Ideal tire size..

[NewJLU2019]

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[guarnibl]

This is just anecdotal, but I ran Crown King on my small AT tires (265/70/17). I have full underbelly skids and used them twice, I'm lifted with Rubicon take offs. Only stacked rocks at one point, but it didn't help. I'm new to off-roading and my lines could have probably been better. But I made it to the top!
Bigger tires, lockers, and a smaller wheelbase would have made it so much easier.

You made it though Did you need winched or something? It's been a couple of years now but I did it in a stock JK 2 dr non Rubi. I hear the trail has gotten more difficult since then.

 

[guarnibl]

If my Willys hadn't come stock with Firestone Destination MT/2s, I probably would have ended up on a set of KO2s. I almost put KO2s on my pickup truck. They get awesome reviews, and everybody loves them.

But my Willys did come stock with the MT/2s. I commuted on full blown mud tires. I drove in heavy rain. I never did get the MT/2s in anything cold, but I was really surprised how well they handled on pavement. Of course they handled very well on dirt and mud. So well that I was afraid of compromising my dirt and mud performance by getting KO2s or something like them. Mud terrains aren't the greatest on pavement, but they're a lot better than they used to be. I was going to go with KM3s, X3s, or MT/2s in my new tire size, but I ended up on a set of Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ P3s, because they were in stock. So far, I'm very happy with them. They were pretty damn squirrely for the first 200 miles, and they hold onto rocks more than the Firestones did, but I think they're going to work out.

I'm glad I had a chance to try a set of mud terrains, or else I surely would have gone with KO2s. The one place all terrains are especially weak is mud, and most of my time off pavement is spent on dirt. With mud terrains, I don't care how much water has mixed itself in with that dirt. This thing just goes. The tires do talk to you going down the road, but that's okay.


I wanted 35x12.50R17, but all I could get were the 315/70R17s. As a data point, Mickey Thompson's catalog lists these as a 34.6" diameter. I set my speedo up for 34.5" originally, and it was reading 1 mph faster than I was actually going. Every hour, I'm putting a fake mile on my odometer that way, so I went back to the drawing board and tried 34.75" for the speedo. The error persisted. When I set it to 34.25" my speedo was either in sync with GPS or reading 1 mph slower than I was actually traveling. I'd rather have the odometer missing one mile every hour than posting a phantom mile that I didn't actually drive.

So these are basically 34s, in other words. Oh well. They're still taller than my stock 32s, and they don't look small.

Just curious, did you test the speedo accuracy before you changed anything? Mine was off more from the factory than after the Tazer calibration I set. lol.

But yeah, MT's have come a long way, I think that was a big point that the other poster was trying to make, you don't have to make as many sacrifices as people realize now, and I do think that's true. I have a ton of mileage on both tires, and road manners for my Nittos were never a complaint. They balanced well, wore well, and other than getting kind of loud over a lot of use, they were great. Can't have everything... more aggressive tread pattern and in general, stronger side walls will always result in more weight. I just really didn't want to re-gear all of my vehicles to have a taller tire, and given where I live and where I use the vehicles, the trade off for me made sense.

 

[Jamrock]

Huh?

 

[TrailSnail]

Huh?

He mad

 

[NewJLU2019]

Huh?

The debate over tire size, brands etc. So many pros/cons etc. 37's over 35's etc. Lot of overwhelming info.

 

[Jamrock]

The debate over tire size, brands etc. So many pros/cons etc. 37's over 35's etc. Lot of overwhelming info.

Not really.

Option 1 - Choose the option that looks the best to you. Many people buy vehicles based on looks.

Option 2 - Decide how you want to use your Jeep and choose the components that will allow you to do what you want to do. If you are not sure what components you need, find someone who has done it before and let them help you.

Let the gearheads argue over the nitty gritty details. That is just what we do for fun. Most of the time it just depends on personal preferences.

 

[omnitonic]

Just curious, did you test the speedo accuracy before you changed anything? Mine was off more from the factory than after the Tazer calibration I set. lol.

Sadly no, by the time I thought to check, I had already swapped the tires, and it wasn't worth swapping back to satisfy my curiosity about that. Now that I've dialed it in, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the most accurate speedo I've ever had on any vehicle in my life. I didn't really feel it was strictly necessary. I just did it because I could.

 

[BlackGenesis]

I did have some minor bumper rub disconnected, turned and stuffed with 35s and a 2” spacer lift today. That’s with extended bump stops.

Lifting jeep higher does not change clearance between bumper and a tire when your tire is stuffed into to a fender.
Wheel offser and tire width has a lot to do with it. 11.5 wide tire would work better, especially on a wheel that offsets tire just enought to clear frame when at full lock and stuffed.

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