Best tire and lift combo for expedition JK

[Hilldweller]

Goodyear MT/R's are indeed mud terrain tires, as advertised by Goodyear: "Hardworking Wraparound Tread Helps to Deliver Sidewall Traction in Deep Mud, Sand, and Rocks." Goodyear advertises their A/T's as all terrain tires.

JPK

Doesn't matter what they call them, I've used them in mud and on the street ----- that's no mud tire but they're like velcro on pavement. Wonderful DD tire; terrible mud tire.

And the Cooper STT, by all intents a mud tire, pretty darn goon on the street and very good in mud.

Everybody's got a philosophy on how they choose tires.
I look at it this way: where am I most likely to crash or get stuck?
For me, it's mud mud mud. I want a tire that's good in mud and just as good on the street. I can work around rocks; it's a dryer environment and tires that are good on streets are usually good on rocks...
The Discoverer STT has just been the perfect GA/NC/SC/TN/FL/AL tire for me.

 

[JPK]

I can understand your tire selection criteria. For me the negatives of the M/T's have made me shy away from them for the JKU. The most valued feature of the JKU for me is it's incredible on road performance without loss of off road capability when you get where you're going. Getting where I'm going always involves lots of highway miles (and frequently the nessecity of being on the phone with my office, a requirement enabling me to get away from the office,) and so the reliance on the A/T's for my JKU, even while recognizing the loss of off road performance, especially in mud. BTW, my JKU isn't my DD but sees lots of miles while I'm pursuing my hobbies.

I'm always willing to entertain new options and learn new info from others' experience, and my BFG A/T's have 38k miles on them and will need replacement not far "down the road." So, with the MT/R's (which AEV steered me away from citing a ton of trouble they have had with them, especially getting new tires to balance) what was you're experience and how was the road noise (an important factor for me?) You write that they were terrible in mud, but compared to what, an A/T or a better, real M/T?

The STT Coopers are similar in appearence and tread design to the old BFG M/T's, the originals not the KM2's. But siped, which is a good thing. I had BFG M/T's on my LJ and loved their offroad performance. Didn't mind their on road performance (not the best in the rain but I never had an issue I didn't try to create testing them, excellent in deep snow, fair to good in packed snow, good to excellent in sand) except they were too loud and they rode too stiff (load range E) even on my heavy as hell LJ. The siping would make the Coopers a better rain and snow tire than the old M/T's. The turn off on that style tire is road noise for me. Has Cooper overcome the problem? Cooper makes a D range STT in my size, 37x12.5x17.

Any other relevant experience to share?

Thanks,

JPK

 

[Hilldweller]

I don't find the STTs loud, not compared to the old BFG muds or old Wrangler MTs that my first work truck had. The STTs hum a bit, the bigger you go, but not annoyingly.
The MTR/kevlars were downright quiet ---- and their onroad performance bested any AT that I've ever run ---- Wranglers, BFG, Firestone, General (horrible), or the JK's stock Bridgestones (worst tire I've ever had).
I'll really vouch that the MTR/kevlars are the best AT there is --- and, as for mud, they cake-up in the sticky clay but work fine in the loose sandy stuff.
You know how Eskimos have 317 words for snow? We have that many words for mud in Georgia...

BTW, everyone asks me about mpgs on the Power Wagon. I've had it for 18,000 miles and still can only tell them "around town, towing, & wheeling mpg" since I've never taken it any distance on a highway. I do my one annual roadtrip somewhere but that's with the trailer. So my tire choices are heavily biased to backroads and trails. I even drive a bit of dirt on my daily commute.

 

[JPK]

Sounds like we have the same mud in MD, which wouldn't be suprising since both GA and MD have the mountains toward the west and the Altantic toward the east with the transition zones between. Everything from loose sandy stuff to red clay to grey clay to bottomless rank marsh mud with lots of rotten organic material and every variation in between, sometime all on the same farm. The grey clay is the worst in my Jeep, stickiest and heaviest, but that's because I will only take a tracked Argo into the marsh mud. Even running either the oem GY MT's or the original BFG M/T's I had to plan turn arounds so my winch was pointing in the right direction to reach an anchor. Think field edges mostly. Those tires were 32 and 33 X 10".

Suprisingly, the 37x12.5 A/T's aren't that bad in the mud, and they're road manners are fantastic. I expected worse in the mud after having a smaller set on an earlier truck, but apparently the lugs and spacing get bigger and roomier with the larger size. Still, they are no mud tire. I had to get rid of the GY MT's because of road noise, and the BFG's were better, but still too loud.

I may have to look at the STT's if they're that much quieter, or maybe the MT/R's as a better compromise.

Any experience with BFG M/T KM2's?

Thanks,

JPK

 

[Hilldweller]

Any experience with BFG M/T KM2's?

Thanks,

JPK

BFG took mine back and prorated the 10,000 miles off them; I was hydroplaning in the slightest amount of rain.
They were awesome in the mud, no matter what type of clay, depth, underlying material. Supernatural.
But just as inversely awesome on the road...
People that really like them either are more forgiving, driver slower and on different aggregate in the roadways, or have heavier trucks.
Siping might've helped but I didn't want to risk it when BFG offered to give me money back.