Do you spend a lot of time driving on loose surface roads, either as part of your occupation or because you simply love the great outdoors? You may be getting ready to change the tyres on your vehicle and have heard some conflicting advice about the type of tyre you really need to make the most of this type of driving experience. How can you cut through the chatter and make sure that you make the right choice when you actually buy?

In the Past

Years ago, when four-wheel-drive vehicles were designed for use solely in off-road conditions, you had very little choice and would have to get bias ply tyres that were designed by the manufacturer to fit on the original set of rims. Of course, today it is fashionable to buy a four-wheel-drive vehicle for purely domestic reasons and thus a variety of different tyres can be purchased that typically sit on wider and smaller wheels. For those who want to do a lot of off-road driving, however, this is not really ideal.

Whenever you drive on an unsurfaced road you risk coming into contact with stones or boulders and need wheels and tyres that are stronger and more practical. Consequently, you would choose a tyre with heavy-duty construction and stronger sidewalls, together with a much tougher tread pattern.

How Times Have Changed

Technology has come a long way and tyres are now designed to be more of a compromise, giving you a certain amount of grip in off-road conditions, a highly-engineered tread pattern for variable weather, inherent strength for high-speed driving and overall durability. They have strong sidewalls that will dissipate any heat very efficiently but which will nevertheless stand up to very rocky roads.

Assessing the Choices

Therefore, whenever you buy a tyre that is marketed as off-road, you will typically have three separate choices. You can get a serious and dedicated tyre that is labelled as mud/terrain and mostly for the real explorers, or you could get something that is labelled all-terrain and is perfect for somebody who splits their motoring between on-road and off-road. Finally, you can get a tyre that is engineered for a small amount of off-road driving but would be best for those who stick to the black stuff more often.

What's for You?

Calculate how many miles you will do in each type of condition so that you make the best truck tyres choice. Remember, mud/terrain tyres may work okay on highways, but they will be a lot noisier than one of the other selections. If you're not sure what you should opt for, ask the experts when you take the vehicle in to get the new covers.