Torn Between 315/70R17 or 35x11.5x17

[Zachanadandy]

The OP by his own admission, is not doing an extensive amount of offroading. Never any rock crawling. Wide(r) tires are really only better when and where flotation is needed. Offroad deep sand/snow and watery mud holes. Wide(r) tires are are just not practical for a daily driver. Even worse on mentioned wet/snow road conditions. Lane groove wandering too even.
Ultra high horsepower drag cars? Stability has nothing to do with their use of wide tires, I’m sure.
The “wagon wheel” video clip is “for entertainment purposes only.”
Seemingly found the wide tire guy.

Wide tires have better dry traction all things being equal, especially on the street. Thus the drag racing example. They run tiny narrow tires on the steer axle, it's not stability it's traction. Tens of thousands of truck/Jeep owners daily on 315s or wider, how is it not practical? I haven't bought a tire for a Jeep or truck narrower than that in 20 years. The wife daily drove her JLUR on 38x13.50s for 60k miles. The xr package comes with a 315/70r17. I'm sure most of those owners daily drive them as most can't afford a $50k+ weekend toy?

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[Billkowski]

Out of curiosity, why the regret?

1. I like the look of a little narrower tire.
2. If the same brand, it can be a little lighter.
3. With OEM wheels the wider tires look like they are about to bust and I don't want to buy new wheels.

 

[MojaveMags]

Those look great...those are 315s or 11.5?

I put the 11.5's Toyo AT III's on a few months ago. Have about a 2k miles on them so far. No complaints. Great ride and traction in all conditions. I think they are the perfect fit. Not too big/ wide and not too small.

 

[kevman65]

You need to state to people on this forum that your Toyo RTs if 3.5 years old are a discontinued tire. The NEW completely redesigned “RT Trail” has actually been received quite well in their short barely over a year existence. The “old” RT trails were not well received. Only time will truly tell how they perform and that data will not become available for awhile. They’re too new for someone to make a biased judgement as you have done.

I believe I DID state they were 3.5 years old.

Go rant and rave at someone else.

 

[peterpilot379]

I love a skinny tire. Currently running Nitto Trail Grapplers 35x11.50R17. Considering 10.5s on my next set.

 

[OffAxis2021]

Wide tires have better dry traction all things being equal, especially on the street. Thus the drag racing example. They run tiny narrow tires on the steer axle, it's not stability it's traction. Tens of thousands of truck/Jeep owners daily on 315s or wider, how is it not practical? I haven't bought a tire for a Jeep or truck narrower than that in 20 years. The wife daily drive her JLUR on 38x13.50s for 60k miles. The xr package comes with a 315/70r17. I'm sure most of those owners daily drive them as most can't afford a $50k+ weekend toy?

Nowhere was it implied that a lot A LOT of people do not daily drive them. Maybe you do not experience much rainfall, snow, etc. where you are, but other than the mentioned adverse weather and off-road conditions conditions, a narrow(er) tire is absolutely more practical for everyday onroad use. Siping matters too. Fck a mud terrain.

We all like something different and a lot of times… fashion over function prevails.

I simply addressed the OP’s occasional offroad use and daily driving mention. I do not bring up high horsepower vehicles and/or weekend warrior toys.

With all that being said, I personally will never ever even consider anything wider than either my 10.5” wide R/Ts (which I certainly do not prefer over) for the warmer weather and/or my 10” wide A/Ts (much preferred generally) for the colder weather months, but… that is me.

I chose to stick with the vehicle’s design intended purpose theme of high(er) speed offroad desert/dune running. Not putzing around and slowly crawling up rocks, which is also fine, for those who choose. I myself also daily mine 30 miles one way, 2/3 country/county roads and 1/3 freeway.
I like that I can drive 80mph plus without an issue. It’s actually as smooth as I prefer and expect it to be.

Good day from this narrow tire type.

There is a quick mention here about not running 12.5” wide on his daily, but hey…
Wisconsin (oh & science).


Apparently… this one is good too, but I made my choice(s) for me, via the previous.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Nowhere was it implied that a lot A LOT of people do not daily drive them. Maybe you do not experience much rainfall, snow, etc. where you are, but other than the mentioned adverse weather and off-road conditions conditions, a narrow(er) tire is absolutely more practical for everyday onroad use. Siping matters too. Fck a mud terrain.

We all like something different and a lot of times… fashion over function prevails.

I simply addressed the OP’s occasional offroad use and daily driving mention. I do not bring up high horsepower vehicles and/or weekend warrior toys.

With all that being said, I personally will never ever even consider anything wider than either my 10.5” wide R/Ts (which I certainly do not prefer over) for the warmer weather and/or my 10” wide A/T (much preferred) for the colder weather months, but… that is me.

I chose to stick with the vehicle’s design intended purpose theme of high(er) speed offroad desert/dune running. Not putzing around and slowly crawling up rocks, which is also fine, for those who choose.

Good day from this narrow tire type.

There is a quick mention here about not running 12.5” wide on his daily, but hey… Wisconsin.


Apparently… this one is good too, but I made my choice(s) for me, via the previous.

I’m in Michigan, we have crap roads and all that weather you mentioned. My girlfriend drives my Gladiator with 12.50 wide tires and she doesn’t complain about it. If there was an issue, you can bet she’d be bitching.

 

[aldo98229]

I find 315mm/12.5" wide tires completely unnecessary 99% of the time.

They stick out past the fenders, constantly throwing rain, mud and rocks onto the sides of the Jeep and, all things being equal, they kill the ride quality and the MPG of your Jeep.

After having tried a dozen different tire specs and configurations over the years, I now refrain from going wider than 285mm/11.5" wide on these vehicles.

Good luck in your search.

 

[OffAxis2021]

I’m in Michigan, we have crap roads and all that weather you mentioned. My girlfriend drives my Gladiator with 12.50 wide tires and she doesn’t complain about it. If there was an issue, you can bet she’d be bitching.

Assuming you did not bother with the videos beforehand…

Look. I said what I said (to the OP) and I’m not going to debate everyone.
Again: everyone likes something different. While some are content, there could be room for improvement.

The science matters. I’m not changing my mind.

For year round onroad driving in snow and such… narrow are absolutely better. Overall, better fuel economy (Lol!), less wear and tear, etc. & etc.

I guarantee in the couple of “Snowmageddons” we have had here in Michigan, you can find me in the far left freeway lane, braking trail, maintaining the speed limit, avoiding all the white-knucklers and smiling the whole time doing so.
This is my first Jeep, by far not my first 4x4 pickup style vehicle and with its narrow tires, I am thoroughly impressed with its winter driving capability and overall… 100% satisfied with my choices.

Good day to you as well.

 

[Verdemota]

Here my jeep in stock wheels and 35x11.5 nittos. It disnt rub at all without a lift but I added a mopar lift with bilstein shocks. Jeep still feels peppy and mpgs didn’t suffer that much. Used to have a sport on 35x12.5 and 18 …. That thing was sluggish

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Assuming you did not bother with the videos beforehand…

Look. I said what I said (to the OP) and I’m not going to debate everyone.
Again: everyone likes something different. While some are content, there could be room for improvement.

The science matters. I’m not changing my mind.

For year round onroad driving in snow and such… narrow are absolutely better. Overall, better fuel economy (Lol!), less wear and tear, etc. & etc.

I guarantee in the couple of “Snowmageddons” we have had here in Michigan, you can find me in the far left freeway lane, braking trail, maintaining the speed limit, avoiding all the white-knucklers and smiling the whole time doing so.
This is my first Jeep, by far not my first 4x4 pickup style vehicle and with its narrow tires, I am thoroughly impressed with its winter driving capability and overall… 100% satisfied with my choices.

Good day to you as well.

I don’t need to watch videos to hear the science and theories. I’m 46 years old and have been around Jeeps and trucks my entire life. I’ve been on forums for 25+ years and this topic is nothing new. My opinion is the difference between 11.50 and 12.50 isn’t marginal enough to matter.

If you’re in the left land and I’m behind you, please merge to the right.

 

[OffAxis2021]

If you’re in the left land and I’m behind you, please merge to the right.

Well… it’s is not an age or experience competition, but 1 thing is for sure… we Michiganders sure are opinionated and stubborn AF too.

 

[amadeus303]

Assuming you did not bother with the videos beforehand…

Look. I said what I said (to the OP) and I’m not going to debate everyone.
Again: everyone likes something different. While some are content, there could be room for improvement.

The science matters. I’m not changing my mind.

For year round onroad driving in snow and such… narrow are absolutely better. Overall, better fuel economy (Lol!), less wear and tear, etc. & etc.

I guarantee in the couple of “Snowmageddons” we have had here in Michigan, you can find me in the far left freeway lane, braking trail, maintaining the speed limit, avoiding all the white-knucklers and smiling the whole time doing so.
This is my first Jeep, by far not my first 4x4 pickup style vehicle and with its narrow tires, I am thoroughly impressed with its winter driving capability and overall… 100% satisfied with my choices.

Good day to you as well.

Fwiw, you completely understand where I'm coming from and my specific use case. It's much appreciated. My preferences and needs just 10 years ago when my family was much younger were very different. I spend most of my days "wheeling" to soccer games, track meets, and dance competitions...so I only get to "play" once in awhile. The 11.5s seem to fit that bill.

 

[amadeus303]

I’m in Michigan, we have crap roads and all that weather you mentioned. My girlfriend drives my Gladiator with 12.50 wide tires and she doesn’t complain about it. If there was an issue, you can bet she’d be bitching.

This Mojave is the first automatic I've ever owned...and my wife is pumped because she finally gets to drive one of my rigs in the 27 years we've been together. I've tried to teach her a stick on several occasions, and she's just not interested in really learning, lol.

I guess we'll see if her butt dyno notices any of these changes as they happen, haha.

 

[Zachanadandy]

Nowhere was it implied that a lot A LOT of people do not daily drive them. Maybe you do not experience much rainfall, snow, etc. where you are, but other than the mentioned adverse weather and off-road conditions conditions, a narrow(er) tire is absolutely more practical for everyday onroad use. Siping matters too. Fck a mud terrain.

We all like something different and a lot of times… fashion over function prevails.

I simply addressed the OP’s occasional offroad use and daily driving mention. I do not bring up high horsepower vehicles and/or weekend warrior toys.

With all that being said, I personally will never ever even consider anything wider than either my 10.5” wide R/Ts (which I certainly do not prefer over) for the warmer weather and/or my 10” wide A/Ts (much preferred generally) for the colder weather months, but… that is me.

I chose to stick with the vehicle’s design intended purpose theme of high(er) speed offroad desert/dune running. Not putzing around and slowly crawling up rocks, which is also fine, for those who choose. I myself also daily mine 30 miles one way, 2/3 country/county roads and 1/3 freeway.
I like that I can drive 80mph plus without an issue. It’s actually as smooth as I prefer and expect it to be.

Good day from this narrow tire type.

There is a quick mention here about not running 12.5” wide on his daily, but hey…
Wisconsin (oh & science).


Apparently… this one is good too, but I made my choice(s) for me, via the previous.

Now you're implying we can't run at speed on road or in the dirt because our tires are wide? Out west where I've spent my whole life wheeling and driving freeways with speed limits that start with an 8x and you'll get passed by a semi pulling triples if you're under 80mph, they work just fine. The only place I find all terrains outperform off road is ice. On road the difference is negligible. It's been proven over and over in back to back testing on the same vehicle that even deep snow and sand an MT will have more traction. My mojave was road tripped 500miles to the mojave desert with the cruise control set at 85mph and hit 70+ in the dirt when we got there, all before it hit 1500 miles on the odometer. The 37x12.50 MTs have no problem with either. I agree with the statement that the difference between an 11.5 and a 12.5 is marginal. Some act like we are out here running 19.50" wide iroks, it really isn't that big a deal. If my jeep was a daily I'd still run an Mt for the times I needed it off road. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks in my opinion.

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