33" tire recommendations for a 15" wheel?
- Thread starter myjeep3
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Mower2339
Member
I really don't think the STT PRO's are that noisy.....but then again according to my wife my hearing is bad
. Really though I love everything about them, I'll be honest though, I'll sacrafice road noise for looks any day of the week. I also live in Utah, spend most of my 4 day weekends in the mountains, especially during hunting season, and just having the traction that a good mud tire provides is peace of mind to me. The KO's are exceptional in the snow, but are not good at all in the mud, and unless something has changed they throw pea gravel like a mofo! as well as wear extremely fast. Honestly, tires for the most part is personal preference. I love the look and capability of a mud tire on an off road rig, or any 4x4 for that matter. Hell I run 37x12.50x20 Cooper STT Pros on my tow pig as well
. Really though I love everything about them, I'll be honest though, I'll sacrafice road noise for looks any day of the week. I also live in Utah, spend most of my 4 day weekends in the mountains, especially during hunting season, and just having the traction that a good mud tire provides is peace of mind to me. The KO's are exceptional in the snow, but are not good at all in the mud, and unless something has changed they throw pea gravel like a mofo! as well as wear extremely fast. Honestly, tires for the most part is personal preference. I love the look and capability of a mud tire on an off road rig, or any 4x4 for that matter. Hell I run 37x12.50x20 Cooper STT Pros on my tow pig as well
I think your camera or camera lens is faulty.I really don't think the STT PRO's are that noisy.....but then again according to my wife my hearing is bad
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Wombat
TJ Enthusiast
Your wife is correct (even when they're wrong they're right if you know what's good for youI really don't think the STT PRO's are that noisy.....but then again according to my wife my hearing is bad
), STT PRO's are somewhat noisy imop, I use to run them cause they were cheaper then BFG's.You obviously have plenty of real world experience with the KO's because you are spot on, they do throw "pea gravel like a mofo!" and I'm guessing that's as a result of the AT tread and or the compound, I only run them on the tarmac and light duty off roading like camping trips, also down here in Asstralia we only have one manufacturer that import the 33x10 sizing so I run the MT 33x10 vertion with beadlocks when I want to go hardcore with the mates, nevertheless, your TJ you will get far better grip in mud and other soft surfaces with the 10" footprint. I run some serious hardcore mud trails with my TJ buddies who run 12" MT's and I always go further, partially on steep hills. It's got to the point that if I cant make it up they don't even try anymore, we ether winch or move on.
What made me change to a tire with a 10" footprint was snow driving with too other mates in bottomless soft snow back in 1999.
I was running the STT Pro 33x12x15, we had a guy from Finland in another TJ that had 32x11's with various experience in snow driving and another was running 31x10.5x15 BFG AT's. When I got bogged down and unable to turn out of the ruts we were making, the guy behind us running 31's cut out of our tracks and drove around both of us with ease and then keep going until he reached the summit! This guy had a budget (spacer) lift with 31's and he smashed us, I was left like a bad dog with its tail between its legs.
It's so often said that where a TJ will go with 31 inch tires is incredible and I believe much of that legend is due to the 10" footprint that mostly comes with a 31" tire rather then the profile.
If you want the looks or you are running serious rocky ravines like the Rubicon then 12's, otherwise go the 10's
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derekmac
TJ Addict
I love my X3's! Great road manners, they're quiet and wear well.
derekmac
TJ Addict
My experience is the opposite. The wider the foot print, the easier it is to stay on top of the snow. That's one reason for snow wheeling we run 5-10 psi in the tires, more flotation. The guys with narrow tires, and/or not aired down enough break through the surface too far and constantly get stuck.
I couldn't get over the price. I bought 30's for my YJ and they were less than $90 each.
I want to say about $185 a piece. Very happy with them so far. I run around 25psi on the road. Ain’t them down to about 15psi in the snow And off road..
Check out this posting. Post 41.
33x10.5 tires versus 33x12.5 tires
I just went from 33x12.5R15 to 10.5. Way lighter each and not as hard on drive line to turn them. Both on 15x8 wheels. First pic is 12.50 tires.
BFG K02 33x10.5x15 maybe the way to go. Still tempted to get the cooper STT pro. that tires just looks good, but I am being discovered by it being loud on the street. Plus i wont be going offroad.
The falken AT3 was my second option but again mud tire and not 33x10.5x15.
Is anybody running 33x10.5x15 or 12.5x15 with factory flares? Please share a pic. want to see how much they stick out.
The falken AT3 was my second option but again mud tire and not 33x10.5x15.
Is anybody running 33x10.5x15 or 12.5x15 with factory flares? Please share a pic. want to see how much they stick out.
Mower2339
Member
Right? Lol, it's too damn cold to go take pics so I pulled some that I had uploaded to Instagram a while back
My wheel has 3.625" of backspace, Cooper STT Pro's, 33x12.5r15 and stock flares. I'd be a bit happier with a 4" backspace.
Anyone got any toilet paper?
Mower2339
Member
I agree a hundred percent, and actually wish I would have even thought of it when I ordered these. The ones on my Rubicon were off my old TJ which I bought from a Stealership that my cousin works at. The tires on the TJ were bald so he said he would get me wholesale on a set of tires, and asked what tire I wanted a quote on. Being put on the spot I just said "Oh see what a 33/12.50/15 Cooper STT Pro would be". He was on the phone with the wholesale company and looked at me and asked "$640, for a set of 33/12.50/15 STT Pros mounted and balanced"? I just gave him theYour wife is correct (even when they're wrong they're right if you know what's good for you
You obviously have plenty of real world experience with the KO's because you are spot on, they do throw "pea gravel like a mofo!" and I'm guessing that's as a result of the AT tread and or the compound, I only run them on the tarmac and light duty off roading like camping trips, also down here in Asstralia we only have one manufacturer that import the 33x10 sizing so I run the MT 33x10 vertion with beadlocks when I want to go hardcore with the mates, nevertheless, your TJ you will get far better grip in mud and other soft surfaces with the 10" footprint. I run some serious hardcore mud trails with my TJ buddies who run 12" MT's and I always go further, partially on steep hills. It's got to the point that if I cant make it up they don't even try anymore, we ether winch or move on.
What made me change to a tire with a 10" footprint was snow driving with too other mates in bottomless soft snow back in 1999.
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I was running the STT Pro 33x12x15, we had a guy from Finland in another TJ that had 32x11's with various experience in snow driving and another was running 31x10.5x15 BFG AT's. When I got bogged down and unable to turn out of the ruts we were making, the guy behind us running 31's cut out of our tracks and drove around both of us with ease and then keep going until he reached the summit! This guy had a budget (spacer) lift with 31's and he smashed us, I was left like a bad dog with its tail between its legs.
It's so often said that where a TJ will go with 31 inch tires is incredible and I believe much of that legend is due to the 10" footprint that mostly comes with a 31" tire rather then the profile.
If you want the looks or you are running serious rocky ravines like the Rubicon then 12's, otherwise go the 10's
. It wasn't until later that I thought "Damn I should have got a 10.50". Mostly because my old TJ has the factory 3:07's and you can imagine how much power I had running the 33/12.50/15's on it
. When I bought the Rubicon I swapped the factory Rubis wheels/tires to my old TJ before I sold it. I wish the Rubi would have been the same size wheel because I like the factory wheel better than these fugly American Racing wheels I have now. The Rubi had 16's so I had to just swap wheels too if I wanted to keep the Cooper's.
Mower2339
Member
In bottomless snow I think you are right.......in snow that is only like 6-7" deep the narrow tire do pretty well by digging down to the bottom and getting traction. The bigger factor period is siping! The more sipes the better the tire goes in snowy conditions. I actually used this theory for my daughter's science fair project and took 1st place
. We took two blocks of rubber, siped the hell out of it with a razor blade, left the other block flat, put equal amount of weight on top of them, screwed an eyebolt in the end of them, then looped some tourniquets from my work through the eyebolts, and placed each block on a piece of smooth tin roofing. Not surprising the block that was siped would stretch the tourniquet a long ways before it would finally move. The block that wasn't siped would slide without even stretching the tourniquet. If I can find my old phone I'll post some pics of our project, sometimes explaining things isn't as good as seeing them. At any rate, IMHO siping does more than anything aside from chains in snow.
That explains the low quality and, "unique," filters.Right? Lol, it's too damn cold to go take pics so I pulled some that I had uploaded to Instagram a while back
Wombat
TJ Enthusiast
To do a true comparison you need the same vehicles and similar pressures, as said, I've been there, done that many times and I don't like having my tail between my legs so I run the 10's, been doing it for near twenty years and I love driving around stuck wheelers with fatties, it has become my favorite pastime
Did you watch the video? Sure, if you have 35x12 or larger sidewall you will get further than a 33x10, it's all relative to the sidewall and width combined but you cant argue the science of traction and rolling resistance. Also, radial tires don't get much wider unless you air down to zero, they get much longer than wider and this dramatically reduces rolling resistance. Rolling resistance is your enemy in soft mud and snow because you build up a bow wave that's easier to overcome with a long skinny footprint. As said, I go further whenever I'm in these conditions then those running a fat tire but no matter how many times I annihilate my mates they continue to fit up fatties. I get it, they do look cool.
Back in 2007 we had a meter of snow on the summit of mount skene, we drove nice and slow up the dirt roads leading to the snow line and plenty of Muppets dangerously overtook us on the way but once we hit the deep (extremely soft) snow I simply drove around all of them as they bogged down. I reached the summit first. Some of those fellers had beadlocks and at that time I did not but I still passed them all.
Please keep fitting fatties, I love driving passed them.