What Size Tires

[Cort]

Hey Everyone,

So its time to buy new tires and I am looking for some opinions on tire size. Stock tire for the 4X4 01 Tacoma is a 265/70 R16. The tire sizes I am considering are the 265/75 R16 and the 235/85 R16. I have not decided on whether I will go with a MT or AT tread design. I prefer the tall skinny look on tires but I am wondering if the 235 is just overdoing it. Will I really be sacrificing a significant amount of on-highway stability? I was orginally considering the 255/85 R16 but I think that its just two much tire and will be hard for the rig to handle with a fully loaded ATC Bobcat and stock gearing. Clearance should not be an issue with the 235's or the 265 due to the suspension mods I have made.

Any opinions or experience with these tires and and equivalent setup?

Cort

 

[Nimbl Vehicles]

If you want to go where I go, up muddy hills you need the MT.
For most travels the AT will do, but it depends if you go into wet areas for camping.

The MT are also better for gravel and rocks IMO. I have them on my rig and got over 30K out of them. (Toyos)

 

[Cort]

Marc....I agree with you about tread selection, but it is always easier for us to believe we do more extreme driving than we really do. I would venture to guess that even the most aggressive offroad driver(with the camper on) on this site spends way more time on the asphalt. I base this on the fact that we all travel great distances to the places we love. While the MT are great in the Mud and rock you sacrifice quite a bit when it comes to driving on wet roads and especially packed snow.

Some more thoughts on tire size. The 235 are looking more and more interesting. Compared to the 265/75 they will have less angular momentum (easier to stop and start). They have less mass....so they should be easier on the suspension, stearing components, drive train and braking system. They should also provide less form drag and rolling resistance...though I have to admit that I don't know how much of a factor that is.

Cort

 

[Nimbl Vehicles]

Yes, I always set my trucks up for about 80% Asphalt driving. This is what it would take me to go to the places I go.
While i had both At's and MT's I would never go back to the At's.

Once your off the Asphalt is where you really need the set up.

I can't comment on fuel mileage loss, since my truck gets pretty much the same with Street tire or the MT's.
Advantage Cummins
I would think that you would see a loss of mileage on your truck though between the MT.s vs AT's.

The MT doing fine in the wet. Never had a problem hydroplaning or stopping.
Same in the snow. But then again it's not a daily snow driver.

Just my experience...

 

[Cort]

yeah I hear ya Marc.....thanks for the input...I am definitely leaning toward the MT's

Cort

 

[Nimbl Vehicles]

yeah I hear ya Marc.....thanks for the input...I am definitely leaning toward the MT's

Cort


Toyos!!!
I have to say they really work!!
And they are not too loud either, Guess in a Diesel it won't matter though!!!

 

[Cort]

Toyos seem a bit overpriced to me

 

[Nimbl Vehicles]

Toyos seem a bit overpriced to me


Worth every penny!!!!

I had never a flat, problem, rotated them only 2x times over 30k miles of you know where I go...

XP1marc found a good source for them!

 

[The Saints]

Cort, I'm a stock kind of guy, and I love my Goodrich AT's.

After lifting my truck a small bit, they look kinda smaller, but still really cool. And Toyota designed the truck for that size tire anyway, so it cant be all bad

 

[Bat]

I had a set of BfG AT on my jeep and decided to change to Mt tire and the noise was just a little to much. I have since moved over to a set of Nitto Terra Grapplers on my Tacoma and so far a great tire on and off the road.

 

[MidnightRider]

I went from the stock 265/70/16's on my tacoma.... to 265/75/16 BFG A/T's in the 10 ply.
I think they only make the 10 ply now, they used to have them in 8 ply. I also put on 2" billet aluminum coil spacers with new Bilstiens and it's great.
It stiffened the front end a little, gained ground clearance, and leveled the truck and took care of the rubbing issue at full tilt.

 

[dt75flh]

I had a set of BfG AT on my jeep and decided to change to Mt tire and the noise was just a little to much. I have since moved over to a set of Nitto Terra Grapplers on my Tacoma and so far a great tire on and off the road.


That usually depends on the mud tire. the toyo mud tires are a computer designed tread which is quiet compared to other mud tires. It is also good in the rain compared to other brands of muds. It is also the smoothest and easist balancing mud tire I have ever owned. price is compalable to BFG tires.

Ive run the old school bfg muds. they were loud, and scary to drive in the rain. they would slide all over. I then ran the toyo mud tires on my jeep, and tow rig with zero issues.

I also had a set of bfg KM2 muds on my work truck (f-150) They were good in the rain and quiet until about the last 10k miles , then they got loud and difficult to balance which I have experenced in all bfg tires that I have run over the last 15 years or so. I switched to TOYOS about 10 years ago on the advice of a buddy who ran a tire shop. I never looked back..

my current tow rig runs the toyo AT. I also like the nitto tire AT. they are good in all weather conditions and the nitto and toyo at's have the a really close tread pattern.

 

[Cort]

That usually depends on the mud tire. the toyo mud tires are a computer designed tread which is quiet compared to other mud tires. It is also good in the rain compared to other brands of muds. It is also the smoothest and easist balancing mud tire I have ever owned. price is compalable to BFG tires.

Ive run the old school bfg muds. they were loud, and scary to drive in the rain. they would slide all over. I then ran the toyo mud tires on my jeep, and tow rig with zero issues.

I also had a set of bfg KM2 muds on my work truck (f-150) They were good in the rain and quiet until about the last 10k miles , then they got loud and difficult to balance which I have experenced in all bfg tires that I have run over the last 15 years or so. I switched to TOYOS about 10 years ago on the advice of a buddy who ran a tire shop. I never looked back..

my current tow rig runs the toyo AT. I also like the nitto tire AT. they are good in all weather conditions and the nitto and toyo at's have the a really close tread pattern.


great information there.....Thanks!!!

 

[Bat]

I would agree between all the MT tires the Toyo seems the best for noise. I was going to go with BFG AT for my Tacoma but my tire guy talked me into trying the Nitto at a discount.

 

[dt75flh]

I would agree between all the MT tires the Toyo seems the best for noise. I was going to go with BFG AT for my Tacoma but my tire guy talked me into trying the Nitto at a discount.


my buddy bought an identical tow rig as me . 2010 dodge megacab 4x4 3500 srw. he lives in chicago and the toyos were on backorder. he is running the nitto at for about the last 8k miles and they have been good in the rain, snow and towing. I ran a set of nitto on my old 04 dodge 3500 srw and got about 35-40k miles with zero issues. around 20k were towing.

 

[BSS]

http://www.treadwright.com/default.aspx

I can't say enough good things about their tires. OE spec casings, low road noise, high quality rubber, and ridiculously low prices. I have the 265/75/16 E "BFG A/T" version (BFG casing, knock-off tread pattern) on my Tacoma, and the 265/75/16 D Sentinel (Toyo Open Country version) on my Tundra. Tread wear on both have already outperformed what their "real" counterparts would have, and two of the tires on the Tacoma didn't require ANY weight to balance on OE aluminum Toyota wheels. - This is on crappy BFG casings, mind you. Normally the noisiest and worst balanced tires on the market. I've bought a total of four sets over the years from Treadwright. Wouldn't even consider going anywhere else.

Skip the "kedge grip." Two sets I ordered had the kedge grip but I've never really noticed any performance increase, even in winter conditions which I drive frequently.

Before buying from treadwright, seems I used Toyo Open Countrys or Bridgestone Duelers on most of my trucks over the years. Just to give you an idea for my baseline comparisons.

JMO