Offroad-Express

Dear 4x4gurus,

I have just joined this forum. I recently got a Jeep Grand Cherokee (1996), ZJ. I have a question about getting spare tyres and tyre changing for this car and joining a four wheel drive club in Christchurch.
We plan to take this car offroad this summer, but I guess we may stick to (for the time being at least being new to four wheel drive), gravel road and some paddocks. What kind of tyres would be best? I read in Ken Sibly's handbook about different types of tires where he advises (my interpretation), mud tyres are not optimized for on road driving. My question:

What kind of tyres shall I choose for the car? There is some tread still left in the car and it passed WOF last month the seller showed me.

Can all terrain tyres work in mud/paddock/grassland/rock?

I am also interested to join a four wheel drive club in Christchurch. Can you kindly suggest a club to join?

Also, where can I get the set of jacks for the car? The previous owner could not provide me with jacks and user manual for the jeep? Is there a site from where I can download a copy of the 1996 Jeep owners' manual? I got the service manual but not the owners manual. I could not get the Chiltern's for the Jeep as well from the local library.

, too many questions I guess.

Arin
Christchurch

hey mate welcome, jeep parts 2ND hand
http://www.hitechautoparts.co.nz/

take it down to rick at 4wd accessories pH 3651909... tell him what ya want outta ya jeep ,, hes good for advice plus he knows jeeps inside out .....

cheers Wayne

arinbasu wrote:I am also interested to join a four wheel drive club in Christchurch. Can you kindly suggest a club to join?

You could try the Canterbury Jeep Club. Meet every Second Wednesday of the month at Ronald McDonald house in Cashel Street, 7:30pm.

Lots of clubs to choose from in and around CHCH.
Go along & check outsome & find 1 thats suites your personallity & where they cater for the kind of driving you want to do.
Some clubs seem to spend more time drinking tea and eating scones than actually driving lol

http://www.4wd.org.nz/Member_Clubs.htm

Thanks mates, this was very helpful information.

theres no such thing as "the best tyre" mate, theres too many variables and typically the feedback you'll end up getting is finding out what tyres other people have on their own trucks

welcome to the forum and 4x4ing

if your standard tyres are 215/75r15 = 27.7''x8.5'' so to fit any thing bigger suspension work will be needed as per 4wd custom guide

As a general guide you could make these assumptions:

Highway tyre - road and beach work (to a degree)
All terrain - ok on highway, good on beach, gravel, rock (to a degree), some mud would be ok but I wouldn't go into anything deeper then say a 1/3rd of rim height.
Mud - mud obviously, ok in sand if deflated enough, ok on highway but not as good traction as ATs and highway tyres.

Truth is ATs will do most people who are not sure, but mud tyres have come a long way in terms of durability and road noise.

Buy quality though, no matter what type of tyre you buy, you won't regret spending a bit more.

Hope that helps.

Tyres, as others have said, is a very hard to pin point topic. Comes down to:

What you want to do, and how far you want to go.
How much you want to spend.

Im by no way a tyre expert, but thats my opinion based on personal experience.

Cheers Daniel