I sold my 75 f100 back in April because the frame was shot and picked up a 78 F250 "snowfighter". I'm going to buy the skyjacker 6" lift for it and I've been stuck trying to decide between two tires to buy, the super swamper irok or tsl/sx. Which one is better for mud? I'mg not doing any mud racing, but I'll still be going through mud bogs, wooded trails, some rock (nothing extreme), etc. So far over on pirate4x4 I've read better stuff about the tsl/sx but I wanted to get some feedback from here as well. Also if any of you have pictures of this style truck with either of the tires please post them. I'm looking at the 36" bis irok, 36" sx, or 38" sx. Also I keep reading different things about what size tire I can use. Will a 38" tire fit with the 6" lift and still leave room for some flex and turning?

 

If this is a dedicated wheeling rig and not a daily driver your conditions spell bogger. Maybe do a tsl front/bogger rear if you do lots of sidehilling and need the directional stability.

 

Well at some point I'd like to take my 96 F150 off the road to give it some needed attention after all of these NE ohio winters.

I work at summit racing and I get about $100 off any tire there. This truck (the 78) will be driven to and from the places I go 4wheeling at, both of the places being at least 25 miles away. I don't want to get in to boggers because they'll see the street often and I've read that they don't ride to well and obviously don't last long. I'd also like to be able to rotate the tires.

 

i have never had any luck with the super swampers for any type of on road driving.
the best i got out of any of them was around 10,000 miles.
they are a very soft compound and on road driving tears them up.

 

Almost all of Interco's dedicated off road tires are of very soft compound and really aren't round. They don't make great street tires.
They harden with age and will eventually wear like iron but they are long past being good for much but being noisy on pavement at that point.
If you want an all around tire I suggest going with a standard mud terrain along the lines of a bfg or a cooper stt or maybe a pro comp.
If you can swing it and really want interco tires, I suggest doing 2 sets of tires.

 

I have a friend (OK, we all know how reliable these stories are) that said the SSR was a pretty good streetable tire. I don't have any experience with them myself, and I don't know how long he though they lasted. So take that for what (little) it's worth.

 

Well I don't know why this got off track, but honestly I know I can only expect at most 15-20k miles out of a set of these tires. I know that. I know they make noise which I actually like. I know that they don't balance out perfect most of the time, which is not a big deal. My two questions from the original post are, which of the two from your experience is better in the described environments? That's all that I need to know. That and if you have any pictures of them on a 78-79 F250 then post them.

 

THIS. I bought a pair of mounted and balanced (with a ton of weights) 42" TSLs for my old truck from a guy on Craigslist that had them sitting behind his shed for a few years. I only really drove them to and from the trails, but it seemed like they never wore down one bit. They also rode surprisingly smooth and didn't flat spot as much as my brand new 38s.

I've always had good luck buying old mud tires off Craigslist as opposed to buying them new. People get tired of/sell projects and then unload the wheels and tires for cheap to get them out of their way. Check there before buying new. It'll give you the option of trying a few types out for cheap.

Oh and I suggest TSLs. I've heard mixed opinions about IROKs but never used them. I've had two sets of TSL bias plys and both performed phenomenally in the mud.

 

It got off track when you shot down the idea of Boggers because they weren't streetable enough. After that we've been trying to think of mud tires that are pretty good (not as good as Boggers) in the mud but are better on the street.

 

I have been looking at the 38x13x16" TSL's but the actual width is less than 13" on a 10" wide rim and I just don't think that'll look good on the truck as I prefer wider tires. The TSL/SX and Irok tires that I'm looking at are both over 13" wide which should look great. The thing I like about the irok is that is has 8 plys for the tread which is more than the avg. swamper. The SX only has 6 but apparently has a steel belt in it.

This isn't a strict go straight hard core mud bug truck, thus why I don't want to go with boggers. I think it'd be cool two go boggers in the rear and the SX in the front, but I just don't know.

 

My buddies 78 F250 6" skyjacker on 37x12.50 treadwrights
Same truck on 36" tsl radials

My F350 6" skyjacker on 38.5"

I think a 36-37" tire is max with a 6" lift if you plan on putting it through its paces and want to avoid body damage and/or trimming.

Notice how on the red 78 the front fenders have been bobbed.

 

There we go that's what I was looking for. Do you have any clearance issues with the 38.5"s? There are two 38x12.5x16.5" SX tires, one with a 6/4 ply rating that is actually 38.5" in overall diam, and the other with a 10/6 ply rating is just under 38". So with your suggestion, The second of the two would probably be perfect then?

 

Yes, with the 38.5's I could do damage if I pushed it, but if my front fenders were "bobbed" there wouldn't be any clearance issues at all.

I think I'd go for the higher ply rating with a heavy truck especially if you plan on any hauling or towing.

 

If all you want is the looks then go with the wider tire but unless you are running a lightened vehicle in straight line mud drags with over 800hp the skinny tires will do better in mud.

Sand would be different (you want to stay on top in sand) but it takes serious HP to stay on top of mud and keep moving. wide tires PUSH a lot of mud and make it really tough to get or stay moving plus they create a huge suction if you do get stuck.

Oh and for your situations the TSL will way outdue the IROK.

 

TSL over IROKs any day