Tire recommendations

Tris

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Hello, I just got a 2006 TJ. Everything on it is stock. I currently have 255/65R17’s. On it. I want to go down to a 15” rim. And I want a good mud and road tire. Was looking at the Toyo Open Country. Has anyone been running them? If so how do you like it? And what other tires should I be looking at?
 
Hello, I just got a 2006 TJ. Everything on it is stock. I currently have 255/65R17’s. On it. I want to go down to a 15” rim. And I want a good mud and road tire. Was looking at the Toyo Open Country. Has anyone been running them? If so how do you like it? And what other tires should I be looking at?

We ran them on my wifes Xterra.
They're good on the road but would not recommend them for mud.
As for recommendations, that depends on how much weight the mud side has on your decision.
I'd look at Duratracs or Cooper Rugged Treks.
 
I had great experience with the Cooper STT Pro on my old truck for all types of offroading that you would use a stock TJ in (mud, rocky, gravel, sand, etc) as well as good highway manners with long life.

For an aggressive AT, we've really liked the Baja Boss AT on my wife's Grand Cherokee Trailhawk.

Some people really like the Duratrac, I always hated the original Duratrac. (We run them at work.) I have really liked the new RT version, though they're not available in a 15".
 
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Is there such a thing as a mud/road tire? Seem like complete opposites. Do you mean An M/T that’s not horrible on-road or A good all-around tire?
 
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I have Toyo Open Country A/T III on my TJ and am very happy with them. They seem to be a lot quieter than other Jeep tires I have had. I don't off-road so I have no information to help you there. They always get me where I want to go.
 
Some people really like the Duratrac, I always hated the original Duratrac. (We run them at work.) I have really liked the new RT version, though they're not available in a 15".

What do you dislike about the Duratrac?
 
What do you dislike about the Duratrac?

They didn't hold up well on gravel, the seemed to wear really fast, and they got very loud as they wore. They also would also cup worse than other tires in my experience. I see a lot of our work trucks, and even with regular alignments and balancing, the Duratracs cupped far more often than others. We're also not easy on our tires.

I haven't seen any of these behaviors with the new RT. Of course, without balancing, alignment, and rotation anything will cup and wear poorly. The RT also seems to have better traction across the board. I've never understood the love for the Duratrac, but that's just me. But for that matter, I've never understood the KO2 love either. They did fine but are ugly (IMO) and didn't perform better than some cheaper tires. The Cooper AT3, Falken Wildpeak AT3W, and honestly Firestone Transforce AT2 all performed just as good if not better and are generally cheaper.

When I bought my new (used) truck, the dealer had just put new RTs on it and I've been very happy with them on there too.
 
They didn't hold up well on gravel, the seemed to wear really fast, and they got very loud as they wore. They also would also cup worse than other tires in my experience. I see a lot of our work trucks, and even with regular alignments and balancing, the Duratracs cupped far more often than others. We're also not easy on our tires.

I haven't seen any of these behaviors with the new RT. Of course, without balancing, alignment, and rotation anything will cup and wear poorly. The RT also seems to have better traction across the board. I've never understood the love for the Duratrac, but that's just me. But for that matter, I've never understood the KO2 love either. They did fine but are ugly (IMO) and didn't perform better than some cheaper tires. The Cooper AT3, Falken Wildpeak AT3W, and honestly Firestone Transforce AT2 all performed just as good if not better and are generally cheaper.

When I bought my new (used) truck, the dealer had just put new RTs on it and I've been very happy with them on there too.

I agree with your assessments on alignments, but the ugly tire comment hits it dead on. I buy tires that perform for my needs, but looks are very important too. My ex-wives are judged the same. (y)
 
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I agree with your assessments on alignments, but the ugly tire comment hits it dead on. I buy tires that perform for my needs, but looks are very important too. My ex-wives are judged the same. (y)

Tires (and wives) are too expensive to be ugly! lol of course, beauty is subjective
 
They didn't hold up well on gravel, the seemed to wear really fast, and they got very loud as they wore. They also would also cup worse than other tires in my experience. I see a lot of our work trucks, and even with regular alignments and balancing, the Duratracs cupped far more often than others. We're also not easy on our tires.

The Cooper AT3, Falken Wildpeak AT3W, and honestly Firestone Transforce AT2 all performed just as good if not better and are generally cheaper.

Thank you for that assessment. I've heard the Duratracs are a pretty soft rubber, which makes sense that gravel would be hard on them.
Soft rubber is a good attribute for tires used on icy roads, which is why I've been considering them.
I absolutely loved the several sets of Cooper AT3s I've had on different vehicles but I don't see them as being a mud tire.
 
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Thank you for that assessment. I've heard the Duratracs are a pretty soft rubber, which makes sense that gravel would be hard on them.
Soft rubber is a good attribute for tires used on icy roads, which is why I've been considering them.
I absolutely loved the several sets of Cooper AT3s I've had on different vehicles but I don't see them as being a mud tire.

Agreed, mud is always a major challenge for ATs. Some of the more aggressive ATs such a Duratracs, Baja Boss AT or different RT tires are a pretty good compromise.

For reference, this is my current set of work Duratrac RTs with 50,000 (actually just hit 50 on them) miles. You can see I drive a lot of gravel but they aren't chunking like the old ones would, just getting chewed a bit while holding together. They've done really good in the snow and ice too.
PXL_20260914_155206680.webp


They did not do good on a steep clay downhill covered in maple leaves when I was going about 3mph and saw a tree across the trail and tapped the brakes. Didn't know the road was clay underneath and it just shot down the hill. Luckily I got it into a small ditch/berm before the tree 🙌🏼 But I was able to get turned around and get back up that hill, so that was impressive.
 
A friend just replaced his spent 35's with Aplus Shredder M/T 35x12.5x15. They're chinese tires but make bold claims about the sidewalls. These were like $200 each mounted/balanced/etc at Walmart. If we can get his transmission sorted we will find out how they do on the trails next week. The way he drives, we'll learn a lot about their construction, LOL.
 
Is there such a thing as a mud/road tire? Seem like complete opposites. Do you mean An M/T that’s not horrible on-road or A good all-around tire?

Sorry tea I’m looking for a M/T that’s not too bad on road.
 
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The Boss AT would be selection here. Mine did well in gravel and light trails. They shine in snow. They’re really quiet in road but have an aggressive pattern for an AT. Id say more RT. Northridge is running a buy 4 get one free now.
 
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