Ok, I have just worn down my OEM Goodyear Wranglers AT by 10K miles of on/off road use, including an extra tire I bought to replace one which I blew out, previously. So, I now have that one and my original spare worn-in with good tread which I will use as two spares for when I blow out the next two tires, possibly on the same next off-road trip (or not, hopefully).

To mount the second of these two tires, an 18" OEM white steelie which I ordered just arrived. So, I am ready to order four new better tires before my next multi-day adventure deep into the woods -- far away from tire shops. I have my new 1.5 inch lift rods and will use them for the trip, also -- should be fun.

I decided to stay with the OEM sizing -- 255 70 R18. Mainly, I am doing this so I can pull off the lift rods and drive the vehicle on the roads without issue.

I have decided to go with the Nitto Ridge Grapplers, ordered from Discount Tire, primarily because I have decided I don't want the stiffnessa nd noise of the KO2s, the Grapplers seem to be the quietest of all tires, and the feedback on the Goodyear Duratracs is solid, but not as good as the Nittos. Many other ATs have solid feedback as well, but not as uniform as the Grapplers, nor as effective solid off-road. I care not how the tires look.

If I am blowing it here with this choice, please let me know asap !!

 

On paper at least, I’m planning to go this route as well. Eagerly awaiting your evaluation once you have them installed and have used them on-road and off-road for a bit.

 

I've been running 37 Ridge Grapplers on my F250 for years and love them. Very intrigued by the Recon Grapplers however for the Defender. They lean a little more towards road use with solid offroad use compared to the Ridge Grapplers.

 

According to the website the Ridge Grapplers are quieter than the Recons, and better off road -- which I find really interesting. As noise is really important to me, I thought I would trust the mfg.

 

From what I've seen the recons are replacing the terra grapplers which were the true a/t. Ridge Grapplers are more mixed terrain. I used to run trail grapplers and those were incredibly loud. Ridge grapplers still make a good amount of noise but I need them for work. I've never actually used recons.

 

Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug! Wait, that was my college chant. Go for it! Go for it! Go for it! That's better. Same set up I'll likely be working towards once I hit 10K. So tell us how it goes! I, too, am moving more towards OEM specs on an 18". Only debate right now is to grind the brakes first or go with the caliper swap. If you started with 20's, let us know how that goes too!

 

Buying a place in FL and I need to drive back and forth DC to FL using the Defender. I am going to post wheels and tires in classified. 285/45-22s(5) Ridge Grapplers with Vossen HF-5s with 485 miles on them.

 

Highly interested in this. Living in Florida, it's a road trip before there's any off-road worth a damn.

Would be a second set of wheels (18's) just for those trips and I was already into those Nittos.
https://www.trailbuiltoffroad.com/blogs/255/nitto-ridge-grappler-review

 

Sad to see them go but I need long range (800 mile) road tires for the trip(s) so going back to my OEMs 22” wheels and Continentals.

 

Did you need any kind of lift to have these? They look incredible.