|
Reviews
|
Views
|
|
86
|
838320
|
|
Recommended By
|
Average Price
|
Average Rating
|
|
83% of reviewers
|
$245.31
|
7.4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Description:
|
Review of the Interco Thornbird TSL Radial (TSL = Three Stage Lug)
Now, we want to start off by saying, we really like Interco Tire Corporation and their true Mud Terrain tires. Interco has established themselves as the king of hill when it comes to street legal mud tires for common 4x4s at a reasonable price. We use Interco tires ourselves. With that being said, we really wonder what they were thinking when they designed the Thornbird TSL. Really. At first glance the Thornbird looks extremely aggressive. It has one hell of a profile with the knarly 3 stage lugs jutting out of the sidewall like medieval spikes on a chariot wheel. But to call it a true mud tire would be misleading. Within our definition of a true mud tire, the primary tread that makes contact with the mud is the same tread that makes contact with the street surface. With the Thornbird TSL, this tread is more specifically designed as a street tire with very narrow voids between the large, siped lugs. These voids seem more designed to channel water rather than mud. Which may be fine for some people who really want a street tire that looks like a mud tire. But for the offroader who is really looking for a good mud tire as the primary reason behind the purchase of the tire, we suggest you steer clear of the Thornbird TSL and look rather at Interco's other mud tires such as the Super Swamper SSR. That being said we can point out a few good qualities of the Thornbird. First the Thornbird isn't too bad on the street. A couple of people we know have had this tire and as long as the tires or rotated regularly and the front end kept aligned, this tire is relatively quite on the street. The tire looks impressive. We like the sidewall profile with its ugly lug patterns and raised white lettering. But it starts going downhill from there. Traction is about average for a larger mud tire however wet surfaces still requires awareness to the fact that you don't have as much traction as a tire designed for wet road driving. Even with some siping in the lugs they do not grip too well on wet road. Even less so in the snow due in part to the narrow voids between the lugs which do not self clean very well, which helps to explain why this tire can hardly be called a true mud tire. But enough of our ranting. The Thornbird is not all that bad and may actually be what some people are looking for. Size availability ranges from 29x10.50 to 38.5x14.50 in 15, 16 16.5LT with 6 or 8 ply rating model dependant.
Manufacturers description of this tire:
The inset shows why the Interco TSL/THORNBIRD is such a Versatile tire. The highway contact area in the illustration shows the tread on hard surfaces. The Three Stage Lugs on the sidewalls do not touch highway surfaces but as soon as the tire gets into mud or snow the sidewall lugs provide decisive traction in forward or reverse. Fiberglass belts under the tread and polyester body plies contribute to a really smooth comfortable ride. The design comes close to being two tires in one... a revolutionary design that has earned its place in the legendary ranks of Super Performance.
Manufacturer Info:
Interco Tire Corporation
2412 Abbeville Hwy
Rayne, LA 70578 Phone: (800) 299-8000
www.intercotire.com
Interco Tire Corporation, is a Louisiana company that has evolved through three generations into a leader in the development of high performance tires for use on four wheel drive light trucks and all terrain vehicles. In 1968 Interco developed the first 78 series light truck tires which began the evolution in light truck tires we see today.
|
|
Keywords:
|
Thornbird TSL Radial Mud Terrain Tire Interco
|
|
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Thu September 9, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid (per item)?: $380.00
| Rating: 2
|
|
Pros:
|
looks
|
|
Cons:
|
functional waste of money
|
|
6000km thats all the life i got out of these tires. I am a contract oilfield worker in north central Alberta. long lasting, durable mud tires are a must. I travel places every day that most guys would shake there heads, well i guess not all. Playing in the mud for work! This tire lasted one month, lugs flying off and separating. No side stability! Hey don't get me wrong they do work off road, but there are much better tires out there. My truck and tires earn me money. I lost money here. Looks, are all this tire has. My new set just went in the junk.
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Tue November 9, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 7
|
|
Pros:
|
head turner
|
|
Cons:
|
pricey
|
|
this right here is the most aggesive tire u can buy they are a definate head turner on the street im 17 and i think these are deffinatly a teenager tire
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Tue November 9, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 7
|
|
Pros:
|
They have a great looking sidewall
|
|
Cons:
|
the tread area is NOT good in mud
|
|
To the 17 yr old above, the aggressive sidewall is not where you get traction, the tread is. The tread on the Thornbird does poorly in mud. The Bogger is the most aggressive mud tire out there, hands down.
I have a friend that ran this tire for about 3 yrs on a Cherokee. They had a hell of a hum on the road which was cool. But offroad they didn't pull like my Super Swamper SSR's. In fact he'd get stuck once in a while and I'd have to pull him out. They LOOK aggressive in the sidewall but don't do well in the mud.
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Mon November 15, 2010
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
|
|
all you guys that say these tires arent good in mud are CRAZY!i put a set of 35x14.50 on my 79 chevy short bed.i tried to get stuck and couldnt.if you question the terrain,go to youtube and look up the badlands in attica indiana.
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Sun February 13, 2011
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
|
|
Pros:
|
aggressive looks and off road traction
|
|
Cons:
|
road noise and wet pavement traction
|
|
A lot of people knock this tire saying it doesn't have enough traction in mud or snow...... I guess it depends on the size tire you get??? I ran a set of 31-11.5-16's for a year on my Cherokee and I experienced great traction in mud, on dirt or rocky hills, and yes even in snow. As another person commented here, I had difficulty finding something thick enough, deep enough, or steep enough to stop the thornbirds. I wheeled a lot and only got stuck once where I didn't bottom out. That was a wet clay like sand and it took two trucks to pull me out. Thing is we had to find almost 150ft of chain and rope because the other trucks couldn't get anywhere close to me without getting stuck. I'm an honest person and I only call it how I see it! Others may have had bad experiences. The only downside to the tire I could find is they don't stick on wet pavement very well and they are loud on the road. KInda sounds like an airplane on the highway. I just recently swapped to the nitto trail grappler and the thornbirds had twice the traction in snow and three times the traction in mud. I drove my Cherokee to the tire shop in five inches of snow and never slid once. I left the tire shop with the nittos and who would've thought...... I slid! OH and did I mention the thornbirds were 200. cheaper than the nittos!
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Fri March 11, 2011
|
Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 2
|
|
Pros:
|
looks cool
|
|
Cons:
|
everything else
|
|
I WOULD NEVER RECOMEND THESE TIRES TO ANYONE. I bought a used set for 100 bucks for my cherokee couldnt complain about the deal. i can about everything else. they are loud like you wouldnt believe on the road(i hear them over straight pipes). they provide little to no traction on anything besides dry pavement. ive been stuck numerous times in snow and have slid completely sideways in low range. because of these tires and i had an accident one rainy day because of the way they hydroplane so badly. they did ok in certain types of mud because of the side lugs. the tread does not self clean at all. and another thing, for 29s they are on of the heaviest tires ive ever seen a friend had a spare 33 and we weighed them on identical rims and mine weight pounds more.
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Mon May 16, 2011
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 7
|
|
Pros:
|
make your ride look mean
|
|
Cons:
|
|
|
Had this tire when I was in highshool. If you want this tire for mud there is better choices out there. I loved this tire though. If you want a tire for looks then this tire will make your ride look mean really mean. As far as noise if you dont like loud tires go look somewhere else. These tires were the loudest in my town. People had boggers and everything else and these tires could be heard from miles away trust me I tested that.
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Tue June 28, 2011
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
|
|
Pros:
|
Looks aggressive
|
|
Cons:
|
Wish they would last longer!
|
|
I have a set of 31x11.00.15s in my 98 Amigo soft top. they hold up good in the mud i agree with the digger post they dig till they grab  as i am in Florida i like to surf and they ride on the sand great my last set of tires left me digging out by hand in the middle of a storm  after i got home i ordered my Thornbirds and bought a set of 15x10 rims to mount them on. and i haven't had to dig my self out since i put them on  also had to up grade my stereo so i could hear it kuz the tires are loud but its a foreign SUV and thin metal as they all are not much sound deadening. these tires have been through 3 hurricane's and haven't left me stuck even in 2 1/2 feet of water!
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Sun July 10, 2011
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
|
|
Pros:
|
Excellent in Mud, Snow and Rock (bias only)
|
|
Cons:
|
Interco needs to be more specific on matching the tire size to the vehicle / HP they will be mounted on.
|
|
If you do not have enough horse power to turn big rubber you should NOT consider this tire. Your 4 & 6 cylinder unmodified - stock Jeeps / Trucks will not allow this tire to perform to it's potential. So stick with your 31X10.50 (and smaller) BF's and enjoy the scalping, terrible tread wear, rubber compounds and high $$$. This is NOT a "tread lightly" tire. It is a digging machine that will get you in and out of anything... provided you can apply enough torque. Also learn about tire pressure vs. terrain you encounter and get some more hours under your belts OFF the street. Noise complaints? Are you kidding me? WTF? It's a MUD Tire!!
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Wed December 28, 2011
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
|
|
Pros:
|
all around great tire
|
|
Cons:
|
noisy on road
|
|
great in mud. cleans out well. great in snow, not the best on wet pavement, but its a mud tire
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Mon February 6, 2012
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 5
|
|
Pros:
|
look great
|
|
Cons:
|
shook my whole truck
|
|
I had these tires on my 1990 1500 chevrolet i bought them used for 50 bucks. First day i got them i was driving down the road doin around 35 40mph and it would shake the entire truck. I could only do about 20 mph in town. But my guess would be because they were so worn. So im at about 50 50 on the tire not sure if i would pay the money for a new set
|
|
|
Anonymous
|
|
Review Date: Tue February 7, 2012
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid (per item)?: None indicated
| Rating: 0
|
|
Pros:
|
look great
|
|
Cons:
|
shook my whole truck
|
|
I had these tires on my 1990 1500 chevrolet i bought them used for 50 bucks. First day i got them i was driving down the road doin around 35 40mph and it would shake the entire truck. I could only do about 20 mph in town. But my guess would be because they were so worn. So im at about 50 50 on the tire not sure if i would pay the money for a new set
|
|
|
|
Page: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 |
 |
|
|
Hercules HDT BIAS LUG
Editor
|
|
|
;)
;)
