What tyres??? brands

[Melbourne Tvan Hire]

I have a 97 Sport with a 3.5" lift on the rear (No SYE and no vibes) Front is standard Sport but is about to get a 3.5" RE lift.

After this, I will be looking at a new set of rubber and am looking at 31/10.50R15

Am looking for an MT tyre with good off road performace, Still good grip on the black stuff, particularly in the wet and good wearing. Road noise is a small consideration but would sacrafice quickly for performance and longlivaty. Understand all the above is a compramise as MT and road handeling dont go hand in hand.

So, the following is what I am looking at. Any advice, preferances or experiences are welcome.

Micky Thompson MTZ
Coopers STT
BF Goodridge MT

Thoughts? Any others?

[Melbourne Tvan Hire]

Would I get away with 32/11.50R15 with 3.5 lift (pics before front lift)

[Mitch]

I run Federal Couragia,s in 31/10.5/r15 on me XJ and they are xlint off road.I never use em on road to avoid excessive wear so can,t comment as to there on road ability as far as wear is concerned.$225 each.

[mischf]

Originally Posted by Tornado_ALIVE

I have a 97 Sport with a 3.5" lift on the rear (No SYE and no vibes) Front is standard Sport but is about to get a 3.5" RE lift.

After this, I will be looking at a new set of rubber and am looking at 31/10.50R15

Am looking for an MT tyre with good off road performace, Still good grip on the black stuff, particularly in the wet and good wearing. Road noise is a small consideration but would sacrafice quickly for performance and longlivaty. Understand all the above is a compramise as MT and road handeling dont go hand in hand.

So, the following is what I am looking at. Any advice, preferances or experiences are welcome.

Micky Thompson MTZ
Coopers STT
BF Goodridge MTR

Thoughts? Any others?

Hi mate, grip on the road with a MT style tyre only presents itself as a problem in the wet, the only real fix for this is by 'siping' the tyres which is where you cut very thin slits in the lugs with a hot knife, as it is the 90* angle of the contact between rubber and road that creates the grip. You will find that the edges of the lugs are rounded off and this is why they slide around in the wet. The best MT tyre I know of that already has this feature is the new BFG MT KM2, it has horizontal and vertical slits in the lugs.

As for road noise, the traditional 'truck tyres' (2 horizontal lugs and 2 vertical lugs) will always be the loudest. My pick out of the three tyres you have mentioned would be the MTZs as the tread pattern is similar to my Hankook MTs, which are easily one of the quietest MT tyres, they are half decent in the wet on road, and are great in the sand. Not sure what you mean by 'BF Goodridge MTR'. Do you mean the original BFG muddies? Or the Wrangler MT/Rs? The MT/Rs are more of a rock crawling tyre, but they have very strong sidewalls. The BFG MTs are generally crap on road (loud, no grip in wet).

Originally Posted by Tornado_ALIVE

Would I get away with 32/11.50R15 with 3.5 lift (pics before front lift)

Mate that isn't even close to 3.5" in the back. What are you running at the moment? 225s? 235s? You would barely fit 31s let alone 32s, look how close the tyre is to the fenders.

[xjrob]

the new BFG MT KM2 get good write ups for both off road and on road grip.

The appear to be the best according to a recent comparison in one of the 4wd mags i read recently, although they are expensive.

However i have Hankook RT03, reasonably quite for a MT tyre and very happy with their offroad grip, they did OK in the above mentioned comparison test did not rate quite as high, but what needs to be remembered is the XJ is lighter than many other 4wds so what suits and XJ may not suit a 2.5 ton cruiser or patrol

[Dan96XJ]

I would be looking at:
BFG KM2s (currently use)
Goodyear MTRs
Maxxis Bighorns
Maxxis Trepadors (have used and like)
Cooper STTs

I would stay away from Simex (good offroad, crap onroad)

[Tims_Jeep]

I've got Cooper STTs and compared to stock tyres they're VERY noisy on the road and VERY slippery in the wet, it feels like you're constantly driving on the rumble strip which is why I kept my road tyres.

Unless you've decided on MT I'd be looking at an aggressive AT like the BFG ATs or Cooper S/T to do both on and off road.