Thornbirds or Thorntirds??

[CHEVY4LLTHEWAY]

I have been searching for a set of 35'' mud tires for a while now to put on my 85 short bed and was going to settle on getting a set of Trxus mt's. But, the other day I found out that you could buy blemished tires from Interco directly and the only full set of tires they had were a set of 35'' Thornbirds. I've read many reviews on these tires and basically 90% of them say they flat out suck, and some say they are great tires. Should I just wait for a full set of blemished Trxus mt's to be produced or should I go ahead and get the Thornbirds. I like the looks of them and I plan on driving on them around 75 miles a week on the highway and occasionally go mudding and get to a few fishing spots. Yes, I know Swampers aren't going to hold up well on the highway, but Im going to get them anyway lol. Also, If you have Thornbirds on your truck I'd appreciate it if you would post a pic of it with them on.

[dbmx66]

they're not bad on the street. alot better then running unbalanced bias 39.5 boggers... LOL

there not very good in mud. get packed way to quick.

[79Betty]

Mine had 33" thornbirds on it when i bought it. They were alright. Only problem was the were aired up so much that every tire lug would hit going down the road. Otherwise they were fine.

[dieseldawg142]

if you have to have swamps & street drive a lot, t-birds aren't bad. my bud has a set of 33's on his truck. as mentioned, in the mud, he's usually the first one asking for the yank strap. and they do have a sound to them going down the freeway.
personally, i would wait & get the Trxus M/T's, their good on the street, & better than the 'birds off road
there really is'nt a good "all-round" swamper, especially when you go big. their awesome off road, but are a handful on the street. thats why i kept my Toyo's for the street when i bought my swamps. (38.5 TSL SX's)

[black_sheep454]

If you plan on driving it on the highway I wouldn't run thornbirds because I've seen them throw treads off several times. They do work great offroad and I never got stuck with the 35's I had on my old k5. IMO for mudding and light terrain the side treads are great, but road driving they are noisy, road crazy, and can detread.

[special-K]

I've seen them throw treads,too. Never owned any myself. I always saw them as a novelty tire. The only tire Interco made I have no desire to own...for any purpose. I'd think those huge blocks of tread would be bad on wet roads

[Jeepwm69]

Turdbirds are the biggest poser mud tire ever made. Awful. There is NOTHING good about them.

I've been Jeeping for 25 years. I would run wooden spoke wagon wheels before I'd run thornbirds.

BFG MT's have in recent years been the best on-off road tire. Well behaved, good ride, long lasting, and do decent in the mud. The new KM2's don't work quite as well as the original KM's but they ride better.

They are pricey though, almost to the point of where I'm not sure they're worth it anymore.

Treadright retreads and have some decent looking tread patterns. They seem to get good reviews on the local boards, but I'm iffy on retreads.

Next set of mud tires I'll get will probably be Swamper LTB's, but that Jeep is almost exclusively used off road. I miss my Co-op Grip Spurs.......

[wilkin250r]

I've never seen or experienced the Thornbirds throwing treads, but I also don't have a ton of experience with them.

Yes, they're loud on the street, but most larger mud/offroad tires are.

As an offroad tire, they perform average in dirt and rocks. Not stellar, but not awful either. However, they DO perform awful in mud or snow. The treads are way to close together and the center groove just get packed up.

If the price was fantastic, I wouldn't hesitate to run them in dry conditions (except for the throwing tread issue, that kinda scares me), but I'd never run them in anything worse than wet pavement. Mud or snow, they are easily one of the worst performing offroad tire available. I'd rather have street tires in the mud.

[Kaysen]

I would pass unless they are super cheap. Two friends have ran them and had no luck with them on their street trail rigs. Super loud on road with bad handling characteristics. Off road they are okay for trails but if you're planning to do any serious wheeling, buy a serious tire.

On a side note, I have ran Super Swamper TSL SX's both on and off road with pretty good overall results. Not as loud on the street as boggers but have similar handling and flat spotting characteristics. Also ran the Super Swamper M16's with Excellent overall results. They handle on road like a car tire. Do great off road, even in thick drilling mud that's pumped into our local mudbogs, just have to keep them spinning to clean them out. Ive also ran BFG Mud terrain KM with good results. Not as capable off road as the M16 but still a very good multi use tire.

[68Timber]

I can't believe they still make and sell them. I've never had a set, but have only seen negative reviews since they started making them.

[dieseldawg142]

Originally Posted by BRUISER

I can't believe they still make and sell them. I've never had a set, but have only seen negative reviews since they started making them.

all the show trucks need a knarly tire to get around the fairgrounds!