Choosing The Right Tires for Your Truck

When you're looking for tires for your truck, you have so many options to choose from, though of course, different tires are good for different things a truck can do. As with wheels, tires really shape the way our trucks perform as they're at the very end of that big chain of energy transfer. When you take a close look at it, stock tires are only designed to be "mediocre" in all areas regarding terrain, weather conditions, and how you drive and use your truck. Stock tires also wear out very quickly when they go off-road. While you do have many options to choose from, here, I highlight three overarching popular tire types: all-terrain, mud terrain, and winter tires, along with the pros and cons of each. Many manufacturers such as Atturo, BFGoodrich, Bridgestone, Cooper, Dick Cepek, Fuel, General Tire, Goodyear, Mickey Thompson and Toyo offer so many great options to choose from for all your driving needs.

All-Terrain Tires

All-terrain tires are the best bet if you're looking for a strong balance between a great fit for long road trips and a great fit for general off-roading. They provide a nice, smooth ride on large highways and hard surfaces and are generally quiet. As with normal all-season tires, they work well for any time of the year. However, they are noticeably better at handling wet, rocky, muddy or sandy driving situations than your stock tires thanks to larger tread blocks and more voids. Although they are not the best choice for winter conditions, they handle the snow and ice better than normal tires as well. If you're a frequent traveler who also likes to go off-road and wants something good at accessing multiple types of places, this is the tire for you. Perhaps you may be traveling long distances to places you want to go off-roading in.

Mud Terrain Tires

Mud tires, as the name implies, are the best bet if you do a lot of mud driving or frequent off-roading in various forms. They have even larger tread blocks and voids than all-terrain tires that allow for more rugged performance and better traction on soft surfaces along with more space for mud, sand, dirt, and rocks to squeeze through so you don't end up clinging that stuff to your treads. They're the perfect choice for the everyday off-roader. They offer some premium protection against punctures, abrasions and tears, but they do not perform as strongly as all-terrain tires on the hard surfaces. On top of that, they're noisy and less comfortable on long road trips.

Winter Tires

Winter tires are specifically designed for the best possible traction in those feisty snowy and icy conditions and provide quite an improvement over all-terrain tires. They have softer rubber that doesn't freeze in the cold and may also come with small metal studs, or pins, to help grip icy roads. However, like the mud terrain tires, the studded tires may also trigger obnoxious noise and discomfort. They're even illegal in some states (check with your state and local laws before purchasing them). Nonetheless, even without studs, the winter tires still provide reasonable grip on ice in addition to snow. These tires are the prime choice for those who face long, harsh winters with heavy snow and ice.

Winter tire photo credited to www.discounttiredirect.com.