Milestar Patagonia Tires—Good, Bad, or Ugly?
- Thread starter Mr. Bills
- Start date
Can you imagine if you brought up Johnson Valley? I think Patagonias would be a perfect tire out there.
That right there is the problem. It's akin to hunting flies with a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with #9 birdshot and telling the guy with the flyswatter how awesome he is.
Guy on 31's says he can follow the guys on big tires around because the guys on big tires are on trails you can do on 31's. He isn't following them on trails you can't do on 31's, he is following them around on trails you can do on 31's. Then you look like the asshole when you point out the obvious which is the folks with big tires are seriously overestimating the trail difficulty and they have to or admit they are on trails you can do on 31's.
OP
It seem strange to me that I sucessfully completed the Rubicon Trail the first time on 31's and the second time on 32's but now Jeep Jamboree says that 35-40" tires are required to run that trial as a participant. (Jeepers Jamboree requires at least 33" tires.)
Did the Rubicon become that much more difficult over the years? Or is it that our perception of minimum necessary tire size for rockcrawling has changed? (I'm not talking about competition or extreme rockcrawling, I'm talking about rockcrawling for ordinary mortals/weekend enthusiasts who might rock crawl one weekend and overland the next.) I know that Jeep Jamboree wants large tires to make their lives easier as event organizers, but is the Rubicon really a 35-40" tire trail or is it a 31" tire trail or is it something in between?
Just wondering (as I fondly gaze at my 35's).
Did the Rubicon become that much more difficult over the years? Or is it that our perception of minimum necessary tire size for rockcrawling has changed? (I'm not talking about competition or extreme rockcrawling, I'm talking about rockcrawling for ordinary mortals/weekend enthusiasts who might rock crawl one weekend and overland the next.) I know that Jeep Jamboree wants large tires to make their lives easier as event organizers, but is the Rubicon really a 35-40" tire trail or is it a 31" tire trail or is it something in between?
Just wondering (as I fondly gaze at my 35's).
What is happening is folks build rigs instead of learning how to drive. I see it all the time. If the price of admission is 35's like many of the trails in JV, the fucktards who can't drive show up on 37's and 40's and follow the 35" tire rigs around.
The other thing for the Rubicon is the JK Unlimited and similar wheelbase rigs will struggle with the average driver on stock tires.
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Gerald is being a big advocate of the Wildpeak M/T these days.
Im still running my Patagonias in the PNW. They do okay. Mostly what i ask them to do is be 37" tall and then I run them on 35" trails.
One of our last outings was with a JLU with a 4" on 37s. The rest of us have TJs with typical 35 builds. The JLU often struggled due the wheelbase and the lack of belly height. I was very surprised to find that the belly was 3" lower than mine.
Depends on how gracefully you want to negotiate the trail. Sure, you can run the Con on 32's, but you won't be doing it gracefully, or unassisted.
EzPeezy
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That'
That's funny because I always see people commenting about how they did it on 31's with no problem.
OP
My runs on the Rubicon with 31's and 32's weren't particularly graceful, or without some damage, but they were unassisted and I was able to drive 500 miles home under my own power.
It's certainly a lot less work with 35's.
It's certainly a lot less work with 35's.
@mrblaine I’ve never seen any of your opinions or recommendations on tires. Maybe I’ve missed them. From your experience, any recommendations for a 35” tire that sees both on and off-road duty? I know it’s a broad question and location plays a roll but limit it to a JV/highway standpoint if needed.
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Guess it's my off road inexperience shinning thru. My 2nd trip thru the trail had a little less drama on 33's, a bit more lift, and a baby tummy tuck.
OP
I wouldn't say that. The trail is different every year and changes through the season with traffic.
This be true. We ran it last September and the weather created new challenges for us as well.
Not to get too far off topic, my KO2's performed well on the trail. Nobody in our group ran Patagonias, so I have nothing to compare.
I have the Patagonia 38s on my TJ. I like to try and run a variety of tires. I've had MTRs, Nittos, Falken, Coopers, BFG AT and MTs, and Patagonias. Have only had them at Moab, and local here in the PNW in the dry. One trip it was wet on 7Up and had to use all the powers to even get up to the rock. My buddy with sticky KRTs was able to get farther of course.
They seemed to have the same traction in those scenarios. I was able to double bump Rocker Knocker up the face.
My Fullstack partner runs 33s on his driver TJ, and they wore VERY fast. They aren't the best tire, but I think they are a good tire for the price for sure.
As far as the loud comment, I've had lots of tires that are loud on the street, usually due to age and lots of highway miles. Rubber gets hard. Happens when you buy used tires.
They seemed to have the same traction in those scenarios. I was able to double bump Rocker Knocker up the face.
My Fullstack partner runs 33s on his driver TJ, and they wore VERY fast. They aren't the best tire, but I think they are a good tire for the price for sure.
As far as the loud comment, I've had lots of tires that are loud on the street, usually due to age and lots of highway miles. Rubber gets hard. Happens when you buy used tires.
I had last been on the Rubicon in 2009, on 35s and Dana 30/Dana 44. WE went back in 2018 and I was on 37s. I was surprised at how "hard" it was, I didnt remember it being as dug out, or maybe just rocks rolling around enough to be challenging? It was fun, great wheeling.
Mine lasted 8k miles, and I'm being very generous with the mileage. They went on in April and became dangerously worn by late-September. Six months. Fortunately mine came with set of wheels making the tires effectively free.
That's terrible. I don't think Kevin's is that bad, I'll ask him.
Of all the tires I've run my favorite the Nitto Terra Grappler. We raced on them for several KOHs. They are some of the toughest carcasses for a DOT, IMO.
Pressurized
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