The Mickey Thompson MTZs took us wherever we wanted to go.

It seems like it was ages ago that there were only a handful of off-road radial tires to choose from. Most tires that were considered to be made for off-road use were tame by today’s standards, and if subjected to hard-core use, they failed miserably. Technological advances and good ol’ fashioned experience has changed the way manufacturers design their tires, as well as the way modern and educated consumers consider choosing a tire for their rigs. Mickey Thompson has been producing tires for off-road vehicles for many of those developmental years, and it has released some of the most well-known rubber in the industry.

The Quest for Tire
As we started our exciting tire search for an all-around performer for our Project XJ Cheap Cherokee, Mickey Thompson was one of our first considerations, mostly because of their longtime reputation. We also ran a set of their wheels on a Jeep TJ in the past and were happy with the quality, design and customer service, but we had never experienced a set of their tires first hand. Sure, we’ve seen their super-aggressive Baja Claws tearing it up at rock races, but we needed a dual-purpose tire … one that would serve us well on the street, to and from the trail, as well as one that would perform and withstand a pounding like the professional drivers dish out. 

We really feel these are some of the best looking wheels on the market today.

We’d heard from many good sources that Mickey Thompson’s Radial MTZ might just be what we were after. These tires caught our eye about a year ago at a trade show and the image remained in our minds. After all, ones off-road tires must look all business, no matter if you’re a hard-core wheeler or a mall crawler! So, we talked to Mickey Thompson about picking up a set of the MTZs to see if they could do just that:  Could they hold up to mud, dirt and rocks, and also be quiet and road-worthy enough for a daily driver? 

The Wheel
First of all, the MTZs wouldn’t be at home on any other wheel than Mickey Thompson’s very own SideBiter Wheel, so this was an easy choice. Let’s face it: there is no hotter design than an aggressive black wheel, and MT hit the mark with this beautiful product.  Each spoke emulates the look of their trademark SideBiter side wall lug and we like the creativity.

In our experiences, the popularity of any hot product, including black wheels, drives the price up and we figured that the Sidebiter would not be appropriate for a budget build. We were wrong here. The SideBiter wheels are some of the most cost-effective aluminum wheels on the market today.  At an average price of $130 for a 15x8, almost anyone pinching pennies can afford a set of these. Affordability does not mean cheap here! They have been produced using low-pressure casting for extra high strength and have a “lifetime limited guarantee against structural defects.” They are also available in 15-inch, 16-inch and the very popular 17-inch diameters. What more could you want?  This wheel and tire package is not from the Stone Age!

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The Wal-Mart team loved the challenge of the MTZ 35s.

Round or Square?
Mounting the MTZs up was somewhat of an experience. Some laughed and others scoffed at our choice in tire shops, but sticking with a budget-minded build, we went down to our local Wal-Mart and let the kids in the back have a stab at mounting our big 35x12.50 15 tires. After working on boring passenger car tires all day, the entire staff ran over to help out in mounting and balancing the big meat.

The MTZ beads are tough. So tough, in fact, they snapped four bead mounting tools on the Euro Mounting Machine and wore out three of the young tire busters. When all was said and done, each tire was mounted and “zeroed out,” only requiring 2 or 3 ounces of weight at the most. This tells us a lot about the construction and quality of a tire. Our best tires have always required very little weight to balance. As for Wal-Mart … the tires are completely balanced and feel nice, smooth and round, and for $34 bucks to mount and balance all four, this is budget building at its best!

The Test
Our first impression of the MTZs after being mounted on our SideBiter wheels was that they were too quiet on the street for a mud tire. They sounded more like an all-terrain.  The tread is not overly aggressive; however, by looking at the large SideBiter lugs on the sidewall, one would think they’d buzz like a chainsaw. These just might be the quietest Mud Terrain tire we’ve ever tested. Sure, as they wear, they might become slightly louder, but we’re impressed so far. 

Aired up to the Wal-Mart recommended 32lbs., we decided to knock the pressure down to 23 lbs. for our lightweight Cherokee Project. The ride is great! Combined with our Iron Rock Off-Road Critical Path Suspension, we get ride quality that we’d love to share with any wheeler out there looking for a new set of tires with a comfortable ride. 

The MTZ tread is great for any terrain.

Mickey Thompson boasts that its PowerPly Sidewall is what makes this Mud Terrain such a great performer on the street and trail. A special angled third sidewall ply is in place for crisp handling, better puncture resistance and even improved towing capability.  The three-ply sidewall and six-ply tread is just what we need on the trail but is probably the reason for the low 23-25 lbs. of air needed on the street. It got us thinking that the thicker sidewall, with the big SideBiter sidewall lugs, might not flex very well in the rocks when aired down. Only a real world test would tell. We couldn’t wait to get them in their natural habitat: the rocks and dirt.

Our first trail with the MTZs would tell us a lot. Filled with huge, car-sized boulders, mud, dirt sections and sharp rocky chutes, our new tires had their work cut out for them.  The multi-stage lug pattern, combined with plenty of sipes, large lugs and voids, all aid the MTZs to work exceptionally well in any form of terrain. In fact, we feel that they excel here in the rocks more than any other category. The soft rubber compound and tread design also allow the tire to stay planted on rocks. We felt very little side slip while off camber on even the biggest rock slabs. While turning up onto an obstacle, the tires bit hard and pulled the Jeep up, rather than pushing sideways or forward.  They always took us in the direction we wanted to go no matter what the terrain.

We thought our MTZs had good flex on small rocks during our evaluation.

We purposely nudged our MTZ’s SideBiter side lugs into sharp objects while aired down to a slim 10 pounds just to see how they would react. As expected, the three-ply sidewall, combined with the SideBiter side lugs, shrugged off anything we threw at them. They are surprisingly flexible too. Any good radial tire should be able to wrap itself around rocks to aid in traction … and even with a stiffer sidewall, the MTZ’s flexed, conformed and bit for excellent traction.

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Interestingly enough, we couldn’t see much of a sidewall bulge on level ground, at this lower pressure; however, once sidewall flex was introduced via granite: Wow! Controlled flex oozed all over the sharpest rocks. We’ve recently hesitated from using the now “old school” 15-inch wheels because of the taller and exposed sidewall area, but the toughness of the MTZ sidewalls gave us the confidence to hit the rocks without worry.

Getting to the trail head consisted of several miles of washboard roads and rocky washes.  Normally, with an aggressive tire like the MTZs, our teeth were loose by the end of such horrible road conditions. Before airing down from our 23 pounds, the ride was pretty harsh. We quickly broke out our Stauns and brought our tires down to 10 pounds, and then we floated over the wash boards, as well as washed-out rocky sections at 15 mph or 20 mph.  We did our best impersonation of Ivan Stewart and took a few corners sideways, full throttle, only to shoot out of them with complete control and great traction. The MTZs bite in hard-packed dirt, during cornering, thanks to its sharp edges and wraparound shoulder lugs.

Washboard roads were nice and smooth with our MTZs.

Upon leaving the trail, we encountered something new. While we do not recommend this, we wanted to see how our MTZ’s would handle the road at 10 pounds. To our surprise, our three-ply sidewalls that flexed beyond our expectations on the rocks allowed the Jeep to stay stable in corners without so much flex that we felt unsafe. The MTZs were turning out to be the dual purpose tire that we wanted, and we couldn’t find a weak spot. Even in the watery, sandy mud that we encountered there was never a problem cleaning completely. It’s hard to find deep, gooey mud in Colorado, but we would expect the MTZs to clear this type of earth easily, due to its large voids and mud-clearing bars that are placed throughout each of these voids. We even had a short window of some snow testing where the MTZ’s siping and tread design allowed very good on-road manners.  The XJ Cherokee seemed a bit light in these conditions but the tires were still able to get enough traction in wet or heavy slush and ice. The Mickey Thompson MTZs were living up to their reputation and their legendary name during our testing by being extremely versatile.

The light mud we ran into was no problem for the MTZs.

The Legend
Mickey Thompson was always ahead of his time, developing forms of dirt sports that were new to enthusiasts, as well as new product that would prove to be some of the best on pavement as well as at home in the dirt and rocks.  The Mickey Thompson MTZ tires are certainly capable of satisfying the needs of a daily road driver, the back country roads explorer and even moderate to hardcore rock crawlers.  These tires just plain work and excel in every category.  If you are looking for an all around tire that is quiet and smooth on road and will keep you ahead of the pack on the trail, check out the Mickey Thompson MTZ Tires. Need wheels, with that new rubber? The modern styling and technology that goes into the SideBiter wheels will not leave you looking like you’ve just drove in from the Stone Age. Mickey Thompson has you covered with some of the best looking and best performing products today, with a price that even budget builders can afford!

Mickey Thompson Tires
330/928-9092
http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/