Recently, among the owners of all-wheel drive SUVs, especially domestic UAZs, the installation of other tires and wheels, as a rule, of a larger diameter, has become popular. Basically, as a tire, motorists are guided by the purchase of mud. But is it reasonable to purchase them and for what operating conditions are they intended? You will find answers to these and other questions in our article.
Characteristic
From the name itself, it becomes clear that these tires are designed for operation on muddy terrain. For the most part, they are bought by off-road lovers, as their iron horses are constantly influenced by complete off-road. And so that the car does not suddenly lead in a different direction, you need to have a powerful engine and good tread on wheels. The last quality is provided by mud tires. On the tread, they have powerful checkers and lamellas with massive grousers, which eliminates the possibility of slipping when driving on dirt roads, including on wet grass. With such wheels, you are unlikely to stall in deep mud, and if so, then at any moment you will be saved by the winch, which we talked about in previous articles.
These tires often have a special designation M / T. This inscription can be seen on the wheel rim. M / T stands for Mud Tires, i.e. mud tires. It is recommended to install just such tires on Niva, UAZ and all other all-wheel drive SUVs.
Pros and cons
As we have already noted, with such a tire you can safely go on any off-road. High slats and large grousers provide the car with effective grip even on the most difficult roads. But at the same time you have to forget about normal driving on asphalt. This is its main drawback. When driving on asphalt, mud tires are much less than when driving in the terrain for which they are intended. The steering wheel on such a road will be “cotton”, and the SUV will become uncontrollable even at 60 kilometers per hour. The faster he goes, the more he will be thrown from side to side. Therefore, if for the most part you operate your car around the city, it is better to buy ordinary tires. As for driving on a gravel road, here, too, is not so simple. Yes, mud tires can keep the car in rough terrain, but the name implies that the car will be driven only if it happens in the mud. For such a road, it is best to purchase extreme wheels. Although they are similar to mud, however, inside they have more layers of cord and a more durable frame. But this does not exclude the possibility of their exploitation on sand and stones.
Mounting
As for the installation, these mud tires are mounted on the disk without much effort (just like a simple "all-weather season"). The only thing she sometimes needs is balancing. There were cases when the tires on the UAZ Patriot mud, when balanced, were equipped with several weights weighing up to 400 grams.
Price
Such tires cost an average of 3 to 13 thousand rubles per unit.