WK2 Off Road Tyres

[Jeeper6]

I've got 285/60/18's on at the moment...Nitto Ridge Grapplers. They are getting really bad grip wise in the wet, I find I have to be mindful and tippy toe around right handers or the tail moves out.

I am looking to fit 285/65/18's to give me a little more ground clearance...I also like the "fat" look of the 285's. I don't think i could fit much bigger then that without serious tyre rubbing when turning. (it has a 50mm lift) As it is I think I'll have to modify the inner guard a bit and grind the pinch welds down....as well as modify the side Bull Bar skirts.

I can't make my mind up between the Nitto Trail Grappler or the Maxxis MT772 RAZR.
Both are mud terrain tyres, and for me at least suit my purpose better...albeit a bit noisier on the road.

I had the Nitto Trail Grapplers MT's on my WH 5.7, but they were 265/70/R17's which were about an inch less diameter than the 285/65/18's. I also reckon they were in fact a tad quieter than the All Terrain Ridge Grapplers I have on this WK2.

Has anybody had any experience with, or have an opinion on either of the above?

Cheers

[drover]

If you had a 50mm lift your hub centre to guard would be 540mm on the front, haven't found any that are up there after a year they all seem to drop.

Tyre pressure could be throwing the arse end out but then MT's it goes with the territory doesn't it, do they get really noisy ???
Be no good for me, towing rubber in LT for me but i do like that fat look also...

[Jeeper6]

Thanks drover...the ARB bar has skirts on it that will rub a little even now on suspension compression...why they had to make the skirt so close is beyond me.
It just makes the fitting of bigger tyres a pita.

I am driving to Bathurst for the 12 hour in a couple of weeks, when I get back I'll be taking the bull bar skirts off and modifying them to fit the bigger tyres for the next Fraser trip and after that to the Cape...

[drover]

Don't forget the windscreen washer bottle is only about 2mm behind the felt stuff and you don't want to damage that............... I find this web site to be brilliant in working out how much room you really have, https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/
better to use than he said she said as no two vehicles have the same height, original front was 490mm on the wharf and usually a lift isn't quite whats said after awhile and even then varies , depends how much junk has been added.

[Jeeper6]

Thanks for that link drover...good value.

Farwest...the Trail Grapplers I had on my WH 5.7 were brilliant, both on road, and off road including sand. The LT rating did have fairly hard sidewalls I was dropping to 10psi in soft sand to get even a little bulge in the sidewalls.
Though I sold that Jeep at 35,000 kms on the tyres so they would have been around 50% worn I reckon...but still very good grip wise.

These Ridge Grapplers would be at maybe 50% now, I've only done some 17,000 kms on them since I got this Jeep, they've got 10mm tread depth left now. No idea what km reading they went on at.
I imagine they would have been around 16mm new. I rotate tyres at every 10,000 kms - corner to corner...LR to RF, RF to LR, RR to RF and RF to LR so they counter rotate to cut back on the flap flap noise you can get if you don't rotate them.

I am surprised as I am a Nitto convert, that these Ridge Grapplers aren't gripping so well. The shoulders I reckon aren't as well defined as the Trail Grapplers were, and appear to be not as square...maybe why i am losing the grip a bit? Plus the fact that fronts go to rear which would see the shoulders rounded a bit from tyre roll.

Though that said, the WH did have the "live" rear axle which certainly handles differently to the independent set up in the WK2, that would see a change in handling too as the live axle would tend to tip in rather than ride flat.

I'll make my mind up soon enough I guess...the Maxxis look tough but are they as good as Nitto?

[drover]

I had a look in the wheel well and I'm pretty certain if the wheel was hitting the washer bottle it would be after its ripped the mudguard clean off the vehicle so it should be safe.... lol,lol,lol.

[drover]

Originally Posted by Farwest

I had a 'light bulb' moment too mate...your in Qld...it REALLY rains there...and if your SE located your on those 'swimming pools' they call Freeways...now that makes a huge difference to tyre requirements to the Nullabor Plain and the 'goat tracks' I have as...what are labelled....'highways' here...will keep an eye on your updates....have a much looked forward to 'adventure' later in the year...may drop into Tempe Tyres, or the sorts, in Sydney and get a new set of 'road huggers' fitted on that journey...cheers

What one would class as a quality road only to be found in SEQ, the rest of us need FWD and spring upgrades every few years with snorkels added for when it rains..............