The Uniroyal Laredo is a good one for the Thing (195×14). I have used them for a number of years now in the lava rock of the high desert, as well as high speed travel on gravel washboard county roads.

I inflate to the max in the backcountry, in order to have as little bulge of the sidewalls as possible. This keeps them from getting cut. The ride is somewhat harsher, but it works out well.

I have had cars with the eight spoke wheels, but after a while they wouldn’t balance. Once again, the stock rims have been the best for me. Sometimes it’s hard to find a tire shop with the adapter for the five bolt spread pattern wheels. The Laredo is a 195×14 inch and is LT rated, with load range C. The Things that we used in the high desert are getting nearly 39,000 miles on them with these tires.

The chrome 15 inch slotted rims are cool looking and work well. You need to get the ones with the 5 1/2 inch offset to work on the front axle of the Thing . The 4 1/2 will rub on the tie rod end. When your Thing is set up for highway touring like my current one, a good road tire makes the ride better and the cornering much better.

I like Coopers as well as Pirelli, but most of the big name manufacturers put out nice road tread touring tires. A chrome set of Porsche nipple wheel covers will put you right in style. I have the chrome sandblasted and then powder coat them to meet the color needs of my car. I did this to my current set of VW moons and they have lasted 9 years so far.