Who uses multiple tire/wheel combos?

[grandpa]

Rather than having one tire/wheel set for all conditions; how many of you have multiple sets for varying conditions?

I know that a lot of people change from summer to winter tires but how about on-road vs off-road?

I prefer a quiet highway tire for long highway travel and a rugged traction tire for muddy off-road conditions. I can’t find a tire that does both well. Most all tires have to make some compromise for conditions.

Tire and wheel combinations can be expensive, but is that expense acceptable since they will last longer with reduced miles and perform better? I can change wheel sets in about 30-45 minutes so time is not an inconvenience. The change would be in my shop prior to a trip. I would not haul the extra set with me.

I know it boils down to personal choices but I would like to hear from anyone with past or current experience.

Thanks.

 

[comptiger5000]

I have 3 sets for the ZJ. 1 set of stock 16x7s with 235/70R16 snows on them for winter, 1 set of stock 16x7s with 225/75R16 M/Ts on them for off-road use or when I rallycross the Jeep and a set of 17x8s with 255/60R17 sticky street tires on them for street use in the summer. My usage of the Jeep varies enough that having 1 or even 2 sets becomes a big compromise.

The only minor issue with my setup is that my spare is matched diameter-wise to my snows and summers, but my off-road tires are a 1/2" taller. The front is an open diff, so the 1/2" isn't a big issue as long as I put the spare up front, but it's not ideal either. If I ever go taller on the off-road set, I'll end up having 2 spares and carry either the small or big one depending on which tires I'm running.

 

[Stumpalump]

We have two sets for the E350 van. Taller 255/85/16 BFG KM2 for summer and trails and 265/75/16 Michelin LTX for road trips and pulling the sand car or Jeep out of state. I love them both. The LTX lowers my CG and gearing so it pulls better than with the taller mud tires. It breaks with the smaller tires better as well. I like a good road tire as much as a good off road tire so having both on identical rims expands what the vehicle is good for. A place to keep the tires near the shop air and a big floor jack makes the swap reasonable.

 

[digitaldelay]

For my Suzuki Grand Vitara:

225/60R18 HT
225/65R17 Studded Winter
225/70R16 AT

All the same diameter, so my 225/70R16 HT spare works no matter what.

Jason

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

 

[dennismc]

For street and mild off road I have BFG all terrain 285/75/16 mounted on Nismo alloys and serious off road gets 33/10.5/15 BFG mud terrains mounted on stock Nissan steel wheels on my 2001 Xterra. Spare matches whichever set is mounted on truck.

 

[kojackJKU]

I have been thinking about doing this too now that I have all the right gear to swap wheels quickly. I am thinking about going with a MT for off roading, an at for highway/street, and use my winter/stock wheels for winter.

 

[WMPhoto]

I have a set of 35" Cooper STT tires mounted on a set of AEV wheels for the trail, or long trips that involve trails or two tracks. Then I have a set of Rubicon take-offs that I got cheap with stock wheels... I've probably gone through 5 sets of rubicon take-offs... $500-600 dollars for a set of 5 tires... usually with no more than a couple of hundred miles on them... Can't beat that.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Did it for about 2 years and hated it. Had a set of BFG MTs in 245/75/17 on FJC steelies and a set of Cooper Discoverer M+S on factory alloys for my '07 4runner. The Coopers were a winter tire and did great in snow. The MTs were surprisingly quiet on the freeway and great off road.

But the changeover was always a PITA. Yeah, I got to where I could do it in ~ 40 minutes in my driveway (and that was using the factory bottle jack, a decent floor jack would have knocked that back by a third or maybe even a half) but it still sucked. And weather wise, it seems I would change into my "summer tires" and then a week later we'd get hit with a snow storm.

The other hassle was storing the wheels when I wasn't using them. I ended up covering them in plastic trash bags and then taping them shut to try and minimize sun damage since my tires sat along the South side of the garage and faced the sun.

After two years of that I had had enough. Went to BFG AT's and sold the extra set of wheels. Not worth the hassle.

 

[Clintnz]

Back when I had my Suzuki, when my first set of mud tyres started getting a little too worn for serious offroad I got another set of rims cheap & fitted up a more aggressive set of mudders to those. I ran the original tyres out on the road & kept the serious rubber for Sunday best. Good way to get the most out of your $$$$ rubber. It helped that I could just lift up the whole Suzuki with the forklift at work & use the air impact so changes were quick.

Now with the Landcruiser I have a set of crazy 36" Simex Extreme Trekkers for the serious playing, and a set of 35" Hankook RT-03 MT for touring & general use.

It was pretty funny when I went to pick up my freshly mounted 35's from the tyre shop, they don't often fit anything bigger than a 33 so the boys at the shop were quite impressed by these big *** mud tyres - I had to tell them that these are just my 'town tyres' & I've got some bigger, more aggressive rubber that I swap on for serious offroad It's not often I swap on the Simex's, nowhere near as nice on the road as the Hankooks, but they are great fun to have on in the bush & I got them (barely) used for a sharp price. Got a trolley jack & air impact in the garage so changes are fairly quick.

Cheers
Clint