With so many categories and misleading names, off-road tires can be daunting to the new Jeep owner. You’ll be able to pick the perfect tire for your Jeep in just a few minutes.
As a general rule of thumb, the more performance a tire has off-road, the more noisy and uncomfortable it will be on the road, so it’s all about picking a tire that has the right balance for your needs. Off-road-oriented tires usually fall into one of four groups; ranging from tiers designed for mostly road use, to off-road racing tires.
The All-terrain, or A/T
Jack of all trades
An entry-level off-road tire is usually referred to as an all-terrain or an A/T tire. All-terrain tires are probably the best choice for the average Jeep enthusiast, with much larger tread patterns and heavier-duty construction than regular tires. A/Ts provide a huge jump in off-road performance while sacrificing minimal on-road comfort and handling. If you hit the occasional fire road or novice trail, A/Ts are the perfect choice.
Our Top Picks:
#1: The BFG TA KO3#2: The Nitto Recon Grappler
#3: The Mickey Thompson Baja Legend EXP
The Hybrid-terrain
The new kid on the block
Without going into too much detail, hybrid terrain tires use the latest advanced tire technology to give your rig an on-road ride almost as good as an A/T, but close to the performance of an M/T off-road. For the weekend warrior who still needs to daily drive their jeep, a hybrid tire is the absolute best choice.
Our Top Picks:
#1: The Nitto Ridge Grappler#2: The Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T
#3: The Toyo Open Country R/T Trail
The M/T
Maximum off-road performance
If you want the absolute best off-road performance while still being able to drive your Jeep on the road, then an M/T is the answer. Contrary to the name, mud terrain, or M/T tires are usually designed to excel in every kind of off-road environment. It is important to remember however, that mud terrains will noticeably degrade your on-road ride quality, and comfort. Premium M/Ts will be loud on the highway and rumble a little at low speeds but not bothersome for the most part. Cheap M/Ts, however, can be unbearable to drive every day. We highly recommend that if you’re going to daily drive a Jeep with mud terrain tires that you buy premium brand tires that will be livable.
Our Top Picks:
#1: The Nitto Trail Grappler
#2: The Mickey Thompson Baja Boss M/T
#3: The BFG TA KM3
The last category is competition, off-road only tires. Just as on-road race cars like NASCAR and Formula One have track-only racing slicks, the same is true for off-road competition and racing. If you’ve ever been at a Jeep or truck show and heard the term “stickys” or “red labels” thrown around; this is what that was referring to. Our next blog post will be a deep dive into off-road competition tires, so make sure to stay tuned for that one!