Question on suspension and tires

[FIREBALL48]

Hello everyone. I am not sure where exactly to ask this question. I think that I might need to replace the stock suspension on my 2004 limited that has about 124,000 miles on it and that I need to replace the tires soon. I really can not afford to put a lift on it right now due to needing the tires. I kind of just want to leave the height about stock because it is my daily driver and I do not go off-road very much (just every once in a while). I would love any suggestions as to a nice all-season or on-road off road tire which is just a little beefier then OEM. Also any suggestions you might give for the suspension.

 

[dude1116]

Find the thread for the Iron Man suspension. It's a pretty decent price AND can give you about 2" of lift or so. For tires, I'm just gonna go ahead and suggest the tires I'm running now: 235/70-16 Hankook DynaPro ATM RF10 Tires

They're EXCELLENT with grip. They're just a tad loud, but I blast music, so I really don't care much at all.

Or these, which were the competitor in my mind to the tire I chose:

235/70-16 Cooper Discoverer A/T3 Tires

Cheaper, but I can't find many reviews about them. My neighbor has them, and they look pretty good! (I haven't ridden in the truck/asked about them though) Has a pretty high tread warranty too!

I went with the Hankooks because I'm a strong believer of "you get what you pay for" and I thought the tread looked a lot more aggressive, which was what I was going for.

 

[FIREBALL48]

Thanks dude1116 for the info. I will have to check out those tires and the lift kit.

 

[tommudd]

Aftermarket springs and shocks will give you a much better ride, better handling than you had when brand new
We just installed a Ironman which I had here
with some fine tuning on it he has 4 inches of real lift right now, should settle in at 3.5-3.75
now without any "extras" you're at 2.5 to 2.75
Bet you are sitting at least an inch or more lower than stock now

Hint Hint.....lots of reading in the lift section on suspensions

 

[FIREBALL48]

Thanks Tommudd. I have been reading alot on the lifts that have been listed on here for a while. There is alot of info on here that is for sure. I just do not know if I want to do the "lift thing" right now. Money is kind of tight right now..lol. I was thinking of going with the tires about the size that dude1116 suggested. If I did the Iron Man lift will they fit or would I have to go bigger (i.e. the extra room in wheel wells)?

 

[hectikart]

Thanks Tommudd. I have been reading alot on the lifts that have been listed on here for a while. There is alot of info on here that is for sure. I just do not know if I want to do the "lift thing" right now. Money is kind of tight right now..lol. I was thinking of going with the tires about the size that dude1116 suggested. If I did the Iron Man lift will they fit or would I have to go bigger (i.e. the extra room in wheel wells)?

I have the Ironman lift on my KJ, definitely recommend it...loving it so far. You don't need to go with larger tires. I just did the lift a little over a week ago, so I'm still running stock tires. There's definitely room for bigger tires, and you get the additional ground clearance of a bigger tire, but you can stay with a stock size. It does look kind of odd with the small tires though...I will be upgrading to 245-75/r16's as soon as I have some extra $, hopefully before winter.

 

[dude1116]

You can always just check out those tires in a slightly bigger size. 245/70/16 might even fit under stock if you're just looking for something at stock height. I wouldn't suggest it though because with new tires and new treads, I'm rubbing the 235/70/16s on the worn stock suspension (not anymore as I have about 10k wear on them now). You won't NEED to get bigger tires with a lift, and honestly don't think it would look too bad with just the 2.5", especially after it settles.

SO. What I PERSONALLY think you should do if you're SERIOUSLY concerned about it looking funny, go for the 245/70/16s that'll barely fit under your stock suspension now, and then get the Iron Man kit for a good ride, smooth handling, and a slightly taller rig.

 

[Ry' N Jen]

I too agree with Dude1116.
I personally really like the Hankook Dynapro ATM's. Hard to beat for the price.
Had 'em on several of my work trucks and our KJ had them when we first bought it.
Jen and I drove them into the ground and milked them to the last mile possible!
I would of bought them again had we been in the market for an all terrain tire.
The other popular tire choice by the general consensus of members here and on L.O.S.T are the Goodyear Duratrac's.
You might also consider looking at the Treadwright line of retread tires.
Several Liberty owners and forum members like them as we'll for their cost to performance ratio.
Ask Jayme, aka Yellow coyote. She's running a BFG A/T tread clone Treadwright tires and really likes them...

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Depending on which rims you have, if you have the 17's, I really love my Nitto Terra Grapplers. Very quite and nice riding. Great grip too. I have them on my LR3 as well.

 

[04Liberty]

General Grabber AT2's, 235/70R16

 

[dude1116]

General Grabber AT2's, 235/70R16

Discontinued. They're getting more expensive and harder to find.

Of course here they are, completely available when I'm not tire shopping:

General Grabber AT 2

 

[NJallDAY]

Depending on which rims you have, if you have the 17's, I really love my Nitto Terra Grapplers. Very quite and nice riding. Great grip too. I have them on my LR3 as well.

I had the nittos on my ram and they were unstoppable, very good tire. If your going to be replacing the shocks and springs you might as well get the lift. Not much more price wise. The last of my ironman lift came in today. The whole thing shipped w/ the "extras" tommudd spoke of ran me just under $800

 

[04Liberty]

Discontinued. They're getting more expensive and harder to find.

Of course here they are, completely available when I'm not tire shopping:

General*Grabber AT 2

Wal-Mart has them:

General Grabber AT2 Tire 235/70R16 - Walmart.com

 

[dude1116]

Wal-Mart has them:

General Grabber AT2 Tire 235/70R16 - Walmart.com

I swear when I was tire shopping these things were the hottest damn thing on the market. Now they're readily available at a decent price... :disgust:

Not to say I don't freaking LOVE my Hankooks, but DAMN this would have saved me a lot of time...

 

[tommudd]

Could never understand the attraction to the Grabber AT2s

 

[Luke]

Especially when they are only a few dollars cheaper that Duratracs or MTR's

Up here in tax land anyway ... just saw an ad for Grabbers on sale $203. ea