First Look: Mickey Thompson’s Baja Boss A/T Under The Microscope

When it comes to tires, multiple things are running through your head. What is the price? How long will they last? Are these the right tires for me? For me, I am looking for a tire that can go the distance. With trucks that travel long distances frequently, stretching mileage out of tires is a must. When I saw the release of the new Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T tire, I was thrilled to get my hands on a set.

Unfortunately, tires don’t last forever but with what Mickey Thompson is saying, these tires may just go the extra mile. In previous articles, you may recall testing out other brands too. I want to give readers a full understanding of every tire we review so they can choose a tire based on this informed decision that is right for them. Choose a tire with confidence. Without further ado, let’s dig in.

I have had multiple brands of tires, multiple brands of sizes, and had them on different styles of vehicles. To be honest, I’ve had some tires that are just downright embarrassing in the weakest of terrain. As you know, we’ve been building up Project TowBoat for over a year now. We’ve dressed it up with exterior add-ons, we’ve added compound turbos and we’ve got custom tuning. We need a tire that will go the distance and work in every terrain to work alongside it all.

While I was impressed with a few sets of tires we’ve used in the past, the Baja Boss A/T is next up on the docket.

Benefits And Features

When these tires dropped, I headed over to their website to get the scoop. At a glance, these tires are serious. Not only do they come in a ton of different sizes, but the look these tires offer is also as aggressive as an all-terrain tire can get without being a mud tire. Per Mickey, “The New Baja Boss A/T delivers undisputed on-road handling, performance, and tread wear while also dominating in the mud, thanks to its asymmetric tread design. It’s Mickey Thompson’s best A/T to date. Aggressive looks, low noise, long-lasting tread life, smooth ride, and severe weather rated.”

With hearing these features and benefits and knowing what I’m going to do with the truck, I knew we could really see if this stands true.

  • The asymmetrical tread pattern is optimized for reduced noise, all-weather performance, off-road traction, and on-road handling
  • Extreme Sidebiters® are 150-percent deeper than the Baja ATZ P3, for a bold look, extreme off-road traction, and protection
  • PowerPly XD adds 50-percent extra denier cord to provide even greater puncture resistance, improved handling, and quicker steering response than our original PowerPlyâ„¢
  • Silica-Reinforced Compound for on-road tread wear, cut and chip resistance, and improved wet handling and braking performance
  • 50,000-mile treadwear warranty instills confidence that the Baja Boss A/T is built to last
  • Severe Snow Service Rated with the 3PMS Symbol certifies that all sizes 12.50 (315) and narrower are severe snow rated

They claim that the asymmetrical tread pattern is helpful when it comes to on-road noise, all-weather performance, off-road traction, and on-road handling. Project TowBoat will live mostly on the road with some off-road driving so off-road handling and traction along with road noise at a minimum is a big win. There is nothing worse than hauling a trailer down the interstate, or just down the county road for that matter, and the tires just whining away.

One of the first things I noticed about these tires is the sidewalls. Or as Mickey likes to coin them, “Extreme Sidebiters”. If you’re wanting to take your truck off-road into a rocky area, you need to have a strong and protected sidewall. When you’re in a sticky, muddy situation, these sidewalls will be a vital component to you making it out or not. Another note is the 150-percent deeper sidewalls over their popular Baja ATZ P3 tire.

Moving on, another bullet point Mickey made was the PowerPly XD feature. What does that mean? This means the tires have been equipped with a 50-percent more denier cord to provide an even greater puncture resistance, improved handling, and even quicker steering response than their original PowerPly feature.

If you’re maneuvering your truck through a trail, wheeling a trailer in a mushy, tight spot, or just driving on the street, a tire that has good responsiveness and can handle gouges from debris is a great thing to have in its resùme. Moving on to the tire compound itself, this is a silica-reinforced compound that allows the tires to last longer, resistant to chipping, and offers an improvement to wet handling and braking.

Last, but certainly not least, the Baja Boss A/T is backed by a 50,000-mile treadwear warranty and comes stamped with the 3PMS Symbol. (315 and narrower are severe snow rated) Mickey trusts that this tire is built to last with that warranty and is proud to showcase that Severe Snow Service rating on their new tire.

Available Tire Sizes

17-inch wheels– 33×12.50R17, 305/65R17, 295/70R17, 255/85R17, 35×12.50R17, 315/70R17, and 37×12.50R17

18-inch wheels– 275/70R18, 285/65R18, 33×12.50R18, 305/60R18, 295/70R18, 35×12.50R18, and 305/75R18

20-inch wheels– 275/55R20, 275/60R20, 285/55R20, 295/55R20, 33×12.50R20, 305/55R20, 33×13.50R20, 275/65R20, 295/60R20, 35×12.50R20, 35×13.50R20, 35×15.50R20, 37×12.50R20, and 37×13.50R20

22-inch wheels– 33×12.50R22, 35×12.50R22, 35×13.00R22, 35×15.50R22, and 37×13.50R22

I can almost guarantee, no matter what you’re doing with your build, they have the height, width, and diameter for what you’re looking for. The most impressive size to me is the 35-inch tires that are 15.5-inches wide for a 20-inch wheel. That is an absolute monster of a tire.

Getting Them On / First Drive

Like all of our tire testing, we headed over to my local tire shop, Plaza Tire Service, and had them get these babies mounted up on our 20-inch factory wheels. Going on, it was seamless. The tires accepted the wheels without issue and up next was the balancing. The crew at Plaza warned us that some larger tires have so much tread that is can cause a fuss when it comes to balance. For the Baja Boss A/T, that wasn’t the case. The weights went on the wheel and all four were ready for on-road testing.

Once they were mounted, I wheeled the truck into a close-by field to capture some fresh pictures. As you can see, these things look nasty.  That super aggressive tread went through the dewy grass like it was nothing and didn’t hesitate to climb the hilly entrance. Let’s hit the road. On to the pavement, something was off.

I started turning the wheel to change lanes and it was like the truck was moving faster. The responsiveness of these tires was impressive. The grip to the street was noticeable and everything felt well balanced. Now, onto the road noise. I was praying these tires didn’t emit any road noise because these tires already won me over but that is a surefire way to ruin it. I am pleased to announce that these tires are very quiet.

I’ve tried county roads, interstate, and even towing 12,000-pounds and the handling was still great and the noise was at a minimum. I’m thinking if you had a truck that didn’t have a turbo or turbos, you may be able to slightly hear them but it isn’t bad at all. A few tires come to mind that are entirely too noisy, but for the most part, they are mostly mud-terrains so it is to be expected.

Now, a few weeks later, I’ve managed to put quite a bit of miles on these tires and I got to hit up some gravel roads too. Here is a note that cannot be missed. For me, I really don’t want rocks slinging up and hitting the side of my truck. A truck that is 10-plus years old requires some TLC and rock chips aren’t something I really want to deal with. I’ve noticed that these tires do like to pick up rocks. I’m not going to knock them because they aren’t that bad but I’ve noticed some banging noises and at a glance at the mirror, I can see the rocks bouncing behind me.

As you can see in this photo, just pulling into the driveway they are picking up some debris. I understand this is somewhat expected with a tread pattern this deep, but I wanted everyone to understand what they are buying. Overall, minus the rocks, these tires are very impressive. I’m really expecting them to last the full 50,000-miles if not more.

To weathered road performance, even in monsoon-like rain, the performance and handling of these tires didn’t disappoint. For some reason, we ended up having snowfall in April and even then, these tires didn’t stop trucking. Hundreds of miles on these tires so far, on and off-road, and these tires continue to work.

Overall, I’m giving the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T a passing grade with flying colors. I think if you’re a work truck or a show truck, this tire will still fit your build. I think they are super aggressive and will make any ordinary truck stand out. For more information about these new tires, head on over to the Mickey Thompson website here.

 

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About the author

Artie Maupin

Artie Maupin is from Southeast Missouri and has an extreme passion for anything diesel. He loves drag racing of all kinds, as well as sled pulling competitions.
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