What's wrong with the OEM Goodyear SR-A Tires?

StuckInMuck · **Joined:** Sat May 19, 2007 7:18 pm **Posts:** 27

anyone had sr-a's in the sand??? That's really my only reason for wanting an a/t. I do like to go camping on the beach and need something with some bite

Liberator · **Joined:** Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:42 am **Posts:** 397

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/vie ... k%2A#81945

Look at the red KJ on this thread.

The rubber on the stockers harden quickly giving poor traction in wet colder conditions. The stockers were made specifically for DC for the KJ to be a quiet ride & for gas mileage.

jedi4x4 · **Joined:** Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:21 pm **Posts:** 58

thing that pisses me off about the stock tires is that you could get better traction by stapling some banana peels together and wrapping it around your rims.

Also...

They cost about $175 / tire out here... when you can get a good set of timberlines or revos for $140.

SavageUrge · **Posted:** Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:39 pm

Quote:

What you describe with your rear end breaking lose with the a/t's is perfectly normal for all-terrains on a slippery hard-surfaced road. if you get 50k miles out of all-terrains that is good and again perfectly normal. Now when you lousy gas mileage how much of a difference did you see

If they label them as A/T's they ought to mean it. If they can't handle snow then they should be called "A/T except for snow, rain, roads, streets, avenues or paved surface terrains, but otherwise all-terrain - as long as you're off-road". As far as I'm concerned they are falsely labeled and should be taken off the market until a disclaimer is made. "All-Terrain" should mean just that: ALL TERRAIN's :evil:

As far as gas mileage is concerned, I lost about 2 mpg. A slight drop was expected simply because the tires are bigger than stock and have a more aggressive tread, but I wasn't expecting that much of a loss.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 10:23 am

I noticed no difference in mileage at all between the stock junkyears and the Destination ATs I put on. They (the Destinations) are just as quiet, ride way better, and handle better. I could get stuck on wet grass before I put the new tires on. As I said before the stock tires are only good for one thing, burning brush piles! They are just CHEAP tires that Jeep puts on the Liberty to get them out the door on something besides the rims.

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Sun Jun 03, 2007 4:37 pm

Bought my libby used with the stock sra's. After 4 days i got rid of them and installed new destiantion at's. Pretty good tire for the road, they suck in the mud and are ok in the snow. Had 45k miles on them and still had about 6/32 on them. Got rid of them for some mt/r's to go with my lift. Love the mtr's except i lost about 2-3mpg's with them. They look cool so i dont care. :lol:

jedi4x4 · **Joined:** Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:21 pm **Posts:** 58

Quote:

Love the mtr's except i lost about 2-3mpg's with them

one thing to keep in mind when you upgrade your tires is that if you get bigger tires, your odometer will be off. For example, mine, when It says I'm going 60mph, I'm actually going about 65mph. This is because it's based on the rotations of the wheel, and bigger tires rotate less to travel the same distance.

So bigger tires will always SEEM to give you worse gas mileage, but your actual gas mileage may vary

the only real way to track your mileage it is to get a GPS or get your odometer re-calibrated.

StuckInMuck · **Joined:** Sat May 19, 2007 7:18 pm **Posts:** 27

One thing wrong with the sra's is they look lame. lol

trailpixie · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:50 am

I thought that the SR-A was adequate. When I got my Cherokee in 1996, it came with Goodyear Wranglers. Not Wrangler AT or AT-S.....just plain Wrangler.....That was an awful tire!!

The SR-A seemed fine. Did well in snow. Did okay in rain.

Another thing to consider on SUVs is that sometimes you DON'T WANT TRACTION. When and SUV has too much traction it is easier to roll the vehicle simply by swerving. If the tire will break away, you are less likely to roll the vehicle. So, to improve the rollover rating, they put tires that aren't as sticky. As you remember, Libertys were lowered a half inch to improve the rollover rating....so some tires that aren't as sticky are a good idea from the manufacturer's point of view.

snowsport · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:52 pm **Posts:** 1211

Trailpixie, I'm not sure what you mean about loss of traction being good. To me, loss of traction = loss of control. I can't think of any driving situation where I would have preferred less or no traction. Care to explain what you meant? By the way, your photography is fantastic.

trailpixie · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2007 4:01 pm

snowsport wrote:

Trailpixie, I'm not sure what you mean about loss of traction being good. To me, loss of traction = loss of control. I can't think of any driving situation where I would have preferred less or no traction. Care to explain what you meant? By the way, your photography is fantastic.

Thanks for the photography compliment.

As for the losing traction being good, think of it this way: If you are driving at 55 MPH and you swerve the wheel hard left. At that speed, the tires can either break away and skid or they can hold their grip. By holding their grip, the vehicle's momentum and high center of gravity will roll it over. Would you rather hit something upright or hit it in a roll.

http://www.actsinc.org/rollovers.cfm

Quote:

LATERAL FORCE ROLLOVERS
Lateral force rollovers occur during high speed turning maneuvers, most frequently at freeway exits and entrances. When a vehicle is traveling too fast on a curve, the lateral force keeps the vehicle going in its original direction of travel, causing it to roll. Vehicles with a high center of gravity are more susceptible to this type of rollover.

I forget where I read this stuff, but the link above describes some of the issues. Interestingly, the rollover tests are done by swerving the vehicle until a tire comes off the ground. Actually, more rollovers occur because a vehicle moving sideways contacts something to trip it over, like a curb, but since the test is done without the tires hitting a curb sideways, an SUV with less grippy tires will get better rollover ratings because the tester can't get a tire off the ground.

Does that convoluted explanation make any sense?

snowsport · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:52 pm **Posts:** 1211

Ah, I get your drift. I can see where less grip in a lateral slide would reduce the chance of rolling. I don't think that benefit alone would be enough for me to choose less grippy tires, though. Since I swapped out the original SR-As for new rubber I have been shocked and amazed at how much better and safer my Liberty feels. Just to concur with what you have said, though, I have felt the extra bite going into curves with my 82s. I just keep the speed down slightly...

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:56 pm

unfortunately - NHTSA says that 95% of all SUV rollover's are 'tripped' i.e. you slide sideways and then hit something - curb, shoulder, dirt - and flip - but it starts from sliding - and that's what the SR-A's are good at.

mkh · **Posted:** Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:18 am

I ran the stock SR-As for nearly 70,000km (about 45000 miles). Found them excellent on the road (including wet pavement). I ran them at 34psi all round. Off road and aired down to 25psi they also seemed fine especially on rocks. They just didn't like the mud. The slightest bit of mud and they'd clog up and handle like slicks. When I changed them they still had about a quarter inch of tread and I really just changed them at that stage as they were starting to squeal around corners. Apart from the mud performance I really couldn't complain about them.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Sat Jun 16, 2007 7:04 pm

Just dumped my stockers at 28K. I got tired of the flats and last fall I had an inner sidewall blow out and of course it was my fault according to Badyear. I did not have the traction issues or the breakaways that others complain about just flat after flat after flat. I drive about 2 miles of gravel a day but it is very good, well worn gravel and these tires just don't want to be anyplace bur pavement.

I want to say that the 245/70-16's with a more agressive tread are no noisier and the wider tire with real sidewalls no longer wallows in a turn.

SoDakJeep · **Posted:** Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:52 pm

no good in mud...and not the best if its wet....the rear likes to kick out....haha but otherwise i d k i got stuck and if I would have had some other tires i think i wouldnt have been stuck....but hey it all turned out good

Katmandu · **Posted:** Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:13 am

My 05 Lib is running STs as OEM. Only have 16k and they appear to be 1/2 worn out already.

The STs are an OK overall street tire but do lack alot in the wet weather. The ride is much too soft IMHO.

I too will NOT buy Goodyear tires.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2007 1:09 pm

I could tell the difference right away when I took the Crapyears off, before I could barely punch it at a light even if the road was damp and it would just sit there and burn the tires, after I put the Destination ATs on it would not do it , well unless I really tired, :wink:

they are just cheap tires to get you off the dealers lot. Manufactures have been doing this ( installing cheap tires) for years but lately its getting worse

Katmandu · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2007 11:26 pm

Check out www.TireRack.com 's Tire Review section.

You can Post your comments about tires and read other's reviews as well.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/reviews/M ... eyComments

USPLibby · **Joined:** Thu Jul 28, 2005 12:29 am **Posts:** 377

I hated the stock SR-As from the first day I drove on them. They were so-so on dry pavement but really dangerous when it rained. I've slid into many intersections because of those tires. Something that never happened with my Revos on the same exact hilly streets and at faster speeds. I had to start hard braking as soon as I began down a hill just to be able to stop at the bottom. LAME! But even on dry pavement, they used to squeal like crazy. I remember making a simple right turn near where I work, "a bone dry cement street", and it sounded like I was doing a 20 yard burnout. There was a guy on the opposite corner that turned around to see what the noise was, he kept trying to see who was making the noise as it couldn't come from the jeep turning the corner at less than 2-3 miles per hour.

I also remember when everyone was complaining about the stopping ability of the early model Libertys. But to my surprise, as soon as I got new tires, my wet and dry stopping distances improved A LOT!

I never had a single problem stopping on wet streets with the Dueler Revos, in fact I have tried to lock the wheels. You have to be going really fast to do it, as in well over the speed limit. I usually drive like a 'grandma" and rarely go over the speed limit.

Oh, and the sidewalls on the SR-As are too thin for a 4200 lbs SUV. They required constant rotation to keep the noise and uneven wear down. At least once every 3000 miles. They also caused a lot of steering wheel pull along the crown of the road. The Revos have a stiffer sidewall and a lot less pull to the right or left. I probably rotate my Revos about once every 6000-7000 miles or every other oil change. A much better use of my valuable time.

What's wrong with the OEM Goodyear SR-A Tires?

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