Here is my mean green four wheeling machine!

Short movie clip of me mudding in my truck: mudding.wmv

My `99 f-150

Stats: short cab, short bed, v6, 5speed, 4wd

Mods/add-ons to date: K&N Filtercharger, aftermarket headlights & tailights, Hella aux driving lights, cap, bug deflector, stainless steel tubular grille, Smittybilt steps, 1500W class D MTX amp, pair of 12" Audibahn woofers in DIY custom boxes. 

update: October '05: finally wore out original tires (over 70,000 on the tires). Upgraded to Kumho Venture MT (285x75 r16) and American Racing Outlaw II aluminum wheels 16"x8. Also removed factory 2" lift blocks on rear axle and replaced with 4" blocks, cranked up torsion bars in front to gain approximately 1.75" lift, steps under door, and custom making a skid plate to replace the front bumper valence that got destroyed my a minor driveway mishap. 

New stuff in '06:

New mud tires (Oct '05):

Original pictures:

A modest 2" of lift (all for well under $100) and slightly larger tires give this truck a great stance, and brings it up to the same height or taller than the much taller factory trucks now-a-days (like the dodges that look as though the factory installed a huge lift but forgot to put larger tires on lol). I am also working on a skid plate that is unfinished in the above pics. Overall height increased by about 3".

Tire Decision:

This was a big decision to make. This is my daily driver. But my 'play' truck was not reliable enough to make the long trips to the farms were I hunt and play mostly. I really wanted a mud tire as the fields tend to get muddy during hunting season. I also wanted a tire to do well in snow and still be good as a daily driver on highway and in the city. The Dunlop Radial Rover AT's were a good all terrain that did well in snow but not so good in thick / slippery mud. I wanted either the most aggressive AT tire out there or a not-so-aggressive MT tire. And I wanted decent tread ware and a decent price. Impossible you say? Well you'd be right, at least today. But here are some tires that made my finals list:

Firestone Destination MT, Bridgestone Dueler MT, Kumho Venture MT, Goodyear MT/R, Cooper Discoverer SST (new ones).

All these have good road manners (supposedly) decent tread ware, and good all terrain / mud performance. I narrowed it further to Firestone, Cooper, and Kumho, the ones I could get locally for a good price. They all were rated good, and the deciding factor ended up being price: Kumho Venture MT. It has the alternating side lugs, thinner lugs that are closer spaced (more biting edges per linear foot) and a denser center tread, which helps its highway manors and tread ware. These tires will clog up quicker than a aggressive MT like swampers, but its not a competition mud truck, its a daily driver that I want primarily to be able to get through the muddy/snowy fields for hunting purposes. I think these were a great choice. But how do they really perform? I will make updates hear as I use them and test there abilities. Keep in mind there not huge tires or that I don't have so much a limited slip.

Initial tire opinions. Oct 20th 2005 - under 1,000 miles. They look great. But I must admit the Cooper Discoverer STT is a more awesome looking tire. Noise level is slightly more than a really aggressive AT tire. Kind of like when you hit that different patch of pavement or go over a bridge and you hear that louder whine... that's exactly what these sound like. A bit louder road noise, but not the traditional hum like swampers do. Road manors were almost the same as the Dunlop AT's I had. Very minor difference. Trail performance, very light mud / dirt trail, uphill: could go up in 2wd with little problem were I would almost always have to go to 4wd before to stop from spinning to much. 

Will have 'em in some mud this very soon!

To be muddy, or not to be muddy? That is the question. These pics were when I first got the truck:

This webpage originally born on 9-9-01. Last updated on 2-11-07