New Shoes for the Little Jeep

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Stuka
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New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by Stuka »

Well, its not *that* little, but its certainly no FSJ :P

Anyway, I was in VERY bad need of getting tires for it. I was trying to hold off longer, but my old tires just got to scary to drive on. They had all developed cracks, and were chunking pretty badly. They are less than 4 years old, and only have about 33k miles on them. However, I have been kind of rough on them. AT style tires were just not designed with rock crawling in mind. And its not like I am doing extreme trails, its just that all our trails here are granite. So tires take a beating.

As you can see from these photos, it was getting scary.

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So, I was seriously considering Goodyear Duratracs. They get great reviews, are very quiet, awesome in rain and snow, etc. However, they only have a 2 ply sidewall. And people that run them in the rocks are constantly slashing the sidewalls. So, this lead to to look only at tires that have 3 ply sidewalls. I was seriously consider the MT/R w/Kevlar. I know lots of guys that run them, and they are awesome in the rocks. However, they are also sold out everywhere. So I decided to just keep my business local, and went with the tire shop I have been doing business with for 12 years now and got a set of Cooper STT's. They have a 3 ply sidewall, and overall are a good tire. Bit louder than I wanted, but oh well. They should suite me well for the next 4 years.

So here is how they look. They are 285/75R16's. Unfortunately every tire in this size that I have seen is E rated. So they are a bit stiffer than my old C rated tires. So I need to play around with air pressure. at 30psi now. My JK only weighs 3800ish pounds. ONE of these tires could support its whole weight :P

BTW: These are all iPhone photos, so quality is kind of meh.

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lindel
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Re: New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by lindel »

You'll like them. Good tires, not loud, decent wet performance and good snow performance. The only flaw I found with them was wet panic stops. Not so much!
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Re: New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by Stuka »

lindel wrote:You'll like them. Good tires, not loud, decent wet performance and good snow performance. The only flaw I found with them was wet panic stops. Not so much!
Yeah that's typical of mud tires. These at least have some sipes in em. And the ABS helps with tires slipping, as the last ones were marginal in rain too.


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Re: New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by fulsizjeep »

They look good Brandon. I know a few people who have run those and have been pretty happy with overall performance.
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Re: New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by Tad »

Looks good, those are pretty popular out here in the desert too.
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Re: New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by Stuka »

So took it out today for a little test. Can't wait to regear. Really notice the gearing difference heading up to higher altitudes. But its fine for my daily drive to work (All 6.5 miles of it).

Nothing major, tested for rubbing when flexed. Need to add some extended bump stops in back. But fine up front (already have extended bump stops there). For being e rated tires they actually ride fine. Not nearly as harsh as I expected. I have them at 30psi currently.

Went exploring on a road I have not taken before. Came out on top of a mountain with a great view.

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Re: New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by lindel »

I found 20 to 21 psi perfect for mine, but yours might be a little heavier.
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Re: New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by Stuka »

21 psi on the HWY?! Didn't you notice excessive sidewall roll on corners?

At 30psi, they seem to be wearing pretty flat. The outer edge of the lugs is not wearing as much (Still tiny bits of the nubs left), so I may go down one psi or so. But otherwise they ride fine. My JK is about 400lbs heavier than a TJ. Most of that is in the much larger frame, plus the body is larger as well.
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Re: New Shoes for the Little Jeep

Post by lindel »

They gave the best ride at 21 psi. Chalk test said that was the best contact patch and side walls didn't roll that I could tell. No scuff marks, no erratic handling.

I currently have the Duratracs at 24 psi.
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