Tire choice for 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Advice anyone?

I'm looking at the Bridgestone Dueler H/L with UNI-T AQ (D683) since
they seem like a great tire with excellent traction. Problem is the
price is rather high. About $133 with the free rotations and stuff.

Sams Club has the Goodyear Regatta 2 P225/75R15 for $72 with free
rotations. Not as good but lots cheaper.

Also, I usually carry (what seems to be) about two to four hundred
pounds of supplies in the back. Even if it is more (I've never
weighed it), should I be concerned about tire load ratings at all?

Any other suggestions?

Here are the other choices from Sams. Any really good (or bad) tires?

Tires from SAMS Club
----------------------
BFGoodrich® Winter Slalom? P225/75R15 $62.88
Smooth, quiet highway ride, even on dry pavement.
Item # 266702

GOODYEAR $69.26
P225/75R15 102S AT/D
50000 (#961467)

Goodyear® Marathon Radial ST225/75R15 $84.04
The long running radial design specifically for trailer towing.

Goodyear® Wrangler AT/S - P225/75R15 102S S2 $105.53

Goodyear® Integrity - P225/75R15 102S $57.42

Goodyear® Regatta 2 - P225/75R15 102S $72.13

Goodyear® Wrangler GS-A - P225/75R15 102S $112.03

Goodyear® Wrangler RT/S - P225/75R15 102S WGRT $83.57

Goodyear® Wrangler Ultra Grip - 225/75R15 102T $107.46

Michelin® 4X4 Alpin® 255/75R15 $101.62
Added confidence in wintry conditions.

Michelin® Cross Terrain? SUV P225/75R15 $118.52
The premium, all-season tire specifically designed for SUVs.

Michelin® X® Radial LT - P225/75R15 102S $102.74

225/75R15 Dunlop SP® 40A/S $56.63
Long-mileage all-season radial.

I certainly wouldn't take those tires off road on a regular basis. Do
yourself a favor and spend a little extra for decent tires. Blowouts are the
most common cause of tire failure in the outback and not only ruin the tire
but sometimes the rim as well. You want a tire with a 3 ply sidewall. Most
AT tires, like the Bridgestone Dueler, Firestone Wilderness or Yokohama
Geolander have a 2 ply sidewall. They are OK for a little mud, snow or wet
conditions but won't take a lot of sidewall punishment. They are marketed to
the majority of SUV and PU owners who rarely, if ever, go off road but want
something more than a highway tire. They are not meant for off road travel
and are barely adequate for extended use on gravel roads. I've blown factory
AT tires on two occasions; two Firestone Wilderness ATs (at once) on a Chevy
Z71 (that was fun with one spare and 60 miles from nowhere) and a Yokohama
Geolander AT on a Mitsubishi Montero. I should have learned from the Chevy
but I didn't want to change out the brand new tires on the Mitsubishi and
blew it with less than 5,000 miles on it. I won't take tires for granted and
make that mistake again. In this part of the country, where it's mostly
rough and rocky desert, the BF Goodrich TA/KO is the most popular off road
tire. I bought a set of Dunlop's (model?) for the Chevy and they were
excellent but much more expensive than the BF Goodrich. I hope that this was
helpful. Good luck.

Bob Walker

"Ted S" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Advice anyone?
>
> I'm looking at the Bridgestone Dueler H/L with UNI-T AQ (D683) since
> they seem like a great tire with excellent traction. Problem is the
> price is rather high. About $133 with the free rotations and stuff.
>
> Sams Club has the Goodyear Regatta 2 P225/75R15 for $72 with free
> rotations. Not as good but lots cheaper.
>
> Also, I usually carry (what seems to be) about two to four hundred
> pounds of supplies in the back. Even if it is more (I've never
> weighed it), should I be concerned about tire load ratings at all?
>
> Any other suggestions?
>
> Here are the other choices from Sams. Any really good (or bad) tires?
>
> Tires from SAMS Club
> ----------------------
> BFGoodrich® Winter Slalom? P225/75R15 $62.88
> Smooth, quiet highway ride, even on dry pavement.
> Item # 266702
>
> GOODYEAR $69.26
> P225/75R15 102S AT/D
> 50000 (#961467)
>
> Goodyear® Marathon Radial ST225/75R15 $84.04
> The long running radial design specifically for trailer towing.
>
> Goodyear® Wrangler AT/S - P225/75R15 102S S2 $105.53
>
> Goodyear® Integrity - P225/75R15 102S $57.42
>
> Goodyear® Regatta 2 - P225/75R15 102S $72.13
>
> Goodyear® Wrangler GS-A - P225/75R15 102S $112.03
>
> Goodyear® Wrangler RT/S - P225/75R15 102S WGRT $83.57
>
> Goodyear® Wrangler Ultra Grip - 225/75R15 102T $107.46
>
> Michelin® 4X4 Alpin® 255/75R15 $101.62
> Added confidence in wintry conditions.
>
> Michelin® Cross Terrain? SUV P225/75R15 $118.52
> The premium, all-season tire specifically designed for SUVs.
>
> Michelin® X® Radial LT - P225/75R15 102S $102.74
>
> 225/75R15 Dunlop SP® 40A/S $56.63
> Long-mileage all-season radial.

Hi,

Ted S <[email protected]> wrote:
#I'm looking at the Bridgestone Dueler H/L with UNI-T AQ (D683) since
#they seem like a great tire with excellent traction. Problem is the
#price is rather high. About $133 with the free rotations and stuff.

If the "and stuff" includes computer spin tire balancing, that is a
value that must be considered (figuring if you'll actually use it).

Anyway, if you go to www.tirerack.com Select Products->Tires and "Browse
by Tire Brand" you can go right to the reviews of tires. The Revo is the
rave review tire, which is an A/T (all-terrain). The H/L is definitely
just a highway tire for SUV's. (You are in a 4x4 newsgroup here...)

#Also, I usually carry (what seems to be) about two to four hundred
#pounds of supplies in the back. Even if it is more (I've never
#weighed it), should I be concerned about tire load ratings at all?

Personally I hate to go DOWN in a load rating. Going up a LOT might
mean a harder ride.

#Any other suggestions?

Yes, Michelin LTX A/T for an all-terrain tire with a high load rating.

#Here are the other choices from Sams. Any really good (or bad) tires?

#Goodyear® Wrangler RT/S - P225/75R15 102S WGRT $83.57

I just replaced these OEM tires on my truck. They were great highway
tires for the first 1.5 years, then the tread wore down past the sipes
(less than 1/2 tread depth) and it was useless in the rain. It was
always useless in the snow. I would recommend against them.

#Michelin® 4X4 Alpin® 255/75R15 $101.62
#Michelin® Cross Terrain? SUV P225/75R15 $118.52
#Michelin® X® Radial LT - P225/75R15 102S $102.74

I wouldn't take any of these tires off-road.

Ken.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mail: kmarsh at charm dot net | Save the environment! Buy US-made
WWW: http://www.charm.net/~kmarsh | heavy industries products.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Approximately 9/16/03 13:14, Ken Marsh uttered for posterity:


>
> Yes, Michelin LTX A/T for an all-terrain tire with a high load rating.

A good tire for all around. Altho harder to find
in some areas, the Pirelli Scorpion AT has similar
load ratings with just a bit more open tread. Both
brands have the wrapped belts that give that nice
"on rails" highway feeling.

I have the Michelins on a ZJ, but mainly because the
only place that had the Pirelli's wanted to keep them
high priced more than I wanted that particular brand.

The Michelin is nice for general all around use and a
surprising amount of wet snow and mud...and does reasonably
well on desert offroad as long as you remember you
are driving a street tire not a hard core desert crawler.
A friend's Pirelli AT's also work pretty good, both are
also reasonably good rain tires. The Pirelli has a
40K treadwear, but the Michelin is very likely to
outlast it.