A year's worth of ruminations...

StG58

StG58

TJ Guru
Supporting Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2015
Messages
6,660
Location
Orygun, the wet side...
I've owned my TJ for just shy of a year now. Not my first 4x4, but my first TJ. Best buy ever.

Here comes the opinion part of the conversation. The three things that this Jeep needs to perfectly fit my needs are:
1) the correct tire tread pattern for my local conditions. Bigger tires would be nice, but the pattern of the tread is most important. The Goodrich A/T's just aren't cutting it. 80% of the time they work fine, but that other 20% is just a pain in the backsides. A little bigger tire size might be nice, but that old school all terrain tread pattern doesn't work for where this Jeep will take me.

2)final drive ratio. That means gears. I spend an awful lot of time in third gear at around 3,000 rpm. I'm happy and the Jeep is happy there. (the CD player isn't happy there though) If I go with bigger tires, the gears are going to get changed as part of the deal. I will definitely keep my final drive ratio right where it is, or maybe just a little lower. I'd rather go 4.88's than 4.56's and run the same RPM's but just a little slower ground speed.

3)selectable lockers. I've tried the brake technique that @Jerry Bransford described in his article on lockers, and it does work. (hat tip to Jerry for reminding me of it. Thanks Jerry!) BUT, selectable lockers are an investment that is worth the money. This is from a guy that is so tight that I squeak. They will be worth every penny invested, without a doubt. There's enough moving parts in driving off road as it is without adding e-brake lever and brake pedal to the mix.

Those three things will get me more places and keep me out of more trouble than any other investments I can make in the TJ.

Those three things are going to happen even before I put a winch on the front.
 
Let me tell you from personal experience... If you're looking for a good tire that has excellent on-road manners (isn't loud either), performs awesome in the rain, packed snow (and even deep snow) and mud, a fantastic tire is the Goodyear Duratrac. I run them on mine and they are hands down amazing tires.

The only area they fall short of as oppose to a true MT tire are the kevlar reinforced sidewalls (which would be overkill for you anyways I think) and and the fact that in deep mud I don't think they clean themselves out as well as a true MT.
 
  • Like
Reactions: StG58
StG58 said:
The Goodrich A/T's just aren't cutting it. 80% of the time they work fine, but that other 20% is just a pain in the backsides. A little bigger tire size might be nice, but that old school all terrain tread pattern doesn't work for where this Jeep will take me.


Those things are going to happen even before I put a winch on the front.
Click to expand...

A/T's don't clean well and they tend to hydroplane, otherwise they'd be perfect. I put Rugged Terrains on the Tacoma to get away the hydroplaning.

Deeper, wider lugs clean well. If cleaning is an issue..........................

Winch was the first mod on my Jeep because I knew no matter how my build ideas changed,I'd always want a winch, and a winch may get you through a place where you needed a locker.
 
Chris said:
Let me tell you from personal experience... If you're looking for a good tire that has excellent on-road manners (isn't loud either), performs awesome in the rain, packed snow (and even deep snow) and mud, a fantastic tire is the Goodyear Duratrac. I run them on mine and they are hands down amazing tires.

The only area they fall short of as oppose to a true MT tire are the kevlar reinforced sidewalls (which would be overkill for you anyways I think) and and the fact that in deep mud I don't think they clean themselves out as well as a true MT.
Click to expand...

I've been eyeing the Duratracs in 31x10.50R15 and, what was it? Oh, 265R75-16 with new 16" wheels. Anyway the 32" metric equivalent. Probably get the Duratracs in 31x10.50's so I don't have to buy new wheels.

I'll eventually end up with a winch. Probably a 9500# Engo because it is cost effective. After the gears and lockers to match the tire size though. I use winches to drag crap off the road and to collect firewood when I'm to lazy to hike it out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chris
Yeah the Duratracs are fantastic. Being an all terrain they are siped, versus Mud Terrain tires which aren't. As you obviously know the siping makes a world of difference in the wet PNW that we live in. Get those MT tires in some ruts on the highway and you'll just lose it!
 
Siping is a good deal alright. One of the guys at work had a set of Toyo MT's on his Chevy truck (I've got them on my Suburban as well) and he had them siped when he put them on. His truck was a mall crawler, he found out his wife was terrified of going off road after he tried setting up his truck. Those tires lasted for squat after getting siped. His issue was suspension geometry though. Just ate his front tires up in short order. They were gone in something like 15,000 miles. Spendy tires to scrub off on the highway. Not that great off road either. Never even considered them for the TJ. Right now, it's boiled down to Grabber AT2's and Duratrac's. For the $20 - 30 extra per tire I think the Duratracs are a better deal and would match my usage and conditions best. The other deal is that buying a General tire around here is an exercise in futility. You can find them at a few specialty shops, but Goodyear is everywhere.
 
My brother runs Toyo MTs on his Tundra. I always ask him why he is running and MT on a truck that sees ZERO off road and only serves as his daily driver. His response is "because they look cool". Okay, sure, I can see that. But they suck in the rain, and if you want something that will look cool, be good in almost all conditions and last a hell of a lot longer than an MT, a Duratrac is a great choice.

The Duratracs are said to be good for 40k miles give or take. Not too bad I would say. I've used mine in snow, ice, rain and mud and haven't found a single complaint yet.
 
Those three things will keep you out of trouble for the most part, but they also might have a tendency to get you into more trouble that you may have avoided without them.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: StG58
Tires, yeah lots of choice but ultimately buy something which can be serviced local. One of my Yokohamea Geolander Winter Tires had a tread separation issue. Kaltire is 6 blocks away. They had some takeoffs, more tread than my 5 year old grips, and they swapped them in 20 minutes, NO paperwork !!
 
  • Like
Reactions: StG58
hotolds442 said:
Those three things will keep you out of trouble for the most part, but they also might have a tendency to get you into more trouble that you may have avoided without them.....
Click to expand...
There's always a shovel and the high lift. And they give you time to contemplate your many sins while working out of a predicament.
 
  • Like
Reactions: billiebob
ahh yes, firewood...

DSC_0209.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: StG58
Love that photo! Mostly it's camp wood. For the house, back when I lived in a house with a fireplace, I'd call up one of my buddies and he would have a log truck load of pecked poles delivered to the house. About $400 us for a load, and that's a lot of wood. The guys with the self loaders would make a killing during the spring on that.
 
StG58 said:
Love that photo! Mostly it's camp wood. For the house, back when I lived in a house with a fireplace, I'd call up one of my buddies and he would have a log truck load of pecked poles delivered to the house. About $400 us for a load, and that's a lot of wood. The guys with the self loaders would make a killing during the spring on that.
Click to expand...
We give away several loads every year... here is the July 1st load for a fire department fund raiser...

DSC_0163.jpg
 
Top Bottom
Back