Dune Grappler. The name of the tire should've been enough for us. At the very least, we should've had a hint as to what these tires would be good at. Nevertheless, we decided to get ahold of a set and test them in all kinds of different environments. We broke the tires in first, then headed straight out to our top secret testing grounds to bring you the straight skinny on these flame-covered tires.
We got a set of LT285/70R17s (33x11.50) and put them on a set of Dick Cepek's new DC-1 rims in the 17x9-inch size. With maintenance-free polish, super strong, lifetime guarantee against defects, and they just flat out look good, these were the rims for us.
How They Work
At first blush, we expected them to be quiet on the street, not work well in mud, and probably work well in the sand. We weren't disappointed.
On the street, they were just as quiet as we expected them to be. While we didn't get to test them in snow, we would expect them to do OK in fresh powder, but not ice. In the rain, they like to hydroplane in standing water, so some care is needed when cruising along. With no standing water, they corner and brake well; we had to consciously go easy on the gas leaving traffic lights to keep them hooked up.
In the mud, they pack up easily and quickly. Thin mud, thick mud, it makes no difference. If mud is in your future, be warned, there is no amount of wheel speed that cleaned enough mud out of these tires to give any forward progress. The very edge of the tread clears out, but that just wasn't enough for us to go anywhere.
On rocks, we initially put them down to 12 psi and got a good contact patch. Then we tried to climb some rocks and simply couldn't. There aren't any large gripping lugs to grab the edges or corners of rocks, so these tires just sit and spin on them. We then tried 10 psi with the same results. We didn't want to lower the pressure any more because the rim was almost on the rocks at that point. We expect they'd work really well on slickrock with its crazy coefficient of friction.
Sand. Ah, sand. If ever there was a tire for the beginner Jeeper in the sand, this is it. Normally, you've got to come off the clutch slowly and build momentum. These tires just seem to float on the sand. Sure, they'd dig in if you tried, but so will everything else. They also handled some higher-speed (30-40 mph) runs across the desert with no damage.
Bottom Line
If you drive your Jeep on the street, hit the beaches or dunes, or just all-around hate mud, these tires will work just fine for you. They have a unique look to them and balance out comparatively to most other AT-style tires we've tested.