New All Terrains for the CRD

glaspak845 · **Posted:** Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:17 pm

I'm seeking information on all terrain tires to replace the balding ST's that are on the CRD right now. I have searched online and found some information but would like some real world feedback from anyone who has replaced the OE tires with ones by other manufacturers. I'm looking for all terrains for the climate in the Northeast. Mostly for use onroad however this set may see the occasional muddy conditions. Better traction in the snow over the ST's would be preferred and ones that do not have too much road noise would also be a plus.

Thanks for any suggestions to look into.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

A few random suggestions based on the research I did when I upgraded tires.

Expensive, but really good:

Bridgestone Revo AT (not the plain AT's--hi-tech AT and great all around tire)
BF Goodrich AT's (old-school, snowflake rated, more off-road oriented but great all around tire)
Nokian Vattiiva (folks give them high marks for snow, but they are not snowflake rated)
Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor AT's (whatever they are called--more off road oriented)

Cheaper, and good:
Firestone Destination AT's (I have these, work great)
General Grabber AT2's (similar to BF Goodrich, snowflake rated)

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:32 pm

BFG all terrain TA is good.

BFG Long trail TA is also very good and oriented a little more towards on road performance.

JHCRASH · **Posted:** Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:40 pm

My opinion STAY AWAY from bfg all terrain's I have purchased three vehicles that had them on and I have slid off the road in rain with all three. But no other tire and in no other vehicle has this happened. The only reason they have good ratings is due to the fact bfg has sold more than double of those to the closest competitor.Statistically they suck like michael jordan

But the bfg mud terrain is a very good tire.

The Toyo open country all terrains I have on my silvy seem pretty good in all conditions. But stay away from their Mud terrain unless you like to buy new every 15'000 miles

Just my 2 cents.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:43 pm

JHCRASH wrote:

My opinion STAY AWAY from bfg all terrain's I have purchased three vehicles that had them on and I have slid off the road in rain with all three. But no other tire and in no other vehicle has this happened. The only reason they have good ratings is due to the fact bfg has sold more than double of those to the closest competitor.Statistically they suck like michael jordan

But the bfg mud terrain is a very good tire.

Just my 2 cents.

my 4 cents has the complete polar opposite opinion of that. :shock:

JHCRASH · **Posted:** Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:46 pm

I guess that is why he wanted a real world evaluation on tires. UP's and Down's

GilaMonster · **Posted:** Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:45 pm

I've now had BFG KOs on 3 four wheelers and they have been great on each. I don't get much snow though.

retmil46 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:14 am

Cooper Discoverer ATR's have worked well on mine so far. A set of 245/70's ran $450 out the door mounted and balanced. Where I could easily break the stock Goodyears loose on dry pavement with considerably less than full throttle, I've not yet been able to break these ATR's loose on wet/slushy roads. Deeper and more agressive tread for handling wet and snow, but still geared mainly toward highway driving is the feel I've gotten from them. No perceptible difference in road noise.

Only disadvantage I've found to going to a 245 width tire is now the fronts throw water halfway up the sides of the doors.

jinstall · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:00 am

Kumho 798 ALL SEASON 225 and 245

Heavy 29lbs for 25 and 31 lbs for 245
H-speed rated 130mph which is what I need
CHEAP! $76 at Tire Rack
Snow is ok
Rain good
Dry very good
Ice not recomended but I have no issues
Off Road They have taken me everywere I needed to go and as a Range and Training Area Manager, I have to go everywhere the soldiers go for training.

Uffe · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:21 am

The Wrangler AT/R on my KJ hasn't impressed me. I am thinking of replacing them when bald, with a set of BFG ATs.

Will look into those Long trail ATs which have been mentioned though.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:23 am

Uffe wrote:

The Wrangler AT/R on my KJ hasn't impressed me. I am thinking of replacing them when bald, with a set of BFG ATs.

Will look into those Long trail ATs which have been mentioned though.

like I said, I'm a big fan of the long trails.

nix · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:38 am

JHCRASH wrote:

My opinion STAY AWAY from bfg all terrain's I have purchased three vehicles that had them on and I have slid off the road in rain with all three.

Well.. I'm also going to state a polar-opposite opinion than JHCRASH.. I switched to BFG All terrain TA and absolutely love them. They have great wet traction and are surprisingly quiet on the highway. I have a difficult time getting them loose in the wet.. actually. I don't have any experience with them on snow and ice though. They are smooth and seem to be wearing very well. They look great too. I will purchase another set when these are worn out for sure.

Uffe · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:07 am

Sir Sam wrote:

like I said, I'm a big fan of the long trails.

Have been looking at those long trails. From pictures I found on the web they don't seem to be good in sand, which is what I will be driving through only. I mean their thread depth and thread geometry doesn't seem to be too good in sand as compared to the normal BFG ATs.

I should find a dealer from where I can actually see the tyres...

chrispitude · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:13 am

nix wrote:

Well.. I'm also going to state a polar-opposite opinion than JHCRASH.. I switched to BFG All terrain TA and absolutely love them. They have great wet traction and are surprisingly quiet on the highway. I have a difficult time getting them loose in the wet.. actually. I don't have any experience with them on snow and ice though. They are smooth and seem to be wearing very well. They look great too. I will purchase another set when these are worn out for sure.

I have these on my 2005 Toyota Tundra. Keep 'em rotated or they get REAL noisy! I thought they were quiet when I first got them too, but those big tread lugs like to scallop quite a bit. I will agree that although they are great-looking tires and you can drive over just about anything without worrying about the tires too much, they do not have the wet traction that some of the other all-terrain tires have. They wear like iron and have decent snow traction especially in the deep stuff, but poor ice traction. I've actually found that they have better traction with deep snow than with light, slippery icy snow.

Edit: glaspak, for a fellow Northeasterner looking for snow traction in a 4-season tire, I would go with Threeweight's suggestion of the Nokian Vatiiva. Click me!

- Chris

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:25 am

JHCRASH wrote:

The Toyo open country all terrains I have on my silvy seem pretty good in all conditions. But stay away from their Mud terrain unless you like to buy new every 15'000 miles

Just my 2 cents.

I am an avid Toyo guy because of the dealer network and guaranty out West from Les Schwab but if I knew how the Open Country Toyo's would perform on the Liberty I would have bought something else. Mine do not perform as well as the Crapyear OEM tires in snow, especially in wet snow and ice. They are great otherwise but I would not consider them an all weather tire.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:32 am

Toyo Open Country ATs or Hercules Terra Trac ATs (very similiar) have worked great for me...plus they came in the 235/75/16 size which gives you an almost 30" tire that fits a stock KJ. If you want to spend more the Bridgestone REVO ATs are a great choice.

I went with the Hercules because they were only 3 pounds heavier than the OEM Goodyears. They also come with a road hazzard warranty at no extra cost.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

The BFG AT (and Grabber AT2) tread design does not have much in the way of channels to shunt water out of the contact patch. At highway speeds on wet pavement, this can be a problem. On the flip side, their tread design does better that most AT tires on snow.

All AT tires are made with a hard rubber compound (some harder than others) to increase durability and reduce "chunking" (having pieces torn off on rocks and such while off road). Think about what happens to rubber at different temps... to have a tire that is durable during summer pavement temps, they use a fairly hard rubber compound. Now stick that rubber compound on a snowy road at 25 degrees F and what happens? Gets hard as a rock and has poor traction. You can offset this with lots of sipping and aggressive sidewall lugs, but no AT tire does anything near as well in the snow as a true winter tire.

I had Bridgestone Revo AT's on a previous rig, and they were fantastic. They did beautifully on wet roads (including the rutted pavement on I-5 between Portland and Seattle, which is hydroplane city in the winter). I now have the Firestone Destination AT's. On a scale of 1-10 of all the AT tires I've owned, I'd give the Revo's a 9.5, the Firestones an 8. The stock tires that come with the Liberty would be a 4.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:20 pm

I will once again post on the Toyo's since I have driven since my last post. Very cold here at 8 degrees last night. When I finally got out and around it was around 18 degrees and the road crews had put some de-ice in town on the intersections causing more ice with a little wetness on the top. The Toyos under these conditions made ideal ice skates for slipping and sliding but were non-directional. I like my Toyos but I would not recommend them as a winter tire.

glaspak845 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:12 pm

About 3 hours after my initial posting yesterday I went to go to the store and got a flat right front tire on the way. Talk about bad karma. Anyway I am leaning toward the Revo AT's however do they come in the same size as the stock tires? I looked on tirerack and the Revos do not come up when you enter in your vehicle make and model only a different type Revo comes up? I found out today after freezing my rear off replacing the tire last night (note: if you have the spare cover on your spare you may want to remove it for winter or be prepared to pry it off as mine was frozen to the tire at the bottom. It was not fun, however it does an excellent job of warming one up in subfreezing temps through pure anger!) that the flat one was not able to be repaired, whatever cut into the tire actually cut one of the steel belts within. I was lucky enough with the local shop I usually go to to get my tires loan me a brand new tire for a spare which I have to return when I get my new set later this week. However I'm still looking for suggestions while continue to do my research.

Thanks again.

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

Cruising Tirerack, looks like the closest size they come in to stock is 235/70/16. You can also get them in a 245/70/16, which would be taller and wider than stock (a popular choice for people who want an off road tire without installing a lift kit). Either would work fine.

You might want to comparison shop Tirerack with the local Bridgestone/Firestone dealer. My Firestones were significantly cheaper locally once I added in the cost of shipping.

New All Terrains for the CRD

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