New Kevlar reinforced MT/R

[Jerry Bransford]

From http://www.moderntiredealer.com/Chan...th-Kevlar.aspx

Goodyear unveils Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s new Goodyear Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar is the company's first off-road tire built with DuPont Kevlar for enhanced sidewall puncture resistance.
The tire was officially introduced yesterday, Feb. 2, during Goodyear's annual dealer meeting in Washington D.C.
"The use of Kevlar -- an innovative material that is, pound-for-pound, five times stronger than steel -- brings superb sidewall cut- and puncture-resistance to an area of the tire that demands extra toughness when driving off-road," say Goodyear officials.
The sidewalls of the Wranger MT/R with Kevlar will be 35% more puncture resistant than the tire's predecessor, the original Wrangler MT/R.
Other features include Tread Guards to help resist cuts from stones and other objects; Traction Blocks to help provide extra biting edges; a three-ply sidewall with opposing cord angles; and an asymmetric tread design for off-road traction as well as on-road handling, among others.
Each shoulder block on the tire is stepped "in and out to help give the tire continuous biting edges as it turns through thick mud."
The Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar will be available in 30 sizes next month. (end of quote)

Pretty cool, an even tougher MT/R.

Edit: Just found this photo... wow, it's not the old MT/R we're used to.



There's a big high res pic of it at http://www.goodyear.com/cfmx/web/med...MTR1Wet223.jpg that will get huge if you click on it.

[NAILER341]

interesting.... i wonder how it will perform and the cost.

[Gunnys TJ]

Unidirectional

[TObject]

Interesting; mrblaine and I discussed using Kevlar for tires years ago.

[Jerry Bransford]

I thought it was interesting they siped (ok, technically kerfed) the tires, I like siped tires. I'm very interested in other's opinions on the new tread pattern itself.

[Kiwi]

I'd prefer they weren't directional. I wonder if they will have the version without the white lettering like the current 35" version does?
Since the tread blocks are different across the width of the tire, will there likely be any performance issues with mounting them white-side-in like we do now? (I don't know anything much about tire engineering)
Not sure if the sidewall tread blocks will give as much traction as the existing version.

Overall I'm not overly excited about the looks of them.
However the use of Kevlar is nice, although I have a certain degree of self interest there.

[speaceman]

Directional on a hard off-road use tire is kind of goofy. What happens if you blow a side that your spare won't be oriented correctly for?

Seems silly to me.

[Paradiddle]

Will kevlar be flexible enough or will this stiffen the tire to the point where it doesn't flex and stick enough.

[Jerry Bransford]

Aside from the kevlar which seems like a good thing, I'm wondering if Goodyear didn't really screw up the new MT/R's design (its tread pattern) with this new generation model.

[GrimJeeper91]

Any word on whether is will be an addition to the MT/R line or will this completely replace the current MT/R? I swore I'd never run anything but MT/R's but I won't run a directional tire. I'm really hoping they keep the classic MT/R around for a while...

Edit:
I emailed Goodyear and provided my thoughts on the new MT/R (not real positive either). I expressed my biggest objection being the uni-directional design. I also asked if this was a "replacement" or "new edition" to the MT/R. I'll post up if they respond.

[NAILER341]

i stopped by the goodyear store the other day. they told me this is a "replacement" and the other mtr's will no longer be manufactured.
they are also $249 ea.

bummer.

[TObject]

Now, what happens if you run one of these tires on the wrong side? Would that be catastrophic or, simply, cause slightly reduced traction characteristics?

[Allen]

Originally Posted by TObject

Now, what happens if you run one of these tires on the wrong side? Would that be catastrophic or, simply, cause slightly reduced traction characteristics?

Normally directional tires only have serious problems when run in the wrong direction at high speed for extended periods of time.

[TObject]

Serious problems related to structural integrity of the tire?

[DC]

Just curious, but have any of you guys run (or know anyone who has run) Toyo Open Country M/T tires on their Jeeps for reasonably hard core use? I have been toying with the idea of making that switch when my current 35" Goodyear MT/R's are in need of replacement on my TJ. It may not be a good comparison, but I have a set of the 35" Toyo M/T's on my Dodge 3500 SRW 4x4 pickup, and their performance off-road with a relatively light weight Outfitter Apex 8 pop-up slide-in truck camper on-board has been nothing short of amazing in the traction department (even at full inflation).

Thanks in advance,
Don

[Lawrence]

Originally Posted by DC

Just curious, but have any of you guys run (or know anyone who has run) Toyo Open Country M/T tires on their Jeeps for reasonably hard core use?

Ping Larry Nickell, I believe he ran those for a while.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by DC

Just curious, but have any of you guys run (or know anyone who has run) Toyo Open Country M/T tires on their Jeeps for reasonably hard core use? I have been toying with the idea of making that switch when my current 35" Goodyear MT/R's are in need of replacement on my TJ. It may not be a good comparison, but I have a set of the 35" Toyo M/T's on my Dodge 3500 SRW 4x4 pickup, and their performance off-road with a relatively light weight Outfitter Apex 8 pop-up slide-in truck camper on-board has been nothing short of amazing in the traction department (even at full inflation).

Thanks in advance,
Don

I was chatting back and forth with some folks in AZ that ran them and were quite impressed with them.

[DC]

Originally Posted by Lawrence

Ping Larry Nickell, I believe he ran those for a while.

Will do ... thanks

[DC]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

I was chatting back and forth with some folks in AZ that ran them and were quite impressed with them.

Thanks Blaine. If I end up landing a consulting gig that I have been working on nailing down since last October, I may finally be able to follow-through on new front brakes for my TJ sometime later this year. As part of this, I have also been considering moving up to a 17" wheel size (over my current 15" Mickey Thompson Challengers), staying with 35" tires, but as I mentioned, switching over to the Toyo Open Country M/T's. I have a sense that the Toyo sidewalls may not be as flexy as the GY MT/R's when aired-down, but for what I typically wheel, it may not be a major problem from a foot-print & traction perspective.

Also, going with 17" wheels will obviously allow for better clearance for the Vanco brake kit, as well as perhaps providing a bit more on-highway stability & tracking by reducing the effective sidewall height over my current 15" wheel/35" tire combo (which has been pretty squirrelly since going with the taller RE springs in conjunction with a Full Traction LA suspension and 35" GY MT/R's).

As a side note, I may also dump the idea of going with another set of Staun internal beadlocks for the future 17" wheels/tires, as I have pretty much come to the conclusion that the Stauns are more trouble than they are worth (most tire shops, even in this 4x4 area, won't even deal with them). For a lot of what I wheel, 10-12 psi works fine, and on the tougher stuff (which still would pale in comparison to JV), 7 psi seems to do the trick for me, so I am not even convinced that I am really a candidate for beadlocks of any type.

[Larry Nickell]

Originally Posted by Lawrence

Ping Larry Nickell, I believe he ran those for a while.

Hi Don,

The Toyo's were the best tire I've ever had. Very durable. High traction, thick sidewalls, great in rocks, mud and snow. The only downside, although minor, is their weight. They're a pretty heavy tire. In fact they're heavier than my Krawlers by about 10 lbs.

HTH,

Larry

[DC]

Originally Posted by Larry Nickell

Hi Don,

The Toyo's were the best tire I've ever had. Very durable. High traction, thick sidewalls, great in rocks, mud and snow. The only downside, although minor, is their weight. They're a pretty heavy tire. In fact they're heavier than my Krawlers by about 10 lbs.

HTH,

Larry

Hi Larry,

Thanks much for your quick reply and it's good to hear about your positive experiences with the Toyos. However, I absolutely agree that the Toyos are HEAVY tires. Removing them to do work on my Dodge pickup definitely proved that for me. I realize that this will increase my unsprung weight over the GY MT/R's, but this will probably be OK as I also have a swapped-in modified Dodge Magnum 5.9L V8 engine in my TJ, so I have plenty of available power to turn those heavier meats.

Don

[GrimJeeper91]

Goodyear replied to my email. Unfortunately they didn't answer all of my questions but what the did say was the tire is not a directional tire. Hmmmm? The side biters certainly look directional to me. If GY only offers one tire then when they are on the passenger side of the rig the side biters will be worthless. Looks like the classic MT/R is gone....and GY won't get another dime from me. I say we bombard their web site with complaints...

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by GrimJeeper91

GY won't get another dime from me. I say we bombard their web site with complaints...

I'd rather wait and watch how they work before I complain. GY typically has not gone backwards in tire development for us and I don't suspect they have done so this time either.

Before the MT/R they had the MT and everyone loved it except for the pitiful sidewalls. Then they brought out the MT/R with vastly improved sidewalls and even more traction.

[speaceman]

If the new MTRs are not unidirectional, then I don't really have any complaints. Pending performance reports, of course. Although, thinking about it, the price is a bit tough to look at, to be honest.

[zman]

Originally Posted by GrimJeeper91

The side biters certainly look directional to me.

The side biters will always point in the same direction, regardless if you flip the tire around or pass vs drivers side.

I'm sure Goodyear has done there research on this tire. The MTR is one of the toughest street/rock crawling tires out there and at a "reasonable" price.

Erik, is $249 for a 35x15 tire?

[NAILER341]

Originally Posted by zman

The side biters will always point in the same direction, regardless if you flip the tire around or pass vs drivers side.

I'm sure Goodyear has done there research on this tire. The MTR is one of the toughest street/rock crawling tires out there and at a "reasonable" price.

Erik, is $249 for a 35x15 tire?

yes.. 35"-1250-15 tire.
it is retail price.
i'm sure they can be had for less when they are on the shelves.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by speaceman

Although, thinking about it, the price is a bit tough to look at, to be honest.

As a comparison, you need to look at the current prices of your tire and size. You might be a bit surprised.

[DC]

Originally Posted by zman

The side biters will always point in the same direction, regardless if you flip the tire around or pass vs drivers side.

Not trying to start anything here, but is that true? When I look at the photo in Jerry's original post, the main side biters are all pointed in one direction on the OWL side of the tire. If that tire started out on the passenger side for example, wouldn't the side biters be going in the opposite direction if you transferred it over to the drivers side (i.e., on the same wheel with the OWL to the outside)? On the other hand, if you flipped the tire on the wheel as you transferred it over to the other side of the vehicle, you might solve the side biter direction issue, but then you would have some of your tires with the OWL's on the outside, with others on the inside (which would look a bit odd IMO). Beyond that, even if you had a BSL version, flipping the tires around would also seem to reverse the "directional" configuration of the 4 rows of tread blocks. I am not saying that the new Kevlar version MT/R's are truly directional (and maybe it doesn't matter anyway), but it sure seems to me that at least some of the tires on the same vehicle are going to have the side biters as well as the tread blocks going in opposite directions from one another.

[GrimJeeper91]

Originally Posted by DC

Not trying to start anything here, but is that true? When I look at the photo in Jerry's original post, the main side biters are all pointed in one direction on the OWL side of the tire. If that tire started out on the passenger side for example, wouldn't the side biters be going in the opposite direction if you transferred it over to the drivers side (i.e., on the same wheel with the OWL to the outside)? On the other hand, if you flipped the tire on the wheel as you transferred it over to the other side of the vehicle, you might solve the side biter direction issue, but then you would have some of your tires with the OWL's on the outside, with others on the inside (which would look a bit odd IMO). Beyond that, even if you had a BSL version, flipping the tires around would also seem to reverse the "directional" configuration of the 4 rows of tread blocks. I am not saying that the new Kevlar version MT/R's are truly directional (and maybe it doesn't matter anyway), but it sure seems to me that at least some of the tires on the same vehicle are going to have the side biters as well as the tread blocks going in opposite directions from one another.

You are correct, the side biters will be going the other direction when the tire is mounted on the other side of the rig. The in the pictures posted the they would work with the tire on the drivers side. Flip that to the passenger side and they will be less effective. I think the side biters are probably the weak point of this tire. They don't look like they will be nearly as effective as the current design. Fortunately my MT/R's have a lot of rubber left so it will be a while before I go to BFG or Toyo.

[Kiwi]

I notice on the GoodYear site that the 35 x 15" size only come in the black sidewall lettering, so we don't need to mess with trying to hide the OWL.

I'm not so sure anymore that those sidewall biters are as directional as they look in that picture. If you go to the link Jerry posted and view the picture full size, take a look at about the 5 o'clock position of the tire. There seems to be significant biting surface there if you were to run the tire in the opposite direction than shown.
It will be interesting to see these up close and personal.