Tires Time (For 'Heepy Jeepy')

[orneryduck]

My wife's 1993 Jeep Cherokee Sport needs tires. It last saw new tire since 2015, when the then new General Grabber A/T's made their appearance. They seemed like good tires at the time, and have held up, but their road manners were slovenly at best, even early-on. Now they are thoroughly aged out.

I'm about to embark on a part one of four significant services on the Jeep. Round one will include rebuilding the Dana 30 front axle I procured, with new bearings, new u-joints, ball joints, brake rotors, calipers, and lines, as well as painting the whole lot to prevent corrosion/ugliness. I'd also like to slot new tires in with the front axle change, since an alignment will be necessary afterward. What tires to get though?

My wife hasn't set a clear direction for the Jeep's future as she likes off-roading as much as she does AutoX, and its primary role is still a daily driver at the end of the day. I've been treating it as an OEM+ build, pending further guidance from her, so the lift is all OE-style stuff to match the rare factory optioned UpCountry lift, wheels are the 15" '10 holes' she adores, and it seems to fit that the tires should have parity to the theme so far.

I like A/T's in stock or near stock sizes, but would consider a road tire if it meant better handling, I just don't know much about tires outside of the sporty ones.

Being Florida, snow is not a consideration, with our operating temp range being a rare drop to 35* a couple weeks out of the year and peaks up to 100*f -- wet traction matters a great deal since we get frequent afternoon storms. Stock size (225/75R15) is also very limiting for selection, last time we moved to 235/75R15, which still seems to be 'the way'.

The 'short list' but open to deviation based on the OPPO guidance:

Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Cooper&tireModel=Discoverer+AT3+4S&partnum=375TR5DA4SOWLXL

We had a good experience with these while in CO on our Tahoe, as did the wife's brother on his Explorer. Winter needs no longer there, but I think overall they'd still do well. I think these may be the 'lightest' of the good A/T options too, which is a benefit for unsprung mass management.

Firestone Destination AT2
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Destination+A%2FT2&partnum=375SR5DAT2OWL

My friend had these on his XJ and loved them. He still stands by them as a great road option with only mild trail demands.

Yokohama Geolander AT015
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=Geolandar+A%2FT+G015&partnum=375TR5G015OWLXL

Due to @HammerheadFistpunch 's experience and @ClassicDatsunDebate 's suggestion, I've swapped the Falken option for Yokohamas.

Firestone Destination LE3
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Destination+LE3&partnum=375TR5DLE3OWLXL

These are the wildcard, a highway tire that will reduce the 5% benefit of off-road grip for the gain 95% of the time on road. The have fantastic wet and dry traction ratings and I think for the sand/gravel roads they'd still fare well, losing out in the mud, which we try to avoid anyways. I think these are also the closest in spirit to what would have been stock option in the 80's/90's of the XJ Cherokee.

It seems antithetical to the norm, but I'm kinda leaning toward the last option. What is the OPPOpinion? Not trying to impress anyone with beefy off-road looks, just want the best option for the use and knowing that we aren't entirely neutering the Jeep for off-road/beach trips.

[HammerheadFistpunch]

@orneryduck said in Tires Time (For 'Heepy Jeepy'):

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Destination+A%2FT2&partnum=375SR5DAT2OWL

Im starting to realize something I don't like about my wildpeaks. They don't track well. On the GX is slightly noticeable, but on the cruiser its very noticeable. Its a lot more work to keep it straight on the freeway with these. On an XJ, I think you will notice.

[adamftw]

The only tires I've ever had a negative experience with was Cooper AT3s. I really like my Toyo AT3s so far, but they may be a little too aggressive for what you want (and tbh, too agressive for me as well).

If Michelin Defenders were available in the size I wanted, I'd get those. Check those out. The newer LTX AT2s look good too.

[ClassicDatsunDebate]

@orneryduck
As I’ve said may times when this topic comes up; The Wrangler loves its new Yokohama Geolandar G015’s. Great wet weather performance.

[Longtime Lurker]

@orneryduck The customers we sell the Destination LE3 to are all fairly happy with how they perform. Depending on how aggressive that 5% offroad is they should be adequate for your needs.

[Manwich]

@orneryduck

I have a low opinion of Bridgestone/Firestone tires. Every time I got them in the past, there was some sort of issue with them that left me dissatisfied even though they looked like a good option initially.

So if it was me, I'd reduce your short list to the Yokohama and the Cooper options.

[nermal]

@orneryduck What's the expected off-road usage? If it's just an occaisional dirt / gravel road, pretty much anything will work for that.

I've used the version of Cooper ATs that are sold for cheap at NTB. They were fine when new, got noisy as they wore, then replaced them when one blew out.

My truck came with Firestone highway tires, and I've used an older version of the Destination LE on my previous Jeep. No issues with either, beyond the obvious lack of bro points. Sounds like in your case all driving is on street, so stick with the highway tires.

[orneryduck]

@nermal not a lot. We like hitting trails at speed as opposed to mudding or rock crawling. The most we'll see is very loose beach sand, and washboarded dirtroads.

@manwich I have Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's on the Mustang and like them overall, but they are definitely less capable than their marketing would stipulate (They are the equivalent to the Bridgestone Potenza R03 for the rest of the world). I'd be disappointed but their price point was a fraction of the alternatives and for street-only use, they perform with confidence, even if their capability is lower than peer products.