which tires to get?

[tac0meat]

i currently have stock sized goodyear wrangler at/s that dont have much tread left. what would be the best setup for a mix of sand, mud, and street driving? im stock right now but am considering some inexpensive ways of getting another inch or so (such as shackles). i want to know what some good choices of tire is and maybe a few pointers as to how to gain a inch or so to make some bigger tires fit. i really dont care if the tires make alot of noise, just as long as they dont vibrate inside the car. any help is appreciated.

 

[95ExplorerLtd]

BFG KO's all the way! I dont know how they do in mud, I hear that they dont do extremely good, but they're good for everything else, plus they're under 100 dollars in most places. As far as gaining lift, I dont know since yours is a '91. I guess you could try shackles or add a leafs in back and hi-lift coils in the front? I'm not all too familiar with the suspension on 91-94 Explorers.

 

[Brian1]

I second the BFG at/ko's. They are an all around excellent tire. They work okay in the mud but not very well. I have not had a problem with traction in the mud yet with them. As for a lift what about a body lift? If not you could get the James Duff 2.5" lift. There is also coil spacers and bigger shackles in the back but it could mess up your alignment in the front.

 

[Oknut]

The only and the best tire would be a 44 inch bogger.

 

[DOGMAN]

4 Wheel Parts Wholesalers is having a sale right now on BFG muds and Pro Comp muds and all terrains, buy 3 get 1 free. Hard to beat that. Saw the ad in their customer magazine Off-Road Adventures, Dec 2000/Jan 2001 issue. If you need a discount order code, mine says 912.

Other possibilities are Goodyear M/T-R (supposed to be good), Bridgestone Dueler M/T & A/T (I've run 4 sets of these and love them), Mickey Thompson Baja HP (ask Matt Adams), and the new Parnelli Jones Dirt Grip (don't know much about these, pictures look cool though).

It all depends what you're looking for. Muds are louder than A/T's, but not objectionable. You wouldn't see so many people use them if they were. A/T's are a good choice if you don't do anything serious offroad. The other guys vote for BFG A/T ko's, and for an all around tire, it's a good, safe choice. That's why they sell tons of them.

One way to look at it is: GO FOR IT. Get what you want. Heck, it's only money, and they'll wear out in a while anyway. If you want a mud tire, get it. The Pro Comp model is a good price and I heard performs well. It has siping on the lugs also.

Any popular mud tire, like the BFG or Bridgestone or Pro Comp, is louder than a A/T but shouldn't vibrate any more than a A/T, since they're all built on the same carcass, only the tread pattern is different. You will have to rotate them more though, the more aggressive the tread, the greater the frequency of rotation to keep them wearing even, especially with the Explorer front ends.

Man, I'm long winded. Hope this helps some. If not, at least my fingers got some excercise. Good luck.

 

[tac0meat]

thanx for the help guys. it looks like the BFG KO's are gonna be the best bet. does anyone know how they perform in sand? not dunes or anything, more like just the stuff at the beach(its kinda of embarrassing to try an show your ride off for some hot girls and get stuck right in front of them, its happened before) also would a tire with stock height but larger width be better than a taller tire with stock width? traction is little more important than ride height to me if that matters.

 

[97bignslow]

good all around

The BFG's are great. I have driven them in just about all driving conditions, even sand.

 

[Goober]

Tacomeat, If your more concerned with traction than anything, I'd think the wider the tire, the more traction. Mud boggers say that a taller, skinnier tire is better for what they do. Rock crawlers say wider is better. From what I have read, the best rule of thumb is to go as wide as you go tall. Either way, I have had very good luck with my KO's and have yet to get stuck,....* knocking on wood*.

 

[95ExplorerLtd]

The taller and skinnier the tire, the more it will cut down to grab more solid ground, like it mud. They can sink down and grab at the more solid stuff, while really wide tires just let you float across the top pretty much. Least I think thats right, makes sense dont it?

 

[Oknut]

95 expo - what do you do if the mud gets to deep ? Then the narrow tire won't help you at all. I say wider is the only way to go. If you are worried about roll over then narrow tires won't help either, plus they look stupid.

 

[tac0meat]

im thinking the wider is better on the beach cause im goin to have to cut down really far to get anything solid, and besides, being two wheel drive i want to "float" as much as possible right? im conidering getting about 2-3 inches of suspension lift done before i get the tires so i will probable get somethin like 32x11.50, does any one know if i would have problems fitting these with 3 inches of lift? i dont go rock crawling so i guess i wont notice rubbing as much either.

 

[95ExplorerLtd]

Oknut-
Then either you get really tall tires or you dont go there at all. If you want to go somewhere, you'll want tires that will bite down and be controllable. If you want have fun, wider IS better, because you slide around all over the place. I was just reading some tires Myths and Facts in a Motor Trend mag and the Myth was " Wide tires provide beter traction under all weather conditions. In fact, putting oversize snow (or mud) tires on a vehicle delivers better snow (or mud) traction. Fact was "The opposite is actually true. Wide tires tend to "float"on deep snow (or mud), and the tread lugs never have a chance to dig through the road surface to gain traction. Narrow tires are a better option in deep snow (or mud). The tire acts similarly to a knife cutting through butter; the blade works best when using the narow edge to push through the butter rather than the wide flat side of the blade."

-Makes sense to me. Skinny tires do look sorta dumb, but whatever floats your boat (or truck, lol)

 

[Oknut]

Okay now where are you gonna find a narrow tire if you wanna run 44's ? I have a lot of friends with tires what big and they get stuck in the mud sometimes. I know a few other people who go mudding with us and they have 38" by 11" boggers and they wouldn't have a chance in hell to make it even half the way that the 20 inch wide bogger does.

I do think that the skinny tire does better in the snow. But it doesn't take much to push snow. It's bifferent when your axle is trying to push about 20 yards of mud, it sure slows you down.

Plus all the hardcore rock crawlers are using wider tires for better traction.

Here is something else for you to think about. where do you think that motor trend test the cars and truck ? do you think they take em into big huge mud pits ? All I can say is don't beleive everything you read.

other than that, have fun and go wide.

[Edited by Oknut on 01-05-2001 at 11:20 PM]

 

[95ExplorerLtd]

Well, lucky for me I dont have to worry about anything near as big as a 44, biggest tire I ever plan on fiting is a 31. Even then, I wouldnt go much wider than stock width. And, tac0meat said he only wanted another inch or so of lift, so why would he want to run 44" boggers?? Largest he's gonna go is only gonna be 31 or 32 unless he does a bigger lift. How bad do your boggers make the interior vibrate? tac0meat dont want that... Yeah I agree, for rock crawling I prolly would want a wider tire for as much grip over the entire surface as I could get. Like I said before, if you just want to play around in the slop then wider is better. But if you wanna seriously go somewhere and slop is standing between you and there, I'd go skinnier. And, if you are a suscriber to Motor Trend, they do take these vehicles out and test them in all sorts of conditions, just not huge boggers.

 

[Brian1]

Peterson's Offroad mag did an article a while back about wide and skinny tires comparing how they did offroad. I don't remember the results except for 1 thing. Wide tires will get you wedged in the rocks and may make an obstacle impassable. I am in the process of building a rockcrawler and my opinion is narrow (12.5 inches). Also the wider the tire the more stress on the axle. Just my $.02.

 

[tac0meat]

ya, ive heard that wider tires will stress your axles more but does anyone know why? snow isnt a big problem for me considering i live in houston and i have never seen snow in my intire life(well except when 6 snow flakes fall once every five years) im not doing anything hardcore cause im 2wd and its a daily driver, i just want to minimize my chances of gettin stuck when i head to the beach on the weekends or when i drive out on our farm or in a flat field. BTW- thanx for all the help. 32x11.50 shouldnt stress anything too much should it? and would they really affect my gas milage alot or anything?

 

[Oknut]

If all your trying to do is look good, then go with the wider tire and it will also do better in the sand. As for MPG, it will suck unless you get gears. Your expo being a 2wd it probly has high gears. Go get your self some 456 gears, should be cheap, only have to do the rear.

Oh yeah and skinny tires suck.