BajaNomad

Jeep Tire Recommendation???

motoged - 4-17-2007 at 12:38 PM

Nomads,
A friend has a new jeep (YJ type) and is planning on using the stock tires for backroading Baja (not a rock crawler).
He has been to Baja about 17 times riding off-road motorcycles so he knows the type of terrain to expect and that is not the issue here.

What do you folks who do the same recommend for tires for stock rims??? A few weeks ago there was some discussion re: truck tires recommended....

Thanks for any experienced opinions.

Ged

capitolkat - 4-17-2007 at 01:11 PM

check out

www.lostkjs.com/forum

These guys are jeep geeks that talk tires like the Brits do about the royal family- unending.

Tires, tires, tires

John M - 4-17-2007 at 03:47 PM

Ged - you've come to the right place to get varied opinions - Kinda like asking what's your favorite beer?

BFG K/O All Terrains for my money. They'll have a size close to match your stock tire size I'm sure.

Had 'em for years and years - and no one could talk me out of getting them again.

John M

bancoduo - 4-17-2007 at 03:59 PM

Ditto. The best tire for reducing side-sway on jeeps.

Ken Cooke - 4-17-2007 at 08:21 PM

My favorite Baja tire has been the Interco TrXus MT. It is very stable on dirt roads at 40 m.p.h., it has sturdy sidewalls which really helps in the backcountry, and it is priced right. The tread works great on rocks, and it is siped for traction on both granite as well as the street.


jimgrms - 4-18-2007 at 07:16 AM

Got bfg a/t on my cherokee and love them but they are a little noisy but nothing a little willie nelson volumn don't fix,

David K - 4-18-2007 at 07:22 AM

I have these Cooper Discoverer STT tires on my Tacoma... 26,000 miles and no flats so far...

Purchased them at Express Tires in San Diego County (San Marcos store)

Made in the USA and look great

3 ply sidewalls

They are noisey on the highway

They were great in the Laguna Salada mud

They were grave diggers in the sand... until lowered to 10 psi, then they worked great.



[Edited on 4-18-2007 by David K]

discoverer_STT.jpg - 7kB

Fatboy - 4-18-2007 at 09:35 AM

All these threads about tires are good to read, one comment though how about throwing prices out on the set (of 4) that you are recommending?
I have had great luck with BFG's All Terrians, never used BFG's Mud Terrians, it has been years since I have had any though.

I have used Les Schwabs Wildcat A/T's on the Cherokee and while not really much of an off road tire, they were quiet, cheap and wore great. A few years ago a set of four 30" ran around $380 OTD.

On my Wrangler I went with Les Schwab's Mud Terrain's. Not happy with them due to fast wear. A set of four in the 31" size set me back about $525 2 years ago. They did work great off road and never had a flat even running 8psi. I looked into another set last month to replace the worn out ones and they would have set me back over $600 (again, 4) and with the quick wear I said 'No'. I have been very happy with Les Schwab's service though.

So, on shopping around for tires this Feb. I almost went with BFG A/T's at Discount Tire since they had the best price, a little under $600 OTD for a set of 4 for 31". I really wanted something a little more aggressive since the A/T's are about worthless for snow, mud and dry sand. They do work great and rocks and hard packed surfaces though.

I looked at the Coopers and really liked the looks of the Cooper SST, like David K's, but price was an issue. I have to be frugal. The tire store I went to suggested some Kenda's. They look great and now I have to see how they wear. A set of 4 of 31X10.50x15 ran $499 OTD the door. If they wear O.K. and the price doesn't jump up I might stick with them.

DonBaja - 4-18-2007 at 12:26 PM

I have been running BFG KO/AT's for over 200k miles (3 sets) on my bronco and I have never had a flat, however others in our group have shredded the BFG's down in baja and will never run them again. I can only go by my experience and I like the BFG's.

I am wondering how much driving style has to do with some people losing tires more frequently.

tripledigitken - 4-18-2007 at 12:32 PM

Does anyone have experience with Toyo Open Country AT's? I am considering them to replace BFG Rugged Trails on my Xterra.

My concerns are:

Handling in rain and snow, tire wear, and highway noise.

thanks for any comments.

Ken

DonBaja - 4-18-2007 at 12:51 PM

My understanding is the difference between the BFG and Toyo is the strength of the sidewall. From what I have heard the Toyo is much stronger.

tripledigitken - 4-18-2007 at 01:03 PM

Don,

I have heard glowing reports on the Toyo's as to their offroad strength's. But we still have to drive them 1,000's of miles of highway to enjoy 100's of miles offroad. I want to know if they are good in rain, which is not the case with all AT's.

My Bridgestone Duelers were great in Baja and So Cal, but when we moved to Seattle they were dangerous on wet highways. Went with the Michelin LTX's which were and are great tires both in rain and the dirt. Want to try the Toyo's if they are even close to the LTXer's. Thanks for the comment.

jimgrms - 4-18-2007 at 01:20 PM

Fatboy i have 235 70 r16 bfg ats and they were 575 for 4 at discount tires in denver, i have no issues with them except they are noisy they work great in snow and on the trip i took from denver on i70 in a snowstorm: down to gonzago bay and across to the pacific side no flats or problems if you have them and are having problems maybe slowing down will help,

[Edited on 4-18-2007 by jimgrms]

Diver - 4-18-2007 at 01:45 PM

I have had good luck with the TOYO AT's.
Over 40,000 miles on an F250 and $780 mounted etc at Schwab this month !

Or try the TOYO Open Country MT.
They are not nearly as noisy as you might think; no more than the AT's.
35,000 miles plus on your jeep and great traction.
Amazingly stable on the highway !

.

Ken Cooke - 4-18-2007 at 10:31 PM

The BFGoodrich AT and MT are blowout city with regard to their flimsy sidewalls. Sure, the AT has a smooth ride on the street, but what good is a tire that gets flats while in rough terrain??? I ran both the AT, the AT/KO and the MT/KM, and with regard to traction and sidewall vunerability, I switched back to the TrXus MT. For a TrXus MT (excluding balancing,etc.) I paid $140 per tire (33x12.5"r15). Don't sweat the price per tire if you're really going to use the tire off road. The BFGs are over-priced, have inferior sidewall strength, and the traction on both the AT/KO and the MT are lacking on rocks, mud, and dirt. The AT/KO is superior in the sand over the MT/KM and the TrXus MT, but does not work well in mud (Mission Sta. Maria), or high-speed dirt roads like the TrXus MT.

Another BFG blowout:

DonBaja - 4-19-2007 at 08:10 AM

That is exactly what I have heard from many other people about the BFG's poor sidewall design. If I was starting over I wouldn't buy them except for the BFG Projects which is the tire alot of offroad teams use. I would look at Pro Comp or Goodyear. On my '68 bronco rock crawler I have the 35'BFG MT and have only had 1 side wall puncture and zero blow outs but I'm not hauling down dirt roads at speed in this vehicle. My '96 bronco has the AT's and they have been good to me also.

David K - 4-19-2007 at 08:20 AM

Amo Pescar's brand NEW BFG A/Ts got a sidewall puncture when we were trying to drive towards Tinaja de Yubay... on the sandy road before any rocks. I have not been impressed with the 3 ply sidewall that so many swear by in BFGs since that incident in 2001.

We camped with Neal & Marian Johns near San Gregorio, and Amo and Neal were busy shoving plugs into that gash to try and repair it.

The Cooper 3 ply sidewall is claimed to be much superior in material construction than BFG... and (so far), I have not put any holes in them!

The tires are about as pricey as All Terrain TAs (265/70-16) at $180 + but the value is in the service and performance.

rts551 - 4-19-2007 at 12:07 PM

I know David raves about Cooper. But I will never buy them again for my F-250. Replaced 2 already because of tread chunking. Dealer says its the roads I drive on, I said never mind Coopers, I'll replace them with something else when the next one goes.

motoged - 4-19-2007 at 02:23 PM

Nomads,
A BIG thank-you for your comments and suggestions. My friend has been tracking your replies and said he will continue to tune in to this thread for ongoing replies.

This forum is such a great source for opinions and info....:saint:

David K - 4-19-2007 at 03:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by rts551
I know David raves about Cooper. But I will never buy them again for my F-250. Replaced 2 already because of tread chunking. Dealer says its the roads I drive on, I said never mind Coopers, I'll replace them with something else when the next one goes.


Well, I just report on what my experience is with them...

I first used the Futura Dakota made by Cooper and sold through Pep Boys after Bedman raved about them... and they were cheap with a 50,000 mile warantee! Like $80 each... I only got 25,000 miles on them, but replacements were only $40 each!!! That was on my 2 door Tacoma...

When the BFG Rugged Trail TAs that came with the Tacoma were ready to replace at 24,000 miles, I shopped around for a rugged look off road tire... I was interested in Dick Cepek tires and Mickey Thompson's Baja ATZ tires... However, I could not find any to see in person around here... also they were not available in the same size Toyota TRD trucks use (265/70-16)... Since I was happy with the Cooper made Futura Dakota tires, I dropped into the Express Tire store in San Marcos, and they had one Discoverer STT I could actually touch! Well, I won't say I rave about them because they are noisy at speed and without letting the air out, will bury you in sand... However, with 26,000+ miles on them, they look to give me an easy 50,000 miles worth of flat free service!

I don't know which make of Cooper tires 'chunked' on you, but I will guess it wasn't a Discoverer STT...??? Did you contact Cooper directly if your dealer wouldn't warantee them?

My dad used to rave about Winston tires, not because they were good... in fact he had tread seperation a few times... It was their no hassle warantee. He always had new tread under his wagon because the tires failed before they wore out and he got free new ones!:lol:

Nomad 'baja taco' in Arizona has the Discoverer STTs on his Tacoma, too... I wonder how they are doing for im?

[Edited on 4-19-2007 by David K]

rts551 - 4-19-2007 at 06:13 PM

Discoveror ATR's... Yes warranteed... first one only cost me $10... but when 2 inch chuncks come out (dealer says its the rocks on my road) and I live more than half the year in Abreojos I don't want the hastle. I think that Cooper uses real hard rubber to get the mileage on their tires... thus the problem on dirt roads.

Hey to each his own.... I am probably going back to the Bridgestone Revos

and hey its a jeep tire thread... not big trucks. Still got a set of True Tracs in the garage somewhere for one of my two jeeps (real jeeps 43MB and 52 CJ2a) no offense intended Wranglers

[Edited on 4-20-2007 by rts551]

David K - 4-19-2007 at 06:53 PM

I had Armstrong Tru Tracs on my Cherokee Chief... They were great!!!

[Edited on 4-20-2007 by David K]

bancoduo - 4-19-2007 at 07:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
I had Armstrong Tru Traks on my Cherokee Chief... They were great!!!
YOU must be a thrill-seeker.:lol:

Bob and Susan - 4-19-2007 at 07:49 PM

chief...

cherokee-hief.jpg - 42kB

David K - 4-20-2007 at 10:25 AM

My Chief was the bigger body original 1975-1/2 model (when it was introduced to the Jeep line). The original Cherokee Chief had Jeep truck axels instead of the standard Wagoneer/Cherokee axels. The 401 V-8 was thirsty with the Quadra Trac full time four wheel drive... The quality was very poor with so many things breaking. When it was working, it was unstoppable off road, however. I sold it after two years and bought my first 4WD Subaru wagon (a 1977-1/2 model).

Nov. 1975 ...








[Edited on 4-20-2007 by David K]

Ken Cooke - 4-22-2007 at 12:14 AM

With all of the responses, I can't wait to see what tire this Jeeper will decide on???


bajataco - 4-22-2007 at 08:50 PM

Regarding the Coopers (STT), I have really enjoyed mine and have a report on my website (link below) but mine seem to be wearing rather quickly. No issues with chunking treads or hard rubber on mine. The durometer measures about the same as the Goodyear MTR.

To the original poster, I'd recommend the BFG All-terrain (T/A KO) for your friend's particular application, a great cross between off-road performance and pavement manners.