[Weege]

Anyone familair with the engineering choices behind a JK Sport's 255/75/17 Goodyear Wrangler RS-As and a JK Sahara's 255/70/18 Bridgestone Duelers?

I bought a 2013 JK Unlimited Sport last night. I'll be selling my '07, but I had just recently purchased 5 brand-new tires and wheels from a Sahara (thanks, Craisglist). I basically have a brand new Jeep with brand new 255/75 Goodyear Wrangler RS-As and an old Jeep with brand-new Bridegestones. Before I sell the old one, I could swap tires abd put the Bridgestones on the new one. Does anyone know the major (peformance) differences between these tires from an engineering standpoint? Yeah, 18-inch wheels have more bling, but it's a Jeep, bling means nothing. From what I can remember from the Goodyears I had that came with my 07, the Bridgestones seem to actually be louder, ride rougher (maybe due to the shorter sidewall) and have less road holding on-road than the Goodyears. But, are they more effective off-road? I've got Rubicon BFGs to throw on for weekend wheeling, but day to day it's nice to have something that can handle a little bit of mud.

 

[MoparNorm]

That particular BFG is used purely for mpg ratings.
It's a terrible tire off road.
Another thing to consider, the 18" wheels vs the 17" wheels means if you ever install real off road tires such as the BFG KM2's or Goodyear MTR's, you will pay nearly $100 per tire more for an 18" vs 17" tire.

 

[Weege]

That's good info, thanks, Norm. So that's a BFG mudder in name (and looks) only?

Not sure why Jeep went with the 'Stones for the Sahara, since Wranglers have almost always come with, well, Wranglers. Either way, they're all pretty terrible tires...but people throw used ones around on Craigs practically for free.

 

[MoparNorm]

That's good info, thanks, Norm. So that's a BFG mudder in name (and looks) only?

Not sure why Jeep went with the 'Stones for the Sahara, since Wranglers have almost always come with, well, Wranglers. Either way, they're all pretty terrible tires...but people throw used ones around on Craigs practically for free.

It's a self cleaning thread design, but a hard rubber compound.
OEM tires are selected for a wide range of criteria that the Manufacturer wants or needs to meet. It's an all around tire that doesn't excel, but is adequate for certain uses.