Factory Steelies - What Tires Are You Running?

I've been mainly a lurker, trying to gather as much information from you folks as I can soak up. I have some questions regarding wheels and tires. I've come to a point where I need to make a decision pretty quick. My '67 CJ6 has, what I believe are, the factory wheels. Steelies that are 5.5 wide. I went to Discount Tire to get a set of BF Goodrich AT KO2. The wheels are so narrow they won't mount either the 235/75/15 or 31". Understood. So my choices are to either stick with the narrow bias ply mud tires like it has now or upgrade to a wider wheel. What are you folks running for skinny mud tires? If I were wanted to continue to run steelies, what are my option for a wider rim? I'm thinking later CJ, international, and Ford. Thoughts?

 

I have 16" factory rims and run the Goodyear DuraTrac 215/85. But that is a 16". Hard to get 15" tires now a days.

 

BF Goodrich mud/snow 235/75 R15 on 8" steel rims. Mo problem to buy but the cost.
65 CJ5.

 

Camping, road trips on back roads, definitely not mudding. I do have a hunting lease so all terrains give me road manners and traction off road. Honestly, I'm not wanting wider. If I could get the tires I wanted for the original rims, I definitely would. Steering and brakes are stock although I will start upgrading with time. I've only had the jeep a few months and haven't even had it on the road for different issues. I'd like to find some of those intermediate rims for sure!

 

I have Specialty Tires of America 7.00-15 "Super Traxion" tubeless bias ply tires on stock wheels. IMO they look great, handle great on the road, and perform very well off road. Before that I had cheap Goodyear 235/75/15 all terrain radials, and the STA's are just better in every way. I would definitely recommend them.

 

I looked around a lot for tires for mine with stock rims. For my purposes these tires seemed to be the best compromise:
General Grabber AT2 205 /75 R15 97T SL OWL. They are available at Discount Tire. They fit the rim nicely.

 

235/75r15 should be OK on a 5.5 wheel.

 

I had 33x10.50x15 mounted on stock wheels (they were either 5.5" or 6" I can't remember). I had to get a shade tree guy to mount them and paid in cash. They worked fine but my jeep spends its life on dirt. The only on-road they had were while flat towing at 70mph. The original plan was was 9.50" wide swampers (either 32, 33 or 34" tall) but the backorder wait time was too long.

I eventually had custom steelies made (for a different reason) that were 7" wide.

Pm me and I'll email you some pictures when I had them mounted.

 

I have Kelly Safari MSRs on the stock 15in steelies. I haven't had any problems with them and they look pretty beefy in my opinion. I've had them for 10 years and drove from ID to VA on them day one - they've been garaged most of the time since.

 

I too have the 31x1050x15 Kelly Safari MSR on stock 5.5 wheels. Look great, mounted with no problems.

 

These are pricey, but my dad used these on his 2a and seems to like them.



https://m.summitracing.com/parts/co..._-coker-tire&gclid=CI-L2aWE89MCFUtNfgodbB4DUw

 

X2 That's what are on mine.

 

LT 235/75R15 Toyo M-55 snow tire on factory steel wheels. Jeep is a 1966. Nothing but high ratings for this tire. Very happy getting them.

 

Thank you all for your replies. I really don't want to change my rims. Would any of you mind posting what the 235/75r15 looks like on the factory skinny wheel? I guess I'll just have to find a mom and pop to mount them for me.

 

These look nice!

 

I've looked these a lot actually. My online concern is that the jeep will sit for months some times and I don't want to develop flat spots. If these were radial, I might just jump on them!

 

My Jeep sits for long periods of time when I am away at college. The flat spots are no worse after a couple of months than they are after a week in my experience. Either way, the flat spots are only noticeable for the first mile or two after it has sat for a long time, then they go back to normal.

 

Re the 10.5-31s on 5.5" rims, they may mount up ok, but the back spacing is really wrong for that size tire. Some simple math will show you how much of the tire is inside the mounting surface. On an ECJ, the rear springs are mounted way inboard, so you won't interfere with the springs on the rear. However, I predict you will rub a whole bunch of paint off of the inside of the wheel house, if you ever go off the pavement and have a rear wheel stuffed and the other hanging. On the front, the main result will be rubbing of the tire edge with the spring when turning. This does not do much harm, but you will hear and feel the tire lugs cogging away at the spring. BTDT. You can fix this by adjusting the knuckle stops, but that will reduce your turning radius.

Also, you will probably need a very low tire pressure to make the proper footprint and get even tire wear. A wide tire on a narrow rim will have a sigificant center crown at normal inflation.

Really, with that wide a tire you need to move the center of the tire outward by using a wider wheel with factory back spacing. Aftermarket steel wheels are not that expensive.

 

Anyone have experience with the Centennial P- Metric Commander tires? They come in 235/75/15 radial, have a bit of the retro look and are about $100 each. Website says they are ideal for older trucks...whatever that means.

$96.99 - Centennial Terra Commander P-Metric - tires | Buy Centennial Terra Commander P-Metric tires at SimpleTire