Rubicon Tire issue

J

jaspercomp

New member
Hey all,

I'm sorry to say this, but I guess I better.....I recently relocated to Maryland, I have 04 Rubicon with the Goodyear MTRs LT245 75R16's on them. Due to my job and staying busy on other issues like Maryland not having a whole lot of places to play, I haven't had that much time to get off-road. My front tires have worn down considerably, I am doing a lot of highway miles. My question is this; is this normal? I purchased the vehicle with 12k miles on it, the tires were good. I am now at a year later with close to 40k on it, most of them highway/commute miles. Should I purchase the same tire, or go to something more mild? I have this feeling if I do, we'll get 3 foot snows all winter! Thanks in advance!

JMC
 

I am pretty new to Jeeps, so take this for what it's worth, but I would think the tires should wear evenly if they are properly maintained (i.e., pressure checked fairly regularly, rotated every 5k miles or so, balanced properly, etc.). Make sure the wear you're seeing is normal and not because of a mechanical problem. If it's just normal wear you might want to go to a more mild tire to keep from having to replace tires all the time.

Oh, and welcome to MD. There *are* a few places to have fun at around here that are mostly legal (I've found a couple) - you just have to look hard enough ;)
 
I have to admit that I have slacked terribly in the tire rotation department, pressure and all of that. So I guess that if I abused them properly over the last year, it could definately cause the tires to wear down that quick? The rears are still good. I will replace them and take care of them this time around! Thanks.
 
40K miles sounds pretty good if the wear is nice and even ... i've never had over 20K out of any kind of tire i always burn down the shoulders in the curves wherei live so i'm lucky to get 20 maybe i'm wrong but with 40K on them i'd be happy to toss them for a new set with that much life out of them ... but i've never ran a set of them to compare
 

MT/R's have two things they are not proud to be known for. One is being a poor mudder (I don't think they're that bad), the other is the need to be rotated every 3K miles or they wear unevenly.

TO make it worse, the ones that came on your Jeep are 245x75x16, mounted on a 16x8 wheel. Those tires are designed for a max wheel width of 7", you have 8" wheels. That was a dumb move by Jeep to equip them that way.

I would get a set of BFG All-terrains or Cooper ST's. Either will wear well, kick butt in snow, and last a long time with a NORMAL rotation schedule.

You might want to consider a 265x75x16. It's slightly larger and wider, but will better fit your wheel and you have room for them on your Rubi. Oh yeah and they're a better size for the Rubi's 4.10 gear ratio. Food for thought.
 
Hey TwistedCopper, Lethaldose:

I appreciate the excellent suggestions. Sounds like I have a lot of options. I didn't realize that the tires were smaller than what was suggested, seems like that would be a liability if you did a lot of rock crawling? It just struck me as odd that the front tires would wear down that quick, seems to me anyway! I had an old Scout II with Goodyear trackers and I took that thing through hell and back and the tires held up really well. I figured i just chewed up the MTRs on the beltway. Once again, thanks to all!
 
my neighbor had a full size chevy with BFG AT's and got a hair over 40K on em with minor off road and mostly highway so thats what i was going on ... but for treadwear he swears by the BFG AT's actualy hasnt bought anything else since LOL
 

MT/R's are a soft compound tire, you should be happy with 40k. Buy a better tire next time, something that performs for your type of use.
 
TwistedCopper said:
MT/R's have two things they are not proud to be known for. One is being a poor mudder (I don't think they're that bad), the other is the need to be rotated every 3K miles or they wear unevenly.

TO make it worse, the ones that came on your Jeep are 245x75x16, mounted on a 16x8 wheel. Those tires are designed for a max wheel width of 7", you have 8" wheels. That was a dumb move by Jeep to equip them that way.

I would get a set of BFG All-terrains or Cooper ST's. Either will wear well, kick butt in snow, and last a long time with a NORMAL rotation schedule.

You might want to consider a 265x75x16. It's slightly larger and wider, but will better fit your wheel and you have room for them on your Rubi. Oh yeah and they're a better size for the Rubi's 4.10 gear ratio. Food for thought.
Click to expand...


I was going to introduce myself for my first post, but came across this post and need clarification.

You say that the 245/75/16 is too big for an 8 inch rim, but then go on to recomend a 265/75/16.

Please explain.

cheers

j
 

First of all, you have MT's, they usually don't wear well when you do alot of highway riding and you have to rotate them all the time. With what your doing I'd just go with some AT's like BFG's or Sports kings, Sports Kings hold up well and do a good job off road in my opinion.
 
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