Tires for Grand Cherokee

[default]

02 GC 225/75R16, budget: minimal

Needs to not track the road like a truck tire, not ride like a truck tire, but handle the loads of towing 4000lbs occasionally, and have good snow traction without sounding like a jet engine on the highway. An odd request, but not mine. It currently rides on some infinity treadwear Michelins that have zero traction in anything but warm dry pavement, and follow ruts like a truck. She basically wants her jeep to drive like a minivan, lol.

 

[LeakySeals]

Surprised you say it loses traction. I had a 98 limited w/quadra trac, I could run bald tires in the dead of winter here and it was unstoppable. Top heavy and a narrow wheel base is the problem in those years. why it appears to follow ruts. If you look at the GC's today they are much wider. not much can be done other than bigger rims with smaller sidewalls. I chose to just lower the CG by lowering the sidewalls. FWIW that GC actually liked the regular car sized Michelin's. I could climb sand dunes in a foot of snow like that.

 

[yonyon]

Maybe you could find her a nice AWD Safari that comes with tires already installed?

 

[salv]

Hankook Ventus or Kumho Solus KL21.

 

[Bandito440]

You'll be spending some good money if you want all of that. Goodyear SilentArmor and Michelin LTX A/T come to mind. Cheap A/T tires are harsher/noisier and cheap highway tires don't have the snow performance or towing manners.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Ventus is a name on more than one Hankook tire, that's a pretty vague recommendation.

Note that "tramlining" on a vehicle is not jeep specific, it is much more about wear and deflection of components than vehicle type and height/weight.

 

[Kuato]

Agree that with a minimal budget you're not going to get everything.

I've got Michelin LTX M/S on mine and am very happy with them.

 

[Hermann]

Firestone LE/2's? Less truck like than previous edition from what I read about them.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: default
02 GC 225/75R16, budget: minimal

Needs to not track the road like a truck tire, not ride like a truck tire, but handle the loads of towing 4000lbs occasionally, and have good snow traction without sounding like a jet engine on the highway. An odd request, but not mine. It currently rides on some infinity treadwear Michelins that have zero traction in anything but warm dry pavement, and follow ruts like a truck. She basically wants her jeep to drive like a minivan, lol.


Firestone Destination LE2( $109 @ Tirerack )
General Grabber HTS( $116 @ Tirerack - 3 models shown look for the cheaper one )

Both of those tires are light truck/suv class all season tires. They can handle what you need, they are both good in the snow, and they will give a quiet ride. Both are priced about as affordable as you could ask for in a truck tire.

I have the LE2's on my Jeep( Patriot not GC )right now. I used to use the original LE's and LOVED them on trucks and suv's. So far, although they are new for me( about a month ), the LE2's are GREAT! Excellent in the snow and a smooth and quiet ride. LE2's are now the #1 rated all season light truck/suv class tire at Tirerack.

 

[jpcjf]

We've had good luck with Cooper AT3's. tread last 60K, balance very good and get great snow traction w/out noise. Ordered them the last two times from www.discounttiredirect.com

 

[fxrider]

For a good all season M/S tire take a look @ the Uniroyal Laredo 225/75R16 hard to beat that. for the price..

 

[Driz]

We have had a 2000 GC since new. The OEM Goodyear Wranglers are absolute trash. The only tire I ever got a leak in from a piece of crushed stone in my driveway and I [censored] you not I pulled it out with my fingertips. Hardest leak I ever fixed and had to drill it to fix the thing. Only lasted 40K too, junk. We had BF Goodrich Long trails on there for nearly 70K and they were far better in all respects. The last few years we have General Grabber HTS on there and they work fine and are made in the USA.
If your jeep is tracking funny be aware that I had completely shot TIE ROD ENDSS before mine got noticeable. They were loose as a goose. The STEERING Damper, that horizontal shock that attaches to the center of the steering arm often wears out. When it does the jeep will wander around a lot. It's cheap and easy to change at $40 and a couple bolts I would likely do that first and be done with it. BALL JOINTS. These can get pretty bad before you notice it. Mine went bad at about 150K with one freezing up so it began to overwelmed the power steering making the steering dodgy and track back and forth.
Bottom line you are probably best off going to a good local mechanic who does basic stuff inexpensively. Have him lift the thing and give those front end components up in the air where he can grab and shake it. Change out everything that's got any degree of play. After that if it still tracks get it aligned.
Before any of it I'd trade out that STEERING DAMPER as you wouldn't believe how badly a nice tight Jeep will wander if that's not working, it's really amazing. If you are the DIY type like me guess what it's better to farm it out to a shop if doing ball joints on these critters as the job is really ugly to the point that I wouldn't do it again.

 

[UG_Passat]

Sounds like avoiding the "LT 225/75r16" is best, and go with P225/75r16 would be the best choice

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...romCompare1=yes

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...romCompare1=yes

 

[JavierG]

1. Michelin LTX M/S
2. General Grabber HTS
3. Firestone Destination LE II

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: default
02 GC 225/75R16, budget: minimal

Needs to not track the road like a truck tire, not ride like a truck tire, but handle the loads of towing 4000lbs occasionally, and have good snow traction without sounding like a jet engine on the highway. An odd request, but not mine. It currently rides on some infinity treadwear Michelins that have zero traction in anything but warm dry pavement, and follow ruts like a truck. She basically wants her jeep to drive like a minivan, lol.


What about snow? Does it need to do well in snow? The best tire for the winter is a M&S tire. But it may not be the best for normal riding. Look at treadepot.com for low prices if you are going to buy 4.

 

[kam327]

Originally Posted By: NHHEMI

Firestone Destination LE2( $109 @ Tirerack )
General Grabber HTS( $116 @ Tirerack - 3 models shown look for the cheaper one )

Both of those tires are light truck/suv class all season tires. They can handle what you need, they are both good in the snow, and they will give a quiet ride. Both are priced about as affordable as you could ask for in a truck tire.

I have the LE2's on my Jeep( Patriot not GC )right now. I used to use the original LE's and LOVED them on trucks and suv's. So far, although they are new for me( about a month ), the LE2's are GREAT! Excellent in the snow and a smooth and quiet ride. LE2's are now the #1 rated all season light truck/suv class tire at Tirerack.


Totally agree with the LE2's. I plan to get them soon on my Explorer. They're inexpensive (about $125 at my local Firestone shop for my 18" wheels - $620 out the door!). And they review well though they're relatively new so not a lot of high-mileage reviews out there yet.

Unfortunately neither tirerack nor Consumer Reports has done an official test on them yet so no word how they compare to the more established (and more expensive) tire models out there.

 

[bepperb]

The Highlander and RX300 both run the P225/75R16 size so there should be no shortage of carlike tires in that size. I have the LTX MS2's and they're not really trucklike and don't handle too bad. But the Desination LE2's and the Grabber HTS would probably be more carlike and still give you decent snow traction (the Grabber at least, the LE2 is probably too new to say).

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: default
02 GC 225/75R16, budget: minimal

Needs to not track the road like a truck tire, not ride like a truck tire, but handle the loads of towing 4000lbs occasionally, and have good snow traction without sounding like a jet engine on the highway. An odd request, but not mine. It currently rides on some infinity treadwear Michelins that have zero traction in anything but warm dry pavement, and follow ruts like a truck. She basically wants her jeep to drive like a minivan, lol.


What about snow? Does it need to do well in snow? The best tire for the winter is a M&S tire. But it may not be the best for normal riding. Look at treadepot.com for low prices if you are going to buy 4.


The best tire for winter is an acutal winter tire (mountain-snowflake logo).... or an all-season that bears the mountain-snowflake logo. They are available, not cheap

 

[strongt]

I run Cooper Discoverer ATP's that I got from Discount Tire on my Jeep. These have been on of the best tires I've had on this Jeep.
Here's a thread I posted when I got them with some pics:

Cooper Discoverer ATP

 

[default]

Originally Posted By: Driz

If your jeep is tracking funny be aware that I had completely shot TIE ROD ENDSS before mine got noticeable. They were loose as a goose. The STEERING Damper, that horizontal shock that attaches to the center of the steering arm often wears out. When it does the jeep will wander around a lot. It's cheap and easy to change at $40 and a couple bolts I would likely do that first and be done with it. BALL JOINTS. These can get pretty bad before you notice it. Mine went bad at about 150K with one freezing up so it began to overwelmed the power steering making the steering dodgy and track back and forth.
Bottom line you are probably best off going to a good local mechanic who does basic stuff inexpensively. Have him lift the thing and give those front end components up in the air where he can grab and shake it. Change out everything that's got any degree of play. After that if it still tracks get it aligned.
Before any of it I'd trade out that STEERING DAMPER as you wouldn't believe how badly a nice tight Jeep will wander if that's not working, it's really amazing. If you are the DIY type like me guess what it's better to farm it out to a shop if doing ball joints on these critters as the job is really ugly to the point that I wouldn't do it again.


It isnt really tracking funny, the front end is tight, it just drives like the stick axle truck it is. Will look into new damper. I've done ball joints on a 1 ton dodge, and prior to that deal falling through, was prepared to do them on a W126 Mercedes, front end work doesn't scare me.