Rayman...thanks for the heads up on Northfield. I had my car there last week and they ARE a good bunch of guys...felt real confident about their advice, the service was exceptional and they are a no muss no fuss place...tell you like it is. I ended up needing front brakes too. argggh. LOL.
I was inquiring about the Grabbers and went a different route for a couple reasons. Being that the Grabbers are VERY aggressive, and heavy, they stated that MPG could drop a couple. I do 95% highway driving and am looking for the most MPG I can achieve (eeking out every bit I can on my 72 mile daily commute) but wanted something with a better rating than I had, but also looked the Jeep part. (Basically wanted a high rated highway tire that looked more offroad than a minivan tire LOL)
Also, he said in so many words, that they have had some tread wear problems with the Grabbers in the past and had a few customers come back with less than good performance. Specifically that over time the big lugs were wearing uneven, even with regular rotations. That coupled with the advice that there are better ATs for winter driving (again concerned with that and extensive highway driving). As you know being a NE Ohioan, we have been getting drilled the last couple winters again. Sooo, they told me to do a bit of research on a tire they HIGHLY recommended at Northfield...the Nokian Vatiiva. It has a nice big square shoulder and deep AT treads as well, but have a Revo-like tread with tons of siping...their siping is unique to Nokian tires and is tested out at the top of the heap for wet, ice and snow, while being a great AT for mud and offroad. Again, being almost exclusively a highway driver, I looked up as much as I could on these and they were spot on with the info. Nokia tires are the bees knees from Finland, and crush other AT tires like Michelin LXTs and go head to head with Revo's and KOs for about $50 less per tire. Anyhow, I was wondering how the Grabbers are still faring. Notice any changes with MGP? How about tread wear. Nonetheless, thank you for the Northfield hookup and I feel good about taking my Jeep there and will be taking the wifes ride there as well for regular maintenance.
My Vatiiva's look nice and beefy like yours (btw, your Jeep looks awesome with those on). Went to the 245/70's as well and its night and day driving. These things are real grippy in all weather and am looking forward to this winter's driving. The Northfield guys wagered that I wouldn't be needing 4x4 all that much this year with the Vatiiva's ....you know sales guys, but across the board, in snow country, people rave about their Nokian tires and I am a believer now. I need to post some pics as these ATs look as nice as the Grabbers. Alaskan forums and places like Vermont and Canadian forums swear by them and state they will never go to another AT tire for inclement weather. Those places get ALL the snow, so that speaks volumes to me. Wet and ice are simply eaten up by this tire. They are rated M+S too, and people say they do tremendous in mud with the tread pattern and thicker lugs.
They are quiet on the highway and there is zero rubbing going up in size. All in all, I am extremely pleased. Nice pics you posted.
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