• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

TireTerrain

  • Home
  • Comparisons & Reviews
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
Home » Comparisons & Reviews » Off-Road Tire Tread Patterns

Off-Road Tire Tread Patterns

December 22, 2022 by Emrecan Gurkan 2 Comments

  • A side note here: As a former Bridgestone engineer, I strongly recommend checking DiscountTire - Treadwell out. This is a tool that DiscountTire dealers use in the store. You can get recommendations based on value, performance, and local favorites.
    TRIED & TESTED!

Picking the best off-road tire for your vehicle can turn to painful process if you don’t know how to read off-road tire tread patterns. Well, I know because  I’ve been encountered lots of questions when I was working for Bridgestone.  No worries guys, picking off-road tires will become a doddle after reading this article. Let’s begin!

Table of Contents

Tread Pattern Types

Even though tread patterns state doesn’t much on their own, some features are highly impacted by tread. Handling, noise reduction, and traction are exceedingly related to your tire pattern. You can find the basic tread patterns in the below list.

  • Symmetrical – Asymmetrical
  • Directional – Non-Directional
  • Lug Type – Rib Type

Let’s start with the basic comparisons.

Symmetrical vs Asymmetrical Pattern

While asymmetrical tires are better for traction, symmetrical tires are a good option for comfort and less vocal ride

Let’s assume that dividing tire down to the middle. If the same tread patterns are present on both sides, this tire is symmetrical. Of course, the opposite is asymmetrical. It might seem abecedarian. Yet, it can give you a ton of ideas about tires’ performance.

  • Symmetrical patterns focus on comfort. Therefore, they have better handling and noise reduction
  • Asymmetrical patterns focus on performance. Therefore, they have better traction and stopping distance

Note: Off-road tires generally have symmetrical patterns due to increasing comfort on highway driving.

Directional vs Non-Directional Pattern

Tires with directional patterns can only wheel on one way. That means they can rotate only one way(rear to steer or steer to rear). Most performance tires are part of this category. These tires have a direction arrow on their upper sidewall. That arrow shows the rolling direction.

Sidenote: If your tire leaves different marks when you change the direction(inner sidewall to outer, outer to inner), that means your tire is directional.

Opposite to directional patterns, non-directional patterns can wheel on both ways. These tires enable rotation variations(left to right, rear left to steer right, etc.). Most touring tires are part of this category.

Directional and non-directional tires have different advantages. The below list will explain them briefly.

  • Directional tires are designed to evacuate water. Therefore, they have superior hydroplaning resistance.
  • Directional and non-directional tires can’t be compared due to handling. Handling is mostly related to the inner structure.
  • Directional tires have better dry breaking
  • Non – Directional tires look more aggressive
  • Directional tires generally last longer. They tend to wear evenly.

Lug Type vs Rib Type Design

Tires generally have lug or rib-type designs. Basically, if your tire consists of small squares instead of circumferential and continuous sections, it’s a lug-type tire. Manufacturers use lugs due to increase traction.  Lug-type tires have more void area than rib-types. The escalated void area always means better traction. For this reason, most all-terrain tires have a lug-type design. However, this design brings some disadvantages with it.

  • Lug-type tires have better loose ground traction
  • Rib-type tires offers smoother ride
  • Lug-type tires have significantly worse tread life
  • Rib-type tires are less noisy

Off-Road Tire Categories

It’s time to go back to our main topic. Off-road tires can be evaluated in 4 different categories.

  • All-Terrain
  • Mud-Terrain(Maximum traction)
  • Rugged-Terrain(Hybrid terrain)
  • Commercial All-Terrain

These tires might seem similar at the beginning but they’re built with different intends. Hence, defining your operation is crucial.

All-Terrain Tires

All-terrain tires are built to perform on and off the road smoothly. In order to achieve this goal, they need a stiff compound and tough sidewalls. These tires are a popular selection due to their aggressive looks. However, using them only for good looking will kill your vehicle’s on-road comfort. For this reason, I recommend these tires only if the below points are valid for you.

  • If you have at least 50% off-road operation
  • If you like severe off-roading but don’t wanna sacrifice too much from on-road manners
  • If tread life is priority for you

Note: If I was writing this article couple of years ago, I do recommend all-terrain tires for most of you. However, rugged-terrain tires had a big impact on the market.

Mud-Terrain Tires

Mud-terrain tires are also known as maximum traction tires. Due to their huge void area, their loose ground traction overperforms all the tires in this list. However, these tires have a softer compound than all-terrains due to increasing gripping ability. Yet, they have a lack of siping. Therefore, their light snow and wet ground performances are limited.

Use these tires only for,

  • If wet performance isn’t your priority
  • If you’re agreeing with road noise on the highways
  • If you need a solid tire for severe off-road(rack crawling, deep mud driving)
  • If you’re okay with highly limited tread life
  • If you want a tough looking on your vehicle

Note: Mud-terrain tires have better traction than all-terrains. However, using them only for mild off-road is unnecessary and will destroy your MPG.

Commercial All-Terrain Tires

Last but one of the most efficient participants of off-road tires. As we all understand from the name, these all-terrain tires are built with commercial intent. For this reason, those tires have extremely high durability and long-lasting rubber. However, their application range is exceedingly limited compared to the other off-road tires.

  • Best wet performance in this list
  • Long wear-life
  • Off-road capability is limited with mild off-road
  • Can’t be used for adventure
  • Solid highway handling due to rib type pattern
  • A bit firm but quiet ride
  • Not aggressive appearances

Rugged-Terrain Tires

Some people don’t like rugged-terrain tires. Well, I love them because they serve a certain group of people. The guys who want an aggressive look but don’t wanna sacrifice from on-road manners. Come on up!

Even though rugged terrain tires look tough, underneath their look they have slim sidewalls and relatively fluffy compounds. These features are needed for satisfying on-road manners. In return, using them on the severe off-road will hurt your tread life, maybe even your tire.

  • If you want to combine good looking with comfort
  • If you want better severe off-road traction but doesn’t wanna sacrifice from the tread life
  • If you want deaf driving

Note: Some people say these tires are between mud and rugged-terrain tires. However, it’s only valid for LT sizes). I recommend these tires for an aggressive appearance and cozy ride.

Conclusion

I know rugged-terrain tires stir up trouble. Due to eliminate this confusion, I’ve prepared the below table.

All-TerrainMud-TerrainRugged-TerrainRugged-Terrain(LT)Commercial All-Terrain
Comfort33434
Road Noise32545
Mild Off-Road55445
Severe Off-Road45342
Tread Life42345
Fuel-Efficiency32344

Take-Home Points,

  • LT sizes have stronger sidewalls. That feature makes them more durable. Yet, these tires offer a rougher ride. (LT vs P-Metric tires)
  • XL sizes tend to carry more load and offer better handling. Hence, if you’ll go with p-metric sizes, they might be a better pick for hauling and towing( XL vs SL tires)
  • Please pay attention to the load range and speed index. These metrics are essential if you expect decent tread life
  • There isn’t a bad tire in the market right now, you should just know what to expect from tires

A side note here: If you’d like to get local advice and find the best fit for your driving habits, location, and road conditions DiscountTire – Treadwell Tire Guide can give you masterpiece recommendations.

I hope this article was helpful. If you need any further questions, please leave them in the below section. Have a safe ride folks!

Guide Me Bruh!

This section contains my research and top picks. Depending on your need, you may choose a category and easily find the best fit for yourself. Remember, nobody knows your driving conditions and requirements better than yourself. You’re in the charge out here.

Start Here:

Blue-Ribbon Tires

  • Best All-Weather Tires
  • Best Rugged-Terrain Tires
  • Best Mud-Terrain Tires

Be a Professional

  • Get the Longest Life from Your Tires
  • Can I Replace Just One Tire?
  • How to Read Tire Size?
  • How Long Can You Drive on a Spare Tire?
  • Tire Wear Patterns
  • How to Check Tire Tread Depth with Penny?

All-Terrain

  • Toyo Open Country AT3 Review
  • BF Goodrich KO2 Review
  • Falken Wildpeak AT3W Review
  • Firestone Destination XT Review
  • Firestone Destination AT2 Review

Mud-Terrain

  • Hankook Dynapro MT2 Review
  • BF Goodrich KM3 vs Cooper STT Pro
  • Toyo Open Country MT vs Nitto Trail Grappler MT

Rugged-Terrain 

  • Kenda Klever R/T Review
  • Nitto Ridge Grappler vs Toyo Open Country AT3
  • Nitto Ridge Grappler vs BF Goodrich KO2
  • Toyo Open Country RT vs Nitto Ridge Grappler

Winter

  • Michelin X-Ice Snow Review
  • Pirelli Scorpion Winter Review
  • Goodyear UltraGrip Winter Review
  • Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 vs WS90

All-Season Touring

  • Michelin Primacy Tour A/S Review
  • Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring A/S Review
  • Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive Review
  • Bridgestone Alenza AS Ultra Review
  • Goodyear Assurance MaxLife Review
  • Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack Review
  • BF Goodrich Advantage Control Tire Review

All-Weather Touring

  • Firestone WeatherGrip Review
  • Michelin Crossclimate 2 vs Defender

Highway-Terrain

  • Michelin Defender LTX M/S Review
  • Continental TerrainContact H/T Review

High Performance

  • Pirelli P Zero Review
  • Pirelli P Zero Nero All-Season Review
  • Pirelli P Zero All-Season Plus Review
  • Pirelli P Zero M+S Review

Filed Under: Pro Tips Tagged With: Tips&Advices

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. James Morse says

    November 12, 2022 at 1:27 PM

    That is not a symmetrical tire that you show as an example.

    Reply
    • Emrecan Gurkan says

      November 14, 2022 at 3:14 AM

      Hey James,

      Thanks for the warning. It can be evaluated as symmetrical, though, I’ll try to be more intelligible next time.

      Photos have changed as you requested 🙂

      Take care

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Find Tires

About Me

Hey, It's Emre. Industrial and Civil Engineer, former Bridgestone field test inspector. In love with being an overlander. Bigger is better moonie! Read More…

Contact Channels

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

High-End Tires by Category

Best All-Terrain Tires

Best Rugged-Terrain Tires

Best Mud-Terrain Tires

Best All-Season Tires for Snow

Best Tires for Snow Plowing

Best Semi-Truck Tires

Categories

Copyright © 2023

  • Disclaimer
  • About Me
  • Contact

List of current deals I found:

DiscountTire - Instant %5 Off for $399+ Purchases (Ends 31 March, 2023)