You’re shopping for tires and spotted “Mohave” at a crazy-low price. Before you buy, you need to know this isn’t a simple yes-or-no answer. The Mohave name covers two totally unrelated tire lines—and one’s a safety risk while the other’s a solid budget pick.
The Mohave Mix-Up: Two Products, One Confusing Name
Here’s where things get weird. “Mohave” isn’t actually a tire brand in the traditional sense—it’s a retail label slapped on two completely different products sold exclusively at Discount Tire.
The first Mohave is a line of passenger tires for your crossover, SUV, or sedan. Think daily commute, grocery runs, highway driving.
The second Mohave (technically called the “Rage Mohave”) is an off-road tire built specifically for ATVs and UTVs. Think trails, mud, and weekend adventures.
These tires don’t share a manufacturer, design team, or quality control process. They’re as different as sneakers and snowshoes—they just happen to share a name.
This creates a massive problem for shoppers. You can’t ask “are Mohave tires good” and get a straight answer without first clarifying which product you’re actually asking about.
Understanding Discount Tire’s Private Label Strategy
Both Mohave products fall under Discount Tire’s “exclusive brands” program. This is the same business model Target uses with Up&Up or Costco uses with Kirkland.
Discount Tire doesn’t manufacture tires. Instead, they contract with various global manufacturers to produce tires to their specs and price points. They brand these tires as “Mohave” or “Rage,” control the entire distribution chain, and sell them exclusively at their stores.
The upside? Lower prices by cutting out traditional brand marketing costs. The downside? You’re trusting Discount Tire’s quality control and sourcing decisions, not a manufacturer’s public-facing reputation.
According to Discount Tire’s own blog, these private labels let them offer “premium features” at budget prices. But as you’ll see, premium features don’t always mean premium performance.
Part 1: Mohave Passenger Tires—The Budget Option You Should Skip
Let’s talk about the tires most people are actually asking about: the Mohave CUV and Mohave Touring A/S for passenger vehicles.
What You’re Actually Buying
The Mohave CUV runs $67-$114 per tire and targets crossovers and SUVs. The Mohave Touring A/S costs even less at $48-$73 per tire for passenger cars.
Both models use marketing buzzwords like “silica-enhanced compound” and “computer-optimized tread pattern” to sound high-tech. And honestly, when they’re brand new, they perform okay.
The problem? They don’t stay new for long.
The Warranty Red Flag Nobody Talks About
Both Mohave passenger models come with a 40,000-mile treadwear warranty. Sounds reasonable until you compare it to the competition.
The Michelin Defender 2—a tire in the same category—offers an 80,000-mile warranty. That’s literally double.
A low warranty isn’t just the manufacturer being conservative. It’s them telling you exactly how long they expect the tire to last. When a touring tire offers half the warranty of market leaders, that’s your first clue something’s off.
The 15,000-Mile Disaster
Here’s where the wheels fall off (pun intended). While Discount Tire’s website shows glowing 4.5-star reviews, independent forums tell a completely different story.
One Reddit user reported having to replace both tires after only 15,000 miles due to rapid wear. Another called them “GARBAGE” after their 40,000-mile rated tires lasted just 15,000 miles.
Most damning? One shopper quoted an America’s Tire sales guy who admitted “they get a fair amount of customer complaints about the rapid wear down of Mohave tires.”
So why the disconnect between retailer reviews and forum complaints? Simple timing.
Retailer reviews are typically solicited right after purchase, during the honeymoon period when the tires still feel great. Forum complaints show up months later when the tires fail prematurely.
A Discount Tire employee’s blog post accidentally confirms this: “While they are perfectly safe tires, their good ratings reflect new tire performance. Budget tires quickly lose their comfort and traction. After about 10,000 miles, you’ll start to notice obvious signs of wear.”
Translation: They’re fine for six months, then they fall apart.
The Stopping Distance Trap
Some shoppers defend the Mohave by pointing to Discount Tire’s “Treadwell” rating system, which shows the Mohave performing well in stopping tests. One Reddit user even claimed the Mohave “out performs the Michelin Defender 2” in stopping distance tests.
Another user quickly corrected this misreading: “You’re not reading the graphic right… the Mohave takes LONGER to stop (that’s bad).”
The real concern? The massive difference between new and worn Mohave performance. The same user pointed out the stopping distance increases by 47 feet as the tire wears—a terrifying degradation.
Research from AAA backs this up. Their tire study found that worn tires can see a 42-44% increase in stopping distance. Budget tires that degrade quickly hit this cliff faster than premium options.
The Safety Recall That Changes Everything
If rapid wear was the only problem, you could argue the Mohave is just a “you get what you pay for” situation. But there’s something worse.
In 2023, the NHTSA issued Safety Recall 23T-009 for the Mohave Crossover tire (size 215/60R17, production week 1723).
The defect: “A missing chemical during the compound mixing process for the base compound of the tread preventing proper vulcanization.”
The consequence: “Can cause tire failure.”
Let’s be crystal clear about what this means. Vulcanization is the chemical process that gives rubber its strength, durability, and elasticity. It’s not a cosmetic feature—it’s the foundation of tire construction.
A failure in vulcanization means the tire isn’t structurally sound. “Tire failure” in NHTSA-speak means tread separation or blowout, which can be fatal at highway speeds.
This recall identifies the manufacturer as Sentury Tire Thailand. While the recall covers a specific production week, it exposes a catastrophic lapse in quality control at the facility making Mohave tires.
Who Actually Makes Mohave Passenger Tires?
The recall settles a debate about the Mohave’s origins. Some users thought they were made in South Korea, while others identified them as “Chinese Sentury Tires”.
The NHTSA recall confirms it: Sentury Tire Thailand manufactures the Mohave passenger line. Sentury is a major global manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, China, with factories in China, Thailand, and Morocco.
The Bottom Line on Mohave Passenger Tires
Don’t buy them. The math doesn’t work.
You’re paying half the price of a premium tire, but you’re getting less than half the tread life. If you replace Mohave tires at 15,000 miles instead of getting 80,000 miles from Michelins, you’ll actually spend more money over the long run.
More importantly, you’re dealing with a product that’s been recalled for a fundamental manufacturing defect and suffers from rapid performance degradation that affects your stopping distance.
The ultra-low price is a false economy. Skip these.
Part 2: Rage Mohave UTV/ATV Tires—Actually a Solid Choice
Now let’s shift gears entirely. The Rage Mohave is a completely different story.
Different Name, Different Product, Different Manufacturer
The Rage Mohave is manufactured by Vision Tire, part of Vision Wheel—a family-owned American company that’s been around since 1976. This is a totally separate entity from Sentury Tire.
The Rage Mohave is an all-terrain tire designed for ATVs and UTVs (side-by-sides). It’s not meant for your daily driver. It’s built for trails, rocks, sand, and mud.
The Specs That Actually Matter
For off-road tires, durability is king. The Rage Mohave delivers where it counts:
8-ply rated construction: This provides serious puncture and cut resistance when you’re navigating rocks and trail debris. Flat tires are the number-one failure point for off-road riding, and the 8-ply rating addresses this directly.
DOT approved: It’s street-legal, which matters if you need to travel on paved roads to connect trails. Many pure off-road tires aren’t DOT-compliant, limiting where you can ride.
19/32″ tread depth: That’s deep. It means longer service life in abrasive off-road conditions and better grip in varied terrain.
These aren’t marketing fluff—they’re measurable specs that directly impact performance.
How It Stacks Up Against the Competition
The best comparison for the Rage Mohave is the Tusk Terrabite, another private-label tire sold by Rocky Mountain ATV/MC.
The Tusk Terrabite is well-regarded in the UTV community. It’s also an 8-ply radial tire that’s DOT-compliant. YouTube reviews show riders getting 2,000 to 5,000 miles on Tusk Terrabites with minimal wear.
The Rage Mohave matches these specs almost exactly. It’s Discount Tire’s direct answer to the Tusk Terrabite—same construction, same features, similar price point.
If you trust the Tusk Terrabite, you can trust the Rage Mohave. They’re playing in the same league.
One Data Problem to Watch Out For
The Rage Mohave product page shows a 4.6-star rating, but there’s a weird data contamination issue.
The most detailed 5-star review claims “over 110,000 miles” on the tires—from someone who owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. That’s impossible. The Rage Mohave is a UTV tire that doesn’t fit a Prius.
This is clearly a misplaced review from a different “Mohave” passenger tire that got cross-posted to the wrong product page. It skews the average ratings, especially for tread life.
Ignore the retailer’s average scores here. Focus on the specs and the competitive comparison instead.
The Verdict on Rage Mohave UTV Tires
If you’re shopping for UTV or ATV tires and want something street-legal with good puncture resistance, the Rage Mohave is a smart budget pick.
It’s not a specialty tire—don’t expect it to dominate deep mud like a dedicated mud tire would. But for all-around trail riding on mixed terrain (hardpack, rocks, loose sand, some mud), it delivers solid value.
The 8-ply construction and DOT approval give you versatility that many budget tires don’t offer. And unlike its passenger tire namesake, the Rage Mohave comes from a reputable manufacturer with no safety recalls.
The Final Answer: It Depends Which Tire You’re Asking About
So, are Mohave tires good? The answer splits in two completely different directions:
Mohave passenger tires (CUV and Touring A/S)? No. Avoid them. The combination of poor durability, rapid performance degradation, and a documented NHTSA safety recall makes these impossible to recommend. The low price isn’t worth the risk or the hassle of replacing them at 15,000 miles.
Rage Mohave UTV/ATV tires? Yes, they’re good value. With 8-ply construction, DOT approval, and deep tread, they compete directly with well-regarded budget UTV tires like the Tusk Terrabite. For recreational riders who need a versatile, street-legal all-terrain tire, it’s a solid choice.
Just make sure you know which “Mohave” you’re actually shopping for.
