Jeep tires.

[farmin4u_98948]

I have been running goodyear MTR 285-75-R16 load range D on my 77 cj-7. I have had several sets of these tires and love them. I just purchased the new tire which is now a load range E. Its just to stiff. Even with the air way down it has a stiff ride and poor off road traction. I am at a loss as to what to try now. I dont want to go to a wider 12.5 . The tires I have now are 11 wide. The easy answer is to buy new 15 in rims and to to the mtr 12.5x33. It is daily driver as well as off road. Thanks for the input.....  Paul

[buglebuster]

Try the bfg km2, very good on and offroad.

[farmin4u_98948]

Try the bfg km2, very good on and offroad.

I looked at them Friday. They do have the load range D in the 285-75-R16. The one thing i hate to loose going away from the MTR Goodyear is the dura wall Kevlar side wall... Do you have any experience with the bfg tires....

[buglebuster]

I used to run a set of the original bfg mt's untill i upgraded to my 38" swampers and they were awesome, ran great on and offroad. I know ALOT of people running the km2 and have heard zero complaints. Even the diesel owners say they wear great. All i run on my diesel are bfg at's and they are awesome to! Cant go wrong  with them

[Cylvertip]

Rotate the BFG MT's every 5K and you can expect to get 60-70K miles out of them - from Mudders!!!.  I've done it on 4 different sets  - two were 33x9.5's on a Nissan Hardbody, and two were 35x12.5's on my crew cab Stroke.  I've got a set of the 33x10.5' KM2's on my Pathfinder and so far so good - seem to be a bit quieter than the original MT's and really good off road traction.  I ended up putting Cooper SST's on the Stroke the last go around - I needed new tires and BFG was right in the transition on tread designs with no tires available.  The Coopers have as good of traction, but not sure they will last as long.  All of these rigs were/ are daily drivers.

[demontang]

Had some bfg km2 and hated them, way to hard of a compond for me. They didn't have much bite in ice or side bite either, and after putting them on my mpg went down which amazed me. I went from a 35 14.5 to a 35 12.5 and from 10-13 to 9-10mpg My own experience is bad with bfg tires except the high end stuff (competition tires). Best tires ive had for a daily driver/wheeler have been from interco or nitto. I would bet the trail grappler would be right up your ally or even the terra grappler will amaze you offroad. The problem I see is with that size most tires are D or E range tires and your jeep isnt the nice riding rig to begin with (owned one).

O and as for side walls stay away from the bfg seen way to many failures in they, the interco, micky, nitto, and etc ive tried have all taken a lot of side wall abuse.

[dontgetcrabs]

Paul just buy a new Rubicon. With the price of corn you can afford one.  Problem solved. 

[farmin4u_98948]

Ha....... Thats the answer.......thanks Crab man

[jeepasaurusrex]

I run KM2's on my CJ and they work great. They have great traction on and off road. They work great when aired down. If you get the center lugs siped it helps with ice. But then again, no tire is going to perform on ice. I have driven up compact snow and ice covered roads with mine at a steep angle and kept going where others had to quit. They last a long time and the I have never cut a sidewall. 

[whacker1]

I have been running goodyear MTR 285-75-R16 load range D on my 77 cj-7. I have had several sets of these tires and love them. I just purchased the new tire which is now a load range E. Its just to stiff. Even with the air way down it has a stiff ride and poor off road traction. I am at a loss as to what to try now. I dont want to go to a wider 12.5 . The tires I have now are 11 wide. The easy answer is to buy new 15 in rims and to to the mtr 12.5x33. It is daily driver as well as off road. Thanks for the input.....  Paul

Paul - you have a dilemma.

You went from a "D" 8 ply tire to a "10" ply tire.  with a kevlar based sidewall.  The new tire is too stiff, your only answer is to go to a softer rubber compound and get back to an 8 ply tire. 

Pro comp makes the x-treme mud terrain in an 8 ply in your size with a 3 ply sidewall vs the normal 2 ply sidewall from most other tires.  I ran the pro-comp mud terrains on my f-150, and was fairly happy.  But I did not run the x-treme mud terrains. 

I am now running the fierce attitude made by goodyear and have been pretty impressed, but I went narrower to get better gas mileage.  235/85/16, which is 9.25 inches wide by 31.75 tall.  I had them siped and have been impressed so far by both wear, and performance in snow and muddy conditions.  I have almost 20,000 miles on them and they look like they will go at least another 20,000, which is par for the course for me.  The f-150 front end is known to not wear tires all that well.  It eats ball joints, so the tires go with the ball joints.   These are 10 ply tires

The Nitto trail grappler was on my list, but you are back to a 10 ply tire with a 3 ply sidewall. 

My bet is that all of the 3 ply sidewall tires will feel stiffer.  So you will end up weighing the puncture resistant sidewall vs softer feel.  I think it is a balancing act that you might struggle with on most brands and styles, because if you go to the other softer performance tires, such as: swampers and the like, you will lose the gas mileage and longevity you want in the daily driver part of your world. 

Best of luck

[farmin4u_98948]

Thanks Whack.......

  I really dont care about the mileage  factor. I want a softer rubber compound that will give me better off road preformance. I rotate them to another vehicle after they get worn down some. Cooper  Discover also makes a load range D tire. Thanks for your input on the pro comp. I have had no experience with that tire. I will take a look at it.... If anyone wants my goodyear MTR s. They have less than 500 mi on them. Center siped. I will see what the tire store will give me for them and let ya all know.....Thanks .... Paul

[whacker1]

Yes, I forgot about the Cooper STT.

Based on what you said, I would think you would want a soft rubber compound in a 10 ply tire to keep the puncture resistance.  Granted the 8 ply will flex more as the whole tire, but the tread compound will be different.  Knowing that you rotate them to another vehicle. 

You probably also should check out the Mickey Thompson MTZ in 8 ply tire, Dick cepek Mud country in an 8 ply tire.

Otherwise you have covered most of the brands other than General and the Hankook, and Toyo.

[huntandjeep]

i'm running Interco Truxus on my TJ and there a great tire. not to loud on the freeway and do great in the mountains. Ran KM2's on my CJ and they sucked compared to the swampers. My brother is running Dick Cepek Crushers on his TJ and the do really well also.

[MuleySniper]

Super Swamper TSL's! or Q78's. Great wheeling tires, not so good for a daily driver though.

[farmin4u_98948]

If I was on a 15 in rim there would be no doubt that I would be running the goodyear mtr. I just hate to go to a 12.5 .  I love the way the 11" fits and works under the old rust bucket.