And again more tire questions - Overland

[ShadowsPapa]

Still running tons of stuff through my head. It never stops.
Up and down, pure stock, fix it up a bit more "custom", maybe some enhancements to make it fit my needs better?
This JT Overland may end up being sort of a daily driver in the winter months because I put my cars away for winter. Still have the WJ but this is more capable, you know the drill..
I'm in central Iowa.
Will pull a car hauler perhaps 3 or 4 times a year. Sometimes not too far, like 3, 4 or 5 hours, sometimes 12 hours (less often)
I will also go out with this truck as my daily driver in snow, and on ice.
I love the WJ because it's full-time 4 wheel drive and stable as heck on ice and snow if you don't get stupid and over-confident. But these are part time so wondering about tires that can handle our crud without popping into 4 wheel mode.

Been tossing around the idea of tires. Overland stock tires on 18" wheels are 255/70R18
Great for highway, running around town, quiet, smooth, all that good stuff.
I have no idea how good they are in snow.
A couple of dealer people have said they are quite good in snow and slick roads. I've never run these in snow or on ice so I don't know. I know with the limited slip rear differential ice can be a thing - such rear ends aren't great on slick surfaces.

A guy I know a few hours away, a Jeep person who owns a performance shop has, or had, it may be over now, a "special" on tires and wheels. Seemed expensive to me, 2300 for a package deal. 5 wheels, 5 tires. Duratrac.
His tires are 285/70R17 on the wheels shown below. I know nothing about the wheels and when I asked him about the offset (because I don't really want to change the intersection of the SAI line and the tire centerline on the pavement - I don't want to mess with scrub radius to any real degree as that changes steering effort, parking, braking on nasty roads and so on. So I don't know if the offset is different than stock Overland JT wheels or not - he simply said "the offset is good and will keep the tires from rubbing on a non-lifted vehicle." that wasn't the answer I was looking for - maybe he's not looked. The wheels look pretty "deep" to me, from here..........

Anyway, I know there's a ton of tire threads out there, but I'm looking specifically for my needs on an Overland for driving in Iowa snow and ice and slush and at times, snow several inches deep, even wind-driven.
I also like the idea of having a matching spare tire AND wheel I can rotate in when tires are rotated. That makes the tires last longer as you are using 5 instead of 4. Normally I have to buy tires because of age, not wear, though.

And if these aren't a good deal, not the best for me and the Overland, always looking to learn more about Jeep tires. Not really looking for "taller", although a little is ok, looking for grip on the road. No off-roading or rock crawling. Roads, highways, grassy lots, swap meet muddy parking lots, hauling my trailer with car, that sort of thing.

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[RH 67]

Does not seem like a deal to me for those tire and rims. A good AT tire is what you need, General, Cooper, Nitto, Maxxis. Since your not doing any off road anything but an AT would be a waste but i would consider going taller less chance of spinning the tires on slippery surfaces.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Does not seem like a deal to me for those tire and rims. A good AT tire is what you need, General, Cooper, Nitto, Maxxis. Since your not doing any off road anything but an AT would be a waste but i would consider going taller less chance of spinning the tires on slippery surfaces.

I don't know much about the wheels available or the possible tires but that 2300 seemed like quite a bit - but include the TPM sensors, lug nuts and the whole thing, Still.......
Will be doing some towing so with the higher gear ratio of the Overland, don't really want to go over 33". If I was running Sport or Rubicon with the 4.10 differentials, yeah, taller tires.
As it is on hills with a head-wind the truck stays in 7th gear a lot.

 

[WXman]

Seems like too much money. The Duratracs do have the severe snow rating though. So do KO2s, Falken A/T3Ws, Cooper ATWs, and a few other all-terrains. Any tire with that "mountain snowflake" symbol would work great for you.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Seems like too much money. The Duratracs do have the severe snow rating though. So do KO2s, Falken A/T3Ws, Cooper ATWs, and a few other all-terrains. Any tire with that "mountain snowflake" symbol would work great for you.

Thanks - I just learned a bunch right there.
I've heard good about the Duratracs as far as snow and such, that's one reason I was asking the guy more about these, but seems like a lot - I could likely do better for the same or similar tires. Looks like a few folks here use the Falken tires.

need to consider wheels, but I really like the looks of the Overland wheels.

 

[RH 67]

Have you considered going to 17" wheels? Lots more tire choices also less expensive.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Have you considered going to 17" wheels? Lots more tire choices also less expensive.

Yes, I have - although I LOVE these wheels love the looks, the appearance, I have wondered............ if I do change wheels, I'd want a set of 5 and get 5 matching tires and rotate the spare in - making the full set last, otherwise I get 4 worn tires and one unworn but old tire that has to be replaced anyway due to age or mis-match.
Seriously I really like the wheels, but I keep hearing how the 18s are so much more expensive harder to find and all that. I dunno, people say that I'll never find 14's for my Javelin, but I did - RWL, too. They then said 15s were getting hard to fine - naw, found a set for my Eagle, no problem. So I don't know.
But the set I originally posted was a fully set of 5 17s, so I'm open to that. More flex in the sidewall, perhaps.
I want to think about weather, snow, ice - and towing, all taken into account (not all at the same time! I don't tow in winter if I can avoid it)
So in short, yes, I would consider a size change as long as I can keep the diameter close, 33 tops, maybe. New to the Jeep tire thing - it's so simple to buy tires for a 2004 WJ! LOL

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Seems like too much money. The Duratracs do have the severe snow rating though. So do KO2s, Falken A/T3Ws, Cooper ATWs, and a few other all-terrains. Any tire with that "mountain snowflake" symbol would work great for you.

Any comment on which of the above would still be a decent highway tire for summer - not really loud....... we will be making a trip to Colorado Springs next June with this - car hauler in tow. Wife will be along - so don't want it to sound like a tractor going down the road but realize any change could be less quiet than what it came with.

 

[Renegade]

Given your parameters, I would look for a set of Rubicon AT tires and wheels which have been taken off during upgrades, and skip doing the spare. You’re not really saving anything there. Rubi takeoff sets can be had for $800-$1000. Good luck.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Given your parameters, I would look for a set of Rubicon AT tires and wheels which have been taken off during upgrades, and skip doing the spare. You’re not really saving anything there. Rubi takeoff sets can be had for $800-$1000. Good luck.

Need spare to be same size as the other 4 - can't be off at all because of limited slip differential.
So I can't just swap out the 4 and not swap the spare, too. Must have matching set of 5.
Even without the limited slip differential, I'd absolutely want a perfectly matching set of 5 on a 4x4, heck, even any of my cars for that matter.

Also want to rotate in the spare. I've had to change tires, then when you get the leak fixed, you have to swap back.
With matching spare, you simply hang it under the truck again and move on. Less work in the end. That's what we do with my wife's Jeeps - If she has a nail or screw run through the tire, put on the spare, get the tire fixed and put it in as the spare. Delays buying new tires later. And they all wear more evenly.
And if the tire can't be fixed because "it's too close to the sidewall", then fine, you have a spare you can leave on it.

 

[WXman]

Any comment on which of the above would still be a decent highway tire for summer - not really loud....... we will be making a trip to Colorado Springs next June with this - car hauler in tow. Wife will be along - so don't want it to sound like a tractor going down the road but realize any change could be less quiet than what it came with.

Out of those, the Falken was my favorite. Absolutely fantastic tire.

The KO2 is better than the KO but I'm not a giant fan of either. Ride stiff, poor traction in mud, slide in the rain some, etc.

The Duratrac lasts forever. Was excellent in snow. But sucks on wet roads and got loud by 10,000 miles.

The Coopers were good overall but a bit hard to balance. Overall a good tire.

I'm having the Yokohama X-AT installed right now despite the lack of a severe snow rating. We'll see how they do this winter.

 

[1proudpapa]

I recently upgraded my overland wheels and tires and had similar thinking. I went from an 18 inch wheel to a 17. And went to a 33 inch tire a/t tire-falken wildpeak at3w. I wanted the more aggressive look and for the tire to look larger (17 inch wheel gives taller sidewall to the tire). I too liked the look of the stock overland wheel and considered keeping the rims and just doing a 33 inch tire . In the end I changed the wheels as I mentioned and went with a +12 offset which gave the truck a more aggressive stance, the new tires stuck out maybe an inch because of this. My jt is billet silver and I liked the color contrast of the overland wheel so I went with a similar color in the vision manx 2 which is reasonably priced at around 155 bucks a wheel. This wheels has a simulated beadlock which I like the look of. Thet do have a version of this wheel without the beadlock look called the "overland" if you want a cleaner look vs the tough look of the manx 2. Further I got my tires for $696 shipped. So, I spent $1316 for brand new setup (not including lug nuts or the spared tire ) and got a more unique look than I would have if I had bought rubi takeoffs. I love the look of the new setup and am glad I did it.

As far as snow and ice. We had an early snow with ice here in Illinois right after I did the upgrade I've was on the road with snow on top of it. The falkens impressed and did great. Even went home thru the country after work and went through some roads that were drift covered by the blowing snow probly 5-6 inches deep and the falkens cut right thru it. Very happy with the falkens so far and they are pretty quiet on the pavement. I can hear them a little over the stock highway tire but thats not comparing apples to apples.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Out of those, the Falken was my favorite. Absolutely fantastic tire.

The KO2 is better than the KO but I'm not a giant fan of either. Ride stiff, poor traction in mud, slide in the rain some, etc.

The Duratrac lasts forever. Was excellent in snow. But sucks on wet roads and got loud by 10,000 miles.

The Coopers were good overall but a bit hard to balance. Overall a good tire.

I'm having the Yokohama X-AT installed right now despite the lack of a severe snow rating. We'll see how they do this winter.

Thanks - more good info. Wet roads are common here. Even after they clear the snow and ice the roads are wet from the melt and runoff.
This fall we had so much rain and things stayed wet so long harvest was delayed for weeks. Corn still going out this past week in some spots.
Iowa - have to be prepared for anything. 50 one day, winter storm the next, then 60, then ice a couple of days later. We have days where you get rain, freezing rain, then 6" of snow on top of that - it happens. Luckily most of the time I can sit it out!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I recently upgraded my overland wheels and tires and had similar thinking. I went from an 18 inch wheel to a 17. And went to a 33 inch tire a/t tire-falken wildpeak at3w. I wanted the more aggressive look and for the tire to look larger (17 inch wheel gives taller sidewall to the tire). I too liked the look of the stock overland wheel and considered keeping the rims and just doing a 33 inch tire . In the end I changed the wheels as I mentioned and went with a +12 offset which gave the truck a more aggressive stance, the new tires stuck out maybe an inch because of this. My jt is billet silver and I liked the color contrast of the overland wheel so I went with a similar color in the vision manx 2 which is reasonably priced at around 155 bucks a wheel. This wheels has a simulated beadlock which I like the look of. Thet do have a version of this wheel without the beadlock look called the "overland" if you want a cleaner look vs the tough look of the manx 2. Further I got my tires for $696 shipped. So, I spent $1316 for brand new setup (not including lug nuts or the spared tire ) and got a more unique look than I would have if I had bought rubi takeoffs. I love the look of the new setup and am glad I did it.

As far as snow and ice. We had an early snow with ice here in Illinois right after I did the upgrade I've was on the road with snow on top of it. The falkens impressed and did great. Even went home thru the country after work and went through some roads that were drift covered by the blowing snow probly 5-6 inches deep and the falkens cut right thru it. Very happy with the falkens so far and they are pretty quiet on the pavement. I can hear them a little over the stock highway tire but thats not comparing apples to apples.

We had some of the snow and ice here - but it didn't last too long. I don't think we, in our area, got near as much either.
Well there's another mention of Falken tire.
What's the stock Overland tire - the 255/70R18 - isn't that close to 33 or is that more 32"?
Not real interested in the beadlock look in my case - it's rugged looking but I'm not thinking that level unless there's a better deal that makes them a better choice price-wise.

I don't recall what the offset is of the stock Overland 18" wheel - I don't want to change scrub angle much. Too much positive is a bigger load in the steering parts and tends to jack up the corner on turns. Too much positive, as happens when wheels are moved out, if you lose a front brake the steering wheel can be ripped right out of your hand under heavy braking (as with some split brake systems where they are split diagonally) So I want to keep it close to factory. Don't want negative scrub either although that's good if you have a flat and need to maintain control at speed.

Yeah and more aggressive tire than stock Overland will have a different sound level. Can't avoid it - there will be SOME change, just don't want a radical change. I can here some trucks coming down our road literally a full half mile away (and my hearing sucks)

Thanks for input.

By the way - did you level your JT? Looks level........ Overland generally has quite a rake.

 

[Gatorized]

Check for JT take-offs,those who swapped out their wheels and tires and have a steel spare with the AT’s mounted that no one else wants. Buy 5 of those - should be available cheap - you’ll have the 5 tire rotation you need and you can swap out those stock overland street tires for summer only use.

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