The 315/70R17 Mickey Thompson...
The 315/70R17 Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ tires gave our Jeep the proportions it needed to look like a real Jeep. From a performance standpoint, taller tires add ground clearance and improve approach and departure angles. We've had a chance to use the tires on rocks, mud , and sand, and have been happy with the performance.
Larger mud-terrain tires are the cornerstone of a functional off-road Jeep. Taller tires mean more ground clearance, wider tires mean more contact patch, and an aggressive mud terrain tread pattern means increased performance off-road.
The proportions of the '07-'10 Jeep Wrangler grew so much compared to TJs that 33s look stock, and anything smaller just doesn't look right at all. Going with 35s at least looks like you are a contender off-road. You can even fit 37s pretty easily. What we wanted in an off-road tire was a combination of aggressive off-road tread, very good on-road manners, and sidewall protection so we don't kill a tire the first time we go off-road. This combination isn't easy to come by, as each of those elements is at odds with the other. Aggressive off-road tread is usually noisy, and it often doesn't have good rain or ice traction on pavement. A strong sidewall often means a stiff sidewall, which doesn't offer good flex on the rocks and gives you a rough ride on the highway.
We decided to go with Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ radials, which promised to deliver on all of these fronts. Starting with tread, the unique mud terrain tread block of the Baja MTZ gives you big lugs for grabbing rocks, and big voids for slinging mud and sand. Mickey Thompson tires are also known for their shoulder lugs called Sidebiters (continuing the tread pattern onto the sidewall), which give additional traction and sidewall protection.
They provide similar on-road traction to the smaller stock BFGs we took off. The tread blocks have siping to help with wet-pavement traction. We rotated the tires at 6,000 miles and noticed an increase in road noise for the next 1,000 miles or so. This is typical of any mud terrain that gets worn in one direction and is then rotated. The overall road noise is okay - louder than the original tires, but not obnoxious. The wear is also pretty good. Mickey Thompson claims the radial tires will provide long life.
The AEV wheels are engineered...
The AEV wheels are engineered to original-equipment specifications and were actually subjected to the same testing that Jeep puts its wheels through. The five-star design is traditional Jeep, and we don't think these wheels will go out of style in five years like some other designs that are popular today.
Wheels make the Jeep. There are hundreds of styles, so you can match your personality or create a look that you want. But cheaping out here can be costly for the overall look. The best place to start, though, is with what fits. There are a number of companies making wheels specifically for JKs. These fit the vehicle the best because the offset (and backspacing) is optimized for this application, keeping the tires from sticking out too far and from hitting everything under the front fenders.
We were more indecisive than a woman in a shoe store when it came to picking the wheels for this article, and we spent a solid month weighing all of the options. We wanted a bright wheel to balance the look of our relatively dark Jeep, but we didn't want polished aluminum or chrome which would require maintenance to keep clean. We're lazy, and this Jeep lives in Michigan where winter-weather and mud do nasty things to wheels. We eventually decided on the AEV Pintler wheels which come in either argent or the lighter silver color. Both finishes are painted with clear coat. More important than the finish, however, is that these 17x8.5 inch wheels come with a 4.7-inch backspacing, which is pretty much optimum for 35x12.50 tires on a JK. The wheels accept the factory lug nuts and tire-pressure monitoring sensors, so you don't have to buy anything extra. One thing that's a pain is that you have use a thin-wall 19-millimeter socket (included) on the lug nuts because they are recessed into the design. There's a place to store the socket in the backside of the polyurethane jack extender included with the premium Nth Degree lift kit. The valve stem is also recessed, which protects it against trail damage.