It really comes down to you and what you are willing to compromise. There is no perfect tire, just a tire that meets most of your needs. The MS2 will provide excellent wet weather traction, a smooth quiet ride, less rocks picked up and thrown back. The AT will provide increased off road and snow traction, better traction in most loose soil conditions, have a louder tire noise level.

You just need to decide what attributes you can't live without and which ones you can let go. I outlined just a few of the attributes per tire that may be of interest to you.

DebbieM wrote:

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Thank You Rickl and Cummins12V98!  That's great insight, I had heard the the A/T2 pick up and throw rocks and they are louder on the road. So this has really help me sway to the M/S 2's, plus the longer OEM rated tread life. Since we only boondock and off road occasionally I think the M/S 2's will be best overall for our needs.

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 You are welcome!

 

These were on my 11 HO RAM Dually.  40K with only side to side rotation on front tires every 15K keeping rotation the same.  Run 80psi all the time front.  35 solo and 65 towing with 5,500# pin weight.

 

 

-- Edited by Cummins12V98 on Sunday 29th of May 2016 05:05:35 AM

The best rotation (with a re-balance preferably) is to X the front to the inside duals, the inner move to the outside rears, and then X (cross) the outside tire to the front. I would highly recommend the first rotation at 5,000' then the next at 7,500 (12,500 total). The first two really set the tone on how the tires wear in the future, plus if there is any irregular wear you'll more then likely catch it before the tires take a set wear pattern. Then keep your eye on the tires but you should then be able to go on a 15,000 schedule.

If you leave the tires in one position too long you will probably experience some irregularities in the ride. However if you rotate them the first time on somewhat a low mileage you will find you will have much better luck.

Think of a tire much like a new pencil. When you first use a pencil eraser it sheds a lot of material. But as you use the eraser more you find less shedding and the eraser doesn't flex as much. A new tire is very similar, you will wear off the first 2/32nds rather quickly then the wear slows down appreciably. I really think 3,500 miles is good for the first time (which I do) but having been in the tire industry 35+ years most people grimace when I tell them that as they don't really comprehend the reasoning behind the recommendation. Tell them 5,000 and they don't seem to have a problem with that.

Typically I get much more mileage out of my tires (most projected 100,000 miles plus) where many are only seeing maybe 75,000 - 80,000. I had 3 sets of Wranglers that all 3 went over 100,000 for projections. AT's, ATS's, and Aquatreds. Granted this was back in the 90's but tires have improved. Air pressure, alignment (making sure all front end components are within spec's for wear), consistent rotation and balancing go a long way in extending tire mileage. YMMV as to your driving and loads.

I respectfully disagree. More fleets are rotating now a days. With lighter frames and axles they are finding it to be one way to stop or slow irregular wear by rotating the rears. Plus they rotate the fronts side to side as when you move into the commercial truck segment there are axle specific tread compounds, steer, drive, and trailer. The more cutting edge fleet maintenance managers are even balancing all the axles, including trailers. The problem with the trailer tires are the amount they are getting beaten up on any given day so I think that is questionable at best.