WilliamA

Hey all,
The newbie breaks the ice here. My 2017 KL is coming along nicely with lots of additions. One of the biggies (so far anyway) is the addition of Firestone Destination M/T's in 245/70/17

I was okay with the A/T's but really wanted a bit more aggression in the look and also the ability to navigate the sand roads and fire roads of northern Wi. searching for Smallmouth bass. These should do the trick.

I peeled the stockers off at just under 5,000 miles. Lots of searching for a suitable substitute brought me back to Firestone. My #1 reason was the application of this same tire on the SEMA Trailhawk that Jeep corporate prepared. It's sporting the same tire and, so they said, works well with stock Trailhawk suspension geometry. A few conversations with Eric at Firestone here in town brought about the deal. I sourced these beasts from Tire Rack and Eric said they would price-match so I got them for $124 each plus shipping. I think the total with mounting and balance came to just over $750 for 4. I want to get another for a spare but am not sure it will fit in the spare tire well so more research is in order there.

The new tires are .93 inches larger in diameter than the stock A/T's and have the same advertised width. I suspect that the extra mud lugs on the M'T sidewall make them a bit wider, but not by much. The look is aggressive and beastly. It completely changes the overall look of the Jeep. My detailed offroad tests (driving up on a curb with one wheel) show no tendency toward rubbing or interference, but I doubt they would fit a stock non-trailhawk KL without some work. They're big and fill the wheelwell as much as I'd be comfortable with. They are loud. Now we talk about what the definition of "loud" is. Well, they are much louder than the A/T's. This is not to say they are annoying. Just louder. I took the Jeep up to my old shop in Northern Wi and had them syped, which reduced the noise significantly along with a huge increase in ice/slippery road grip. If you need an ice/snow tire, move along. These ain't it. Once syped, they proved to do fine with slippery/icy/snowy roads so long as you mind what you are doing, but will never be Blizzak's. I'm okay with the grip and the noise. The only other thing I've noticed is they tend to want to follow rain-grooves in concrete highways. That's to say they tend to wander a bit more than the A/T's, but then so do I, so it's a good match.

Back to the noise for a minute. There isn't any noise from these beasts I can't live with. I can still hear the radio just fine and they get quieter at highway speeds, being loudest at around 20-30 mph. The wife might complain, but you probably won't be able to hear her so it's fine. Just kidding. They are certainly not obtrusively so and I quickly have gotten used to them. Having done it, I'd do it again. Any questions, just say it.....

WilliamA

245/70/17 Firestone M/T

tampabaymatt

WilliamA... thx for sharing! Is your KL FWD or AWD? Latitude, Trailhawk or Limited? Did you install any lifts or spacers to for the 245/70/17 tires? Are you experiencing any tire rubbing? I have a 2018 Cherokee KL Latitude Plus and wanted to put some 245/70/17 tires onto as well though I am concerned they will not fit properly and cause rubbing. Thank you for sharing... Cheers!

RockinRonnie

Welcome to the CF Matt!

Karl Milhon

Those are nice looking tires. How do they rate off road? AND, how do they sound on the highway? I will also go look and the extra size ought to look good and good work getting the blessing of Jeep and noting the SEMA comparison. AND, the price is awesome. I will ride the original AT's out but will likely replace with KO2's like I have on my truck unless the ones you got are good to go for MT. Living in MT, the severe snow rating is also important. BUT, those are also about 40 bucks per tire more expensive than your new ones.

We do hit lots of light off-roading here. Most of it that is "questionable" is "doable" with a Subaru, if you don't care about how it looks, but some of it is beyond a Suby (Tizer Lake) and, for example, this year with about two feet of snow right now sitting in my front yard, I've personally helped two Suby's out of the snow in the last six weeks with my truck. I've never seen a Jeep stuck yet. If I lived in the SW, with less snow I might very likely go with those tires. They are nice.

ForcedInduction

Karl Milhon

feel better?

Polarhawk

Not a bad thread though. A similar thread on the JK forum really helped me narrow down tire choices (ended up with Goodyear Kevlar MTR's for that ride, got about 100K miles on each of two sets).

I've got Motomaster AT3's on my Trailhawk. I believe they are the Canadian market brand for Cooper AT3's.

These are great shoes for a Trailhawk! Quiet, great in sand, outstanding on snow & the limited amount of ice I've been on with them. The relatively low ground clearance is certainly the limiting factor for my Trailhawk. Not the tires.

What tires is everyone else running?