Obligatory tire thread (1 Viewer)

[clevelandLCguy]

Hey gang. Looking for a tire recommendation. My 200 rarely sees any offroad work, and when it does, it will be extremely light work. Just the occasional fire road, something I could do in a minivan with OE tires. 95% of this vehicle's life is spent on the freeways and byways, traveling.

I'm looking for a good quiet tire choice which handles rain and snow well. Who are we liking these days, and if there's a significant advantage to altering the OE size (besides looks), please include that recommendation as well.

I know you guys prefer to talk about the cool tires and the ridiculous off road stuff, but I could use your help in this most pedestrian of decisions. Tires are too fricking expensive to make a bad choice today.

 

[TeCKis300]

This thread is tailor made for you

So I think the Michelin Defender is the perfect all-terrain tire... (For most of us)

I wanted to talk about function over form and my opinions on why I think the Michelin Defender LTX is one of the best "all-terrain" tires out these for a majority of 4wd enthusiast/Overlanders... Before I begin let me cite a few sources on why I have these opinions. Sources/References - My use...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Madtiger]

Michelin Defender LTX M/S.

That is all you need.

 

[doru]

You're lucky, that's the easiest tire choice to make for 200,the Michelins

 

[TomEf]

I have a set of Yokohama G015's I've been impressed with that would be good for your use case.

 

[clevelandLCguy]

I went with the Michelin Defender LTX M/S 2's, gang. Thanks for the help.

 

[36J594]

I went with the Michelin Defender LTX M/S 2's, gang. Thanks for the help.

Stock size? Let us know how you like them... also, shameless pic request.

 

[clevelandLCguy]

Stock size? Let us know how you like them... also, shameless pic request.

I went with stock sizing. I'm not hip or smart enough to start second-guessing the advantages/disadvantages of different tire sizes, and I doubt my reasons would impress anyone here. If I had my druthers, I'd want higher mpg and less body sway, but if neither improve, I won't be crying.

As for pic (of the new tires, I assume?) they haven't arrived yet. If you just want to see my ride, here ya go. In this pic I was on a walkabout (just driving, no planned destination) and ended up in Maine. Middle seat's are removed and I throw an air mattress in the back for sleeping on these trips. I'm planning to do another in March, headed to the west coast, hence the need to get decent rubber now.

 

[36J594]

That's a nice Walkabout!

 

[clevelandLCguy]

That's a nice Walkabout!

Hoping so. Hard to connect with friends anymore, since social media lets me know what you had for breakfast, so why get together in person? So I'll jump in the car and bring the party to my friends. First guy's in Seattle, then Portland, LA, Alb, Colorado Springs, Dallas, then maybe swing over to Greenville before heading back to Ohio. Wuz gonna leave this week, but then I took a look at the current temps across I-90. I don't think sleeping in my vehicle's a good plan in single digit temps.

 

[mmm635]

I went with stock sizing. I'm not hip or smart enough to start second-guessing the advantages/disadvantages of different tire sizes, and I doubt my reasons would impress anyone here. If I had my druthers, I'd want higher mpg and less body sway, but if neither improve, I won't be crying.

As for pic (of the new tires, I assume?) they haven't arrived yet. If you just want to see my ride, here ya go. In this pic I was on a walkabout (just driving, no planned destination) and ended up in Maine. Middle seat's are removed and I throw an air mattress in the back for sleeping on these trips. I'm planning to do another in March, headed to the west coast, hence the need to get decent rubber now.

View attachment 3840808

You made the right decision, especially for the use you describe. The Michelin's ride as smooth as glass and perform very well in the wet. I upsized the same tire on my 2010 LX and it did not perform as well as the stock size - dynamics were different, as well as AHC not calibrated for it. On my '20 LX I installed the oem size and could not be happier.

 

[clevelandLCguy]

You made the right decision, especially for the use you describe. The Michelin's ride as smooth as glass and perform very well in the wet. I upsized the same tire on my 2010 LX and it did not perform as well as the stock size - dynamics were different, as well as AHC not calibrated for it. On my '20 LX I installed the oem size and could not be happier.

Excellent, thank you for that confirmation info, mate! They'll be spooned on this Thursday. Looking forward to experiencing them.

 

[cphibs]

Maybe off topic… but does anyone have opinions on the cooper discoverer rugged trek? I’ve got a whopping 35% off on a new set and contemplating pulling the trigger. Any insight how they compare to ko2 (current tire)?

 

[ryanCA]

I went with stock sizing. I'm not hip or smart enough to start second-guessing the advantages/disadvantages of different tire sizes, and I doubt my reasons would impress anyone here. If I had my druthers, I'd want higher mpg and less body sway, but if neither improve, I won't be crying.

As for pic (of the new tires, I assume?) they haven't arrived yet. If you just want to see my ride, here ya go. In this pic I was on a walkabout (just driving, no planned destination) and ended up in Maine. Middle seat's are removed and I throw an air mattress in the back for sleeping on these trips. I'm planning to do another in March, headed to the west coast, hence the need to get decent rubber now.

View attachment 3840808

any photo of size or brand of mattress ?

 

[36J594]

Maybe off topic… but does anyone have opinions on the cooper discoverer rugged trek? I’ve got a whopping 35% off on a new set and contemplating pulling the trigger. Any insight how they compare to ko2 (current tire)

My wife has the SL rated version of the Rugged Trek's on her Jeep Wrangler JKU. They've been good tires, quiet for how aggressive they look. Probably the most aggressive SL rated tire I have seen. I have not driven them much so I don't have a lot of feedback, but if you get an SL rated size, they're probably much lighter than a similarly-sized but LT-rated KO2.

 

[clevelandLCguy]

any photo of size or brand of mattress ?

Ryan, I went with this one, and have been quite pleased (and I'm quite the Pea Princess):

MegaMat 10 - Mat | Exped

The world’s most comfortable basecamp mat

www.exped.com

I've removed my middle seats and put down plywood to level the surface. The rear seats are still in place, but this mat fits between them nicely.

 

[clevelandLCguy]

Okay, gents...I picked up the vehicle a moment ago. It's sloppy and snowing here, so I'm not going to be taking any pics for a while. I saw discussions about different tire pressures vs sizing vs model of tire vs towing. Can I just go with the pressures shown on the door sticker, or is there some arcane methodology to determine what would be best for these? Typically it's carrying just me and possibly the wife, though once in a while it gets pressed into pickup truck service to carry something large.

 

[mmm635]

Okay, gents...I picked up the vehicle a moment ago. It's sloppy and snowing here, so I'm not going to be taking any pics for a while. I saw discussions about different tire pressures vs sizing vs model of tire vs towing. Can I just go with the pressures shown on the door sticker, or is there some arcane methodology to determine what would be best for these? Typically it's carrying just me and possibly the wife, though once in a while it gets pressed into pickup truck service to carry something large.

Since you are not up-sizing or down-sizing and using the stock size, you should be just fine running the oem tire pressure.

 

[ryanCA]

Ryan, I went with this one, and have been quite pleased (and I'm quite the Pea Princess):

MegaMat 10 - Mat | Exped

The world’s most comfortable basecamp mat

www.exped.com

I've removed my middle seats and put down plywood to level the surface. The rear seats are still in place, but this mat fits between them nicely.

thank you

without removing middle row, would it still work?

 

[clevelandLCguy]

thank you

without removing middle row, would it still work?

Possibly, if you just wanted enough space to lay down. But it's hard to imagine using the vehicle as an actual camper like that, carrying your gear, clothing, etc. Another option would be to purchase one of those tents that wraps around the rear of the vehicle, and then sleep partially on the lowered tailgate.