The 94 wrangler I just purchased has stock wheels and worn out street tread tires. I need to buy new tires and am looking for advice. Vehicle will be used primarily off road on a farm with muddy fields and heavily wooded hills.Occasionally driven to town. Local tire store has 215/75R15 BFG Mud Tread tires available. Any advice on which tires to purchase? Any advice on size to get? For example what is the largest size that will fit on stock wheels and still look ok? Also any advice on should I buy new larger wheels and if so exactly what ones. I do not plan on lifting the vehicle and do not want to cut any of the vehicle to make tires fit.
The BFG mud tires work really well. Tall skinny is the best for traction in my opinion. I believe you can go up to a 30x9.5 with no issues at all. I wouldn't go wider than P225/75's for the type of driving you describe. We went from P225's to P235 AT's on our Cherokee and lost a whole bunch of traction because of the width.
When I went from a 10.5" tire to a BFG mud 9.5" tire that actually measures 7.5" on the tread on my CJ7 I gained a lot of traction and more than 20 mph extra of stable snow covered road control.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Get 30x9.5's. Your Jeep will perform better in the mud and look better, too. I had an 89 Wrangler and 30x9.5's will fit without any issues. You won't be happy with 215/75R15's. They look goofy compared to beefy 30x9.5's.
Will these 30x9.5's fit on the stock wheels or would I be better off with a wider wheel? If a wider wheel is better what do I need to know about wheel offset?
215-75x15s take rims from 5.5-7 inches. The 31 x 10.5 take 7-9 inch rims.
You will have to measure or otherwise find out what size you currently have.
The BFG Muds are certainly a capable mud tire but then so are most of the other big (and little) names in the field. That choice is probably better left to your personal preference, dealer brand availability, and price.
As for the aspect ratio situation there are 3 groups of thought.
The first is "Stock is the best balance of what 'we' think your overall use will be" This does not really apply because you indicate it will be farm/off-road/mud/hills use.
The second is "Tall and Skinny". That rationale here is that all tires sink somewhat in the mud and the tall and thin profile will allow you to sink/dig to a level where the tread will have a firmer base to dig into.
The third is 'Flotation" Wider tires will float atop soft surfaces and not sink down if the tire is wide enough. Wider tires = more surface area= less pressure (psi) on the ground surface.
Which is best? The best choice is 1, 2, or 3 depending on your particular use.
Mike wheels on the Canadian Shield and has found that he personally and the local old-timers get the best results in their particular type of mud with tall-skinny tires
Bill wheels in the deserts of southern Kalifornia and if you examine the tires on his '46 CJ and the other 4X4s he wheels with you will see big 'ol fat herbie flotation tires.
To find your best choice would probably to have a chat with old timers in your particular area. Do the local farmers use tall skinny or flotation tires on their tractors?
In my particular area we have two kinds of terrain. We have either gravel or a thin layer of clay based dirt courtesy of the glaciers from the last ice-age that becomes the consistency of 140 weight gear lube when wet. These conditions call of opposite types of tires unless you do one extensively over the other. What off-roaders and the local Rangers here do is usually use is the largest standard" profile tire that will fit their vehicle as a compromise.
I went with the LT235/75R15. Tried them out today on the farm. About 2" of mud on top of frozen hard ground. Tires worked great, fit vehicle fine without rubbing and look good as well. Thanks for all in group who offered their thoughts!
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