tires, of course... hey! now that ive got your attention

i was dead set on purchasing a fancy set of wrangler dura tracks, check em out.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic...ngler+DuraTrac

but with only a 2inch bb and not wanting to half *** it, i dont feel like dealing with rubbin and scribbin... so i have switched my focus to a good set of winters for now, and will be attempting a rustys off road complete kit come spring, check it out.

http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?

but getting to my point, what do you recommend for a good winter tire... i have 235/75's on my stock 15x7's and would like to retain the overall diameter which is just shy of 29" the next closest thing is a 225/75's witch ring in at a .59" loss. the next step down is a 215/75 this brings me down by a whole 1.18" in overall diameter. no good. my next option would be a 215/80. if you find one let me know. so i guess its a 225/75 for now. i like the look of thee hankook winter ipike w409's, check em out.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...w=false&cs=225

but if there is something you know to be better, let me know. thanks!

 

I like the title, but I hate rubbers and love big tires! They just love it when I shove my wheel in there and make them all dirty. They REALLY like it when I Grudge F'ck'em and tear them wide open on a rock, because I forgot to air down.

Your tire choice boils down to what and where are you going to be driving through. Compact snow/ice, powder, wet heavy snow etc. It sounds like your not gonna be ramming 6' drifts and driving through unplowed trails(heh, heh, virgin snow), so go with the hancock tire, All the siping will really help on cleared snow/icepacked roads. The tread composition is differnet on a winter tire too. It will stay more flexible at lower temps than the Duratrac, but winter tires wear fast on clear roads.

Why in the world are you trying to put on smaller tires??? Rubbing and scrubbing is part of owning a Jeep!! Your putting way to much thought(and backwards) into tire size on a stock height rig. Taller tires are going to give you a better contact patch, than a smaller one. However a bigger contact patch means less contact pressure(which isn't necessarily bad)...give and take. Also, pretty tires don't always keep you on the road. If your building a mall crawler, just go down to wally world and get some on-sale winter tires and be happy.

I don't recomemend anything Rusty's. I've just heard from to many people about their stuff not fitting, bending or just breaking. There are hundreds of posts about this and how a RE kit is actually the better deal, in cost and quality - when you look at the whole picture.

I'd do a little more homework before throwing down $$

 

I'm not a huge fan of the Duratrac. If you looking for a good road/snow tire, I'd look into the Fortera Triple Tread. If your looking for cost efficiency, then don't bother looking at it, lmao.

I personally haven't had any issues running any of Rustys stuff, been using his stuff for years now. Well, I broke the 2" front receiver on my last XJ, but that was through no fault of his design or materials.

I was curious about the snow tire choice, then I saw Vermont. And a 215/80 doesn't exist, closeted thing is a 215/85, but those are 10-ply tires for dulleys & such, nor would you want to run a size remotely close to that. Stick with what you've got, or add the proper lift.

 

^ Or properly trim and stuff some bigger rubbers under there now

 

I don't like rubbers either! Free love!

 

I agree with bustedknuckle on the rusty's stuff. Almost all of the stuff on my rig is from Rusty's and I've never had a problem with any of it.

 

seems like rustys is middle of the road stuff. poss. not the best ride quality, but not breaking the bank getting it, either. also they do the complete kit

http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchan...ode=sus_xj_kit

and ultimatley, why not just get a baller set of winters and save some of thoes greenbacks for the spring time when a lift and muddies will do me best?

 

use this to figure out what size tire you like best


http://www.ringpinion.com/Calc_RPM.aspx

 

why not just run the tires you have now through the winter and wait on those tires till spring?

 

oh yeah! i love the tire calculator. if only i could have used calculators like this in high school, i might have actually learned something usefull... not to say we didnt have an awesome tech center w/ an automotive class, cause we did, but most of thoes guys wanted to kick my *** for my mohawk... and it was a mohawk, none of that iddy fo-hawk ****... im gonna call my mechanic buddy and see if he cant get me a good deal on some quality winter treads, god its nice havin people in the know!

 

ive used rustys for a long time and never had any problems, they sell their kits with everything you need, so you dont have to go back and order anything else when your done and you realize you did need that brake line relocating bracket haha

 

i could write a novel on this question...
1- its vermont
2- i have wrangler sr-a tires
3- only my fronts have something resembling tread. one of th rears wore down in the center (deff. not over inflating- i check my tires regularly and will usually run 30psi front, and 32psi rear.
4-thoese affore mentioned sr-a's are only happy on the pavement. the last time i went into the mud was very frustrating, and im ultimatley glad there was no one there to witness how incapable my jeep was being that day.
5- i work with youth in state custody and am regularly transporting them all over the state.
6- i love to snowboard and there was a storm that dumped so much snow in a 24hr period, my friend was literally digging DOWN to his vdub. i was stuck at home cause i couldnt make it to the mountain... granted i was driving a honda del sol w/ some seriously worn winters at the time... but, not the point. i now have a capable 4wd for the first time and i wanna be able to go through whatever this winter decides to throw at us. there is allready 5+ feet of snow on top of the slopes, and the temp has been in the upper teens for the past 2 nights. so winter is here!!! yes!!! if its gonna be freezing cold, at least let it be beautifull: LET THE SNOW FLY!!!
7- lets see, lets see... idk, i guess thats it.

 

i would stay with the same size you have. 235/75R15s will NOT rub with no lift regardless of the tread depth. If you just want a winter tire go with Blizzaks or something similar.

Why not just go for the duratracs now? Is it because you plan on going bigger in the spring? I'm sure you could get rid of them when the time came easily.