[4x4zook]

hey guys. looking at a set of new tyres 31/10.50/15s

looking at either mikey thompson claws or goodyear wrangler mtr kevs.

i do alot of hard dirt hills and bush with the occasional rocky hill track and alot of mud.
any one have any good or bad feedback on the tyres above? cheers

[atari4x4]

MT claws have wafer thin side walls & are constructed using old technology. eg rubber compounds & belt material. the old MT/R's were impressive as an "all terrain" tyre & worked well on suzuki's. I'd say the new ones would be just as good, but there aren't many being run on zooks as they're not a cheap tyre like the Bighorn or Coragia

[4x4zook]

yeh id love to get the old mtrs but they haveto be ordered from the states and i need new tyres before the weekend. bighorns i dont really like as ive been told by alot of people the sidewalls are very thin. ive had a look at the mt claws and th sidewalls are amazingly strong i put my full weight ontop of the tyre and couldnt squash it. seemed to be a very strong tyre

[alien]

BFG KM2 or Kumho KL71 - both are great allrounders, KL71 better on rocks, KM2 are better in mud, but its super marginal. If cost is a deciding factor go the KL71 cos theyre half the price.

unsquashable sidewalls are bad on a suzuki too... you want a tyre with some give in it.

[atari4x4]

fatzooks KL-71's on the front of his Vit look like shit after 17,000km's, i reckon my MT/R's have more tread left on them & they've done 50,000kms

[alien]

really? wow... mine only did about 7000km before i swapped back to the KM2 but they have hardly worn at all.

[4x4zook]

what abt the mt mtz?

[BlueSuzy]

MT Radial claws, Best mate has blow 2 through the sidewall.
MTZ are better.

I had cheapo Nankangs, a 33" was 31.9, but otherwise couldnt fault them. Never had a problem in 2years til i sold the car. Wear was quite good also, even with the rear welded.

[4x4zook]

the claws i was looking at looked like this wich i thought looked a better pattern to the claws ive seen in pictures with the big solid directional ribs. these are more "blocky"

[alien]

that tread pattern is still quite closed up considering you want to drive "a lot of mud"... cant comment on how they do perform though, just an observation.

[FullyZooked]

I also would say for serious mud the pattern looks too tight. Unless you hit mega RPM to clear them, you stuck with a slick.

This is where Simex Extremes come in. Can't wait to get some.

[alien]

yeah the simex definitely shine in the mud - but on a rocky hill they'd likely try to kill you =) lol

[Fatzook]

atari4x4 wrote:

fatzooks KL-71's on the front of his Vit look like shit after 17,000km's, i reckon my MT/R's have more tread left on them & they've done 50,000kms

You're only telling half the story Gus.

My camber is up the shit on my vitara, so they fronts are badly worn. Rears are going strong though. Should see 50,000 from the rears.

KL's should do 40-50K on a sierra.

[JrZook]

Dunno bout the new Wrangler MTR's but the old ones sucked eggs in the mud back home! Were not very self clearing at all!

[atari4x4]

Fatzook wrote:

atari4x4 wrote:

fatzooks KL-71's on the front of his Vit look like shit after 17,000km's, i reckon my MT/R's have more tread left on them & they've done 50,000kms

You're only telling half the story Gus.

My camber is up the shit on my vitara, so they fronts are badly worn. Rears are going strong though. Should see 50,000 from the rears.

KL's should do 40-50K on a sierra.

and the camber wasn't exactly in spec either on mine prior to the camber bolts a month ago, it had done something 80,000kms with positive camber.

i can't imagine the little amount of lift you're running could cause that much of a camber issue.

JrZook wrote:

Dunno bout the new Wrangler MTR's but the old ones sucked eggs in the mud back home! Were not very self clearing at all!

Yeah they do clog up a bit, but on the weekend, I saw a Baja Claw just as clogged with clay as my MT/R & I got further.

I can't imagine there being that much mud up where he lives, (Pt Augusta SA) it's going to be hard to find a tyre that shines in all of the conditions up there & that's sort of why I mentioned an "all terrains" type of tyre sure the Simex is going to be good in the mud...

[ajsr]

personally I think baja claws are probably the most over rated mt tyres you can buy. they are just shit.