Help me decide (tires)

[043500]

OK...by about the first weekend I March I should finally have enough $$ saved to get 4 new tires for the MJ.

I've been eyeballing the 35X12.50/17 LTB's for a while now but literally as each day passes (waiting for me to save money) they are getting harder to come by. PLUS if I get them I need to buy rims as well which I shuld be able to do since I found these tires for less than $250 a tire.
I currently have 16's. My reasoning for going to 17" rims is tires are a little less $$ than for 16's it seems.

BUT I can keep my current OOGLY stock 16" rims (paint them of course) and get into a set of 315/75-16 GY MTR Kevlars for a little more per tire than the swampers and probably be able to afford to buy 5 so I have a good matching spare. since I wouldn't have to buy rims.

Overall height difference between the 2 should be negligible once mounted.

Here's the situation. My MJ is now seeing road use for less than 500 miles a year. It gets trailered to the Crawl each year and then is used as a tractor on our property the rest of the time. Bias tires would hopefully last a good while (I have a welded rear end so on the street the LTB tread would be too soft) and then when I needed them again I would hope the tires for 17" rims would still be less $$ than for the 16's.

So thoughts...opinions...?

Or should I be a little dumber go ahead and get 4 36X13/16 TSLs and be a little more broke? LOL

 

[Ghost]

I'm going to put my .02 in here on rims..... tires not so much. As you know I run a 16.5 Hummer rim. Go 17"! That is the rim size to have in off road tires. I also have 16" rimes on the stock dd xj. Tires in that size are a lot less available. I imagine its only a matter of time till they get more scarce. TSL's have thinker sidewalls. MTR I believe people are having trouble with them getting cut. I know the BFG's are. Watched a guy do it not long ago.

 

[043500]

I'm going to put my .02 in here on rims..... tires not so much. As you know I run a 16.5 Hummer rim. Go 17"! That is the rim size to have in off road tires. I also have 16" rimes on the stock dd xj. Tires in that size are a lot less available. I imagine its only a matter of time till they get more scarce. TSL's have thinker sidewalls. MTR I believe people are having trouble with them getting cut. I know the BFG's are. Watched a guy do it not long ago.

That's why I've been really looking at going to 17's. It seems 16's are the new 15's and 17's are the new 16's etc.

Am I correct in saying the LTB's have the same sidewall (carcass I guess) as the TSL's...just a modified tread pattern?

 

[Ghost]

That's why I've been really looking at going to 17's. It seems 16's are the new 15's and 17's are the new 16's etc.

Am I correct in saying the LTB's have the same sidewall (carcass I guess) as the TSL's...just a modified tread pattern?

Looking at the site and comparing the two there are some that have the same sidewall plies and some that don't. I also see they make a 42.5 bogger now. Too bad it's a skinny tire. That with my tsl's on front would be the old Tellico set up.