FJB,
Believe it or not, they aren't that bad. They are a bit louder than the stock Goodyear mud tires, but not significantly so. With the window down, the drone of the tire is louder; however, with the windows up at highway speed: it's really not bad. The truck is pretty well insulted. I've had mud tires in the past, on other vehicles, that are so loud you can't hear yourself think, but that probably had more to do with the lack of noise insulation between the tires and my ears. As for the effect on steering control and acceleration, you can feel the lugs of the tires upon initial acceleration and when the truck is slowing to a stop through the steering wheel, but it appears to affect neither the control of the vehicle nor the acceleration to any significant degree.