Tires for 06 Liberty Sport

[bheiser]

Hi All,

I'm new to this site, having just purchased an 06 Liberty Sport. It came with four Kumho Road Venture APT tires and a brand new Goodyear Wrangler ST spare mounted on the rear. The Kumho's are still OK for mild street use, but too worn for driving in snow, or probably even heavy rain at highway speeds.

My intended use will be mostly on road, but I will definitely be driving it in snow in the Sierra (places like Tahoe, Yosemite, etc), and some off-road. My offroading isn't anything extreme but does often require good traction (steep gravel slopes, shallow mud, etc). While my driving is primarily on road, I definitely want good performance in snow. And I go offroad solo, so it's very important that I have good traction at those times.

On my two most recent Jeeps (Wrangler & Cherokee) I had BF Goodrich T/A KO and found them to be very good off road, and pretty good on road. However they were very noisy.

Since the Liberty is a much quieter vehicle than either previous Jeep, and since most of my driving is on road, I'd rather not install noisy tires.

I'd never seen Kumho prior to buying this Jeep, and frankly I'd rather stick with (what I perceive to be) a "standard" brand (e.g. if I'm on the road and need a replacement I prefer something that's readily available).

I'm probably asking the impossible: "quiet on road, yet great in snow & off road".

I'm considering the Michelin LTX A/T 2 as it seems like it might meet my needs.

Do any of you have experience with these on a Liberty, with the kind of mixed road/off-road use I described? Or do you suggest something else?

Thanks in advance!

p.s. I love the Liberty so far ... it's hard to believe it's 5 years old, looks & feels like new! (55K miles)

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[Scooba Steve]

I have 245/70 r16 Michelin LTX A/T2 tires including the spare on my 06 sport and I love them. They have about 30k miles on them so far and show minimal signs of wear. They are very well composed on the road with very little to no noticeable road noise. They also do great in snow & rain. I haven't taken them off road, but from reviews that I read on Tire Rack they are just as capable as a BFG AT off road. Yes, they seem a little pricey but in the long run I think they are worth it considering that you are getting a premium tire that will last longer than most other tires out there.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Look at the Firestone Destination AT or the Nitto Terra Grappler....

 

[bheiser]

I chose the Michelin A/T 2

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I ended up selecting the Michelin A/T 2. It seems like there's no perfect choice in tires when one has needs as diverse as mine. But I've had good luck with Michelins, the reviews are good, and they're very highly rated on Tire Rack ... so I went for them.

I'll have them installed soon and will let you all know how they work out (libpatblue)

 

[bheiser]

great so far!

Just a quick followup ... I had 225x75x16 Michelin LTX A/T 2's installed on Thursday and have done some driving since then. It's all been on-road, without any snow or serious rain. I've driven on freeways, small rough rural roads, and twisty/hilly roads (coastal Hwy 1 in Marin County, CA).

So far my impression is that these tires are awesome! As Scooba Steve suggested, the tires are super quiet. They are very grippy and, combined with the Liberty being very tight, make you wonder if you're really driving a Jeep. I get a little more "road feel" than with the Kumho highway tires that were on there, but it's all good. The tires feel very smooth on the highway.

I'm looking forward to trying them out in some more challenging situations and will let you all know how they work out.:icon_biggrin: