Help with 1st Tyre Upgrayedd

[milky01]

I know this topic has been done to death, however there are always new tyres coming out and once I think I have reached a final decision a conversation with some guy at a tyre shop throws a spanner in the works.

I am mostly set on upgrading (or Upgrayedd for anyone who's seen the film "Idiocracy") from stock GSA to Kelly Safari TSR 285/70R17 (note I'm running a 1 3/4" spacer lift to accommodate this tyre).
My research has found these to be a great all-round tyre and at least one other poster on here has recently fit these to stock rims and seemed happy with them.

After talking to a tyre shop guy (who seem to have a reputation for making spurious claims about one tyre vs another) he had a strong opinion of Toyo Open Country A/T II which are Japanese made and balance up very well compared to Kellys and said an 8" wide rim would be better of a 7.5" rim for a 285/70 even though 7.5" is approved and 0.5" is roughly a bee's dick in the metric system.

So long story short; should I trust my instinct and drop approx $1,500 on Kellys in that size or rethink my tyre size/brand given I don't have room in the budget for new wheels.

[Banshee]

8" might be 'better', but 285's work fine on 7.5" OEM rims. I have them on mine, although not the TSRs. Never had any issues with them rolling onto the sidewall when cornering like I did years ago with 185s on my Corolla...

Also, if you really don't like how they behave on the 7.5" rims, you can always transfer them to wider ones later.

As to the TSR / Open Country debate... The TSR look to be at the mud terrain end of the A/T range, where the Toyo is at the road end of the range, looking at the tread patterns. What sort of driving do you intend to do and which will suit it more? Do you prefer the look of the aggressive A/T over the more road oriented tread? Compound differences aside, the Toyo pattern is not much different to the OEM GSAs.

[milky01]

Thanks Banshee, I definitely prefer the look of the TSR's and the Jeep is a daily drive plus going on weekend trips.
The OEM GSAs have held up surprisingly well and I also found the Toyo pattern to be very similar. Although I did have a sketchy time using the GSAs in some wet clay/mud so thinking the TSR's would handle those conditions better but still OK on the tarmac.
Otherwise the Toyos are made in Japan which "some say" (Clarkson, J) is better than USA made.

[wranglertj]

If u go with USA made vs Japanese made argument you would have bought a Toyota instead of a Jeep so probably not that valid

[Wazza D]

I've run the dreaded Toyo tyres in the past on various cars and 4x4s. They treated me OK.

[LeighP]

If you do choose to use the Toyo's, you'll find they may be a bit heavier than other brands, but they have a fine reputation. I've used Toyos in the past and been very happy with them (not 4WD tyres, though).
The rim width issue - you'll be fine with 285/70's on the factory rim....there are a huge number of JK owners running this combo.

[milky01]

Appreciate ya'll throwing a hat into the ring, spending money on a lift and getting a bit more life out of the stockies is also tempting. That or credit card times(!).

Sent from my GT-I9507 using Tapatalk