Tire comparison, all chime in [Archive] - NAXJA Forums -::- North American XJ Association

Eagle

May 22nd, 2003, 21:41

I have a set of Seiberling Trail Rider LTs on one of the MJs. They are what I've used on most of the NAXJA events I've attended and I've been satisfied. Not the most aggressive tire in the universe, but decent, also good on pavement, and reasonable price.

My personal favorite A/T-type tire is the Cooper Discoverer LT (not the Discoverer A/T). Thread pattern very similar to Dunlop Radial Rover, far better tread life than the Dunlops, good off-road and in snow, and comfortable for pavement.

I have never run a genuine mud-type tire so can't comment of those. Don't like mud very much, so I'm hoping I'll never need 'em.

ChuckD

May 22nd, 2003, 22:59

I like my MTR's, awsome rock, and good snow traction. Mud, well let just say, I haven't had much expeience with mud, but when it was deep I got stuck.

GSequoia

May 23rd, 2003, 00:50

Michelin LTX/MS (235/75/15):

These boys look tame as hell (very road looking) but grip better than you'd think. I've never had a traction problem (I'm not crazy, crazy, but I've taken it though a few rock gardens). When they were new the wet traction amazed me...I'm used to it now :)

Probably got about 30 - 40k on them now, damn things still look good! (can we tell that I'm trying to get bigger tires...I want them to wear out!).

I've never had them in snow, nor in any mud to speak of.

Not so great in dune sand...but then again what is?

RyanT

May 23rd, 2003, 01:40

I've been really happy with my Bridgestone Dueler AT's ... and my brother has Dueler MT's on his Ram Sport and I really, really like them, and wish that I had them instead, both a good on and off road, the AT's very quiet, while the MT's not as quiet but not nearly as loud as most other MT's I've heard.

DTHBOX

May 23rd, 2003, 06:56

BFG M/T

They get a little noise on the road but they can move earth if you need to. I can go more places in 2 wd in the jeep than my dad can go in 4 wd in his Ram 3/4 ton diesel.

xj92

May 23rd, 2003, 07:14

I run Kirkland Signature (Costco) All-Terrain Tires (31x10.5R15). They've been really good. The tread pattern is fairly agressive, and I've got 28,000 miles on them so far and they still look good. They handle well on the road and are quiet. At around $80 each they were a good deal.

reson46

May 23rd, 2003, 07:19

If you are looking for an AT type of tire, I used to beat the crap out of a set of Michelin XCX APTs. They don't look very aggressive, but they surprised me in the rocks, but, of course they were limited in the mud. I put 50,000 miles on them and they still had a lot of good tread left, probably at least 20,000 miles. I didn't treat them kindly either. I bashed them against rocks, tree stumps, mud holes, etc. I scratched up the sidewalls and they never lost any air pressure. Never had a flat either.

If you are looking for an MT, I have run SSRs and and currently running Pro Comp MTs. I have been really impressed by the Pro Comps and I really liked the SSRs too.

Big Bear

May 23rd, 2003, 07:34

I second the Pro comp muds and also run Pro comp A/T's on my other XJ. The A/T's are less agressive but are sevear weather rated, which meens you don't have to chain up when every body else dose. I haven't had them off road yet but they have hella trackion in the snow. The mud's on the other hand do incredible in snow and and just as good in Moab.

2offroad

May 23rd, 2003, 08:11

PIRELLI SCORPION A/T, rode good, griped very well in wet, dry, dirt, and lite mud. wear rate 50,000+. i now have DAYTON Timberline M/T. a little more mud than street but ok. if the Pirelli Scorpion M/T are as good as A/T i would buy them, but you can'y get them in the US.

Ghost

May 23rd, 2003, 08:51

BFG A/T is a good all around tire. Ran them on the Ford for a year or so. Not too good in the Mud but can work! Am about to try Cooper Discoverer STT's. I ran a small set on my TJ b4 I sold it and was really impressed with this tire. And the price aint too bad either!

Slip Kid

May 24th, 2003, 18:39

I have BFG AT KOs, 31x10.5. they wear kinda fast but they work great in pretty much everything, a real 'all-terrain'

my dad got some Wild Country TXRs on his XJ, in 235 75R15. They're pretty soft too, but seem to be holding up better than mine. These are more aggressive than my ATs(and louder, which I like), and they certainly like the mud better than ATs. I'll probably get these tires next time, The price is about the same as BFGs, and they're a nice mix between AT and MT.

Imjosh

May 24th, 2003, 21:02

i just put a set of 33in mtr's on my jeep and I LOVE them they ride great and I just got back from a little trail run and I was very impressed with them

mtndewmaniac

May 24th, 2003, 22:05

Another vote for the Pro Comps, but I am currently exploring the issues of goodyears MT/Rs, I really like the specs and composition of this tire, my current BFGs, even @8 psi don't have a lot of sidewall flex, at least not like I'm use to, but I guess that is the trade off for a three-ply sidewall.

1986xj

May 25th, 2003, 00:09

Here's what I'm running now -
69 CJ5 - 36" old school Swamper TSL's, air down to 8 psi or so and they'll go anywhere in the rocks, they suck on wet pavement though.
77 F250 33" Courser AT's, Great on the street in wet or snow, ok in mud, rocks ???
88 F350 35" Pro Comp Xterrains, great in mud, great in snow, good on wet pavement, great on the rocks. They are aggresive directional tires but have enough wave in the tread pattern to avoid the sideways slide that boggers give ya, and the siping makes them do very well on wet roads.
The 02 WJ and 86 XJ both have puny little stock size Goodyear AT & AP tires....work well for getting groceries :rolleyes:
Mike B.

woody

May 26th, 2003, 08:43

I have been pretty much a fan of BFG MTs. I have ran these in 33"x9.50" and 33"x12.50": Strong, fairly quiet and long life. Only destroyed one @ 700 miles LOL and it was my fault - not the tires fault. I replaced it with a Wide Climber MT. This held up through some heavy duty wheeling and wore well until yesterday...pinched/slashed the sidewall between the rim and some sharp-wet rocks...killed a steel wheel too :dunno: :viking:

Had good luck with Wild Country TXR (sort of between an AT and a MT) in 33"x9.50" They were on my MJ when I bought it, and I ran them for several months before going wider.

Also bought a set of stock Sport wheels with 31x9.50" TSL Radials. These rode/handled fine and were quieter than I expected. Kinda slippy on wet roads...but I don't drive really fast in the wet. I may be using these again until I get some bigger tires/beadlock wheels for the 89

Next up...36x12.5 TSLs on 15x8 Allied(?) beadlocks

RichP

May 26th, 2003, 08:54

Good Year APT factory tires were long wearing and thats all I can say positive about them.
Good Year Wranger AT's, long wearing to 50K but then seemed prone to getting punctures on 3 different vehicles.
Pirealli Scorpion AT's, when sears had them for $69 a tire mounted and balanced they were the ultimate, awsome on wet and dry roads, very good off road in mud, rocks, dirt and sand. Lasted about 50K. But after the sears stopped carrying them the local tire dealers shot the price up to over $130 a tire.
Dunlop Radial rover AT, better then the Wrangler all round, hard tire and long wearing which is typical of dunlops.
Currently running BFG AT KO's, quite, handle well on dry roads, pretty good on wet roads too. Very good off road on rocks, muddy stream banks, loose dirt and stones. Had a nail puncture last week in the rear passenger side sidewall, BJ's lifetime road hazard warranty and 2 hours later I had a new tire mounted and balanced. After 10K there is no measureable wear difference between the 3 that are on there and the brandy new one. At $100 a tire mounted, balanced, warrantied it seems like a good deal plus they look nice black sidwalls out.

2offroad

May 26th, 2003, 09:22

was i uwharrie this weekend very muddy and slick, 1 XJ had BFG M/Ts turned to red donuts a toy with Pro Comps Xterras done very good, my Dayton Timberline M/Ts suprised me with the traction that i had. cleaned out easy,

MudDawg

May 26th, 2003, 15:30

Cooper Discoverer M/T's 12.5 x 33 do a good job in mud on a moderately lifted XJ...when they wear out...14.5 x 33 SSR Swampers..lock em up and let em chew!!!!

poppabear

May 27th, 2003, 08:06

I had BFG AT's and now I have Cooper ST and they are much better than the bfg's. I am a big fan of very aggressive AT's.

mbryson

May 27th, 2003, 10:56

Originally posted by Big Bear
I second the Pro comp muds and also run Pro comp A/T's on my other XJ. The A/T's are less agressive but are sevear weather rated, which meens you don't have to chain up when every body else dose. I haven't had them off road yet but they have hella trackion in the snow. The mud's on the other hand do incredible in snow and and just as good in Moab.

NICE AVATAR........??? {that's my Jeep :D }....I'm an MT/R guy. I've run the SSR and I'll stick with the MT/R for my street/off-road Utah XJ

Matt

May 27th, 2003, 11:11

I use a 38.5 x 14.50 SX's - best tire I have run yet - pretty darn good on the road too (all things considered) Pretty much bombproof and works great everywhere - 4-5psi on the dirt and off you go - 32psi and hit the pavement!

Matt

PS - I'll have to report back about the 16.00r20 Michelin Xl's later :D

zeejay

May 27th, 2003, 12:21

I've ran so many different tires over the past two years....

BFG A/T ko- 31x10.5.... they were alright at best. Horrible on wet pavement, horrible in mud, sucked in Seattle

BFG MT (old style) - 33's Did alright. Good all around tire

BFG MT KM - 33's Better then the old, but much softer

PC Xterrain - 33's Damn good tire. Lasted well, gripped well, loved em

SSR- 33's. Kicked ass, not too loud, but pricey

TSL (bias) - 33's. Kill everything tire. Hum bad on the street, and scare small children when they see them. My true favorite. I just run some bitch 33's on the street.

Nay

May 29th, 2003, 09:02

If you want one tire for all uses, add the trXus to your list. I know I keep harping on this, but these tires are better onroad than the BFG AT ko's they replaced. They ride better, they are quiet, and they stick better in wet and snowy conditions, and there is no comparison when the stuff gets deep. As I've posted before, they are so good in loose and packed snow that they caused me to replace the stock Bridgestones that came on my Subaru.

Offroad, I have no complaints. They stick nicely to rocks, and although I don't deal much with mud, they are good enough in deep snow that they'd handle the kind of mud I'd ever run into. This is not the ultimate offroad tire, but it is the first tire I've run that I would truly consider "all terrain". It is good at everything at bad at nothing, which is exactly what you want if you are only going to run one set of tires. So far, treadlife appears to be good.

If you are running a pure street set, find what works best in snow and rain. I'd think Pirelli or the Geolanders, personally. But considering how good the new breed of MT's is...unless you are a mudder why bother with two sets of tires?

Nay

jimmy forbes

May 29th, 2003, 10:33

i like my bfg mt kms tey work well and wear even better

ROCKWGN

May 29th, 2003, 12:06

Goodyear MTRs !!! I have the 33 x 12.5 MTRs and they are great on and off road. On road they are quite for a mud terrain, stick and handle well. Off road they are awesome. Especially for rock crawling. Look through your 4BY mags and see what most are running. Note: I live in the west, little snow or mud. Lots of sand and rocks. Lets head out..........
Sean M.

Andy73

May 29th, 2003, 15:28

Originally posted by Slip Kid
I have BFG AT KOs, 31x10.5. they wear kinda fast but they work great in pretty much everything, a real 'all-terrain'

I agree except that I have a little over 80,000 miles on my 32x11.50's.:eek: They probably still have at least 10 to 20,000 left in them! They have lasted very well! I will definitely buy them again

XJguy

May 29th, 2003, 17:23

I think that this unofficial NAXJA tire review should be saved, as it gives those looking for new tires real world long term reviews on many of the more popular tires.

XJguy

climbon

May 29th, 2003, 21:18

I ran my stock Wranglers on my new 96XJ to the rims after a few outings. Went to those Mud Kings, they where o.k. but did not air down very well. On my 99XJ Big O M/T's wore out fast on the road, had to stop for a deer and never got the flat spot out of them. Now I run BFG M/T Km and I like them alot, rotate every 3,000 to keep them even. I might go with swampers next since my XJ now is no longer a daily driver.

LawlessXJ

May 30th, 2003, 09:43

Originally posted by Andy73
I agree except that I have a little over 80,000 miles on my 32x11.50's.:eek: They probably still have at least 10 to 20,000 left in them! They have lasted very well! I will definitely buy them again

I also put a little over 80k miles on a set of 31" BFG A/Ts on another vehicle... still had some miles left in 'um when I moved up to 35" BFG A/Ts (and sold them for $20 each at a yard sale!!)

Art Triggs

May 30th, 2003, 09:58

I used Michelin LTX/AT's (215's) right after I got my XJ, worked well for a little tire,were quiet, and wore very well... when I started building it up I moved to General Grabber MT's, (31's)which didn't wearwell, were loud as H*ll on the road and were just ok off road, I switched to Cooper STT's,(31's) that are (imo)a better tire, they wear better, are somewhat quieter, are much better on road, especially on a slick wet road,(at least compared to the Generals) offroad, so far so good, this summer will tell.....next change I will be moving higher, and may go for TRXUS 33's - everyone I have met who has tried them liked them.

MuddyXJ

May 30th, 2003, 16:47

Ok since I seem to always be the "black sheep" in every group, I will have to say Mickey Thompson Baja Claws. I have the radials and soon.........as soons as I get enough lift....... I will have their NEW 46" bias Claws. Not many people know about them I was told by someone I worked with there about them.

Goatman

May 30th, 2003, 19:35

Originally posted by XJguy
I think that this unofficial NAXJA tire review should be saved, as it gives those looking for new tires real world long term reviews on many of the more popular tires.

XJguy

Rich, all I've read here is everyone saying how much they like the tires they're running. Little or no comments on what they've run in the past that they didn't like or what they don't like about their current tire compared to what they ran before. Sounds like the 4x4 mags......everything is good! ;)

I run rocks, so that's my perspective. I've run a couple of sets of BFG muds and I would never run them again, couldn't get rid of them fast enough. They grip Ok but have a weak sidewall and I cut them all the time. The BFG's TriGuard is marketing...3 small plies verses others 2 big plies. I've run Swamper SSR's, which I initially liked, but they ended up being difficult to keep balanced. They also were harder to turn so it was like dropping a rear end gear ratio because of the extra power it took to turn them on the highway. I liked how they gripped, good in the little mud I ran, very good in the rocks, and fantastic in the snow. The sidewall was pretty durable, but the compound is real soft so the sidewalls had lots of gouges in them.

My current tires are Goodyear MT/R's, which I like a lot. They balance easily, take much less power to turn than the Swampers, and for an aggresive tire have very good steet manners. The grip in the rocks is awsome, a little better than the SSR's. The sidewall compound is much tougher than the soft SSR's, and they hardly have any marks in them. The sidewall thickness and the compound is better than the BFG's. Many think the MT/R is the best all around off road tire available, and I agree.

RCP Phx

May 30th, 2003, 20:33

Originally posted by RCP Phx
There is no "Perfect" tire!Where do you live?What different types of terrain do you have?I live in Phx so we go from Snow to Rocks that are 200+degrees hot,it even rains here(can you say flooding)!

We all have different conditions and needs.We all expect different things from our tires(daily driver vs. having 2 sets or off-road only)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

XJFREK

June 4th, 2003, 00:42

When I bought my XJ is still had the original Goodyear P-Metrics on it and they were almost bald. I wanted something more aggressive but it was going to be my daily driver and I didn't want to run mud tires. I chose the Dunlop Radial Rover R/T's. They are listed on the Dunlop home page but I've never seen them at any store I've ever been to. I would describe them as a highly aggressive A/T. They are pinned for studs, and have excellent traction in the snow. I've only been in mud a couple times but they had no problem there either. Not the quietest ride but alot better than a swamper or M/T. And at nearly 50,000 miles, they still have enough tread for at least one more year. They do seem to be getting noiser in their old age, and my set seems to take alot of weight to balance. But I am terrible at regular rotation, and like to drive fast on the highway so I'd have to say they don't owe me anything. No experience on rocks or sand.

whitfimb

June 4th, 2003, 01:41

I like the Super Swamper Boggers best! Down here on the fall line near the coast if it's not dry it's bottomless. They handle mud the best and everything else at an acceptable level. These tires also work well for scaring small children, but my three year old likes to climb on mine. If I need grocerys I'll just drive the Civic.