For most drivers of 4WD-equipped light trucks, Jeeps, and SUVs, all-terrain tires are fine. Modern all-terrain tires are designed to deliver an ideal balance of off-road performance and traction along with road manners, handling, ride quality, and wear properties that are dependable and composed on the pavement. All-terrain tires are designed with aggressive tread patterns, damage-resistant tread compounds, and durable construction for most off-road situations, but for deep and sloppy mud or aired-down rock crawling over steep boulders, obstacles, and other challenges, too many times all-terrain tires just aren’t quite capable of getting the job done. That’s where mud-terrain tires step in to fill the gap.

Mud-terrain tires are designed for the rugged performance and unbeatable traction you need in those conditions, and the Badlands MT from Mastertrack is a great example of what you can expect from these kinds of tires and what they are supposed to be about. It’s a tire that’s loaded with design features and top-quality materials to ensure that you can get out there and back without ever getting yourself into trouble, even in the sloppiest, soupiest mud or the roughest terrain. But don’t take our word for it. Let’s go in for a closer look at this product line review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the features and innovations that make the Mastertrack Badlands MT such a strong performer and a great value in the world of mud-terrain tires:

• Aggressive lug tread with void ratio optimized to easily fling mud, stones, and debris from the grooves, helping to ensure that there’s always a clear section of the tread to dig in for traction as the wheel turns
• Extra-tough damage-resistant tread formulation resists punctures, cuts, and abrasions even when operated aired-down over rocks and obstacles
• Durable casing with three layers of polyester cord fabric and high-tensile steel belt package
• Reinforced sidewall protects against cuts, punctures, and impacts
• Staggered shoulder block sizes are designed to deliver lateral traction and enhanced control and handling on irregular surfaces or muddy terrain
• Angled lateral, angled, and longitudinal grooves help to evacuate water or slush from the tire’s contact patch, resisting hydroplaning on wet pavement and enhancing grip, braking, and control on wet, soggy ground
• Shoulder blocks reinforced and designed for improved handling and control on or off the pavement
• 17 sizes, for from 15” to 24” rims

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Dependable traction and control in some of the worst terrain and conditions
• Durable construction and tread formulation
• Good control and traction when used aired-down over steep grades, irregular surfaces, boulders, logs, obstacles

CONS:

• Not 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake rated for severe winter service
• Not covered by limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty
• Can be noisy on some pavement surfaces

SimpleTire’s view on Mastertrack Badlands MT tires

When it comes to mud-terrain tires, there are many options on the market at a lot of different price points, but it’s our take that the Mastertrack Badlands MT delivers a lot of performance and value for the money. Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the system that the SimpleTire team has developed to give you a quick, at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We consider the tire’s spec sheet, manufacturer’s info, customer reviews, and other data points, then distill that information into a 1-10 numerical value for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, as well as an overall average SimpleScore. In the case of the Pantera Supertrac M/T, the SimpleScore numbers look like this:

Traction: 7.5 Handling: 8.1 Longevity: 8.0 Overall average SimpleScore: 7.8

Obviously, on a scale of 1-10, those are all pretty respectable numbers, and it looks even more impressive when you consider that this tire starts at $161.09 per tire.

For starters, the Mastertrack Badlands MT is tough, with its damage-resistant tread formulation and reinforced casing, as well as its steel belt package and fabric ply layers. The reinforced sidewall and shoulder mean that this tire is more than up to the job regarding aired-down rock crawling. Then, in the deepest, soupiest, most gravy-like mud, the aggressive tread blocks and extra-deep grooves of the Badlands MT deliver a confident grip while easily ridding the tire of mud, rocks, and debris so there’s always more traction on hand.

The Mastertrack is a little noisy on the pavement (many mud tires are), and it doesn’t have a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty (many mud tires don’t). It’s also true that this tire doesn’t have the 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for severe winter service, a rating where the tire industry sets the bar pretty high for performance. Reviews on winter performance for the Mastertrack Badlands MT are a little skimpy. Still, its extra-deep and aggressive lug tread and durable tread compound should deliver a winter grip that’s capable and dependable.

Ride quality and overall handling on the highway are fairly composed, without the wander. Some mud-terrain tires exhibit squirrely road manners, and a Handling SimpleScore of 8.1 is a lot better than what many mud-terrain tires can show for themselves in that category. Overall, our opinion here at the SimpleTire team is that the Mastertrack Badlands MT is a great performer and is of value as a mud-terrain tire for light trucks, Jeeps, and SUVs.

Vehicles The Mastertrack Badlands MT is a good replacement tire for

While the Mastertrack Badlands MT isn’t featured as OEM from the factory on any vehicles, we think it would be a great replacement mud-terrain tire for trucks and SUVs such as these:

• Ford F150
• Ford F250
• Ford Explorer
• Ford Ranger
• Ford Bronco
• Ford Expedition
• Chevrolet Silverado 1500/2500
• Chevrolet Tahoe
• Chevrolet Trailblazer
• Nissan Titan
• Toyota Tundra
• Toyota Tacoma
• Toyota 4Runner
• Toyota Land Cruiser
• Jeep Wrangler
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• Jeep Wagoneer