16" tire preferences?

I want to run the original 16" rims on my 2A... the chassis I have coming later this week also has some good all terrains mounted on another set of 16" rims. Since I have an extra set of rims now I thought about NDT's or Swamper LTB's on the extra set of rims.

I figure I can use the all terrains for around town etc.. and I want something aggressive/cool for shows/wheeling Gotta be inexpensive though, as the new frame/chassis just broke me and the g/f wants to kill me R)

Are NDT's available in taller sizes for the 16" rim? Do they perform well on the trail? I am kind of going for a stance similar to Animal, only with a 2A

Any recommendations for this 2A are welcome.

I have tried looking things up on tirerack and discounttire.com and they show nothing for even a 66 jeep with a 16" wheel

 

You got to stay skinny to avoid rubbing. I had 235/85's on my 16's and they would rub the spring packs in turns that arent very sharp. I saw a really cool looking set of modern military Michelins that I almost went with. They were 29" tall and I was hunting for a little more ground clearance and 15" wheels. My 16" wheels were in bad shape.

 

I definitely want pizza cutters, this whole jeep is going to be kinda retro-mod

 

I think you will find modern treads generally get more off road traction than the NDTs. Although others have disagreed with me on this (NDTs were good enough to win WWII).

In my opinion they work offroad (mud,snow or wet rock) well only when run halfway flat.

And to keep your ride-height you may need to stay with bias-play, since radials are too fat in the sidewalls when you try to get up around the 30" diameters.

Pete

 

I didnt even realize you were on LTB's... never looked that close, I just love the stance of that jeep

 

Steve what width are your 16's? I have 4 narrow 4.5? X 16" rims. I was looking for tires to go on them but kept running into the Radial profile percentage being an unavailable size when with the narrow 16 rim.
The stock 15's ran a wider rim and so could go with a taller profile which is still available. The old bias ply 6.00X16 upto 7.50X16 seemed to be the old standard, Denman still has them at around 125.00 per I think.

The info is in the archives somewhere using the search function, might make a decent FAQ.
Sizes that were stock, rims and tires and what years, what replacements are available and where to get them. A table listing the years and options. A tabular crossreference for 16X ? size Bias ply to metric radial, etc.

 

I have non directional tires on a 42 mb and a 44 gpw. (My 75 is a trail rig). Skinny tires are fine, but the NDT'S are not the best choice for performance on or off road. On road they have no wet traction. Off road they have no self cleaning ability.

 

I didnt pay attention to who posted it R)

 

I think wide radials are going to rub on the inner fenders and front spring packs, unless you get offset rims or wheel spacers. That's what I ran into on my CJ5 and M38A1.

Coker Tire and some other places still have tall skinny bias tires with traction tread (non NDT), but sometimes you have to twist their arm before they will admit to it. One salesman kept telling me "not available" until I gave him the page number in their own catalog...

Good luck.

Pete

 

I would recommend getting a set of CO-OP grip spurs. They have the skinny stance but have probably the deepest treads I've seen. Actually the tread pattern is exactly like the Buckshots but deeper. The best part is they are probably half the price of any of the other tires out there because they are farmer's CO-OP. My dad had a set on 2 of his previous jeeps; cj-3a & cj-5, and he didn't say he had any rubbing problems.

Here's a pic of one on a powerwagon

 

ooo i like those... where do you find them? Farm stores like TSC?

 

Used to be that implement tires weren't speed rated, so they aren't legal on a passenger car. No idea about the CO-OPs but worth checking.

 

only if you get caught R)

ironically enough a friend ran Terra tires from a ditch witch on his Sami.... they were the best handling tire on that rig, he drove it regularly on the highway for 3-4 hour stints. Not that I would recommend doing this R)

 

There is a Farmer's CO-OP store (that's the name of it) south of here. I was in there about a year ago and he had a building full of them. I want to say they were less than $100 for them.

 

have 32's Swampers just put on...stock suspension so far

 

View attachment 13566
The standard bias ply 750 16" lugs work fantastic off road as long as you don't air them up to much. I used some 5 inch wide rims on my TJ as to not break a bead seal. These cost about $120 each Can and are called "Jeep Service" tires which is printed right in the side wall. They don’t make them any more and were only available in Canada. However I am sure they still make something similar in the US. Some call them Pizza cutters but the tread width is not narrower than the stock rubber. I plan to use them on my CJ5 with a little inner fender clearance help.
The military tread style has very little side slide/lateral traction or wet traction. You don't want to be on a slimy road that has a slope to the ditch/cliff.
My first picture post...lets hope it works.
Ed