Tire question

[Darrell KSR]

My daughter has a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Currently, the tires on it are 30x9.5x15.

The manual shows these 4 sizes available.

4061

What are the differences in these tires as a practical matter? Which one would you recommend, especially if you have a similar vehicle?

[Darrell KSR]

And if it matters, the vehicle is a standard rear wheel drive. Just used for regular road transportation.

Edit - I forgot to include as a choice just replacing the tires that are already on it. I think they are larger than the others, but I really don't know. So I guess there are 5 choices to look at.

[blueboss]

You're already missing the $36 car, should have kept the tires


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dan_bgblue]

245-75R15 is roughly the equivalent in a metric size to what is on the Jeep today and is what I would look for. You definitely do not want to shop for a tire size that ends in 16 as they would not it the rims she has today.

[kingcat]

You could also check the OEM sticker on the drivers door for the original tire size

[Doc]

Darrell:

the "P" means its a passenger tire
the 215/225/245 is the tire width from sidewall to sidewall (in millimeters)
the 70/75 is the height as a % of the width (the height is 70 or 75% of the width)
The R means its a radial tire
the 15 or 16 is the diameter of the wheel.

The listed tires are metric while the tires she currently has one the vehicle are not metric. The metric equivalents to what you have are 241/79R15 so all the tires listed are narrower (except the last one) and shorter. She apparently has 15 inch rims so she needs a 15 inch tire thus can't use a P225/70R16 as its an inch too big for the rim.

Also, why a passenger tire? If its a jeep, why not a light truck tire?

[Doc]

You're already missing the $36 car, should have kept the tires


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This Jeep is only 17 years old. In the Cartwright family, they haven't even taken the new car sticker off the window yet.

[Darrell KSR]

Dang straight. Just breaking this baby in. It does not have 200,000 miles on it yet--that's when it hits puberty. My wife (2009) and son (2007) are the outcasts of the family with their hedonistic choices. Of course, the transmission on it is about 3,000 miles old ;).

Great info, guys.

Doc, the 30x9.5x15 tires on it now are LT. I wonder why the manual doesn't suggest that--it seems the most appropriate to me, too. I don't know the real difference in Passenger vs Light Truck, but it just seemed right.

I was shown a set of tires this morning at my "sketchy" place. They didn't have any 30x9.5x15, so they showed me some 235-75R15, and the tires said "SUV" on it. Something like "Multi-mix" tires. I walked away from those and decided to ask here about changes in sizing.

Dave, the door jamb, according to my Jeep manual, doesn't show the OEM, but instead shows the smallest safe size tire it can handle. It is the 215-75R15.

My daughter doesn't really care. I think the Jeep sits up high, and when I drive it, I like that, so all other things being equal, I wouldn't mind seeing it stay that way. Seems safer to me, but that may just be my incorrect perception. Probably the smallest tire would be fine, too. Something just tells me that she/we wouldn't be happy with the smallest size tire.

[kingcat]

To a point, the smaller the tire size the better gas milage you get, and sometimes even better traction on ice and such. Others prefer more tire on the ground for better handling. I like the 70's all around, but have found the 75's give better ice traction here in AnarctiKentucky. Buying passenger tires in 'Bama my choice would be 70's...last seasons southern ice storms notwithstanding.

Rugged tread designs (light truck, SUV, and offroad types) incrementally increase road noise but offer better traction.

Like Doc says, a light truck tire would suit me fine, but passenger tires give a somewhat smoother and quieter ride.

[Darrell KSR]

Got the 215 75 15, LT. Little smaller, but I thought a Jeep should have the LT tires, like you and Doc said, Kingcat. I'm with you.

[Doc]

I just had to put new rubber on my car too. Choice was down to Hankook or Yokohama, or upgrade to Pirelli for an additional $100 (it was a buy 3 tires, get 1 free). I had Nitto tires. These on an 2011 Infinity M37 sedan. Wasn't really happy with the Nitto as they didn't last long, I had them put on in Jan of 2013 and they were not very quiet. I ended up getting the Yokohama and man an I happy. Super quiet and super smooth.

Funny thing is I took my car in because my Sirius radio was not working well. Figured the antenna was bad. I call Sirius to see if I should take it to a radio place or the dealer. They said dealer since it was dealer installed. Stuart only recently opened an Infinity dealer so I didn't have to go all the way to West Palm (40 miles) where I purchased the car. I stopped in to make an appt and the guy checked my VIN and told me my warranty expired in a week or 2,000 miles, and the radio WAS covered! They got me in that day, ordered the parts (antenna, noted a mudflap was bad which was also warrantied) and noted my tires were "in the red" which I knew. They had the sale going so we put tires on too. I can say it made a HUGE different in both the ride and the quietness of the car. Plus now the radio doesn't kick out every 10 feet.

[Bakert]

Darrell, this may be too late but for future reference www.tirerack.com is a *great* site. You can put in the information about your vehicle and it will find OEM tires or you can search by size. The great thing is that you can find a local place that works with Tire Rack so that you can have the tires delivered to them and they put them on. I've used this a few times and eventually the place I was using in Clemson started just giving me the same price on the tire.

But even if you don't buy from them, there is a lot of information including great reviews from those who have been driving on the tires.

[Darrell KSR]

Darrell, this may be too late but for future reference www.tirerack.com is a *great* site. You can put in the information about your vehicle and it will find OEM tires or you can search by size. The great thing is that you can find a local place that works with Tire Rack so that you can have the tires delivered to them and they put them on. I've used this a few times and eventually the place I was using in Clemson started just giving me the same price on the tire.

But even if you don't buy from them, there is a lot of information including great reviews from those who have been driving on the tires.

Good prices?

I ended up getting a reasonable deal on a set at Sears. Tires were rated pretty highly, so I'm more or less satisfied this time. But I hate the hunt I went through to save a few bucks.

I like the idea of a price match locally if the prices are good, too.