I know this is a sure sign of my decline into old age, but I'd love to hear if there are good options, if anyone else has struggled with this, or if I should suck it up and enjoy the ride.
The tires your running aren't very big, so I don't see much fuel mileage gained by downsizing.
I run 265/75 Goodyear Duratracs on my 05 and I'm very happy with them. I would recommend them if your looking to try something new
The large lugs on the outboard edges make the Duratracs whine going down the road. It gets worse as the tires wear. & I've never had a set of GY's that didn't also go out of round. This is in the opposite direction the O.P. is asking.
Frankly the best all around including DD tire you can get is the updated BFG A/T KO2's They are the quietest all terrain tire around that still show some reasonably aggressive tread pattern.
If you want even more on road manners, many like the Bridgestone A/T Revo 2's
80 mile daily commute in a Tj ? Hell 2 the NO. I'd be questioning weather it might be more cost effective to get a small commuter car & leave the tires alone on the tj.
Any tire shop can give you better option.
I had a set of Cooper Discover HT 225/75r15 Really liked them for road work. They did good off road, but I don't do any hardcore 4 wheeling. They were quiet too. Up-sized to Cooper Discoverer AT3's 265/75r15 (30" x10.5") slightly noisier, did lose a little on the gas mileage, but all in all a decent tire and definite upgrade.
Thanks @AZ01TJ but I had a commuter car and it sucked out my will to live. I'd rather spend 80 miles with a smile on my face than look at an unused Jeep in a garage.
Thanks @AZ01TJ but I had a commuter car and it sucked out my will to live. I'd rather spend 80 miles with a smile on my face than look at an unused Jeep in a garage.
Also the fact that fuel mileage won't pay for a second vehicle. Where you might save enough to pay for a cheap second vehicle is on wear and tear on the TJ, but as you said, it would be a bland, boring ride.
As for the tires, your 31x10.50R15 tires are a little wider but the same height as the OEM size for the Rubicon but on 16" rims (LT245/75R16 = 10.5x9.8R16). Now, because I spend most of my time on pavement and flat sandy/clay off road in my area I actually went with the P245/75R16 which the purists will decry. Same tread as the LT series but fewer plys in the sidewall. They are quiet and smooth. Mine are the Goodyear Adventurer A/T tires, and the P and LT series have the same tread which is a little less aggressive than the BFG KO2.
Unfortunately, 15" tires in the metric sizes are an endangered species and GY no longer manufactures them in an A/T or M/T configuration and BFG only has them in 215 and 235 width (28"-29" tires).
The basics of tires is that a tall tire will get better fuel mileage than a short one and a skinny tire will get better mileage than a wide one. Since our respective tires are the same height, but yours are a little wider your mileage will be a little less than mine, except for the fact that I have 4.11 diff ratios and you should have something lower which will give you better mileage. On highway I can generally count on 17 but at 70 my RPM is up around 2550. My last three tanks have averaged 16.7 calculated MPG.
I put the General Grabber AT 2s on my Cherokee 2 years ago. They are very similar to the BF A/t, but I think they have a skidge more wicking channels. They wear like champs, after two years people still ask me if I just got tires and comment on how good they look. They do get rotated on a regular basis.
As for the ride, I have never had trouble on pavement with them. I don't take it off road, I wanted an AT tire because in NEPA we get some rough winters and most boroughs don't bother to plow. These have incredible traction and I never had any slippage in heavy rain. And they just look beefy.
I'm sorry, I know this is not what you asked for, but I found street treads to be extremely shitty in both wear and effectiveness.
You can hear your tires over the wind? You must not be driving fast enough. Ha Ha.
My Jeep had 31 x 10.5 Dayton Timberline ATs on it when I bought it in 2008 until I moved up to 33s a couple of years ago. I assumed they were on it just because they were inexpensive but they were quiet, well behaved tires.
I put nitto grapplers 285x75x17 (33"ish)on a dodge truck
65K tire got them cheap $129 great on pavement, ok in dirt/rocks, ehhh in mud
im thinking about using them on my TJ for DD, I currently have cooper AT3 that I like but $$ I have a second set of steel wheels with BFG KO's for the trail don't like them on wet pavement
Just throwing this out there...what kind of better fuel mileage are you hoping to gain. "IF" you got 2mpg better (which I doubt), that works out to be about .5 gal/day difference. If gas were at $2.5/gal, that's $1.25/day you're spending (now) or saving (if you change). That works out to $6.25/week or $325/year (someone check my math). At that rate, why change. Would you get better in a small commuter car? - yes...probably by more than double. However, like you inferred, all work and no play.....
I'll 2nd the duratracs - great in any weather...and off road if you ever feel inclined to do so.
Check out Nexen tires. I'm running the HTs.....street tire type of tire if you know what I'm sayin, one size bigger than the Sahara size tire that is recommended. Ain't nuthin' fancy but my pocket really likes them, if you know what I'm saying.
I'm currently driving 110+ miles a day in my 04 hardtop on 33 10.50 bfg mud terrain km2's
I'm not young but I'm gonna say that when the day comes that an all terrain tire is too agressive for my use that I'll need to reconsider driving a jeep.....
So yeah I'm gonna, in the nicest possible way, say suck it up and run a jeep worthy tire.:happyyes:
Are you saying the KO2's are not "jeep worthy" ? & the JK Saharas came from the factory with the Dueler AT Revo 2. It is considered one of the best A/T tires in snow and slippery road conditions.
I just answered yes.... i can't imagine myself ever wanting to drive a jeep on anything less than AT tires....
The wrangler is designed to be offroad capable.... if a person just wants it as a street bound convertible there are much more comfy and much more economical verts out there....
I just answered yes.... i can't imagine myself ever wanting to drive a jeep on anything less than AT tires....
The wrangler is designed to be offroad
capable.... if a person just wants it as a
street bkund convertible there are much
more comfy and much more economical
verts out there...
here's my 2 cents. Can't speak for but 3 different tires that I have had on my jeeps. first was the BFG's like you have now. I didn't like the ride or the noise. Didn't seem to ware as well as some others. can't say about offroading, I don't do much.
second, Mickey Thompson BaJa STZ 31x10.5r70, really didn't like these. rode stiff, noisy, hard to balance. these were on jeep I bought, not any more.
last, Cooper Discoverer AT3's, these are what I have now. ride is good, running 30 psi. look pretty good, don't know about off road (see answer above) seem to ware pretty well. not too hard to balance, had to rebalance 2 of them.
that's my humble opinion and unless I can find some Michelin's I like, I'll be going back to the Coopers. hope this helps, OBTW, I'm old also.
i have 30x9.5/15 bfgoodrich at ko2s and i love them they handle really well in just about every weather condition heck i couldn't even fishtail in the snow with them and i tried lol. Also the bfg at ko2 have the baja champion badge on them and there's not alot of tires if any that have that badge on them. I had the originals on my old truck and i loved them but the ride was a little rough but with the new ones that i have now on a jeep wrangler the ride is almost smooth as silk on the road.
Nope, treadwright tires are great! I have bought and run 8 sets so far, just put a set on my landcruiser last month and I'll probably never buy a new truck tire again.
I have run them on everything from my yj to 1 ton pickups, and avg 70k out of them. Can't beat the price.
I have never had an issue, heck I got 1 on the fj100 that diddnt need balancing. Modern retreads are in alot of cases better than a new tire. Most of the tires treadwright rejects, aren't due to damage, but due to poorly manufactured "new" tires. I did alot of research on them years ago, and gave them a shot. They have never let me down they aren't hard, air down without issue and last extremely well. If you don't trust a retread, don't get on a plane. You have probably never been in a plane that wasn't on retreads.
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