Best Daily Driver Tires for a 2.5?

Zedd

Zedd

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 8, 2019
Messages
367
Location
Portland, OR
My Jeep is my daily driver. I love her very much but man, putting my foot to the floor to get up that highway hill, the low mpg, the slight jurky jurk past 60mph...

I love all these qualitys, hense, well duh the 2.5L... but online I only find resources for off roading tire information. Could we share some info on some more city/highway tires for Jeep TJ’s? Or hell a good balanced inbetween perhaps? I see people talking 2.5L mods but really unless you’re gonna spend $3000 just get the 4.0.

My thought is: The smoother the city/highway tires... the better quality ride the 2.5L is... to some extent of course.
31-33 tires that is.

What do you think? Recommendations ?

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Nice Jeep. I like that color.
I have a white, 97, 2.5, manual trans, the gears have been changed to 4.56, I have 31" cooper AT3s that actually measure about 29 1/2". Long hills do suck but out here I don't have to many. Your jeep looks stock so I am guessing it has 4.11 gears, to my knowledge all 2.5s came stock with 4.11s. If you are to leave it stock then I would look for tires 29" or less and 10.5 width or less. A good AT (all terrain) tire like the cooper Discoverer AT3s (which I have) or the BFG ATs. If you are keeping it on the street there are even less aggressive AT tires out there that will last a long time and have great road manners

from guys with auto trans I think most of them that do a gear change go with 4.88 up to 5.33. That will depend on your tire size and what your plans for the jeep are. Yes I know you asked about tires but a plan is cost effective.

I am not sure how long you have had your jeep so a good tune up would be a great way to get the most out of your 2.5.... Cap, rotor, spark plugs, wires, and don't forget the O2 Sensors. The 2.5 only has 2ea O2 sensors. Then do a good cleaning on your Throttle body and all the three sensors there. Search the how to areas of this forum for all the information, specifics and recommendations of what to buy and what works.
 
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Are you looking for a tire you can take off-road on occasion? If so, I'd highly recommend an A/T tire like the BFG KO2 or Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac. I've owned both here in Oregon and can tell you they perform exceptional in just about any condition / terrain.
 
Hello @Zed, another angry squirrel herder here. DD my since I bought it years ago.

The key to happiness with the 2.5 is gears and weight. If you're not going on the local Forest Service roads, and you've already changed the gears to 4.56, stay with the stock 2005 or possibly 215/75R15 tires. Especially with the automatic transmission. You might get away with a 235, but that's pushing it. Select something from a major manufacturer in an all season tire, possibly with an MS rating for winter. I've had good luck with Michelin tires. Goodyear, BF Goodrich, Cooper and Pirelli are safe bets as well. Be aware that any of those tires will die a lingering death if you spend much time on the local gravel roads.

Good luck!
 
Paparock1 said:
Nice Jeep. I like that color.
I have a white, 97, 2.5, manual trans, the gears have been changed to 4.56, I have 31" cooper AT3s that actually measure about 29 1/2". Long hills do suck but out here I don't have to many. Your jeep looks stock so I am guessing it has 4.11 gears, to my knowledge all 2.5s came stock with 4.11s. If you are to leave it stock then I would look for tires 29" or less and 10.5 width or less. A good AT (all terrain) tire like the cooper Discoverer AT3s (which I have) or the BFG ATs. If you are keeping it on the street there are even less aggressive AT tires out there that will last a long time and have great road manners

from guys with auto trans I think most of them that do a gear change go with 4.88 up to 5.33. That will depend on your tire size and what your plans for the jeep are. Yes I know you asked about tires but a plan is cost effective.

I am not sure how long you have had your jeep so a good tune up would be a great way to get the most out of your 2.5.... Cap, rotor, spark plugs, wires, and don't forget the O2 Sensors. The 2.5 only has 2ea O2 sensors. Then do a good cleaning on your Throttle body and all the three sensors there. Search the how to areas of this forum for all the information, specifics and recommendations of what to buy and what works.
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It’s my first TJ and I got it recently. Everything is great on it. I bought it from mechanics son so it’s been taken care of.
Your message was alittle unclear, are you suggesting 29’ and bellow tires? Currently they have these on and I’m not sure what they are. I think they might be stock tires for newer model Jeeps...
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Your suggestions are good things to keep an eye on. I’ll have to do research on what all those things are and where they’re located. Mine is a 2002 Automatic and I have no idea whats stock and whats not on this car yet.
 
StG58 said:
Hello @Zed, another angry squirrel herder here. DD my since I bought it years ago.

The key to happiness with the 2.5 is gears and weight. If you're not going on the local Forest Service roads, and you've already changed the gears to 4.56, stay with the stock 2005 or possibly 215/75R15 tires. Especially with the automatic transmission. You might get away with a 235, but that's pushing it. Select something from a major manufacturer in an all season tire, possibly with an MS rating for winter. I've had good luck with Michelin tires. Goodyear, BF Goodrich, Cooper and Pirelli are safe bets as well. Be aware that any of those tires will die a lingering death if you spend much time on the local gravel roads.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I have no idea what is stock and what has been changed on this car. I had no idea you could replace gears for an automatic transmission. I’m guessing it’s stock on mine but is that the 4.56?
 
Chris said:
Are you looking for a tire you can take off-road on occasion? If so, I'd highly recommend an A/T tire like the BFG KO2 or Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac. I've owned both here in Oregon and can tell you they perform exceptional in just about any condition / terrain.
Click to expand...

If by occasion you mean randomly that one time last year than yes lol. I also care about the way the tire looks because like angry eyes I hate aggressive looking tires haha
 
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Zedd said:
I have no idea what is stock and what has been changed on this car. I had no idea you could replace gears for an automatic transmission. I’m guessing it’s stock on mine but is that the 4.56?
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You can't replace the gears in the transmission with a different ratio, changing the ratio to compensate for bigger tires is done in the axles which is anywhere from $1300 to 1600-1700 depending on the shop.

It's hard to say what the factory installed with your automatic but I doubt it's 4.56. You can look at the axle ratio tag bolted onto each axle's differential cover at its 9 o'clock position. Your ratio will be pressed into it.

This ratio tag is indicating the axle has 3.73 gears inside.

Axle Ratio.jpg
 
Jerry Bransford said:
You can't replace the gears in the transmission with a different ratio, changing the ratio to compensate for bigger tires is done in the axles which is anywhere from $1300 to 1600-1700 depending on the shop.

It's hard to say what the factory installed with your automatic but I doubt it's 4.56. You can look at the axle ratio tag bolted onto each axle's differential cover at its 9 o'clock position. Your ratio will be pressed into it.

This ratio tag is indicating the axle has 3.73 gears inside.

View attachment 117519
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Good to know where that’s located. I was confused with your first reply with all the numbers. I’m still not exactly sure what it is you’re talking about. If we’re talking about daily driver tires, I don’t see why they would have to be really big in order and for the car to be lifted. I like my car the way it is and I’m pretty sure the tires are 31’s. I think the tires are from a new Jeep Wrangler...
2B35FA1D-348B-4537-9EA1-D4A49C9A9553.png


If I want to get more out of city/highway, smaller tires? Also unsure about this if you get smaller tires, do you have to do the opposite of a lift for a car?
 
You only need to change the gears inside the axles to a lower ratio if you're installing significantly bigger tires. There's no need if you're staying close to the factory size tire. My main point was to clarify where that regearing is done, inside the axles by replacing their ring & pinion gears. That big gear in the middle is the ring gear, the pinion gear is hidden inside and connects to the driveshaft.

DSC_0022.JPG
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
You only need to change the gears inside the axles to a lower ratio if you're installing significantly bigger tires. There's no need if you're staying close to the factory size tire. My main point was to clarify where that regearing is done, inside the axles by replacing their ring & pinion gears.
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Got it. Being that this post, we’re talking about a daily tire for city and highway, what is a good size and tire? Forsure we want to keep the weight down, etc
 
Zedd said:
Got it. Being that this post, we’re talking about a daily tire for city and highway, what is a good size and tire? Forsure we want to keep the weight down, etc
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For your 2.5 and automatic I'd go no bigger than a 30x9.50. The bigger the tire's diameter the more it impacts the engine's performance.
 
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Zedd said:
I have no idea what is stock and what has been changed on this car. I had no idea you could replace gears for an automatic transmission. I’m guessing it’s stock on mine but is that the 4.56?
Click to expand...
Typically, but not always, the SE's have 4.10 / 4.11 gears from the factory. The stock sized tires were 205/75R15. That's about a 27" tire.
 
Zedd said:
If by occasion you mean randomly that one time last year than yes lol. I also care about the way the tire looks because like angry eyes I hate aggressive looking tires haha
Click to expand...

I would say BFG KO2s all the way then!
 
You might consider Goodyear Trailrunner AT's in 225/75R15. They are cheaper than the other options and Consumer Reports ran those on their wear track and came out rating pretty high for an AT tire. Firestone Destination LE2's are worth looking at for a truck All-season. Rated high in CR's testing (top 5) and they offer the most size choices of any truck tire - even a 235/70R15 choice in addition to most of the Jeep sizes.

All Season Tires.JPG
All Terrain tires.JPG
 
I know the Cooper AT3 in a passenger tire was the top rated tire by Consumer Reports a few years ago when they came out. Had the 3peak snow rating too. That was a few years ago, some one else may be the new "best".
 
You will also want to check your speedometer against GPS when changing tire size, unless the speedo gear has been changed to match your setup it will be off with different sized tires.
 
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