Tires on the trail

I am thinking of putting a combination of two different tires on my CJ. On the rear I would like to run TSL/SX's and on the front I am considering Thornbirds. The front would be 35X14.50X15 and the rear would be 35X15.50X15. Do you guys think on the trail that this would be a good setup or not?

 

Looking for the best turning grip in tight places! Better steering control.

 

I guess a thornbird is good for only a spare. HA!

 

I run tsl/LTB's on all 4. They grip great, I've never been at a loss for traction, and the turning radius is still acceptable for 33x13.50-15's. Dont get the Thornturds. You could run boggers on the back and tsl's on the front for max mud grip, but the boggers dont hold side hills as well as the tsl's do.

 

I've never heard anything good about thornbirds...other than maybe that they "look" aggressive for people who use them on show trucks.

 

Only place I've ever seen them, too.

 

x2 LTB's are great tires.

 

Thornbirds even suck on the street. My buddy in Wisconsin bought a truck with some and they were not even good street tires. Possibly the worst tire you can run offroad, IMO

 

Thornbirds suck! Go with the swampers.

 

The next tires I get will be High Tec retreads. Not the best, but for less than 100 a tire you can't beat it.

 

Thanks for backing me on that, Sparky. The funny thing is the guy who owns the blue CJ on Thornbirds I used as the lead photo agrees - they're garbage. He's saving up for new rubber as we speak.

As to you question, there's nothing wrong with running two different types of tires front to rear. I'd just suggest you make sure the diameters are very similar unless you're only running in loose sand or mud. Any hard pack rock, etc. will put you into t-case bind if you run two different brand tires that spec out at different diamters. For example, most Swampers I've run actually measure up anywhere from 1-to-2 inches shorter than what the sidewall says. Goodyear MT/R, Maxxis, and a few others are pretty close to the advertised sidewall. If you really feel you must run 2 dissimilar tire sizes, play with the air pressure to get 'em as close as you can when running in 4WD on hard pack.

Post up what kind of terrain you're going to be wheeling and you'll get better recommendations.

For the record, I agree the TSL Swamper is one of the best all around performing tires - as long as you don't have to drive it on the street.

 

I think both your selections are toooo wide
I have 33x15.50x15tslsx's on my cj6
and I have tried them in all types of terrain from sand to slick clay hills, loose rocks and just plain rocks, sure they grip when you let them down on rocks you know aren't going to move, and they're ok on san because the vehicle is so light, but slick clay hills and loose rocky slopes they are useless
go 35x10.5 or 35x11.5 IMHO

 

I dissagree you want something with as big a foot as possible. why do you explain big floatation tires on tractors that farm wet fields?

 

I've got LTB's on my '77 CJ5. I love them! My '67 CJ5 is going to get Bridgestone Dueler MT's. They're a little spendy, but I ran them on an XJ, years ago, and they were a fantastic tire, too.
Thornbirds.... worse than useless.

 

well sure flotation is all the go when you have a softish surfce with slop underneath, and how heavy is a tractor compared to a CJ, it's all about ground pressure, but if you want to bite through to a solid surface......

 

I guess it is a bad analogy.

I had skinny snow tires on my jeep and tried a hill climb in the mountian. couldn't make it. the next year I got new wider mud tires for the jeep and they did there job. I think the key is to have a self cleaning tires.