Jerrod Jones
Former Editor, Off Road
Photographers:
The 4-Wheel & Off-Road Staff
The Dynapro MT RT03 is Hankook's newest and most aggressive tire to enter the off-road industry, and the new tread design reflects proven tread features of tires from the past. At first glance, it could be mistaken for the old Goodyear MTs, but upon further inspection, you'll notice that the tread blocks are more V-shaped and are tapered for better grip in mud and snow. Between each lug, Hankook has placed "ejectors" in the tread grooves to prevent stones from penetrating, while shoulder tread helps ward off potential damage in the sidewall. The tire has a very militaryesque look to it, with squared-off edges and a very simple, no-nonsense tread design. The size of the Dynapro works well for us. Other manufacturers have saddled us with 20-inch rim sizes, but this 37x12.50 on a 17-inch rim works well for our applications.
Mud
The Dynapro MT RT03 actually pushed pretty well through the mud. During our testing, this tire relied upon its ability to sink down a bit more in the mud to find better traction, due to its 12-inch width. But the lugs were just not aggressive enough for some of the more treacherous slop we encountered. The Dynapro kept pushing though, since the V-shaped tread blocks would dump the mud out as the tire spun. This helped equal the playing field and more than made up for the mildly aggressive lug pattern.
Rocks
The stiff sidewalls on these tires could've been helped out had we gone lower than 15 psi, but they seemed to be a little stiff, which indicates to us they could work well on a heavier truck. On a lighter truck, you might not see the flex you want from these Hankooks. Traction on the rocks was a little ho-hum, but they did pop us up and over almost everything we asked them to. If we were to run them in the rocks more often, we think some tire siping or a tire iron might be in order to allow the lugs to get more surface area on the rocks.
Highway
These tires have good traction on the street in dry conditions, but we wonder how they would perform in wet conditions, as there is absolutely no siping in the tread lugs. We imagine that the snow and ice pavement traction would be excellent on the 15- to 17-inch rim-sized tires once you put studs in the available stud holes, but we question the traction that would come from the tires themselves. Noise is also a concern, as these solid-lugged tires make a little hum while going down the highway. It is nothing major, but the sound is definitely there.
Overall Impressions
Though the Dynapro MT doesn't feature the gnarliest tread design we've encountered, these tires will work well as all-around tires for the majority of consumers. We'd put a tire like this on a truck like our Red Sled '88 Chevy Longbed 4x4, expecting it to be a long-lasting, high-mileage tire that can take quite a load without folding under the pressure (pun intended). The little bit of noise it puts out can be ignored, and its ability to still perform in the mud and on rocks makes us think this tire will be quite a seller for Hankook.
Make and Model: Hankook Dynapro MT RT03
Size on Sidewall: 37x12.50R17
Load Range: E
Tire Hardness: 61 on tire durometer
Tread Depth (in): 21/32
Number of Plies in Sidewall: Three (polyester)
Number of Plies in Tread: Five (two steel, three polyester)
Weight of Tire (lb): 85
Measured Dia. Unloaded (in): 36 1/2
Measured Width Unloaded (in): 12 1/2
Measured Tread Width (in): 10 1/4
Mounted On: Hutchinson 17x8.5 Rockmonster wheels
Available Tire Heights (in): 30-40
Available Wheel Fitments : 15- to 22-inch-diameter wheels
