What do you think are really good tires for most off road ventures

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

You had two Canadians recommending the Duratracs. If we don't know a thing or two about slush/wet/snow/ice on this side of the world, I don't know who does...
Just sayin'.

Like I said to another, I need 5 new tires because of a recent 2" lift. The Duratracs are more expensive and a bit pricer than the Wrangler Trailrunner that fits my budget. The other thing is that I don't have as much snow, ice, and slush as I have gravely clay roads and rocky terrane. Also lots of powdery sand in the deserts where I need good flotation. Driving down here in the southern USA is a whole different country than you have in Canada. The closest I'll be getting to Canada is Montana-Utah region but Not in the winter. I appreciate your input though, it's what I was looking far and a lot of good points have been made on this thread. Helpful to others too, I would hope. Thank you

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Tires are definitely a "buy right, cry once" type of deal, but there are some value sweet spots to be found.

Proper installation is critical to success and happiness, all too many believe that if it is on the wheel and holding air it was done correctly, which is not necessarily the case.

Can you tell me what you meant by that. What is proper installation in you view ? I'm working with a strictly professional tire dealer. My alignment is correct and I always balance my new tires even though some dealers say drive them a few weeks first. My lift is only two inches and my new tires are going to be 2" taller and a bit narrower. Do you read anything that sounds wrong ? Thanks

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I grew up in Montana drove a mustang and only day i can recall in my 12 years of school being missed was due to wind chill it was something like -70. i think exposed skin will freeze in mins at that temp. the schools didn't want kids standing at the bus stop.

Back on topic though.
there are some other good brands out there neighbor picked up a set of Thunderer's Trac Grip MTs' great looking tread soft should last a long time on a jeep. set of 4 for my trcuk 33/12.50r20 is right at $600 IIRC.
TRAC GRIP M/T

That's a nice beefy tire, I like it. I'll ck the prices !

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

I been in sand, mud, snow and wet driving conditions and the Duratracs handled everything well, but your choice GY Wrangler Trailrunners is a great AT tire.

I sure hope so. If I don't like them when I see them I hope he has Duratracs in stock. Now that I've bitten the bullet, what's another $100 ?

 

[bgenlvtex]

Can you tell me what you meant by that. What is proper installation in you view ? I'm working with a strictly professional tire dealer. My alignment is correct and I always balance my new tires even though some dealers say drive them a few weeks first. My lift is only two inches and my new tires are going to be 2" taller and a bit narrower. Do you read anything that sounds wrong ? Thanks

Properly cleaned and lubricated wheels and verification of assembly uniformity using the GG ring (circumferential ring immediately above the bead area is the GG ring), correct use of weight/uniformity indicators (red and/or yellow dots), properly selected and installed wheel weights and fastener installation to include correct fastener torque using a calibrated device, will go a loooong way to ensuring longer tire life, better ride and over all satisfaction. Any professional shop will follow those guidelines.

Tires have a "design width" component measurement for the wheel, and an approved width component for the wheel. Design width will always be best, because it is well, the design width. As long as you are inside the approved width there will be no wheel width related problems that may affect warranty.

That said, I have seen many , many people mount tires on incorrectly dimension-ed wheels and still get good service from them.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Properly cleaned and lubricated wheels and verification of assembly uniformity using the GG ring (circumferential ring immediately above the bead area is the GG ring), correct use of weight/uniformity indicators (red and/or yellow dots), properly selected and installed wheel weights and fastener installation to include correct fastener torque using a calibrated device, will go a loooong way to ensuring longer tire life, better ride and over all satisfaction. Any professional shop will follow those guidelines.

Tires have a "design width" component measurement for the wheel, and an approved width component for the wheel. Design width will always be best, because it is well, the design width. As long as you are inside the approved width there will be no wheel width related problems that may affect warranty.

That said, I have seen many , many people mount tires on incorrectly dimension-ed wheels and still get good service from them.

Your pulling my leg !! Blowing smoke !! My wheels are stock and from a manufacture who doesn't make junk. I have never in my 84 years heard of a GG ring or uniformity indicators. I'll leave it to my tire professionals to worry about proper installation. They are ones who warrant the tires and installation. Never, ever, heard of an incorrectly dimensioned wheel unless it comes from China ! Quality control takes care of that sort of thing from the manufacture and is guaranteed for accuracy with 10/1000th I am told.

 

[bgenlvtex]

Your pulling my leg !! Blowing smoke !! My wheels are stock and from a manufacture who doesn't make junk. I have never in my 84 years heard of a GG ring or uniformity indicators. I'll leave it to my tire professionals to worry about proper installation. They are ones who warrant the tires and installation. Never, ever, heard of an incorrectly dimensioned wheel unless it comes from China ! Quality control takes care of that sort of thing from the manufacture and is guaranteed for accuracy with 10/1000th I am told.

LOL, you asked.

 

[jeep670]

Each tire has a minimum rim width to be mounted to. Too narrow and you'll pop them at low pressure, and will wear faster in the center if ran at "normal" street pressure.
Your stock rim may be too narrow for a given size/width tire.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Each tire has a minimum rim width to be mounted to. Too narrow and you'll pop them at low pressure, and will wear faster in the center if ran at "normal" street pressure.
Your stock rim may be too narrow for a given size/width tire.

It's not, the tire mfg. says rim width between 6.5" and 9" are fine. I have 8" x 16" wheels and my tire size is 265/75R/16 with a 2 " lift.
I'm fine..

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

LOL, you asked.

Yeah, you had me going until I saw your answer. Fools never die, HUH ? I bet you got a good laugh, thats okay, I liked your tongue tied answer. LOL

 

[bgenlvtex]

Yeah, you had me going until I saw your answer. Fools never die, HUH ? I bet you got a good laugh, thats okay, I liked your tongue tied answer. LOL

You may not understand it, but everything I told you is truth.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

You may not understand it, but everything I told you is truth.

It doesn't take a mechanical engineer to mount a tire, only to design the product and oversee the final specs are met on the production line. I know all about quality control but I have no need for the knowledge of an engineer to mount a tire on a wheel. I've never seen any of the 6 grade drop outs at the tire center pull out their calipers and measure anything. You haven't either I doubt. I think you know what you are talking about the same as I do when I design an architectural structure. Amazingly what I have designed gets built some how by the people with a lesser knowledge. Rarely with the accuracy that as a designer I must have.
Lets leave mounting a tire to the people that do it for a living and not worry about if all the specs are met. We rarely get the mileage out of a tire that it is supposed to have and we always give away 20% because of the fear of failure factor. I don't know how many times in my life I went on a trip and installed new tires just for that trip when I probably could have done it with my older tires. The tires I have on my LRD2 now are already 8.5 years old and have less than 5000 miles on them. The dealer says regardless of tread wear they wont guarantee them if they are older than 4 years old. I have never worn out anything except my body and it's not guaranteed. So I am not going to worry about a tire that is going to outlast me this round.

 

[Charles M]

I live in Nevada and travel off road in all the states you mentioned...

I have Goodyear Wrangler UltraTerrain AT 35x12.5/17 tires on mine. They have worked in everything I have put them through. Sand, Rock, Gravel, fine sand/dust, water and mud. They feel good on wet or dry pavement, noise is not noticeable to me. I expect them to do well in snow and ice but, I will have to wait for winter to see how they do....

 

[Mark65]

Pirelli Scorpion AT Plus (the new ones). So far great tires but you can hear them on the highway. Not terrible but you can tell they are there. After a week trip to Colorado they came home with no damage and performed well.

 

[DrivingTacoLoco]

So far I'm very happy with BFG Rough Terrain. Quiet, long lasting and perform well. Not great in mud but that's not what I really want to be trudging through.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

After 40 years of wheeling, starting with a M38.... I've been thru Super Swamper, BFG KOs. KO2s, MTs. MT2s, Goodyear DTs, and a dozen different 235/85R16s on pickups.

I just bought some 7.50R16s for my TJR, they are the smoothest riding grips I've ever had on a Wrangler. And they do everything I need for a 50% saving over the mainstream 10.50/12.50 33s most guys run.

View attachment 114748

Skinniest tiresI could find. A dream on pavement. obviously, not for the extremes of mud bogging, rock crawling or running sand dunes but for what 90% of us really do, they are perfect. Before Dick Cepek,,,, these were the tires everyone ran.

You never di say what kind of tires they are.

 

[MidOH]

''Let the pro's handle it''. ?!?

Sounds like none of ya'll have worked in a tire shop. It's a rookie stepping stone for newbs, when you're a pro, you leave. Good luck finding a ''tech'' that even knows what a one piece plug patch is. The first thing I did was sling tires as a complete newb.

You're better off understanding this yourself. I love the ten million ''my tires won't balance'' threads. Nearly every time it's lug centric wheels that were torqued on the ground, not in the air. Or rusty hubs that need a drill powered wire brush. Which is why nearly all OEM wheels are hub centric on larger trucks.

I love watching people uselessly rotating wheels and flipping tires just to have an ''unbalanced'' vibration move around randomly. Even when they think they have it narrowed down to one wheel, it randomly starts shaking a different one. Ha ha. Torque 'em in the air, like a race car.

I love it when the pro's skip soap and sealant as well.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

''Let the pro's handle it''. ?!?

Sounds like none of ya'll have worked in a tire shop. It's a rookie stepping stone for newbs, when you're a pro, you leave. Good luck finding a ''tech'' that even knows what a one piece plug patch is. The first thing I did was sling tires as a complete newb.

You're better off understanding this yourself. I love the ten million ''my tires won't balance'' threads. Nearly every time it's lug centric wheels that were torqued on the ground, not in the air. Or rusty hubs that need a drill powered wire brush. Which is why nearly all OEM wheels are hub centric on larger trucks.

I love watching people uselessly rotating wheels and flipping tires just to have an ''unbalanced'' vibration move around randomly. Even when they think they have it narrowed down to one wheel, it randomly starts shaking a different one. Ha ha. Torque 'em in the air, like a race car.

I love it when the pro's skip soap and sealant as well.

Never had tire problems either. Maybe out here in the SW our people do a pretty good job of doing things right. We are not union people here. I rotate my tire every 5000 miles and never have to rebalance a tire unless I lose a weight which is very rare and usually my fault for hitting a curb or speed bump to hard. I really cant think of the time I lost a wheel weight. I bought a car once that had a bent mag wheel that gave me hell until I watched the wheel balance guy and saw the wobble in the wheel. I called it to his attention and I replaced the wheel.

 

[bgenlvtex]

''Let the pro's handle it''. ?!?

Sounds like none of ya'll have worked in a tire shop. It's a rookie stepping stone for newbs, when you're a pro, you leave. Good luck finding a ''tech'' that even knows what a one piece plug patch is. The first thing I did was sling tires as a complete newb.

You're better off understanding this yourself. I love the ten million ''my tires won't balance'' threads. Nearly every time it's lug centric wheels that were torqued on the ground, not in the air. Or rusty hubs that need a drill powered wire brush. Which is why nearly all OEM wheels are hub centric on larger trucks.

I love watching people uselessly rotating wheels and flipping tires just to have an ''unbalanced'' vibration move around randomly. Even when they think they have it narrowed down to one wheel, it randomly starts shaking a different one. Ha ha. Torque 'em in the air, like a race car.

I love it when the pro's skip soap and sealant as well.

The overwhelming majority of the tire service industry are either poorly trained, poorer trained, or completely untrained.

There are however organizations who properly train their people and make a concerted effort to do it correctly.

I spent 40 years in the tire business, retired and repurposed that knowledge in fleet management.

Kind of like an insurance broker going to work as a lawyer specializing in insurance fraud.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

The overwhelming majority of the tire service industry are either poorly trained, poorer trained, or completely untrained.

There are however organizations who properly train their people and make a concerted effort to do it correctly.

I spent 40 years in the tire business, retired and repurposed that knowledge in fleet management.

Kind of like an insurance broker going to work as a lawyer specializing in insurance fraud.

I'd say you are certainly qualified to give excellent advise on the subject. My point is that when I buy a tire I have no control over who or what puts that tire on my wheel. Customers are not even allowed in the shop area. I have to trust that the owner of the tire company has trained his employees properly on the inspection of the wheel and properly installs it on said wheel. It's like I said before, I am a Architect, I design and draw the plans by a various assortment of laws and codes. After the plans leave my hands I have no control over the quality of the build or who builds it. I know my job but I have to hope everybody below me knows their job and follows through.
Anyway on the tire issue you originally posted.
I cant be concerned about the issues you brought up. No one can, if the service provider dosent do a proper job of controlling his own facility I cat do anything about that. I will say that if he does everything by the book, on every tire he mounts on a wheel, he will go broke. Like I said, the tire has a life time warranty policy and I'm too old to worry about whether the dealership follows all the rules of the trade. They will do what they do !!
Have a nice week end John