Quiet mud tires?

[Nothing Special]

I need to get new tires for off-road and highway use on my Bronco, and I'm looking for some thoughts and suggestions.

I have P235/75-15 street tires (~29" tall) for my every-day use, and I have 33/12.50-15 mud tires for off-road use. But it turns out I put more highway miles on my "off-road" tires than I do on my street tires. In Moab last month we ran out to Top of the World, and then to Capitol Reef National Park. Stuff like that is pretty common on our 'wheeling trips.

I hadn't really considered that when I got my current off-road tires: ProComp Xtreme MT2. I don't have any complaints about them off-road, but they are a bit too painful at freeway speeds. On the Moab trip I sliced two of them, so now I "get to" try something different.

I want to stay with a 33/12.50-15. Being from the midwest I like an aggressive mud tire, but most of my 'wheeling lately has been in Utah, along with some in Missouri. So maybe a mud tire isn't quite what I should have?

Anyway, the two tires I'm thinking about right now are the BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain KM3 and the Milestar Patagonia MT-O2.

I've had quite a few sets of BFGs (but never KM anything much less KM3) and really liked all of them until I got KO2s. I've heard a few people say the KM3 is a very quiet tire for a mud tire, and I see quite a few of them in YouTube videos, so they seem to be popular, meaning (I hope) that they work pretty well.

I have no experience with Milestars, but I see a TON of them on YouTube, and the tread design looks to me like it wouldn't be that loud.

Does anyone have any experience with either of these tires regarding highway noise? Any suggestions between the two? Or any other tires anyone would suggest for my usage?

 

[Shimmy]

i'm happy with my mickey thompson baja boss AT. theyre an all terrain but the tread pattern and side lugs are pretty aggressive more like a MT

 

[Yeller]

Of your 2 I’d do the KM3’s in a heartbeat, of the MT tires they are the quietest by far. I ran the KM3 before, they do tend to run a little small but did everything I asked of them and there were quiet even at 50% tread

Another option is a RT tire, but in a 33x12.50r15 there are only a couple, Mickey Thompson EXT and Kenda Kleever RT. I run the Mickeys on my j truck, they have been great but are now quite loud, I’ve got 40k on them.

 

[Jdgephar]

I bought 33x12.5 Kumho Venture AT tires in 2012. I have about 45,000 miles on them now. They are quiet, no road noise at all, even today. My offroad experience is mostly sand dunes, and a few times on some 2 track trails, snow and ice. I have no complaints about them at all. However, I have no idea how well they do on rocks or mud. I don't mess around with mud pits, and don't really have anywhere to rock climb. Matt from Matt's offroad swears by the Milestars for use in the sand and rocks, but I don't know how loud they are. I'm guessing that a good AT tire would suit most of your needs, assuming they can handle the rocks. My experience so far with mud tires (MTs) is they are noisy.

My next set of tires will be the Goodyear territory MTs 315x70r17s for my '72 (same tires as new bronco sasquatch, and fairly cheap because of that. $191 each, and load range C). Hopefully they stay decently quiet. I'm undecided on the Kumho replacements that I need on the '68. The tread is near end of life, plus the age of them. I might just get the same Kumho ATs again.

If you end up with the Milestar Pategonias, report back on the sound. They were near the top of my list as well.

 

[RandallLG]

I run 37” KM3s, great tire, both on and off road. I’m not sure how loud they are relative to other brands, but I don’t have any complaints.

Patagonia’s I think shifted manufacturing to the US, but they are still a Chinese owned company. I know buying Chinese is unavoidable, but I make every effort to avoid it especially when there are a lot of other options.

 

[okie4570]

I bought 33x12.5 Kumho Venture AT tires in 2012. I have about 45,000 miles on them now. They are quiet, no road noise at all, even today. My offroad experience is mostly sand dunes, and a few times on some 2 track trails, snow and ice. I have no complaints about them at all. However, I have no idea how well they do on rocks or mud. I don't mess around with mud pits, and don't really have anywhere to rock climb. Matt from Matt's offroad swears by the Milestars for use in the sand and rocks, but I don't know how loud they are. I'm guessing that a good AT tire would suit most of your needs, assuming they can handle the rocks. My experience so far with mud tires (MTs) is they are noisy.

My next set of tires will be the Goodyear territory MTs 315x70r17s for my '72 (same tires as new bronco sasquatch, and fairly cheap because of that. $191 each, and load range C). Hopefully they stay decently quiet. I'm undecided on the Kumho replacements that I need on the '68. The tread is near end of life, plus the age of them. I might just get the same Kumho ATs again.

If you end up with the Milestar Pategonias, report back on the sound. They were near the top of my list as well.

What 17" wheel are you using? Thanks

 

[Nothing Special]

i'm happy with my mickey thompson baja boss AT. theyre an all terrain but the tread pattern and side lugs are pretty aggressive more like a MT

The Mickey Thompsons don't seem to be available in 33/12.50-15 (or much of anything else on a 15" rim for that matter). So for now at least that's off the table.

.... Another option is a RT tire, but in a 33x12.50r15 there are only a couple, Mickey Thompson EXT and Kenda Kleever RT. I run the Mickeys on my j truck, they have been great but are now quite loud, I’ve got 40k on them.

Is that Mickey Thompson EXP? I'm not finding an EXT. If it is, the EXP seems a little more "all-terrain" than I think I want. And if they're getting loud as they wear they don't "sound" like the tires to make me not get an M/T.

I actually have a Kenda Klever R/T as my spare (33/9.50-15, that's the tire that was on the mis-matched white wheel when I ran into you on Poison Spider). I really don't have much experience with it. I guess I wouldn't rule it out, but I'd need a pretty good recommendation to really consider them.

I bought 33x12.5 Kumho Venture AT tires in 2012. I have about 45,000 miles on them now. They are quiet, no road noise at all, even today....

That looks like a good A/T, but I'm leaning pretty hard toward an M/T still.


With Yeller and RandallLG's recommendations I'm leaning more toward the BFG KM3s. I wouldn't say the Milestar's are off the table yet, but having a couple people say the KM3s are quiet, along with my generally great experience with BFGs certainly carries some weight.

And yes, Matt's Off-Road Recovery is one of my sources for Milestar info. Along with sand and rock he also loves the newer MT02s in mud and snow. They just don't look like my idea of a good mud tire. But Matt from Bleepin' Jeep is running them now in Tennessee, so they can't be a BAD mud tire. As far as Chinese goes, I'm all for buying American, but I also like rewarding companies that have a better product. Look at what the "buy American" push did to the American auto industry in the '80s as the Japanese cars were getting better and the American companies were happily making worse and worse vehicles. And yes, there's Chinese junk (because people will buy it). But there's also really good quality and service out of China as well. I work in a manufacturing company. We buy most of our components from the USA, but we do buy a lot from China. But it's not to get the lowest cost. We do it because on some parts we can't get the quality or lead-time we need from American companies and we can from China. So I'm not going to get Milestar's BECAUSE they're Chinese. But I'm not going to avoid them for that reason either.

 

[Yeller]

Yes I was mistaken on the name of the tire, you are correct. I’m with you on the noise, however I can say they have excelled at everything I’ve thrown at them. I should have a good report on the Kenda’s by this time next year, they are 90% my current choice due to moving to a 33x10.50-15 on that truck. For what you are doing the KM3 is soooo hard to best.

Here’s my Patagonia experience, they are one of the few companies making a sticky competition tire. In its own right it is a good tire, in sand and sand stone it’s great, in everything else they need a fair amount of work with a grooving iron to work equal to their direct competition in that segment. I believe now that they are beginning to sponsor competitors that have to scratch for every advantage you will soon see a new offering from them, as a company they are all about grassroots and supporting them. Also remember those YouTube’ers are getting compensated for running milestar, whether it be in tires or dollars, they are being supported. IMO the tires are good tires, that excell in some situations, but aren’t as well rounded as many of us would like.

FYI: I am probably putting Milestar Patagonia’s on my buggy in the next year, I will be cutting on them to make them work for what I do with that car.

 

[Nothing Special]

I definitely realize that a YouTuber's use of a product needs to be interpreted in that light! Still, for the most part I don't think they're going to use a bad product just because they get it cheap (or free, or get paid to use it). But them using it certainly doesn't mean it will be a good value for everyone else. I remember Matt from Bleepin' Jeep talking about the stickies he had on the Scorpion at one time. He admitted being given them free to use, and when he said the cost I didn't get the feeling that he'd have been willing to buy them!

And your take on the Milestars is kind of what I was thinking. A good tire, probably at a good value, but maybe not for everyone.

I keep leaning harder toward the KM3. I probably won't be doing any more 'wheeling until October this year, so I probably won't pull the trigger until sometime in August. So there's still time to change my mind!

 

[Jdgephar]

What 17" wheel are you using? Thanks

I'm not sure. They were on it when I bought the truck. I believe they are 17x8". The rear center caps say "unique". I think they are just generic steel 7 hole wheels.

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[Shimmy]

The Mickey Thompsons don't seem to be available in 33/12.50-15 (or much of anything else on a 15" rim for that matter). So for now at least that's off the table.

The baja boss MT is offered in that size. i'd consider that if you're looking at other MTs.

 

[Nothing Special]

Any reason in particular you'd recommend the Baja Boss MT? It looks like a pretty aggressive mud tire, on a par with the ProComp Xtreme MT2s I have, so I'd expect it to be loud. The BFG KM3 comes with a lot of people saying it's a quiet mud tire.

 

[Yeller]

I think the noise is subjective. People say they Maxxis Razr I’m running is quiet. Which it is, but compared to the KM3, it is loud lol. My KM3’s were nearly as quiet as the aggressive AT’s that I run on my Ram, little hum but nothing I find objectionable for hours on end, not like I have to turn the radio up to drown it out

 

[Nothing Special]

I know that noise will be different in different circumstances. I had a set of the original BFG M/T on a '75 Jeep CJ-5 and thought they were quiet. Then I moved the same tires to a '95 F-150 and thought they were objectionably loud. I don't know what the difference was. Maybe the Jeep was just loud enough to drown out the hum while the pickup wasn't? Or maybe the leaf springs on the Jeep damped out the vibration while the radius arms and urethane bushings on the F-150 transmitted the vibration into the truck?

I'm not looking for anyone to give me a money-back guarantee or anything! But I figure people with early Broncos are most likely to have experience that's applicable to me.

As far as what I'm considering loud, I don't have a (working) radio in my Bronco, so I can't say about having to turn it up. And a soft-top early Bronco is never going to be quiet on the highway. But with the ProComps I need to wear ear plugs on the highway or else my ears are ringing (more than usual) when I stop. It's not that we can't talk over them. But they're at least fatiguing, and likely are adding to my hearing damage.

 

[Beau Nugget]

I just put on km3’s. I don’t think they’re that loud

 

[Nothing Special]

I think I'm taking the Milestar's off the table after finding some reports on other boards about them being quiet when new, but as the crown wore down they got noisier. People seemed to think they weren't necessarily loud for a mud tire, but definitely not quiet for one either.

Also people said they were wearing pretty fast, like maybe 25K was all they'd get out of them. I don't know if that's a factor for me or not. In about 3 years with my ProComps I put probably 15K on them including flat-towing and sliced 2. The tread still looks close to new on those tires, so I was almost certainly on a path to top 50K. But if I cut tires before they can wear out, then how well they wear isn't a factor for me.

But right now I've landed on the BFG KM3s. There's still time and I might change my mind. But that's where I am now.

 

[Tricky Dick]

I bought 33x12.5 Kumho Venture AT tires in 2012. I have about 45,000 miles on them now. They are quiet, no road noise at all, even today. My offroad experience is mostly sand dunes, and a few times on some 2 track trails, snow and ice. I have no complaints about them at all. However, I have no idea how well they do on rocks or mud. I don't mess around with mud pits, and don't really have anywhere to rock climb. Matt from Matt's offroad swears by the Milestars for use in the sand and rocks, but I don't know how loud they are. I'm guessing that a good AT tire would suit most of your needs, assuming they can handle the rocks. My experience so far with mud tires (MTs) is they are noisy.

My next set of tires will be the Goodyear territory MTs 315x70r17s for my '72 (same tires as new bronco sasquatch, and fairly cheap because of that. $191 each, and load range C). Hopefully they stay decently quiet. I'm undecided on the Kumho replacements that I need on the '68. The tread is near end of life, plus the age of them. I might just get the same Kumho ATs again.

If you end up with the Milestar Pategonias, report back on the sound. They were near the top of my list as well.

I think the Territory is a wonderful tire for traction and noise but the carcass is a bit thin, people have had gravel work through the tread and puncture them. I'm still a big fan.

I impulse bought some 37" Patagonias last year on sale for about $220 each, then promptly returned the after reading up on them. Apparently they're terrible in mud.

 

[Jdgephar]

I need to correct my earlier statement. My 68 has Firestone destination A/T tires, not the Kumho. Those must have been on my '94 when I still had it.

Thanks for the info on Milestar!

The Goodyear 35s are going on a show truck, so not worried about the durability, but are the same as what Bronco Nation is using in Moab on the rental Broncos.

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[Yeller]

I have never killed at tire in Moab, literally 10’s of thousands of trail miles in SE Utah. Killed 2 Goodyear Territories back in March on a 23 bronco, both rock punctures in the tread. Haven’t done that since I was a kid killing P metric tires on dirt roads in my 72 Plymouth Scamp LOL.

 

[Tricky Dick]

I have never killed at tire in Moab, literally 10’s of thousands of trail miles in SE Utah. Killed 2 Goodyear Territories back in March on a 23 bronco, both rock punctures in the tread. Haven’t done that since I was a kid killing P metric tires on dirt roads in my 72 Plymouth Scamp LOL.

I've seen 52-55lbs stated for weight, there's nothing to them. But mine have survived a week of Moab and a day at Windrock so I can't say anything bad. They're now retired to daily driver and winter duty and I beat on the RAZRs, but they're almost double the weight too.