Florida friendly tire recommendations

[OldFloridaMan]

I debated putting this in the tire section, but thought I might get the right set of eyes on it here. I'm going to be upgrading my tires on my stock JT Sport max tow, and the variety of options is fairly bewildering. I have owned a couple of Wranglers in the past, but haven't spent a whole lot of time offroad, a situation that I intend to address with the Gladiator.

I may be overthinking this, but I'm trying to balance the normal driving on often flooded roads with offroading on Florida sand. My biggest concern is hydroplaning - many of the roads around my house tend to flood during the summer wet season, and I know a narrower tire is better for this (also better for snow, but we don't have much worry about that around here). But a narrower tire is not as well suited for going off into the sand that is ever present in the state.

My last Jeep (2014 JK 2 door) had 255/80/17 Cooper ST Maxx tires, and I liked the height of these, and they did well in the wet. Just wondering if this would be detrimental in trying to get out on trails and the 285/75/17 would be better in the sand.

Anyone have any advice? Anyone have any hydroplaning issues with the 285s? I tend to drive fast - spent too much time in Germany on the autobahns, and haven't gotten over that habit just yet - and hydroplaning on 2 lane country roads is not very fun...

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[KevinC]

The key to driving in Florida and the soft sugar sand we have is airing down. I can go further with street tires at 12psi than anyone with M/T or A/T type tires at 30psi. The wider contact patch airing down creates is only half the process. The other half is less air in a tire creates flotation and less digging down into the sand.

A good quality A/T tire will serve you well. You need one that can withstand roots and shale and not get easily punctured. Wide or narrow, properly aired down, either will work. I prefer to keep my tires inside the fenders.

 

[jeepin48]

Consider Toyo Open Country ATIII 285/75R17. Gets you to a Load C for a decent ride, E will be too stiff.

 

[OldFloridaMan]

I had the E rated Coopers on my old 2 door JK, and I honestly didn’t feel that much of a difference.

Don’t know if I should be happy about this (yay! It opensup more options for me!) or depressed (man, I deal with so many regular aches and pains in my abused body that I can’t feel the difference...)

 

[OldFloridaMan]

The key to driving in Florida and the soft sugar sand we have is airing down. I can go further with street tires at 12psi than anyone with M/T or A/T type tires at 30psi. The wider contact patch airing down creates is only half the process. The other half is less air in a tire creates flotation and less digging down into the sand.

A good quality A/T tire will serve you well. You need one that can withstand roots and shale and not get easily punctured. Wide or narrow, properly aired down, either will work. I prefer to keep my tires inside the fenders.

are those the 35x10.5 tires? I’ve been looking at those.

 

[KevinC]

are those the 35x10.5 tires? I’ve been looking at those.

Yes sir, they are the Kendra Klevlar 35x10.50x17. I was hesitate about buying an off brand tire that doesn't have a long term review yet. No other tire brand makes this size and it is perfect for my application so I took a chance. So far, no complaints. They ride/feel/perform just as good as the Falken Wildpeaks AT/3 that came on my JT. You can't beat the price either.

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