Are Budget Off-Road Tires Worth It?

Buying tires kinda sucks. They’re expensive, for starters. A lot of the time, they’re one of the most expensive purchases you’ll make after buying a new car or used car. They also have a lot of work to do, between delivering performance and keeping you pointed the right way down the road, which leads us back to the price issue.

All this becomes twice the headache when it’s time to replace specialist tires like off-road-specific ones. Big names like BFGoodrich and Falken come to mind. But so do four-figure price tags. Blackhawk invited us to come and see if there’s another way to get all the off-road performance one might expect from Big-Name Tires without the big price tag.

What Is The Ridgecrawler R/T

The Ridgecrawler R/T is Blackhawk’s answer to this very price-sensitive scenario. Blackhawk’s own media representatives tell us the tire is supposed to straddle a fence: it’ll offer more off-road performance than your typical A/T (all-terrain) but won’t go quite as hard as a M/T (mud-terrain) tire. This compromise isn’t just for market appeal. The idea here is to give consumers a little bit of both, while also packing in some on-road manners. Think of it like an all-season tire for off-roading.

There’s also a bit of all-season capability packed in. For starters, the Ridgecrawler also sports a 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) certification. This certification can be found on other types of tire, and means that the tire will be capable of harsh winter conditions without studs. If you live somewhere that necessitates studs, the Ridgecrawler is also built to accommodate these. Blackhawk’s parent company, Sailun Tires, tells us the Ridgecrawler R/T will be offered in 40 sizes, ranging from 16 to 22 inches and a 45,000-mile warranty.

What’s It Like On The Trails?

We got to spend an entire day with the tire off-road at Ford’s Bronco Off-Roadeo, which we suspect was intentional. See, the Bronco’s regular tire (when fitted with the Sasquatch Package as these were) is a BFGoodrich KO2. Evidently, Blackhawk wanted to prove to us that the tire could handle anything the KO2 could.

98% of the time, it feels that way. Our day off-roading consisted of multiple narrow trails dotted with some of the most slick surfaces ayone will encounter off-road EM things like large rock surfaces worn away by the trucks that came before, loose gravel, and even a bit of sand. One exercise, consisting of the latter, had us use the Bronco’s hill-descent control to creep down a loose, sandy grade that felt pretty damn near 30 degrees. While the tires did slip, it feels like almost anything would and the Bronco’s software was able to help get grip back into the tires before they slid too far down the hill.

The rest of the day was spent creeping along narrow trails, alternating the differential lockers on and off when we got stuck. Sometimes, that was frequently. The Ridgecrawler never complained, and anything it can’t handle would likely have required locking a differential in a KO2-equipped Bronco as well. We kept an eye out for any, as spotters for example, but didn’t see any. Essentially, these were just about impossible to flummox over some truly harsh off-road terrain.

How Does The Ridgecrawler Stack Up?

There is a caveat. Blackhawk says these tires should cost the consumer around 20-30% less than a set of big-name off-road tires, like the K02/3 or the Falken Wildpeak. That savings has to come from somewhere, and it wasn’t in off-road performance. We also didn’t get to drive the cars on pavement, and thus can’t speak to their road noise levels. Should they prove truly atrocious, there’s also the 45,000-mile warranty to consider.

So, are these worth looking at compared to some of the pricier competition? At first glance, these tires indicate they’re up to the task. They handled any number of loose surfaces with excellent traction and provided us the confidence needed to clear tough obstacles, large rocks, and tree stumps. While we have our concerns about on-road drivability and grip, the off-road performance alone is enough to warrant a long, hard look at the potential savings.

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