Top 10 Best Mud Terrain Tires for Trucks and SUVs

If you look at statistics, you will find two things – SUVs and trucks are quite popular in the states, and that most of them are driven on the roads. Despite being able to tackle some dirt roads, gravel, or mud, most car owners drive their SUVs or trucks on the pavement.

Despite that, there are some that are interested in some off-roading experience and will find today’s article particularly helpful. Today I’ll be talking about the best mud terrain tires for your SUV or truck. Before I begin, there are a few things worth mentioning.

When it comes to choosing the right set of tires for any kind of car, it is important to consider your driving preferences. Tires that are dedicated to certain conditions usually don’t perform great on others. In this case, going for tires designed to cope with mud means that you will have to sacrifice performance on other types of surfaces.

Once you go through this list, you will find that there are some models that manage to balance things out. Keep in mind, though, balanced tires may struggle with some extreme conditions.

One thing to point out is the warranty. Unlike road tires, most of the mud-terrain ones won’t come with any mileage warranty.

With that out of the way, let’s dive into the list.

Read more: Top 9 Best Mud Tires for Street: Latest Options

Top 10 Best Mud Terrain Tires for Trucks and SUVs Available in 2024

1. BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3

Off-Road Maximum Traction Tires

I’m starting off this list with one of the best mud terrain tires you can get, the BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3. This model comes as an upgrade over the previous KM2 one offering a decent upgrade, designed for the drivers of Jeeps, full-size SUVs and pickup trucks.

This tire’s spotlight is the mud performance, and it doesn’t disappoint. It provides superb traction even when it’s put up against deeper mud and will perform exceptionally in snowy conditions.

On the road, it surprised me how well it performed on the pavement. When driven on dry surfaces, it surprises with the levels of grip it has. A similar story can be told in wet conditions where you get excellent performance and decent hydroplaning resistance.

The off-road performance is the best there is, and you will hardly find a tire capable of outperforming it. The symmetric tread pattern called Terrain-Attack enables the tire to perform well in multiple off-roading scenarios. One thing that its predecessor failed short was rock crawling, something that has been addressed in the KM3.

Despite that, it performs exceptionally on dirt and gravel. To keep the tire as tough as possible, BFGoodrich developed it with its Traction-Armor Sidewall Sculpture technology. In essence, thanks to it, the tire is as good as it is and can take some beating.

2. Cooper Discoverer STT Pro

Cooper is the type of brand that manages to sell with excellent performance for a reasonable price. Take the Cooper Discoverer STT Pro, for example. It is an excellent mud-terrain tire that can compete with the more premium models but without the expensive price-tag.

On muddy surfaces, you will have the feeling like you are driving a premium tire. The aggressive tread pattern enables it to go through deeper mud with ease. This is thanks to the alternating shoulder lugs that improve the traction on mud or other softer surfaces. As a bonus, it performs excellently over harder surfaces like dirt roads or gravel. To keep it long-lasting, Cooper designed it with Armor Tek3 technology for increased robustness.

Driving the Discoverer STT Pro on the pavement is not the best, but it should be good enough for most drivers. The traction on dry pavement is average, but the one thing that manages to surprise me is the comfort and noise levels. Mud-terrain tires with aggressive tread patterns are generally noisy, but not the Discoverer STT Pro. Even though it’s rugged, it absorbs bumps and road imperfections, offering a relatively smooth ride. In wet conditions, the performance is just like on the dry ones, average, but decent if you don’t push things too far.

The biggest downside of the Discoverer STT Pro is its performance on snow and ice. While it will cope with fresh snow decently, once it starts packing, it won’t be able to bite down, which leads to loss of traction. On the ice, the situation is no different, meaning that there are other models better suited for these conditions.

3. Firestone Destination M/T2

Even though Firestone isn’t a tire manufacturing company that you won’t find near the top of any lists. Despite that, models like the Destination M/T2 are an excellent choice for people looking for mud-terrain tires for their SUVs or trucks. While it won’t blow away the competition, the performance is decent overall.

Starting off with the off-roading capabilities, there are some good news and bad news. The good news is that the Firestone Destination M/T2 is excellent with rock-crawling, offering tons of grip. This is thanks to the 3-ply construction, which improves the tires deflating properties. The bad news is in the mud performance. Even though I am recommending it as such, it may struggle with deeper mud. In those cases, I would recommend going for one of the other options on this list.

Moving away from the mud, the dry performance of the Firestone Destination M/T2 is generally decent. The traction is good, and the tire feels safe when driven normally. I had a similar experience in the wet, where the tire performed decent enough with as much grip as you’d need.

One aspect where it surprised me was the snow performance. Even though tires with aggressive tread patterns are generally good on snow, the Firestone Destination M/T2 managed to perform well even in areas with packed snow.

Finally, when it comes to longevity, Firestone’s Destination M/T2 doesn’t disappoint. Thanks to the special compound and design, you should expect long tread life out of it.

Read Our In-depth Review!

4. Goodyear Wrangler MT/R With Kevlar

Goodyear has been making excellent tires for many years, and the Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar is no expectation. Putting the performance aside, you are getting a beefy-looking tire with an aggressive tread pattern and a compound with Kevlar for improved durability.

When it comes to mud performance, the Wrangler MT/R is one of the best you’ll find on the market. The tread pattern with mud-flowing geometry provides superb grip in muddy situations. Even if you get stuck in deeper mud patches, this tire will get you out of them. As for the rest of the off-roading experience, it’s very positive. If you need to go over rocks, the tire will offer an excellent feel through the steering wheel so that you’ll know what is happening. Traction on most surfaces like gravel or dirt is marvelous.

Putting Kevlar into something means that you are increasing its toughness, which is what Goodyear did with the Wrangler MT/R. Based on the claims, with the new compound, Goodyear managed to increase the puncture and cut resistance of the sidewall by 35% over the previous model.

The on-road performance is as good as you can expect from a mud-terrain tire. Dry tarmac is no problem for the Wrangler MT/R, and you will get excellent levels of grip and good stopping distances. While it does fall a bit short on wet surfaces, it didn’t disappoint.

On the comfort side of things, the experience is mostly positive. Since the sidewall is higher, the driving experience is very smooth, and it eliminates road imperfections without any problems. A slight downside is that at highway speeds, they are noisier than most of the competitors.

5. General Grabber X3

Best budget Mud Terrain Tires

From the US domestic market, I decided to include General’s Grabber X3 in this list. I believe that it’s another model that doesn’t come to people’s minds when shopping for a new set of mud-terrain tires. This is an excellent tire, which is more than capable of mud, but at a more affordable price when compared to some of the premium models.

First, the good side of the Grabber X3, which is the mud performance. You can easily compare it with the best of the best, and in some instances, it may manage to slightly outperform them. Deeper mud patches will pose no danger to the Grabber X3, thanks to the open tread design. For rock-crawling, the performance of the tire is just as good. Developed with a 3-ply body casing using Duragen’s technology means that you can deflate it safely and avoid damage to the sidewall when going over rocks. Traction over gravel and dirt is equally impressive, making it not only one of the best mud-terrain tires but also off-road in general.

Unfortunately, things aren’t as good in the on-road performance as it is off-road, and this is where you can see the drawbacks you get from the lower price. While it doesn’t perform terribly and does offer some traction, it is far from some of the other options on this list.

Then there’s the comfort, which is not something to brag about. While the ride quality isn’t too bad, the biggest issue I had was with the levels of noise. Even though mud-terrain tires are not the quietest ones on the pavement, the Grabber X3 is one of the loudest.

6. Federal Couragia M/T

Best Cheap Mud Terrain Tires

Going for the premium mud-terrain tires means that you need to pay more, so this model falls in the cheaper category. The Federal Couragia M/T can be considered as an entry-level mud-terrain tire with decent performance and a few tradeoffs.

The performance on mud is exceptional when compared with its rival in this class. It is designed with deeper tread patterns that help is find traction and dig in even when the mud is deeper. What I found to lack is the performance on hardpack surfaces. It will have some traction, but you will feel like it could use more. Luckily, the softer compound means that it can do some rock-crawling, but you must be careful not to deflate it too much.

When I talk about mud-terrain or off-road tires, I always mention not to expect too much of them on the road. Unfortunately, the Couragia M/T is far from the best in those conditions. Things get slightly worse in wet conditions, as I felt the tire struggling for grip even at slower speeds.

What managed to surprise me is how well the tire performs on snow. The tread design helps a lot with unpacked snow, as it can dig in and find grip. A similar result was with packed snow, thanks to the softer compound that provided decent grip.

The biggest surprise was in the comfort department, or the lack thereof. The Couragia M/T is not the most comfortable nor the quietest tire on the market, even in this category.

7. Kumho Road Venture MT71

Kumho has always been considered as a tire brand that offers excellent bang for the buck tires. Released as an upgrade over two previous tire models from Kumho, the Road Venture MT71 is a perfect definition of it.

Mud performance on this tire is excellent, and in some cases, it may even compete with some of the premium rivals. Thanks to the tread design and deep lugs, I feel like this is a tire that will never get stuck in the mud, regardless of how deep it is. On top of that, the Kumho Road Venture MT71 is a tire that is equally capable of tackling dirt, gravel, rocks, and even sand in some instances.

As a general rule, if a tire excels in one category, it won’t perform as well in another, and that’s the case with the dry and wet performance. While in both cases, the tire performs as you would expect, the driving dynamics aren’t there. On top of that, the overall traction is not the best, especially when it starts to rain. While there are some improvements over the previous models, there is more to be improved.

The snow performance is good and bad. On unpacked snow, the tire performed almost as well as it did on mud. When it came to packed snow, the Kumho Road Venture MT71 showed its weakness and offered very limited traction.

Finally, the comfort levels of this tire are one of the best. The ride quality and noise levels were far from a decent touring tire, but as a mud-terrain one, the Kumho Road Venture MT71 impressed me.

8. Toyo Open Country M/T

Toyo is a tire manufacturer that is rarely considered when it comes to any kind of off-road or mud-terrain tires. The good news is that they have a model for those scenarios, and it’s the Open Country M/T.

At first glance, the beefy tire gives you the impression that there is not mud that it cannot get out of, and that is true. This model has an exceptional performance in mud thanks to the bigger tread blocks that extend over the shoulders. To ensure constant grip and avoid mud and stone buildup, it is designed with stone ejectors that help eliminate mud buildup in the tread.

On the road, it has decent performance with plenty of grip, but it felt a bit slow to respond to my inputs. The wet performance was better, especially when it came to hydroplaning.

Thanks to the tread design, the Toyo Open Country M/T managed to surpass my expectations on unpacked snow. It performed like a champ until it came to packed snow. That’s when I started to feel the tires loosing grip sooner than I would want to.

The ride comfort was decent, and the Toyo Open Country M/T managed to provide a smooth experience. One problem I had with it was that the tire noise was too loud.

9. Pro Comp Xtreme MT2

Pro Comp is probably one of the least known tire manufacturers on this list, but considering how impressed I was with the Xtreme MT2, I had to include it.

Despite the lack of popularity, this is a tire you’d want to have if you are looking for a great mud-terrain performance. This is thanks to the tread design that helps the tire grip even when facing deeper mud. The self-cleaning design ensures that the grooves remain clean of mud or stones so that they can perform optimally. For other off-road activities, the Xtreme MT2 has a 3-ply construction offering better protection from punctures or when deflating them.

On the dry road, it performs average. There is traction, and it grips well enough, but there are better-performing tires than this one. Where it does excel is when you drive it on wet surfaces. The grooves manage to evacuate water from beneath the tire, providing superb grip.

When you drive on snow, you feel the advantages of the aggressive tread design. The tire can bite down and pull you out from almost any snow, except a packed one. In those cases, these tires can struggle.

For comfort, I didn’t expect too much, and my expectations were on point. The comfort levels are average, but the noise levels were higher than I would have liked them to be.

10. Hankook Dynapro MT2

Last but certainly not least, I have Hankook’s Dynapro MT2. This tire is designed to replace the existing MT model, and Hankook claims that there are some improvements as well as a more balanced performance.

Tires that tend to perform well in most conditions cannot excel in a single one. The Hankook Dynapro MT2 has decent mud performance, and the tread design helps it provide traction. Despite that, I did notice that in deeper mud patches, the tire struggled a bit. For other off-roading, the tread lugs help out a lot, and it manages to cope in various conditions. The blocks extend over the shoulders providing additional protection from sharp rocks.

The loss of mud performance is made up when you drive it on dry tarmac. Even though it won’t be able to replace a road tire, the performance is adequate. As soon as it started to rain, I felt the tire performing slightly better. The traction on wet surfaces didn’t change much, but thanks to the tread design, it managed to resist hydroplaning.

On the snow side of things, the performance was average. It seemed like it managed to perform slightly better on unpacked snow when compared with packed one.

Unlike most of the previous models, the Dynapro MT2 had a slightly harsher ride which wasn’t very loud. In some cases, the tire felt a bit harsh, and even though there was some tire noise, it wasn’t obnoxious.

Conclusion

In many cases, you won’t find articles outlining dedicated mud terrain tires for your SUV or truck. To aid you in that, I’ve compiled a list of the best 10 tires for those conditions. For most of them, the mud performance tells only part of the story, and you can have an excellent all-round off-roading experience. If you pick the model right, you may even end up with a mud-terrain tire that can be driven on-road comfortably.