I went up to 285/65R18 XL Michelins. No strange shifting at all. Didn't feel much different at all. Imperceptible.
So I think the Michelin Defender is the perfect all-terrain tire... (For most of us) (7 Viewers)
- Thread starter chriscosta416
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On sand, high
For beach and sand, tires with less aggressive features like a highway tire are actually more effective. Because they tend not to dig as easily.
There's still the dimension of floatation however which is dependent on the tire surface area. This is where airing down is key, to something like 15-20 psi, depending on how heavy your are and also how loose, hot, and dry the sand is.
This is also where dimensionally larger tires make a difference. Because of more sidewall and the larger footprint they can put down. With more capability to air down further to get more floatation still.
In the southwest where there exists crazy silt beds in the Baja like dessert, maximizing footprint can be critical to avoiding stucks at overlanding weight, which is why I prefer full fat tires.
If there's one thing to takeaway, is don't roll into sand at highway tire pressures.
For beach and sand, tires with less aggressive features like a highway tire are actually more effective. Because they tend not to dig as easily.
There's still the dimension of floatation however which is dependent on the tire surface area. This is where airing down is key, to something like 15-20 psi, depending on how heavy your are and also how loose, hot, and dry the sand is.
This is also where dimensionally larger tires make a difference. Because of more sidewall and the larger footprint they can put down. With more capability to air down further to get more floatation still.
In the southwest where there exists crazy silt beds in the Baja like dessert, maximizing footprint can be critical to avoiding stucks at overlanding weight, which is why I prefer full fat tires.
If there's one thing to takeaway, is don't roll into sand at highway tire pressures.
Recently had a chance to use these tires off-pavement. About 1.5hrs on a forest service road each way (in/out), towing that same trailer. 20PSI all around, no issues whatsoever. Comfortable, confident ride.Here are the stock-size (285/50/20) defenders on OEM rims.
Same vehicle or something lighter? Were his KO2s stock size or larger? Unless his vehicle is identical, there's many variables at play. Including driver and vehicle settings like locking the center diff to also turn off traction control.
For everyone airing down to go on the beach, are y'all running LTs? Or Ps? I was under the impression it was bad to deflate P rated tires.
I ran my non LT michelins at 18PSI for nearly a week straight without airing up in CO at the LCDC event last year in Ouray with no issues.
I don't think I ever had LTs on my Durangos or Jeeps and always aired down.
I just got back from Colorado where I took my stock 2019 LC with Defender LT and they performed superbly on both Cinnamon Pass and Engineer Pass on the Alpine Loop. There were a couple of spots going up Engineer Pass from Silverton that I didn't think I'd get over, but we found the line and it didn't slip once, even though everything was slick from rain. One friend had KO2's on a Nissan Frontier and the other was running Falkens on his 4Runner and there were multiple sections where they were hitting and I wasn't. I still love the look of a more aggressive off-road tire, but these worked so well I'm not sure I'm going to switch.
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Even though I sold my 200 long ago, reading all these comments make me so happy. Glad to here everyone is loving the defenders! I really should of made an affiliate link to cash out on all this!
Just kidding
Just kidding
Time get back into a 200Even though I sold my 200 long ago, reading all these comments make me so happy. Glad to here everyone is loving the defenders! I really should of made an affiliate link to cash out on all this!
Just kidding
What did you buy instead of your 200?Even though I sold my 200 long ago, reading all these comments make me so happy. Glad to here everyone is loving the defenders! I really should of made an affiliate link to cash out on all this!
Just kidding
