Arroyo Tires may not be as well known to the market as other brands, but that hasn’t stopped them from providing high-quality tires at an affordable price. While their catalog growing, they cover major markets with tires for commercial, street, and off-road use. Their Tamarock off-road focused lineup includes all-terrain and mud-terrain, and they are close to releasing their rugged-terrain.
Today, I’m reviewing the Tamarock M/T, focusing on my initial impressions after putting about 1,000 miles both on-road and off-road. This is my first experience with a mud tire, having previously used more mild tread patterns on my 2015 4Runner. I was initially concerned about the noise, but I have found these tires to be surprisingly quiet while not sacrificing performance off-road.
Table Of Contents
Overview
Quick Specs
- Tread Style: Symmetrical
- My Size: 33×12.50R17
- Speed Rating: Q (99 mph)
- Load Range: E (10 ply)
- Sidewall: 3 ply
- Weight: 60 lbs. (each)
- Made in Thailand
Features
- Staggered silica tread blocks
- Optimal rubber-to-void ratio to reduce noise
- Wear and puncture-resistant sidewall pattern
- Self-cleaning tread design
The Tamarock M/T is available in sizes 33×12.50 and 35×12.50 across four different wheel diameters: 17, 18, 20, and 22 inches. The 17-inch tires come in a 10-ply, load range E, while the larger diameters are offered in a 12-ply, load range F.
The tread pattern’s block style and flat footprint allow for constant surface contact. This increases the controllability on the road, leading to great handling and responsiveness.
Initial Impressions
In the short time I’ve had with the Tamarock M/T, I’ve taken a couple of road trips and spent a handful of days at OHV parks. Never having run an M/T before (due to often hearing them before I see them), I was pleasantly surprised that the road noise was more than reasonable for the tire category and very tolerable.
The Dirt King shop that mounted and balanced the tires spoke to me about the relative ease it was to balance them, with a minimum number of weights being added to each wheel.
Tread Pattern
A big part of Arroyo’s advertising on this M/T is its tread pattern design. The optimal tread-to-void ratio balances on-road noise and off-road handling and traction, even in the most extreme conditions. Each outer lug has a large tread block to clear mud and snow while the center pattern utilizes square shoulders to increase contact area.
The tire, paired with my recently updated Dirt King IFP 2.0s, allowed me to climb and drive off-road in ways that would have required airing down and driving slowly. I’ve spent a significant amount of time on trails around Southern California, which are often rocky and filled with loose dirt and gravel.
At the Rower Flats OHV, for example, there were climbs that I simply could not do while running the ATs, even after airing down to 20 PSI. And here I was, making my way up some of the steepest climbs I’ve attempted at street pressure. The wider tire compared to my old 285 A/Ts, and aggressive tread pattern allowed me to easily walk up.
Road Noise
These are quiet for an M/T. The team at Arroyo told me these would be quiet compared to other M/Ts, but I took this with a grain of salt coming from running Falken Wildpeaks and BFG KO2s before.
If you’ve run an A/T tire long enough, the tread can wear unevenly, creating a decent amount of road noise. So far, these M/Ts have been much quieter than I expected. Having conversations while driving is still easy, with no one pointing out excessive tire noise. Time will tell though as I continue to put more miles on them. I expect them to get louder, as all tires do, but hopefully on the lower end.
Anecdotally, I used my watch to measure the decibels on the day of the installation on my worn-out BFGs and then on the return home with the Tamarock M/Ts. The latter was several decibels quieter on multiple road types; going from an average of 70 dBs before to 67 dBs after.
Stone Ejection
Here in Southern California, we’re known more for rocky, gravel-filled trails. After a day at a local OHV, I was curious to see how the tires would do with ejecting smaller gravel. I found that these did hold on to a decent amount of gravel, with the first couple miles back on the road shooting rocks into my wheel wells and out in various directions. Hopefully, this improves with time, but for now, I hope no one tailgates me off the trails. This is something to expect in this category, however.
Mud, Snow, & Wet Handling
Having put these on at the height of summer, mud, snow, and wet conditions in Southern California are few and far between. I’ll make sure to get into these conditions for the long-term review.
Price
The Tamarock M/T meets the goal set out by Arroyo; great performance at an affordable price. Compared to other name brands of the same size (33″), the price difference was often hundreds of dollars. The initial savings are great, but will this result in a shorter tread life? This will be one of the things I track closely as I start working on my long-term review.
Final Thoughts
The Arroyo Tamarock M/T is a solid offering from a brand trying to establish a reputation for performance at an affordable price. They’re easy to balance, have great on-road handling, and killer performance off-road. I can easily recommend these to first-time M/T buyers or those looking to save a good chunk of change.
I’ll follow up in a couple of months with a long team review to see how they’ve held up, worn down, and performed in the winter months. Stay tuned!
Looking forward to your experience in the snow, can’t tell if these are 3PMSF rated. I find myself in the wintertime Sierra often enough that I prefer to have 3PMSF tires.
I am curious how well they work in the rain.
Sounds like a good tire – perfect for your needs!