I'm sure this post is all too common but I'm thinking individual regions dictate different recommendations. I'm totally new to off road tires. I have done some reading around and have a couple tires on my radar but still wanna ask the XJ dedicated crowd. So, as for my region, I'm in Northern Kentucky. I would be wheeling here and in the surrounding states. I'm looking for sound advice and recommendations from those most experienced with off road tires and selection. I'd rather not hear the recommendations of those who just pick a scary looking tire, I can screw that up myself. I'm only interested in the best performing, longest lasting, most reliable tire for my specific application. Ok, so I am going with 33's, my XJ isn't a dedicated DD so total achievable mileage doesn't have to dictate here completely. At the same time, I don't want a poor, noisy on road performer that I only squeeze 25K out of. I will typically be traveling 100 or more miles to wheeling locations around me so I guess I'll see 50/50 on/off road usage? I would say I am favoring off road capability over on road for sure. Let me know what you think, any other factors to consider that I haven't thought of, feel free to let me know. Thanks y'all!

 

toyo mt and cooper discoverer stt pro a lot of people love them and they aint too extra like a super swamper is.Or a tight budget https://www.treadwright.com/ are recaps but some people love them.

 

The cooper was one of the ones on my radar, glowing reviews and a sweet price for me to save $200 towards a better more complete lift kit. That one just moved to the top of my list I think.

 

i have the older cooper discoverer stt's and love them, great wear, great traction on the road in the rain as well as the rocks(not much mud here)

i dig mtr kevlars and the new bfg ko2 a/t

 

the new cooper stt pro is on my jeep, very happy w/ them & the price aint bad either.

 

I've been running Mickey Thompson MTZ on my JK and I've been pretty happy with them. Granted, I'm running slick rock for the most part, but I've had it in the mud/snow a bit and no issues. I drive the snot out of it and the tires have really held up. Minimal chunking from the rocks and seem to void well enough in the mud.

You might also check out Mastercraft Courser MXT. I ran the old version of this tire and the new ones look even better. I had two sets of the old version and they were great in the Illinois slop and decent in the rocks.

 

I have had Pro Comp MT, they were OK, ONLY OK, and then I had some BFG MT, like those alot, but now I am on Goodyear Kevlar MT, I like them alot. Only issue I had with them is they took a few trips and a few hundred miles to the tire shop to get balanced correctly.

 

These have worked well for me mostly on trails mud and snow they are Gladiator GR 9000-M/T and the price for 5 of them mounted, balanced, new valve stems, tax out the door was $589.25.

 

convenient thread, lol.

my xj is probably 50/50 and currently on discoverer A/Ts.

Want to stick with 31s but an M/T.

 

For us not familiar with your area and the terrain, please inform us of what kind of offroading you'll be doing. I have quite a bit of experience with different tires and would like to recommend something that would better suit your needs.

 

The OP if from Northern KY. Terrain is going to be a mix of muddy trails with stumps and some rocks depending on the area. Rocks are slippery mixed with the mud. Hills and v-notches I'm sure.

 

I will throw in Hankook MTs Good on the street and a fairly aggressive tread at a good price.
These tires are so sticky you can run on the side of a wall. 30x9.50 15s

 

I'd have to go with what emptypockets said. I've never been to any of the local spots like Red River Gorge or Natural Bridge or the Daniel Boone back country byway. His painted picture is accurate for KY though, that's my terrain experience with the few atv parks I've been dirt biking at around here so...

 

This is dirty turtle off road park in ky
Thats a easy trail and here is a harder one

 

I wouldn't recommend a true all-terrain with that kind of sludgy mud. You need a tire with wider voids in the tread for better cleaning otherwise you'll be sliding around on slicks. I think you would benefit from more of a mud tire with good on-road quality. Mud tires have come a long way from what they used to be. Their on-road characteristics have gotten much better. The tires that I would personally put into this category would be (no specific order):

Goodyear MT/R Kevlars

Mickey Thompson MTZ

Cooper Discoverer STT Pro

Dick Cepek Extreme Country

One exception to the mud-terrain tire would be a Duratrac. They seem like great tires for just about anything. I just don't know how they do for cleaning. Maybe someone can weigh-in on that.