Tire question.....

[Hubjeep]

The stock tire (225, I think) on our 1998 4.0L ZJ lasted 62,000 miles. The second set (BFG long trail 235 75 15) have 90,000+ miles on them, and still passed inspection. They do slide around a little in the rain though; time for a new set.

I saw no noticeable difference going a tad larger.

-John

 

[JohnnyO]

quote:

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Originally posted by MNgopher:
The Goodyear Wrangler RTS is a POS tire.

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My '02 Ranger came new with them, I only got 19k out of them and that's with a rotate and balance every 5k (I'm anal), weekly psi checks, and a limited-slip rear axle. I bought generic knock-offs of the Dueler REVO (Wild Country XTX), great traction in all situations but the treadwear is not so great on them either. Most of the treadwear is in the center though and they are a larger-than-stock size so the OE rims may just not be wide enough. OE is 245/75-16's, I bought 265/70-16's.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

quote:

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Originally posted by Hubjeep:
The stock tire (225, I think) on our 1998 4.0L ZJ lasted 62,000 miles. The second set (BFG long trail 235 75 15) have 90,000+ miles on them, and still passed inspection. They do slide around a little in the rain though; time for a new set.

I saw no noticeable difference going a tad larger.

-John

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WOW! 68K? I think they came with Goodyear Wrangler AP tires. If not, then its the Eagle LS. My ZJ is older and it came with those Goodyear Wranger Radials that you can find at Wal-Mart for 238 for 4 with all the extras. My spare is the Wranger Radial.

 

[Brian Miller_dup1]

I would like to add some comments on the RT/S. These tires are a joke. These are OEM on my new Ranger. I have 1,000 miles on them and already want to pull them off!

Last week, while washing my truck, I was spending some time cleaning the wheels and noticed that right under where the tire says "traction", there is a huge bump on the side wall. It looks like I hit a curb or something...but there were no scuffs on the side wall. Went over to the other side and the same bump on the other tire. The bumps were there on the back as well, only smaller. All in the same spot, about 3 inches from the weld (seam). This just didn't look safe to me at all.

I took the truck to the dealer and asked them. They were getting ready to put 4 new tires on it, saying that it looked like tire separation. Of course they were going to put the same BADyear tires on it.

While I was waiting for them to take my truck back, I went out onto the lot and looked at all the other new Rangers that had this same tire on them. They all had the same bump! I have never seen a tire with a bump like this. With most tires you can see the seam, but this bump is huge!

I told the service guy not to mount new tires and come look at the others with me. It was at this point that he said he hated Goodyears as well!

I had them rotate them, front to back. Sure enough, the small bumps on the back turned into large bumps on the front. All the weight is in the front, and I guess these Goodyears have a hard time holding in the air while supporting weight (and I thought that tires were designed to hold air…stupid me!)?

The service guy told me to "run the h*ll" out of these tires, and I "will be lucky to get 10K out of them", and then "put something good on".

I have only ever owned Goodyears as OEM, and never had a set worth a da*m! I will be putting BFGoodrich or Michelin on this truck when these are gone, or I have some extra cash! I have always had great luck with these brands.

Brian

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Try and find a local tire shop that will give you cash for those RTS tires. You might beable to get 200 bucks for those tires since they are new. I know some do that because people don't like the OEM tires.

 

[TheTanSedan]

The oem Goodyears on our 2001 Cherokee (2WD) were -- bar none -- the worst tires I have driven on since the days of bias-ply. That they wore like iron in no way compensated for their flat-out dangerous wet performance.

We went with KUMHO Ecsta STZ in 255/65-16 and couldn't be more pleased. Very high ratings. Tire Rack calls them "Sport Truck/Summer" (we have less than one week of days of frozen roads annually).

I've posted more on them at Tire Rack Review site (twice). In over 25k they have worn not quite 2/32". I expect them to be replaced before 75k of use, higher than I had planned for (tire tread isn't the only factor to consider in replacing tires). Based on tread-life alone, they would come close to 90k with our conservative driving style.

They are like squeegees in the rain. Zero hydroplaning. Vastly increased handling performance. I run them at Jeep placard recommendation of 33-psi all-around which is, conveniently, the minimum I would have chosen on my own (as it is 75% of maximum recommended).

And, nowhere near as expensive as oem replacements or Michelins. Bought from DISCOUNT TIRE with lifetime replacement warranty, Hunter GSP-9700 "road force" balancing (worst was still under 20-ozs), and with tax and miscelleneous paid $560.00 for [4]. (Already replaced one with punctured tread, so buying from "local" retailer is easy, especially for rotations [7-8k]).

Tire Rack has them at $85/ea.

They are the same height as the 235/75, and the only change for the speedometer was that it was now dead-on, versus being a touch off [GPS-corrected]. Mileage is down by .2/gl overall average [correction factored in].

[ July 20, 2004, 12:23 AM: Message edited by: TheTanSedan ]