New tire questions

[Rosie]

I have read all the previous threads on which tires to choose. Still want to ask a few questions.
If I am not doing serious off road driving, but once in a while must drive through pasture and mud, what can you all suggest for good tires?
I live in NY, so if I do take the truck out on the salty icy road, would like the tires to stand up to it. May have to pull my husband out of a ditch once in a while!!!
But mostly will be driving on paved county roads, and very rarely on a major highway.
I now have 15" wheels, and will change to 16". Got any suggestions for type of wheel and type of tire?

[greenmeanie]

I'm probably not the best person to give advice as I still like the big old military bar grips on my gun tractor but here goes.

You have given a good description of your needs that sounds very honest in that you are not just shooting to put the biggest ugliest mud tyre on there. You needs are, however, somewhat conflicting.

Driving on wet grass with some mud really requires a mud tyre if there is any kind of slope as these provide a suprisingly slippy slope. You could, however, go with the military mentality that says that if you really need the traction put a set of chains on and you'll be unstoppable.

The other option is that if you have 15's and are getting a second set of wheels you could run a fairly mild, road biased tyre on the 16's and then get a cheap set of mudders for the 15's for those days you'll be out in the rough.

With that out the way it opens up the door to a wider range of choices. I would personally shoot for an all terrain, the most famous of which is the BF Goodrich AT KO. Nice tyre but expensive. Others have had good success with Cooper Discoverer and Dunlop Radial Rovers. Check your whels for riveted or welded construction. If they are welded I would run a tubeless radial tyre as it will handle better.

Then again I've had good luck with some old Kirkland light truck tyres that came on my 88 9 years ago and are only now needing replaced. My next set of tyres on that truck will largely be dictated by what is on sale.

What is more important to you; cost or peformance?

Cheers
Gregor

[scott]

i'm using the cooper discovery, really like 'em. i've used bfg a/t ko and like them.

some say aggressive treads are to noisey and vibraty on the hwy but i found that the loud, rough riding swb is so bad that i don't notice the difference

so i use traction needs/desires to guide me. skinny tall tires, with an open tread. open tread self cleans better so mud/snow don't turn tires into slicks, skinny cause they sink down to hopefully more solid terra instead of floating/slipping on top. tall so when you find youself on the beach you can air down so that you get the wider tire for riding in the sand

good speakers to drown out the tire whine on the hwy

[KevinNY]

Cooper ST in 235/85-16, perfect for you and just look right on a series as well.

[Blueboy]

for wheels check out our host -

ROAD WHEEL - 5.5" X 16" 1 7/8" OFFSETSKU:RNC880

for tires, you probably want something with a M/S (mud and snow) designation vs just Mud as there will be sipes or grooves which helps in snow and rain.

currently have BFG TracEdges on mine and they have been great - only problem is they are no longer available so I'm also looking.

have been checking Cooper Discoverer STT and Dunlop Radial Rover RT.

BFG A/T KOs are also on my list.

size is 235/85-16 which is not too wide and works well.

good luck.


Jaime

[Leslie]

Have to admit, I loved the Dunlop R/T that I had on my first Disco, good tire. But, I've been happy w/ BFG A/T-ko's on the wife's Disco that don't get off the road as much as the Series. (BTW: did NOT like BFG's Commerical T/A... it was a replacement for the great TracEdge, but not worthy....)

But, you might want to consider staying w/ the 15" wheels, as you have a selection of tire sizes there.... you could do either a 30x9.5 in the A/T if you want something conventional, closer in size to the original, or a 33x9.5 if you want some additional ground clearance.....

Something to consider before buyin new wheels.....

[Paul Rossmann]

Cooper also makes tires under other names for folks like Pep Boys. I replaced a set of Coopers with a set of "Discovery" (I think thats the Pep Boy brand) and I love 'em. I do about the same kind of driving, although there is rarely snow here, and the tires run great. I concur with the chain idea if yo aare only occasionally going to be in mud and snow.

[Jim-ME]

I have been very happy with BF Goodrich AT tires. I have had them on several vehicles now and they last well if you keep them properly inflated, rotated and in our case keep the toe-in set correctly. I don't want to get into the 15" vs 16" wheel arguement but I will say that Tire Rack has BFG AT's in 33X9.50X15 at $106.00 per tire. I don't think you will find many tires in that price range. I am not sure what you have for springs but these fit very well with the Rocky Mountain Parabolics that came on my Rover. I will run this tire until they aren't available anymore in the 33" size and then switch to 16" wheels. You may be able to save yourself the expense of 16" wheels right now and still get a good sized tire if that is what you want.
Jim

[Rineheitzgabot]

Just bought 9.50 30 R15's a couple of months ago (15" wheels). They are Dunlop Mud Rovers. I love them. They have a fairly aggressive tread, but I don't think they are that noisy. On a smoothly paved road, one can hear a hint of a whine, which anyone who drives an 88 knows that there is alot more sound being produced to drown out that whine. Fairly inexpensive as well.

I pondered the switchout to 16's, but as someone stated above, 15's have a better tire selection; and of course, when there is a better selection of something, that usually means that the price will stay under control (supply/demand).

Incidentally, I have a set of four (4) 15-inch rims AND tires for sale right now. I can email you pics if you want. They are wide and offset for decreased turning radius (this is what I was told). I changed them, because I didn't like the way they looked. The tires are M+S, but aren't too aggressive. Shipping might be a pain in the arse, unless you are coming through Fort Waynem IN sometime soon. PM me, if you are interested.

[Rosie]

This is great info!!
Now, before I buy any tires, I should ask you all, why do I want to change my wheels from 15" to 16"?
Better fuel economy? Better steering? Able to go faster?
Any of this true?
Will the truck look better with 16" wheels?

[Leslie]

This is great info!!
Now, before I buy any tires, I should ask you all, why do I want to change my wheels from 15" to 16"?
Better fuel economy? Better steering? Able to go faster?
Any of this true?
Will the truck look better with 16" wheels?

Rosie, there's a bit of a trade-off here......


The whole reason why Rover went from 16" down to 15" wheels was to help acceleration... the taller wheel took longer to get up-to-speed than the shorter one. However, for each revolution, more distance is covered with the taller tire.

Wider tires are 'more stable' and provide more traction, but skinny ones are easier to turn w/o power steering.

Thing is, a 33x9.5/R15 will be a little taller than a 7.5R16. You can, with either 15" or 16", have different widths or heights, all through tire selection.

Personally, I like the 16" wheel better, but wouldn't necessarily avoid the 15"....

[Leslie]

To clarify a bit:

A taller tire would go faster than a shorter tire at the same engine RPM.

But the taller tire would take longer to get up to speed.

The shorter tire is quicker, the taller is faster. (Make sense?)

[Moose]

I love the Dunlop Radial Rover R/T's and have been running them on my 88 for over 10 years now. Great in the snow and mud with a mildly aggressive tread. Quite on the road and very good on wet roads. I just bought some new ones recently from TireRack.com. Price was $134 per tire. Something like these I think would suit you needs just right Rose.

Personally, I think the 16 inch rim is the way to go. Certainly looks better and my 88 accelerates just fine.

Brett

[LaneRover]

I have always heard that the big reason Rover went with 15" rims in the US was tire availability at the time. There just weren't a big selection of 16" tires here.

[thixon]

Hi Rosie. Congrats on the new truck!

At some point, you say you'll be driving in mud and snow. If you buy a tire that won't perform in mud and snow, then when that time comes, you're hosed.

Using that as a guidline, you have two ways to approach this. 1) buy less aggressive road type tires, and slap on chains when you're in the slop. 2) Go ahead and buy an aggresive mud/snow type tire.

A tire with a less aggressive tread will usually be cheaper than a mud tire, and you say you'll be doing a lot of pavement driving, so factor that into your decision.

The only other thing I'll say is that I personally don't like the look of full blown road tires on a truck. For that reason, I am willing to pay a little extra for AT or MT tires. Shallow?...Yes, Superficial?...Yes, but I like what I like.

I have owned almost all of the tires recommended thus far, and have not had a problem with any. In particular, I liked a set of Dunlop radial rovers I had, and I'm also a big fan of BFG MT's and AT's. I owned a jeep for a short while with a set of Cooper mud tires (forgot the model), and was very happy with them as well. My favorite truck tire of all time though has to be the BFG MT's. They look good, are very tough (sidewalls are darn near indestructable), and do very well in the red georgia clay. Sadly though, they are not cheap.

Good luck!