I usually do not bother buying or subscribing to 4x4 magazines anymore because the only things that interest me are the ads and an article every year or so.

So ... I was browsing offroad.com and came across this article:

http://www.off-road.com/ford/tech/pressure.html

"Radials are the only way to go for serious off-road use. I have never - REPEAT NEVER - seen a really good non-radial tire for off-road work."

I have never owned a Bogger and I guess this guy has never owned a Ground Hawg. To me the Ground Hawg is better then almost any radial tire out there.

If you have actually seen these newer radial tires like the Claw in mud, I don't know how you can say it even comes close to a Bogger or Hawg (my favorite) off-road. I have used the newer BFG KOs in snow and ice and they are excellent, but, they can not even approach a Hawg in deep slush or mud OFF-ROAD.

Plus, my thing about radials is they slice easy on the shoulder and are practially useless on road if you puncture them up high with a branch. On a bias tire all you have to do is force a mushroom plug in there and you are all set.

Anyone else find this statement from the "tech" column totally bogus? Or am I just out of touch because I have not bought a new radial mud tire in four years?

 

Bwaahahaha, no, the guy that wrote that is an utter and complete idiot. A total fool. 100% grade A chowderhead. Your instincts were correct. The only reason many of us put up with the poor tread life and handeling quirks of bias tires is because there isn't a radial made that can touch them off-road. It just kills me when morons like that get ink time. But c'mon, what do you expect from a guy who's last name is "Siemen"?

 

I was thinking the same thing. Hmmmmm. Let's put a radials on the driver's side and bias on the passenger side. Then, lets take the truck through a section of rocks and mud. Can you tell me which tires will go flat due to sidewall punctures first?

I've seen LOTS of Claws in action. They suck.
Ground Hawgs....they're ok until you have to back up. But they're great tires (in my experience on the street)
Boggers: I've seen a TON of these in recent years and nothing will touch them. Snow or mud, there's no competition.

If you're going to mud, get bias. If you're looking for something for your minivan, get AT radials.

Cody

 

I Disagree, I'v had My 35" Claw Radials In Some Pretty Thick Mud And Rough Clay And They Do Good, Of Course Not Near As Good As A Bogger Would But Their Still A Really Good Tire.

 

That article is pretty lame, and Hunky there has trouble spelling too. He is getting run over by a bias ply tire in that article's heading, maybe he has a bias against bias ply tires after getting hurt by one

Radials work offroad, but were originally designed for highway driving. Most bias ply tires have better sidewall puncture resistance than radial ply tires. Bias ply tires conform to the terrain more also, you do normally have to let a little more air out of bias ply tires because of the better sidewall.

A radial ply tire has a rectangular tire patch when aired down, you are thus pushing the tire against a flat frontal zone. A bias ply tire has an oval / boat shaped tire patch when aired down, I find they handle mud and sand dunes much better because of the v shaped frontal zone helping to lift the tire onto the soft terrain surface.