It's new tire time...

[MeowMix]

...and I've never bought new tires for the VX before. It's finally time for me to take the initiative, and I know nothing. Thought I'd get opinions from the people I trust the most before I buy.

I have the OME 912 springs, and stock 18's. The guy at the tire store seems to think a "Goodyear dura trac LT 275/65-18" would be a good call. I don't even know what those numbers mean, I read it off the card he gave me. All I know is it's a couple inches bigger than the tire I have now, it's 10ply so it'll last a while, and it's supposedly good in all sorts of conditions, both onroad and off. Is there anybody who runs this tire or knows anything about it, good or bad? Or is there something else I should buy instead? Tires confuse me. :_thinking

Oh and sorry I haven't been around the forums lately, nursing school has been kicking my butt. I'm lucky I even had the time to look at tires today, lol. ;Dy;

[Mile High VX]

I love my Yokohoma Geolander AT/S. Great look, low noise, and nice off road performance. 275/60x18

What are you looking to do with the VX and that will help others make some great suggestions for you.

[tysamigo]

I'm in the same boat, I need new tires soon. I don't know much about tires, but I never go off road. In fact, I'm a speed demon and love to hug corners lol

so, is there a good quality tire recommended for non off roaders who drive like myself????

[MeowMix]

I love my Yokohoma Geolander AT/S. Great look, low noise, and nice off road performance. 275/60x18

What are you looking to do with the VX and that will help others make some great suggestions for you.

I looked at the geolanders too, and they were nice, but the Goodyear wrangler dura trac things were a little more aggressive, which I liked. I don't live for offroading but like the option to do so if I please. I also try to get to Moab each year to go play in the desert...but I'd say 95% of my driving is on the road (though a usual winter here means ice and snow cover the road for about 4 months a year). I don't mind a little extra noise or weight in my tires, but I don't want something I can barely hear my stereo with...I also want something that will last a while, hence why I like the 10ply tires. That enough info? ;Dy;

[VX crazy]

I looked at the geolanders too, and they were nice, but the Goodyear wrangler dura trac things were a little more aggressive, which I liked. I don't live for offroading but like the option to do so if I please. I also try to get to Moab each year to go play in the desert...but I'd say 95% of my driving is on the road (though a usual winter here means ice and snow cover the road for about 4 months a year). I don't mind a little extra noise or weight in my tires, but I don't want something I can barely hear my stereo with...I also want something that will last a while, hence why I like the 10ply tires. That enough info? ;Dy;

Greg just got those tires, just a lot bigger! I am so jealous of those bad boys!

[Mile High VX]

A few of the members have these:

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=15787&highlight=Cooper+LTZ

[RICHARD PAYNE]

...and I've never bought new tires for the VX before. It's finally time for me to take the initiative, and I know nothing. Thought I'd get opinions from the people I trust the most before I buy.

I have the OME 912 springs, and stock 18's. The guy at the tire store seems to think a "Goodyear dura trac LT 275/65-18" would be a good call. I don't even know what those numbers mean, I read it off the card he gave me. All I know is it's a couple inches bigger than the tire I have now, it's 10ply so it'll last a while, and it's supposedly good in all sorts of conditions, both onroad and off. Is there anybody who runs this tire or knows anything about it, good or bad? Or is there something else I should buy instead? Tires confuse me. :_thinking

Oh and sorry I haven't been around the forums lately, nursing school has been kicking my butt. I'm lucky I even had the time to look at tires today, lol. ;Dy;

I would stay away from 10 ply unless you want a rock hard ride. The Coopers or Hancooks are good off and on road.

[Riff Raff]

MeowMix--- For you I highly recommend the tire size of 275/70R18 (33" O.D) because you are currently "lifted" with the OME 912 springs with TB cranks. This tire size will help fill-up the huge gaps in your wheel-wells while giving you increased ground clearance and will easily fit on your OEM 18x7 rims. Since you hail from snowy Spokane, it is absolutely critical that you get a Snowflake/Mountain rated tire. The two best available are:

General - Grabber AT2 and the Good/Year - DuraTrac (both are Snowflake/Mountain rated). Both are very simular in spec's and basically only differ in tread pattern design. Since tread pattern is a very personal choice, then pick the style of tread pattern that suits YOU the best. Personally, I like the look of the Grabber AT2, as it has a more uniform tread pattern across the entire face of the tire while being extremely quiet on the highway. You might recall my Proton has the Grabber AT2's and they are like velcro on snow & ice. If possible, try to take a look at each tire model "in person" before purchase and go with the tread pattern design you like the best.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Grabber+AT+2 BTW; Richard Payne made a good point about 10-Ply/E-load range tires, but most importantly they are also incredibly heavy in weight. A great alternative choice would be the Grabber AT2 in P275/65R18 - 116S (32" O.D./42.4 lbs each ~ Part #4501220000) which is a 6-Ply/C-load range tire (this is the exact tire I have on my Proton). Tire "ply" has no difference on actual wear or longivity (you do; by the way you personally drive, not the tire), but only in construction and sidewall strength (more ply's = beefier sidewalls and therefore heavier weight). Remember; our OEM tires weigh only 34 lbs each, so it's best to try and stay within 10 lbs of OEM weight (so about 44 lbs (+/-) each). Very heavy tires are much harder to stop with OEM brakes requiring greater stopping distance and also decrease MPG because it takes more energy (fuel) to get them to start rolling from a dead stop. Therefore, please seriously consider individual tire weight when selecting a tire.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Wrangler+DuraTrac




TysAmigo--- For you there is only one tire worth buying with a sporty on-road driving flair as you describe. It is the BFG - G-Force T/A KDW in 285/60R18 (31.3" O.D.) which is Part #76315. It will fit nicely on your OEM 18x7 rims and will give your VX a wide stout look with vastly improved performance handling. The website below currently has these on sale, so you should decide quickly and call them on the phone ASAP.

http://www.onlinetires.com/products/vehicle/tires/bfgoodrich/285%252F60-18+bfgoodrich+g-force+t%252Fa+kdw2+120v+bsw.html

:bgwb:

[Breezy]

Zeon ltz is the way to go! Love these skinz! :)

[H3_VX]

Highly recommend the duratracs. A great all purpose tire. I've seen them in action. Plus they are an awesome snow tire, m+s rated and studdable.

[Triathlete]

A little heads up...
31's will fit a lifted vx with only minimal cladding trimming
33's will require modification of the rear of the front wheelwell...cladding trimming and the liberal use of a bfh to "reshape" some metal. 33's are not a boltem on and go size!

[LittleBeast]

I agree with RiffRaff on this one.

And sticking with stock rims you should not have much trouble at all with fitment.

[JHarris1385]

https://www.treadwright.com/

There are a couple others on here that have purchased them, and MANY more on Planet Isuzu and Jeep Forums.

I bought 5 - 33' Mud Terrains shipped for $600

[twalker920]

My VX has the Goodyear Dura Tracs, and they've been through subzero ice and snow, rain, heat, mud and sand, on and off road and done superbly in all. They were almost new when I got my truck last summer. After about 5000 miles they are down maybe 1 or 2 32nds in tread, very evenly all around.

Not too noisy - the exhaust wins hands down lol.

I like them a lot.

my $.02

[Rampage108]

Hankook Dynapro atm rf10s! absolutely love them. Drove in snow perform awesome. Discount tire. Only reason I didn't get grabber at2 was price and not as readily available. take a look at the tires first. Btw the Hankooks drive super quiet. great ride

[MSHardeman]

OK, the Terra Grappler crowd hasn't chimed in yet so I'll give it a go. I am on my second set of Terra Grapplers and love them. They last a long time, and I used my first set for both summer and winter so I went through three or four Colorado winters with them and they performed great. They really don't make that much noise, but do get a little grumbly as you slow down and come to a stop.

In all honesty, I now use the second set as just my summer tires, and I have a set of Hankook RW-11's as my winter tires. I do have to say that the Hankook's don't have as aggressive of a tread pattern as the Grapplers and are a bit quieter.

As for the numbers on the tires, they indicate the size of the tire as an aspect ratio (why they can't just say the diameter and width is beyond me). I think it was described in a thread around here somewhere, but the short of it is the first number is the width of the tire (in millimeters at it's widest point), the second number is the height of the side wall given as a percentage of the tires width (65 would be 65% of the width of the tire), and the third number is the rim size. Confused yet? I am.:_wtf:

Good to see around, even if it is only for a quick hello. Hope nursing school isn't kicking your butt too hard, and hope you get a chance to make it back to Moab this year.

Happy tire hunting.

[tysamigo]

TysAmigo--- For you there is only one tire worth buying with a sporty on-road driving flair as you describe. It is the BFG - G-Force T/A KDW in 285/60R18 (31.3" O.D.) which is Part #76315. It will fit nicely on your OEM 18x7 rims and will give your VX a wide stout look with vastly improved performance handling. The website below currently has these on sale, so you should decide quickly and call them on the phone ASAP.

http://www.onlinetires.com/products/vehicle/tires/bfgoodrich/285%252F60-18+bfgoodrich+g-force+t%252Fa+kdw2+120v+bsw.html

:bgwb:


Riff Raff,

WOW, I actually like these, including the reviews I've seen. Thank you! I'm ordering. It's $732 total w/shipping.

[JHarris1385]

Looks like they are not available anymore but I loved my Yokohama AVS ST

Pulled this image from google serach

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1600&bih=775&tbm=isch&tbnid=qHhSR--9MnYm9M:&imgrefurl=http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Yokohama-AVS-S-T-285-55R18-Tire-/73565881&docid=2MHDlwlh1xjELM&imgurl=http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Yokohama-AVS-S-T-285-55R18-Tire/00/%2524(KGrHqYOKkQE25JE!YKgBNy4JB4T6g~~_35.JPG&w=300&h=300&ei=TUOCT5H4CoKC8ATZ4YnaBw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=884&vpy=409&dur=1756&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=129&ty=63&sig=112873935049492946357&page=1&tbnh=160&tbnw=165&start=0&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:0,i:105

[MeowMix]

Just to let y'all know, I bought 32" dura tracs last week, and thus far I have nothing but praises for them; if they're good enough for a number of people here, they're good enough for meow ;Dy; I was worried about noise, but they aren't terrible -- I barely notice the difference, and always blast my music anyway so who cares. Can't wait to get offroad with them and see how they do.

...I'd post a pic but no time. Better get to sleep so I can have more fun filled times in pathophysiology class in the AM. Finals in two weeks and then I'm free! (you'll actually see me around again) Miss you guys! ;py;