Tire Selection?

[Overland Commander]

I found an interesting article on running larger tires vs. fuel economy that looks into tread pattern and tire width. Very interesting conclusions.

http://roadtraveler.net/tread-matters-tire-selection-and-fuel-economy/

 

[The other Sean]

I would have liked it if he added in a Highway tread tire as well.

I don't see the gain/loss of 1-2 mpg worth the cost of an extra set of tires and possibly wheels. Spending well over $1000 to gain a MPG or two doesn't math out.

Also, that spare set of Mud tires used a handful of times a year will be dry rotted and cracked long before you wear them out, so that money is mostly a waste.

With that said, half of my decision of tire was in deed based on looks. Call me dumb, but an aggressive looking tire just looks good on a 4wd truck.

 

[chithead]

Very interesting article. For my wife's Jeep, it's not a concern. Mama wants 35's, mama is getting 35's. Plus with her minimal daily driving distance, it wouldn't really matter.

But I drive almost 100 miles a day on the highway, and rarely get to see any trail duty yet because of having the factory tire tread. Looking at getting a more aggressive tire so we can start taking it off road as well, but the debate on which tread pattern to choose is ridiculous. Almost seems better to just put street tires back on it, and pick up another set of wheels later to put more capable tires on.

 

[Overland Commander]

Very interesting article. For my wife's Jeep, it's not a concern. Mama wants 35's, mama is getting 35's. Plus with her minimal daily driving distance, it wouldn't really matter.

But I drive almost 100 miles a day on the highway, and rarely get to see any trail duty yet because of having the factory tire tread. Looking at getting a more aggressive tire so we can start taking it off road as well, but the debate on which tread pattern to choose is ridiculous. Almost seems better to just put street tires back on it, and pick up another set of wheels later to put more capable tires on.

That's one way, although using a good aggressive all-terrain with a bit of highway bias is always a great way to go. Unless you are doing specific mudding or rock crawling, a Cooper Discoverer/BFG AT/Toyo all terrain tire will do everything you need.

Check the Camel Trophy trucks that had the Michelins. At the time, that was called a mud tire. And the terrain they operated on? MNCBDIBDjh jcbsidvbj d nkjcmp man.

 

[chithead]

Those Falken Wildpeak A/T3W are leading the pack for me right now. Would love to consider the Goodyear Duratrac, but at almost $50 more per tire, finding it difficult to justify the extra cost. Found a set of Kenda Klever R/T for a good price, but would be about a 4 hour drive to have them installed. Haven't seen any real reviews from people using those either.

Looking at the Cooper MTP for my wife's Wrangler - she wants an all terrain, and I'd like a mud terrain since we climb mostly rocky trails. The MTP looks like a great blend of both, more towards this, "rough terrain" title I'm seeing more of.

 

[Overland Commander]

Those Falken Wildpeak A/T3W are leading the pack for me right now. Would love to consider the Goodyear Duratrac, but at almost $50 more per tire, finding it difficult to justify the extra cost. Found a set of Kenda Klever R/T for a good price, but would be about a 4 hour drive to have them installed. Haven't seen any real reviews from people using those either.

Looking at the Cooper MTP for my wife's Wrangler - she wants an all terrain, and I'd like a mud terrain since we climb mostly rocky trails. The MTP looks like a great blend of both, more towards this, "rough terrain" title I'm seeing more of.

The MTP is *real* aggressive - thats a mud tire. Id go with the STT Max for what you describe.... The Wildpeak is also good.