I think my 265/70/15's are too big and wide for this little truck.

[Dogote]

I have the Rusty's 2" lift and it looks good with this size tire. There is a very small amount of rubbing in reverse at full steering lock and that's it, so not a problem. I drove in 4 inches of fresh wet snow, the stuff we call "Cascade concrete" around here. I was barely able to climb my driveway, and it really struggled to hook up on hills in my neighborhood. 

I has 265/70/15 snow tires on after market wheels. I have a stock set of 89 Cherokee wheels with snow tires coming my way, not sure what size yet. My father in law used them one season and put them in his shed. My guess is the tires are no good.

So, I think I will buy some tires. I am thinking same height as the 265/70's that are on it, but I would like to go narrower. I think a 245 or 235 80 would work, if I could find such a thing. I would like to get a pretty aggressive tread for it. 

With the 265's, it feels like the truck is too light and floats on the top of the snow. The 2.5 isn't exactly a powerhouse, so it doesn't have the power to spin the snow out of the tread (at least that's how it feels) I think smaller tires might be the answer. I am not going to go wheeling in this Jeep other than necessary type stuff I encounter living in the woods, like muddy forest service roads when I cut wood.

 

Any suggestions? Anyone got pictures of tires they like of their MJ?

 

D.

[benjy_26]

Look at my build thread or, for that matter, the avat pic on my profile. Those are 31x1050 BFG AT KO's on 15x8 MB wheels with a Rancho 3" lift in the front. I really like these tires for a DD that can go anywhere in pretty much any weather. I also have a 2.5 and it does well in most conditions. You have to keep in mind, a MJ IS a light truck. Maybe a 235/75R16 KM2 would work for your needs, or even a 30x9.5 if you plan on keeping the 15" wheels and don't want to regear.

[Incommando]

A 265/70/15 is about 30" tall and 11" wide. The more common 265/70/16 is about 31" tall and 11" wide. It is only .5" wider than the very common 31x10.5x15 so I don't really see the MJ being "too light" for that width. I had no issues at all on road or off in my MJ on the same width tire (265/75/16) in 5-6" of snow this week. Never heard of a 235/80 but there is a 235/85/16 that is roughly 32x9.

 

I ran 265/70/16 M&S rated Firestone Wilderness LT tires on my truck when it was 2wd and it was much worse in the snow than it is now in 2hi. The difference is the tread design only. "Snow tire" & "M&S rated" mean very little as far as how well a tire will actually perform.

[87Warrior]

For a reference, here is my truck with about 3" of lift and 265/75/15's. I opted for the 75 as the tire was dimensionally narrower (by a little) according to Cooper.

 

The AT3's ride nice and the 2.5 with 4.10's spin down the road without problem. My experience with them on a 2500 Duramax proves satisfactory in snow, even though they don't have the "mountain snow" rating. I've only been able to use them in the small 3/4" of snow we got 2 weeks ago with the MJ. Seemed to work great.

[hollywood2311]

Funny you say that, mine came with 235/75/15s, and I thought they were too big, so I went with 225/70 Cooper Adventurer AT3s. The main problem was the offset on the aftermarket wheels was so small that they were sticking out past the fender flares. I went back to the stock turbine wheels and it looks proper now.

[Comanche County]

Yes for snow and ice, all other things being equal, narrower tires usually bite better than wider tires.  Look at what the contract plow trucks are using to clear business parking lots....I'm talking about the guys with plows on 1 ton trucks.  They use a much narrower tire than you'd think.

[nitroxsteve]

In my experiance you want mud to clear out of the tires and snow to stick to the tire for best traction. Thats why a mud tire does not make very good snow tires. You said the truck has snow tires. Are they real snow tires or just A/T or M/T? Also you say it won't spin the tires enough to clean them out snow = easy on the skinny pedal. I know there are times you need to hit a hill hard to get up it but thats usually much deaper than 4" in my experience.

[Dogote]

I was mistaken on my current size. I have 265/75/15, not 70 series as I posted. so 30 x 10.5 is what they should measure. I think I'll look for some mud terrains in a 30x9.5x15. BF Goodrich TA KM2's come in that size, but I wouldn't mind something cheaper since this will not be a daily driver, it will rarely need to go over 50 mph, and won't ever go more than 100 miles in a day.

[Eagle]

265/75-15 is approximately 30.6" in diameter and 10.4" in cross section width. A 30x9.50 would be about 29.5" by 9.5", and a 235/75R15 would be 28.9" by 9.3".

 

Long years living in New England have taught me that taller, narrower tires are best for carving through snow to get down to something approximating traction. I think either of the above alternates would be better than what you've got. The 235's will be less expensive. But, as has been commented above, the tread design will have a lot to do with how they perform in real snow. Real snow tires are far better than all-season or all-terrain tires, and mud tires are a very bad choice for deep snow.

[Timeless]

A narrower tire will perform better in snow.  A narrow (real) snow tire will outperform anything else in snow...unless you got studded snows.  Any tire with a blocky tread (most MT's) will be some of the worst for snow traction.  The more siping the better (there is a reason snow tires have craps tons of siping).

[Dogote]

Yep, mud tires suck in a lot of types of snow, but I have other Jeeps to drive and usually have good snow tires on the Commander because it's what we go over the passes in. The types of snow the Comanche will mostly see is melting slush over mud with ruts. Skinny mud terrains will work good for that.