Trying to decide on the best tire for all season driving

[grabeb]

I'm looking at replacing the tires on my daughters 01 TJ with the 8.5" wide rims. Currently it has 235/75 r15's, but I want to go back with the 30x9.5 r15 that it came with from the factory.

I'm trying to decide the best tire for this vehicle and for all season driving. I'd say the BFG AT K02's are on top of my list currently, because I've run them on an old CJ5 I had as well as several other vehicles. I had them on a 99 K1500 Burb and liked them a lot as well. We live in South Central Kansas and thus see plenty of rain, ice and snow.

I've read some say the KO2's don't handle rain well, I don't recall that being an issue, maybe it's a vehicle setup deal? This is a pretty stock Jeep and she won't do tons of off roading is my bet, but I want a tire I can trust on it for her no matter what gets thrown her way. I see cooper discoverer as an option. I see toyo atIII's thrown around a lot and some goodyear wrangler options. I like the more aggressive look on the jeep....she currently has some Michelins .

In any case what have you guys seen out there and what is a good tire for these? What would you also avoid?? I liked the duratecs, but they aren't available in this size.

 

[Chris]

Duratracs and KO2s are both excellent all season tires. I’ve taken them through just about anything you’d find.

 

[SPECWAR]

General Grabbers are an excellent all around tire also.

 

[Rob L.]

Duratracs first, KO2's second.

I wouldn't even consider anything else

 

[defenderu]

I put Goodyear duratracs on my defender and really really like them. I commute into the city daily and they are great.

 

[grabeb]

I can't get the Duratracs in my size! I'd have to step up the 31's and don't want to do that on stock suspension.

 

[Rob L.]

They are worth bumping your tire size up. If your hitting that kind of limit in a stock jeep, then the trail difficulty will quickly overtake any limitation from that small of a tire increase in my opinion.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

For wet, icy, or snow-covered roads the more sipes on the tire tread the better. Sipes are very thin slits cut into the tread blocks and they are key to good traction on slick roads. Boating shoes like Sperry Topsiders that are known for wet deck traction have their soles completely siped.

Molded in slots are kerfs, not to be confused with sipes, and kerfs are not nearly as good for slick road traction as sipes are. Sipes are cut with sharp blades and look like they were cut with a razor blade.

Some offroad tires have sipes, most just have kerfs. I had a set of BFG MTs that weren't siped so I took them to a tire shop that did siping which they did for $15 per tire.

 

[Fishtaco]

Falken At3w,s, We have had torrential rain over the past 2 weeks in Australia and I cant believe how good these tires are in the wet under heavy braking (idiot drivers) Anyone who comes from a hot dry climate knows the oil left on the road is a death trap when it does rain. I am sold on these tires.
I think 30/9.5s are and odd size? 245/75R/15 are 29.5x9.6 the 255 is 30x10

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I think 30/9.5s are and odd size?

That was a Jeep factory available size tire. My then-new '97 TJ came with that size tire with the optional 30" tire & wheel package.

 

[Fishtaco]

That was a Jeep factory available size tire. My then-new '97 TJ came with that size tire with the optional 30" tire & wheel package.

Yes but when I was looking for new tires a couple of months ago I had to settle for the 29x9.5 because the 30 was 10" wide and OP wants 9.5 wide.
Unless the 30x9.5 AT is a common size in US?

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Unless the 30x9.5 AT is a common size in US?

It's very common in the US which is one reason it was a tire size the factory used. I know we had a similar discussion on that tire size before.

 

[Fishtaco]

So what is 30x9.5 in metric size? I was under the impression that all tires are in metric and are just called in inches?
I dare say Goodyear wranglers must come in 30 x9.5 but the Wranglers have been discontinued in my part of the world
Just asking as I have insomnia its 2.30 am and I dont go to work for another 3 hours lol

 

[JMT]

Falken Wildpeak AT3W. These tires are awesome in snow and ice and rain. Great for daily driving on dry roads too. A + is that they look very aggressive for an AT tire.

 

[Fishtaco]

Falken Wildpeak AT3W. These tires are awesome in snow and ice and rain. Great for daily driving on dry roads too. A + is that they look very aggressive for an AT tire.

I am really happy with mine, well an truly tested now in heavy braking on wet /flooded roads.
West Australians were voted the worst drivers in the Western World!

 

[Jerry Bransford]

So what is 30x9.5 in metric size? I was under the impression that all tires are in metric and are just called in inches?
I dare say Goodyear wranglers must come in 30 x9.5 but the Wranglers have been discontinued in my part of the world

No not all tire sizes here are metric. I have never run a metric size tire on any of my Jeeps. I have only run 30x9.50, 32x11.50, 33x12.50, and 35x12.50.

 

[grabeb]

I am really happy with mine, well an truly tested now in heavy braking on wet /flooded roads.
West Australians were voted the worst drivers in the Western World!

My only concern with the falken is that my cousin has them on his Toyota tundra and says he gets a bad steering wheel vibration going down the hwy. He loves the tire. I mentioned at tire store and they explained that that tire has that issue at times due to the large lugs. He said rotating often helps lesson the issue.

 

[Rob L.]

My only concern with the falken is that my cousin has them on his Toyota tundra and says he gets a bad steering wheel vibration going down the hwy. He loves the tire. I mentioned at tire store and they explained that that tire has that issue at times due to the large lugs. He said rotating often helps lesson the issue.

Sounds like a vehicle issue and not a tire issue. You must expect a difference compared highway tires but they are by no means aggressive enough to cause "bad steering vibration"

If you could narrow it down to a tire issue, I would never buy them again

 

[Fishtaco]

My only concern with the falken is that my cousin has them on his Toyota tundra and says he gets a bad steering wheel vibration going down the hwy. He loves the tire. I mentioned at tire store and they explained that that tire has that issue at times due to the large lugs. He said rotating often helps lesson the issue.

Not had that problem yet but mine are only a few months old, I wanted Duratracs but because of Covid I had a bit of a wait so I started going through tire reviews and the Wildpeak AT3W seemed to get the best ratings for the price.
They are an aggressive looking tire but drive really quiet.

 

[grabeb]

Sounds like a vehicle issue and not a tire issue. You must expect a difference compared highway tires but they are by no means aggressive enough to cause "bad steering vibration"

If you could narrow it down to a tire issue, I would never buy them again

Is what the tech at tire store said was on certain tires and those Falkens were one he said have such large lugs that they get hot and then one swells out and another in and with them all doing it, you get the vibration at times. He said tell him to rotate and he bets the issue goes away, since it only happens on the fronts. Keep in mind he still said a very good tire....