Two months ago I put Goodrich LT225-65R17 T/A K02 tires on my 2011 Jeep Patriot 4x4 Sport. They replaced the stock Goodyear Wrangler SR/A P215-65R17, which were an excellent pavement tire (although I did have a steel belt separation on one).
SIZE: They are 38.50 inches in diameter, slightly larger than the 38.00 inches stock. They rub a bit, There is a thud-thud-thud noise when the steering is turned fully right and moving ahead. The inner back side lugs of the tire are rubbing against the inner back plastic wheelwell. There is no noise when backing up or when the steering is fully left, since the left tire has a tenth of an inch clearance. Above the tire there is 3/4" clearance between them and the front spring collars. The speedometer is affected a bit doing 104 kph when showing 100kph (according to GPS).
TOUGHER: 6-ply rating: 3 polyester, 2 steel, and 1 nylon. Better sidewalls. Good for sharp shale rock. Although still have to watch for sharp arrowhead type rocks getting stuck in the tread and drilling in. But they have rock ejection ridges between the tread lugs that should reduce that.
TRACTION: better grip on steep dirt and gravel hills. I can slowly go up steep hills in 4x4 where before I had to take a run at it. But don’t let them spin since they can rip big rocks out of the road. Better grip in mud and stream crossing. On the highway in heavy rain downpour, they still pulled left/right when going through sheets of water, but didn't hydroplane.
HANDLING: the sidewalls flex more, so there is more wandering left/right on the highway. Especially in a sidewind or where the camber of the road flattens out at merge lanes.
NOISY: They give a loud drone on the highway, I have to turn up my music.
AWFUL GAS MILAGE: Highway I'm using 33% more gas, I went from 7.1 L/100km to 9.5 L/100km [33mpg dropping to 25mpg in US gallons]. And lost horsepower: the engine put out 30HP before to do 100kph (62mph); now it takes 38HP to do 100kph. The tires have lots of drag running at the Jeeps 35psi placard spec. The rep at BF Goodrich recommended I use 45psi (she looked up the weight loading per tire for that size: At the truck scale I measured 1035 lb/tire front, 890 lb/tire back ). I tried 42psi but it was the same, still 9.5 L/100km. And now it bounces more on washboard and potholes.
SMELL: This rubber tire compound still has a strong solvent smell a couple of months later.
ROCK THROWING: there are rock ejection ridges between the tread, so on gravel roads, you hear lots of clatter in the wheelwells from gravel being thrown out. Sometimes you see rocks thrown ahead of you, noticeable at night in the headlights. My buddies better stay back or get their windshields wacked. Slow down when passing people.
