pattern for all around off-road use is a mud terrain pattern.

The mud terrain or mud tire pattern is characterized by large lugs on the tire with large voids between these lugs. The large lugs provide plenty of bite in low traction conditions while the large voids allow the tire to clean itself by throwing off mud or other material when spinning thus providing a good bite on every rotation of the tire. These tires are also very popular for rock crawling as the large lugs can provide a way of gripping and pulling the tires up and over irregular rocky edges where a smoother pattern would just spin. The biggest disadvantage of these patterns is that they run rough and loud on the highway. To reduce this problem choose a tire with irregular or asymmetric spacing of the lugs and voids to reduce harmonic vibration at highway speeds. There are also situations such cold powder snow or sand where an all-terrain pattern would be better.

The general purpose all terrain tire generally has an interlocked tread pattern with siping (small cuts) on the tread blocks. The voids in these tires are also generally much smaller than those on tires designed for use in the mud. The denser pattern of blocks and smaller voids make these tires quieter on the street. It also increases the surface area of the tread which gives the tire improved flotation on surfaces such as light powdery snow or sand. The increased siping can be important in snow were it is the number of edges, even quite small edges, biting into the snow that provides the “bite”. The downside is that the smaller voids cannot clean themselves as easily of packed mud or slush as the larger voids on mud tires do. If these voids fill up with mud the tire loses much of it's “bite” and traction is lost.

While the all terrain pattern's improved flotation and additional siping may be an advantage in absolutely dry powder or packed snow, the mud terrain may be the wiser choice if the snow or underlying terrain is, or can turn, slushy or muddy. In these cases the all terrain pattern can become packed with mud and stuck where a mud terrain pattern would self clean and plow on through.

In sand the improved flotation provided by the dense tread pattern of the all-terrain tires can be a distinct advantage.

A variety of manufacturers also offer a family of tires sometimes called trail tires or something near that. These are most often tires designed for use on light trucks or sport utility vehicles which see most of their use on the street. They will generally be quieter, get better gas mileage and last longer than either of the other off-road patterns. The tread patterns are designed to provide significantly improved comfort or performance on the street which can sometimes compromise serious off-road capability. I personally would not recommend them for anything other than light off-road use in dirt, on unpaved roads or trails where you are unlikely to encounter mud, significant rocks or other unpleasant conditions. Fortunately this is the limit to which most of their intended market are likely to take them. (http://www.off-road.com/jeep/2001/TechWhatFits.html)

 
tire_tread_info.txt · Last modified: 2010/06/16 13:42 by 127.0.0.1
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