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tires

Black1990jeep

NAXJA Forum User
Location
california
Tires, Goodyear Wangler

I have Goodyear Wangler 33x12.5x15 offroad tires, they are likely 15plus years old, lots of tread left. I had five, but tore a sidewall this weekend, so now I have four. I need to replace my spare tire now.

Looking up the Goodyear Wangler in my size, I see the tread design is completely different. there are also two types of wangler by goodyear that I see, a Duratrac, and a MT/R, both under the Goodyear Wangler name, both different than what I have.

What are these two new style Wangler tires like? Are These all terrain, or offroad types? Is the older type I have no longer made? Mine have a very aggressive tread.

If the Wanglers I have are no longer made, what would be the most simular? I simply need one as a spare. If I cant get an identical tire, then I want to bet something very simular, specially diameter wise, and traction as I do have a rear limited slip, and front locker.


Any advice on how to get a same or simular replacement?
 
Re: Tires, Goodyear Wangler

If your tires are that old, you need 5 new ones. As tire get old the compound gets harder till they are basically useless other than carrying weight.
 
Re: Tires, Goodyear Wangler

I think I know the old style Wrangler pattern that you have. It has been gone for at least 5 years, if not closer to 10.
 
Re: Tires, Goodyear Wangler

In our local club, if your vehicle doesn't meet minimum inspection requirements you would need to have a guardian/sponsor to go on some of the major trips!
 
Re: Tires, Goodyear Wangler

They stopped making that tire in ... 2008? 2009?

You need new tires. They have a safe use lifespan of about 7 years.
 
For my 1990 XJ, with 33x12.5x15 tires, I have old Goodyear Wanglers, installed by prior owner. He told me they were installed when Goodyear first introduced these tires, so they are at least 15 years old, maybe 20. he stopped driving the jeep at least a dozen years ago before I bought it a year ago. the jeep was stored inside, so little UV sun exposure on tires. still lots of tread left, no cracking of rubber

I punctured the sidewall Saturday with a big branch. So the spare is installed. I want to replace my tire so I have five again, but these tires are out of production Folks are indicating the tires are too old now, and I should replace all of them$$$.

I may decide to simply buy a simular design used tire as a spare, probably will cost me $100 or less. or I spring for five new tires which could cost me upwards of $1500.

My jeep is used for wheeling, and I am new to this. We have done Death Valley area three times already and did a run near Yosemite yesterday. I am not real concerned about highway noise, I drive 40+ year old VWs as my daily ride, so noise is not a big deal to me.

I have been happy with these old Wangler off road tires. I am not really interested in all terrain tires, as I prefer better off road ability, good gripping tires for rock crawling. My understanding is all terrains are a compromise for offroad. one day I want to do the Rubicon trail in my jeep, the prior owner did the Rubicon with these tires many years ago.

I use the jeep for offroad camping in hard to get to places, I dont drive offroad to race, rather slow and steady to get to a destination without damage.

What is the advice on a good tire?

Also, my old tires still seem soft and pliable subjectively to me, but do they tend to loose traction when they have aged this much? There have been a few times when they did seem to slip on dry rocks going over Mangle Pass in Death Valley.

Anyway I am all new to this offroad tire thing, still trying to figure the terminology.
 
PS I see "mud terrain" as a tire type. I see " All terrain" as another type. what does this mean?

Is mud terrain mainly for mud as opposed to dry rock crawling? All terrain means a compromise with offroad and highway, is that correct?

what other type names for tires are out there? Is a mud terrian tire ok for dry rock crawling, desert trails? I am not so interested in slogging thru mud pits, as I am into Desert dry trails, rock dry "water falls" and such. Is a mud terrain rated tire mainly for mud pits, verses rocky dry trails and rock crawling?
Is there a difference?

I really need a primer in the tire terminology before I purchase, will someone direct me in this?

Thanks
 
If they really are 20 years old I would DEFINITELY replace all of them. I had a blowout on my old Chevy with an 8 year old tire and ripped the side if the box open. That was going about 2mph backing into a parking spot, I'd HATE to see that going down the highway. Regardless of UV exposure the rubber breaks down over time.

I don't have the experience to tell you which type to buy but the only real difference between an "AT" tire and an "MT" is the MT tires have higher voids to help eject mud. I would "assume" you would want MT tires in the rocks but not my area of expertise.
 
It all depends on your driving needs. I used to run BFG Mt's and about 10yrs ago I switched over to Duratracs in a "c" rating.
 
My old tire are ok for me on the highway runs. so something like them is ok, I dont think I am interested in "all terrain" tires. But I suppose in the world of "mud terrain" tires some brands may not be desirable for highway at all. I dont trailer my jeep to the trails, I drive highway. My old Wang,ers did ok for me on 1000s of miles of highway so far.

thinking back to some of the rocks that I did spin tires on, it maybe the old tire become less grippy with age. They do chirp on asphalt sometimes li,e when starting out on a steep slope, Maybe that is a sign the tire rubber is getting hard and not gripping as it used to, but I just had assumed that these kind of tires do chirp, but I dont have any experience with new offroad tires, just these old ones, so I dont know what I should expect.


Any comments on the chirping on start up on asphalt road hills? is that normal for offroad tires, or is that a clear indication that the rubber is now too hard?

thanks
 
Any comments on the chirping on start up on asphalt road hills? is that normal for offroad tires, or is that a clear indication that the rubber is now too hard?

Well I'm not certain it's the age, but the 6 year old tires I took off mine chirped if you looked at them funny and my new Duratracs are nice and quiet.
 
Re: Tires, Goodyear Wangler

What you have is the old-style MT/R, the MT/R Kevlars are the replacement.

The Duratrac is more of an AT-MT Hybrid: center tread sections are dense like an AT, shoulders more widely spaced like an MT. Lots of sipes, self-cleans decently, set up for studs and has the "Mountain Snowflake" rating.

I had a set of the early ones and was very impressed with road manners and off-road hookup, but at that time they were having a lot of sidewall issues (I lost 3 myself in 3 trail runs) and ended up jumping ship to the MT/R Kevlars for the stronger sidewalls.

In the past couple years I've been seeing more Duratracs around though, seems like Goodyear may have solved the sidewall issues.
 
The "MT" in "MT/R" actually stands for "Maximum Traction", according to Goodyear. Other manufacturers probably do use "MT" for "Mud Terrain" (notably BFG).

The current MT/R (the Kevlar type I noted in the other thread) or any other heavily offroad-oriented tire will be louder on the road due to the bigger tread voids.

Might be worth asking the guys you go out with what they like/dislike for the types of terrain you tend to see.
 
If they really are 20 years old I would DEFINITELY replace all of them. I had a blowout on my old Chevy with an 8 year old tire and ripped the side if the box open. That was going about 2mph backing into a parking spot, I'd HATE to see that going down the highway. Regardless of UV exposure the rubber breaks down over time.

I don't have the experience to tell you which type to buy but the only real difference between an "AT" tire and an "MT" is the MT tires have higher voids to help eject mud. I would "assume" you would want MT tires in the rocks but not my area of expertise.


+1

A guy in my neighborhood had a beautiful '55 Chevy Bel Air. A very nicely built classic. Then it disappeared from his garage. I chanced to encounter him and asked if he sold it. Nope. Took it out for a drive, pulled out of the neighborhood and hit the throttle. Car went out of control and it nearly cost him his life. Totalled the car. Reason? Old tires. They looked great and had spent their lives garaged. That didn't keep the rubber from hardening.

There may be some rubber compounds which age better than others, but with tires, there is just too much risk. Not only for yourself but also for those around you. If you trailer your rig and it never sees street use then maybe the risk isn't so high, but if you are on the public roads it isn't worth the risk.
 
yup. time to replace. I'm in the same boat as mine are about 10 years old and weather checked. fortunately, I tore them up pretty good last time out in the rocks.

check out the Goodyear Duratrac. IIRC it replaced the wrangler. Edit: Kevlars as mentioned....

yes, MTs work very well in rocks when aired down and kickass in mud. I'll be going with MT's on mine.

what's your mix of trail vs road? that would be a big factor for making a decision on MT or AT. BFG KO2 looks like would do well, but no experience with them offroad. They do wear very well and seem aggressive enough.
 
Last edited:
Well I do a good deal of highway to get to off road places, then usually do several days of offroad. My old MT wanglers did well enough for me on the highway so I will stick with MT tires.

I am really leaning towards the Wrangler MT with Kevlar as they advertise 33% more puncture strength on side wall with Kevlar.

My concern is will the stronger sidewalls negatively effect tire conforming to terrain when aired down.

How does this Goodyear Wrangler MT with Kevlar perform off road in regards to aired down footprint say for rock crawling over desert dry waterfalls of rocks?
 
You will just need to make sure you air down, about 10psi.
 
My Big Tire Purchase

As in other post, my tires are really old, Goodyear Wranglers, circa 2002, I just bought this lifted xj arb locker, Atlas II, etc... 33x 12.5x15 tires. I want to stick with M/T tires. Jeep is for trips only. Sure sometimes lots of highway, but then 100s of miles offroad, Rocks in Death Valley, sand, forest mud, etc...

So here are some choices...

https://www.americastire.com/fitmen...ategory:mudTerrainTires&sort=price-asc&page=1

I am thinking of maybe the Goodyear Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar, but others on the list I wonder about. Th e Goodyear stands out to me as good for the puncture resistant kevlar sidewalls. the tread is kind of different, like half is more tighter treads, half more mud clearing wide treads. Is this a compromise of offroad ability to gain street handling? how are these offroad compaired to say a simular price BFG MudTarrain T/A KM3, with its more usually tread pattern? both the Goodyear and BFG weigh the same, but the BFg only has 18 mm tread depth, the Goodyear 21 mm. the BFG has higher max inflation of 45 psi verses 36 for the Goodyear.

Are the rubber compounds simular as far as sticking to rocks for rock crawling? Rubicon type stuff?

I am new to this, my first offroad tire purchase, for what I want, good offroad ability, with more emphasis on rock crawlability than muddy swamps, although that maybe in the mix sooner rather than later. it is not a daily driver, but It needs to handle safely on the interstate at least in the slow lane, I am not a lead foot on the highway. Hope to do Rubicon on these tires

What are opinions on the linked and discussed tires? insights on pros and cons of certain brands, any to avoid?

thanks.
 
Re: My Big Tire Purchase

Falken Wildpeak MT.

It's the best DOT MT right now.
 
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