hey Jeep peeps! while the Southeast doesn't get enough snow to warrant winter tires, I drive everywhere in snow to fat bike and snow board. so i need the WK2 to be a bit more reliable. my GY silent armor kevlar di abysmally last winter with just 13k miles on the truck. first winter did well, 2nd, meh, but last year was awful. what are you all running or have you swapped out for strictly winter treads? my old V8 Overland had Yoko ATS and they were the best tires I have owned, on THAT Jeep. with a V6 in my Laredo E Trailhawk, it needs more help come the cold slippery stuff. look forward to hearing what works for you all. am considering swap for BFGs MTs on Rubi wheels, or Blizzaks, Nokian, Cooper Discoverer, GY Duratracs (leaning), ad even Yokos, since they wore so well on the other JGC. i just think this current Jeep is more of a sled than sled dog. haha.
The real question is...are you planning to use this set strictly for winter, or will you carry over into other seasons/weather with them? From my experience in the truck world, a MT tire will NOT provide you better grip in snow so I would stay clear of that option. Your best bet is to get an AT tire that will work in all kinds of weather so you can run them all year if needed.
Look into the Nitto Terra Grappler G2, Toyo Open Country ATII, Cooper Zeon LTZ if you plan to run them in multiple seasons. I've had the Terra Grapplers on many different trucks and can say first hand they are amazing tires.
For just snow, Blizzaks are hard to beat but wear out VERY fast.
These are just my opinions, I'm sure others will have some alternate advice based on their experience with the GC.
Skip the Toyo Open Country AT2 in my opinion. Just removed mine from my Tundra after 44k miles. They still had 50% or so tread but no snow or wet traction. Very disapointed. Wife said she wouldn't get in the truck to head north to ski condo until tires were replaced. Tires would just break loose in wet and worse in snow. Just put Nokian Rotiiva AT plus on my Tundra this week and so far great. Climbing a snowy hill in 2 wheel drive didn't even engage the traction control. Toyos would have needed 4 wheel drive. Nokian Rotiiva AT's are a all weather AT tire. 4 season with a winter bias.
But the OP lives in the southeast where winters typically are much milder.
For you, I'd discard those Blizzaks and go to a real arctic tire such as a Nokian Hakkapeliitta.
For the OP, the Michelin Defender is a great all around tire with better cold and snow traction than many snowflaked tires.
where did you find Nokian in NOVA? took nails in both rear tires within 3 weeks of each other and plugged one myself when the weather was mild. this passenger side nail is now losing air so i really need to rectify this tire scenario before holiday travel in 10 days. really would prefer an AT like Cooper Discoverer or GY Duratracs. if i could find Nokians here, the Rotiva AT Plus looks like a nice compromise as does the WRG, since both have seal of approval for winter use by the official best winter tire manufacturer. i prefer a more rugged looking tire, like the OEM GY, so the Duratracs look great to me. also have the weeping rear shocks i am having to ship from AZ hopefully arriving in time for install at dealer 12/22.
where did you find Nokian in NOVA? took nails in both rear tires within 3 weeks of each other and plugged one myself when the weather was mild. this passenger side nail is now losing air so i really need to rectify this tire scenario before holiday travel in 10 days. really would prefer an AT like Cooper Discoverer or GY Duratracs. if i could find Nokians here, the Rotiva AT Plus looks like a nice compromise as does the WRG, since both have seal of approval for winter use by the official best winter tire manufacturer. i prefer a more rugged looking tire, like the OEM GY, so the Duratracs look great to me. also have the weeping rear shocks i am having to ship from AZ hopefully arriving in time for install at dealer 12/22.
Let us know what you settle on - I am going to see how the stock 18" Wrangler Adventures do this winter as I have seen positive reviews online for their winter weather driving. However, we will see how they handle in our ice/slushy/non-treated roads mess that we get here sometimes.
I used the Rotiiva AT plus for my pickup because it sees rocky Maine fire roads to access hiking trails and mountain biking, but the wife's 2014 Grand will get the WRG3 Suv next winter. One more season on the Forterras. As for the Rotiiva they aren't the most aggressive looking AT tire but drive great.
so after much debate and reading forum feedback as well as every review written for my top 3 (Cooper, Nokian, GY) as well as a dozen more tires, am having the GY Duratracs installed tomorrow in the OEM size of 265/60/18. the reviews and vids of their snow performance was undeniable for our WK2s and especially those of us with just a bit above basic 4x4.
had Nokians been more available, I might have gone with them, but since they were many miles or a few weeks delivery away, i couldn't go that direction. mostly due to 2 nails being picked up and with an upcoming oil change, the plugged/patched would have been rotated to the front.
really wanted to be brave enough to explore how 275/65/18 would work, but cons didn't outweigh the pros, even though this installer allows 30 day risk free returns. for me, pros were bad ass looks and footprint/traction over obstacles, but cons were $$$$, MPGs, noise, radius, speedo, possible rub, and traction in snow is better narrow than wide - skis vs. snow board.
i feel kind of wussy right now too, but my Jeep already has the weeping shocks and with the other prematurely failing parts some on here have reported, i worried that the larger size could account for drama later. i still may feel braver toward the end of the 30 days and take the chance on the next size up, bu5 will post pics when installed. i should mention these are on sale online for $214 in the 265/60/18 and the 275/65/18 is on sale for $222. so GY dealers will honor the coupons. yay!
I run the Blizzak DM-V2's in the winter and have been very satisfied with them. Very secure feeling in snow (and decent on dry) and we get a lot of snow.
decisions impacted by nails and rotation being due prevented the Nokian this time round, but maybe next time. i have 30 days to change my mind only now that i;m reading reviews of VA Tire and Auto, where this is happening tomorrow, am feeling apprehensive. also didn't like that i needed a deposit for the tires they claimed they could get in by tomorrow at 11am since when i first called for a price breakdown they never mentioned it.
side note: TPMS kit fees cost 9.95 per tire and when i challenged the estimate prep guy to elaborate on why, he tried to say my valves are metal and they replace them with rubber? it was a very long and confusing convo until i explained the OEM TPMS just stays put, that only the valve stem cores come out and get put them back after tire is installed so they can inflate.
he tried saying there is resetting to do, but i said in newer cars TPMS resets itself after driving several miles (which is what i read on this forum so am hoping that's true). my guess is a lot of valve cores go missing and are not compatible with the OEM kit now under that freshly installed tire, which is a huge pain to remove and replace with their own kits, which could require some syncing possibly.
NHTS passed a law that holds tire places responsible if they knowingly make TPMS inoperable since cars with them need to have them be functional. so to recoup money lost from damage and need for replacement of stock kits, to avoid a loss, they just replace all the kits and charge a fee for service that just aren't necessary on a 4 year old car with 13k miles. and TPMS batteries last between 5 and 7 years after which they do need to be replaced.
GY Duratracs are on the Trailhawk and initial impressions are that they feel pretty spectacular. They're slightly noisier but not excessively so. The cabin is pretty quiet anyway, and the Jeep now handles like the 4x4 it has always wanted to be. On cement, in rain, and on highway they feel planted. Can't wait for the white stuff.
the duratracs are studdable too, and that there is always the option was definitely a selling point.
in terms of size, while the 275/65/18's would look bad ass, GY won't warranty a non OEM tire according to this shop. if that sort of thing is important, which at 2/3 to retirement it is to me, i really had no reluctance at all. bigger would have looked better and i do still have that 30 day risk free guarantee and can swap out for whatever other tire i may want.
been trying to share the images of the OEM silent armors after 13k miles but keeps saying the attachment is too large.
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