MTZ or Bighorn???

im buying tires and have narrowed it down to the Mickey Thompson MTZ or the Maxxis Bighorn. the size will be 35x12.5/15

wich tire is best? dont care about noise, they both have pretty good wear, i need to know things like wich one is better on the trails in mud and on rocks etc, also which one is more durable as far as sidewall ect.....Thanks!!

Getting the MTZ in the same size myself- just really like it... thats all i can add.

I hear the MTZ is louder and wears faster then the bighorns.....If it were me, I would go for the bighorns just because of the price alone...

Mike

I chose bighorns but they're still sitting unmounted. I'm getting antsy to put them on to try them out.

The MTZ's got a pretty good rating from the guys @ petersons or one of the magazines right now check it out. Its this months issue and on the front it says massive mud tire test. I've searched about the Bighorns before and there was alot of good things about them. I think its just gonna come down to personal preference because both tires seem to work well

I love my Bighorns. Cheap, great traction, thick sidewalls, not too loud and they ride great - even in rain.

Big Horns are cheap. MTZs aren't.

MTZ's! I love mine!

Big horns are cheap LOL thats funnay!

some of the dez racers run bighorns, Pistol Pete and his trophy truck, I think just signed on with Maxxis, a few of the class 7s, some Jeepspeeders etc. they are quite durable and great traction. Not sure on the MTZs, don't hear much about them, take that for what it is worth.

Can't say a whole lot for either, but I am running the Mickey Thompson MTX and they're great. I wasn't too sure about the MT tires before I bought a set but they're wearing evenly and holding up great. I'd go MTZ. Just my two cents.

i run the bighorns. mainly because i got a great deal on them. they are the 16" equvilant to a 35x12.50. on steel rockcrawlers. not sure about the 15 wheel size but the ones i run are rated for a heavier vehicle than the xj. that said, i just have to air them down about 3-4 lbs more than my old bfg at's. at the same pressure they were too stiff to flex much, and i kinda disliked them for the first part of the run. i've run them at the hammers,claw and sledge and there is no sidewall damage at all, and only some minor scuffing.they appear to be wearing well so far and ,as mentioned above, behave pretty good on the street. but untimatly you need to think about what works in the area you wheel. for instance,i have no idea how these clear mud, since we don't get too much here in so cal (unless you want to play with crazies in azuza canyon). but anyway i like the maxxis tires and so far they seem to be working well.

krelja said:

The MTZ's got a pretty good rating from the guys @ petersons or one of the magazines right now check it out. Its this months issue and on the front it says massive mud tire test. I've searched about the Bighorns before and there was alot of good things about them. I think its just gonna come down to personal preference because both tires seem to work well

Click to expand...

I just posted this in another thread...


I read the same article in 4Wheel and Offroad that was mentioned earlier.

I believe there were about 6 tires listed in the review, Pro Comp Xtreme MT, M/T MTZ, Hercules ???, Dick Cepek ??? something from Hankook and maybe one other that I can't remember.

The Pro Comp Xtreme MT did well overall, but the impression given was that it performs better in the rocks than in the mud. They were hinting that the name of the tire was misleading. All in all it didn't do awful in the mud, but it finished in the middle of the pack. Once again it excelled in the rocks.

The Mickey Thompson MTZ (made by Cooper Tires just like the Pro Comps and Dick Cepek's, in fact there's a good chance that the Xtreme's, DC's, MTZ and Cooper SST's all have the same carcass) performed better in the mud but slightly worse on the rocks. MTZ's cleaned out their treads a lot easier than the Pro Comp's did so they performed well in the mud.

A sleeper tire was from Hercules. Can't remember the model name but the magazine was impressed with its overall performance. Biggest problem with them though was their 2-ply sidewall, which means a greater potential for trail carnage. I would assume the Hercules is the cheapest offered tire in the review.

IMO when it comes to sidewall strength it really comes down to luck. I have seen all of the mainstream mud tires be referred to as having tissue paper sidewalls over the years. I doubt it can be proven that one is significantly weaker than the other. I personally think it is often a matter of hitting the tire just right with an obstacle and whammo, you have a ruined tire. So I generally take references to weak sidewalls with a grain of salt.

i just would find it hard to run Pro Comp tires... mostly to my snob factor.. but i do make acceptions for other things.. LOL the human mind :freakness:

i just got a set of the 35's MTZ i love em havent got my jeep running yet to try them out, but the ratings are great

Skullvarian said:

some of the dez racers run bighorns, Pistol Pete and his trophy truck, I think just signed on with Maxxis, a few of the class 7s, some Jeepspeeders etc. they are quite durable and great traction. Not sure on the MTZs, don't hear much about them, take that for what it is worth.

Click to expand...

PP runs CC's..

I have put 2k on my bighorns, and they look like new. Also, I have run them in the rain, and they felt like my wrangler rt/s. no slippage whatsoever. it has less noise than the MTR, and from what I hear, less than the MTZ. I love them, and won't go to anything else now, unless my needs for a siped mud terrain vanish to something rock and mud-only.