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NW Wheelin' with AT's

M

Markos

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Seattle, WA
All:

I've been running BFG AT's since 2001. They've worked well for the dry rocky terrain that I've lived in (Colorado & Arizona). I could never justify the jump to MT's due to the limited amount of time that my jeep saw muddy conditions. I'm upgrading my brakes, and it seems foolish to spend a lot of money on custom brakes when I'm going to lose stopping performance by going with MT's. I spend 95% of the time on-road.

So my question is, are AT's 'do-able' in the outskirts of Seattle? I'm thinking of moderate trails (open diff, small lift, 30's) with rock crawling, steep slopes, etc. Any thoughts?
 
30 AT,s will suck. Evan in the dry season you will find places with mud.
Just my .02
 
In my opinion no. There is no A/T tire out there that can compare to a nice road worthy M/T when it gets even a little wet. Im sure others will have different thoughts.
 
with your setup, sounds like All terrains will be fine. now when you step up to 33"s then i suggest a better tire.
 
I swear I have wheeled with a lot of guys up here that run AT's.. can't think of any names at the momment.
 
You can do it on ATs but that skinny thing by your foot get a workout.
 
I run ATs. Granted I'm at stock size but I do mostly long distance trips. I've been plenty happy with them. Of course when it gets moist I might have to spin the tires a little bit now and then but I prefer the ATs and the longer time they last
 
Markos said:
I spend 95% of the time on-road.

So my question is, are AT's 'do-able' in the outskirts of Seattle?
Click to expand...
Yes.

I ran a 2" lift and 30x9.5 BFG ATs with open diffs for 3 years when I first got my Jeep. I used it on trails year round (dry rock, slick trails, snow), and every day to commute back and forth. They did well in most conditions, but the soupy trails of winter and spring definitely was their weak point. I had to get a tug occasionally, but for the most part they weren't that bad. Also, even with a 30" tire, airing down will greatly increase their performance.

My .02
 
TORX said:
Yes.

I ran a 2" lift and 30x9.5 BFG ATs with open diffs for 3 years when I first got my Jeep. I used it on trails year round (dry rock, slick trails, snow), and every day to commute back and forth. They did well in most conditions, but the soupy trails of winter and spring definitely was their weak point. I had to get a tug occasionally, but for the most part they weren't that bad. Also, even with a 30" tire, airing down will greatly increase their performance.

My .02
Click to expand...

I would have to agree with this.

With that setup, it doesn't sound like you're going to be doing a ton of wheeling and when you do, you'll wheel where you (for the most part) know you can wheel ie. Evans in the winter is out, most of Reiter is out...so...have fun at Tahuya.
 
x 2

The only time I ever wheeled my Cherokee in the woods I was with jrxj and redjeep3. They both run 33" mud tires and I had have 31" a/t's. I drove every trail they did that day other then the real deep water.(I have a cone filter) I think I even did the wet sloppy rocky up hill better then them. (possibly due to I have an auto trans and redjeep3 washed the rocks off for me).

A/T's work great other then in deep muddy slop.

And I have yet to find that trail that we were on.
 
I ran evans creek with 31 bfg a/t's a while back with some of the PNW guys. I thought they did fine. Mud terrains would have done better but for slushy icy northwest conditions with once in a while wheeling trips I loved them. I avoid mud anyway. Not to mention A guy can put a hell of a lot a miles on a set of bfg a/t's
 
Markos said:
All:
I'm upgrading my brakes, and it seems foolish to spend a lot of money on custom brakes when I'm going to lose stopping performance by going with MT's. I spend 95% of the time on-road.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it make more sense to upgrade your brakes if you are going to loose stopping performance with another change?

with your setup, sounds like All terrains will be fine. now when you step up to 33"s then i suggest a better tire.
Click to expand...

Why would the size of the tire have ANYTHING to do with what type of tread would be better for the same use?


There is a trade off with any tire choice and that compromise is best suited to what is most important to you. AT's work great in MANY situations off road in most parts of the country. Lockers are not needed in MANY situations in most parts of the country. I have wheeled AT's and MT's in Colorado, Arizona, California, Washington, Oregon, and in my opinion you can do either just fine as long as you understand your strengths and weeknesses of your rig.

Michael
 
2xtreme said:
Why would the size of the tire have ANYTHING to do with what type of tread would be better for the same use?




Michael
Click to expand...
because his rig sounds like a FT dd with small tires. when he upgrades to a larger size tire, he will obviously get a lift so the handling charicteristics(sp?) will change anyway. thats when i would suggest the upgrade to a better M/T tire.

i could be wrong, but the difference in a 30" Bfg A/T and a 30 KM2 is going to be Minimal IMO, while a 33" bfg A/T and 33" bfg km2 are alot different.
 
Go with the AT's I would run them without hesitation. They got me into this
Reiter_wall.jpg


which required crossing through a swampy section, really the only issues I had with them were full on mud pits which for the most part are optional sections of trails. They also rock in the snow for a DD.
 
Here's what my "Little 31" AT's" got me into:



And, later:



Really, it's the driver, the tires just help. :spin1:

Eric
 
Thanks for the input folks. It sounds like AT's will work just fine. I see a lot a rocks in the pics provided. I'm not into mud anyway.

I disagree that tire size has anything at all to do with the benefits of a MT over an AT. A lot of the muddy hill climbs and terrain have nothing to do with tire size anyway. If Washington is anything like Arizona, most of the trails run by rigs with 33's can be run with 30's and good driving skills. When I lived in AZ, pretty much every rig that I traveled with had 33's or 35's. It's not to say that there aren't trails that require larger tires, I just find that a lot of people run larger equipment than they need. Nothing wrong with being over prepared if you feel like spending the money.

My thought process is to spend my money on practical mods that will get used a majority of the time.
 
Markos said:
Thanks for the input folks. It sounds like AT's will work just fine. I see a lot a rocks in the pics provided. I'm not into mud anyway.

I disagree that tire size has anything at all to do with the benefits of a MT over an AT. A lot of the muddy hill climbs and terrain have nothing to do with tire size anyway. If Washington is anything like Arizona, most of the trails run by rigs with 33's can be run with 30's and good driving skills. When I lived in AZ, pretty much every rig that I traveled with had 33's or 35's. It's not to say that there aren't trails that require larger tires, I just find that a lot of people run larger equipment than they need. Nothing wrong with being over prepared if you feel like spending the money.

My thought process is to spend my money on practical mods that will get used a majority of the time.
Click to expand...

AT's are a very practical mod. One of my coworkers got a set in stock size for his ranger last winter. He was able to drive up a hill near his house in 2wd durring the snow storm, he said he normally had trouble with the hill in 4wd.
 
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