285/75, 255/85, 33x9.50 Too Many Choices!

[NewWorldOverland]

Okay.

Why are tires such a tough decision? I have been pondering, deciding, un-deciding, re-deciding and finally becoming bewildered with my choice of tires. Clear cut case of too many choices!

I am trying to decide what to do for our trip with regards to tires. Here is what we have right now:

4 33x12.50x15 Yokohama Geolandar A/Ts
1 worn BFG M/T on a non-matching 16 inch rim (16x7)

This is on a 91 HDJ81 with 3xLockers and 3" OME with heavy (can't remember #) springs on rear. We will have a roof rack, tent, subtank, drawers and all sorts of heavy stuff on board.

The A/Ts are new this spring, and we have been happy with them thus far. However, they are 12.5" wide, which makes the rig kinda darty and hard to steer on rutted highways. Great in the mud, though.

So, seeing as we have a bad spare that is 16", and the rims are 15x8 (possibly wider), i'm thinkin whatever we do will involve 5 new wheels. Enter the confusion:

First let me tell you what we are doing. We are going to do the well worn Alaska to Argentina trip, mostly on secondary highways (canada/us) and the usual routes (through Central and South America). My understanding is there will be plenty of bad roads, some dirt and some mud. We would also like to be able to explore the back roads in some places, where it is safe to do so of course. So my best guess would be:

50% paved, 40% gravel, 10% trail/mud/hell.

Here are my options that i have come up with so far.

33x9.50x15 BFG A/T on 15x7 factory rims.
PROS: super narrow tread, lower rolling resistance, better fuel economy, quiet highway ride, cost.
CONS: BFG is phasing this tire out, my local tire guys say that this tire handles poorly, is unstable due to its sidewall size, and is very susceptible to sidewall punctures (even on 7 inch rim). Also, how hard will it be to find this tire in CA/SA?

33x10.5x15 BFG A/T on 15x7 factory rims
PROS: narrower than my current set, so a slight increase in efficinecy and road manners.
CONS: am i really going to see a difference between this and my current 12.5s?

285/75/R16 BFG A/T on 16x7 Tacoma wheels
PROS: Narrower than my 12.5s, more stable with the 16" rims.
CONS: Will the 285s be okay on the 7 inch rims (keeping in mind that the taco wheels narrow the track)? And am i really going to see an improvement in fuel economy with a 1" narrower tire?

*what i'm leaning to*
255/85/R16 BFG M/T on 16x7 Taco Wheels
PROS: Ultra skinny, no fitment problems on 16x7, lots of clearance even with narrower track, nice beefy tire with better mud traction.
CONS: Ultra skinny, will they hold up to emergency manouvers on the highway? Noisy tread (this doesn't bother us, it will complement the wind noise from all the crap on our roof rack...also, hard to find tire size? And, will the narrow tread/big sidewall be more susceptible to sidewall punctures and tears?

Another Choice: Any of these choices with other brands of tire. My reason for picking BFG is i'm relatively sure i can get ahold of a replacement pretty much anywhere (those of you with experience in this, feedback?)

Last Choice: keep my 12.5s and get a 33" whatever-is-around spare.

Keep in mind that we will have a plug kit and compressor on board, so as long as we can patch the damage we won't need a new tire...

Thank You in advance for your input! Does this all make sense or am i wayy off base?

 

[ntsqd]

I wore out a set of 33-9.50 A/T's on a set of 8" steel rims (PO had installed 12.50's) on an '84 Yota Mini. Looked odd, don't recall any strange handling quirks. Never had a sidewall problem in street driving, desert racer chasing, or desert exploring. Though I did put a 5/16" piece of steel round stock through the tread of one. It was painted exactly the color of the pavement it was sitting on.....

Next I tried 33-10.50 M/T's. If you ask me that's the perfect section width for an 8" rim. At first they were surprisingly quiet. Then as they got several thousands of miles on them they became not so quiet. They came off in prep for a ~2500 mile road trip that was mostly hiway miles.

Now I have 33-10.50 A/T's on 7" Aluminum rims. I like this combo. Quiet, enough traction for most areas (don't do mud), and "aired down" on that truck is 19 psi so that leaves lower speed pavement mileage still an option.

I keep hearing that the 33-9.50 is going away, but it hasn't yet. It is a fairly popular size in a couple desert race classes, so there may be some force behind keeping them in the line-up. I currently carry the tread holed tire's replacement tire as the spare.

I can't say that the mileage really changed all that much between the 3 different tire sizes. Maybe a couple mpg drop with the M/T's, but not enough that I really noticed it. Don't recall doing any mpg surveys during that time. Partly muddying the water is an engine rebuild shortly before going to the 33-10.50 A/T's.

I wanted to go with the 255/85's when I bought the 33-10.50 A/T's, but tire & rim availability would have put me beyond my departure date.

 

[NewWorldOverland]

So, besides the noise on the highway, is there a downside to the 255/85/16 M/Ts? am i going to be worse off in the rain? We don't expect to be going any faster than 60MPH the whole trip so i'm thinking the M/Ts should be okay? As far as wear is concerned, we just want them to last during the trip, so 40,000Kms or so?

Kind of an opinionated subject i guess.

 

[ntsqd]

I wish I could tell you how many miles my M/T's have on them, but I can't say for sure. A really rough guess would be 15k miles and they're not to 1/2 tread yet.
I never felt that either the A/T's or the M/T's were a concern in rain. The caveat is that I live in So. CA, which IS a Coastal Desert in spite of all the green lawns, so my rain experience pales in comparison to someone from the PNW.

I do not think that you can go wrong with any of your considered options and pending each size's load rating, I don't think there will be all that much difference in use. Given where you want to go I would look for the size most likely to be found along the way.

 

[Redline]

Have you read this, Mr. Brady’s excellent tire selection article?

http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/white_papers/tire_selection_rev1.html

33x9.50x15 BFG A/T on 15x7 factory rims.
PROS: super narrow tread, lower rolling resistance, better fuel economy, quiet highway ride, cost.
CONS: BFG is phasing this tire out, my local tire guys say that this tire handles poorly, is unstable due to its sidewall size, and is very susceptible to sidewall punctures (even on 7 inch rim). Also, how hard will it be to find this tire in CA/SA?

Like several on this site, I’m a fan of narrower tires (255/85). I have never owned 33x9.50x15 treads but have looked them a few times, including last week on a Jeep. I always note how the BFG AT in this size has a very narrow tread compared to their sidewall bulge/section width. This is likely more of a visual issue (unless you like it) than a performance issue based on the other responses regarding this size here in your thread. My Cooper STs in 255/85 also have a narrow tread width for the section width (compared to others in the same size), but the 33x9.50s seem to be even more pronounced.

33x10.5x15 BFG A/T on 15x7 factory rims
PROS: narrower than my current set, so a slight increase in efficinecy and road manners.
CONS: am i really going to see a difference between this and my current 12.5s?

Overall, the 33x10.50 should be quite similar to 255/85R16 but I’ve never had a set. Yes, I think you will notice a difference between these (and 255/85) and your current 12.50s. I notice the difference between 255/85 and 285/75R16.

285/75/R16 BFG A/T on 16x7 Tacoma wheels
PROS: Narrower than my 12.5s, more stable with the 16" rims.
CONS: Will the 285s be okay on the 7 inch rims (keeping in mind that the taco wheels narrow the track)? And am i really going to see an improvement in fuel economy with a 1" narrower tire?

Though most specification lists say 285s need to be on 7.5-inch wheels (minimum) I have put them on sevens twice and never had a problem. I do think they look and fit better on 8-in. wheels.

I don’t know what your choices are in other countries, but I find there are many more choices in 285/75R16 than 255/85 in the U.S.A. This seems like a good argument for 285s; availability and choice.

I must say that the two times I have run a 285/75 tires I have liked the ‘look’ but not the manners of the 285s. I didn’t run them long, but had a set of Toyo MT 285/75R16 on a Jeep LJ and then on my ‘96 F350 diesel. Sold them with the Jeep and went back to 255/85. I’m currently testing a set of 285/75R16 on 7-in. wheels on my F350. The tires are fine and I think will work as designed, but after only two days I know that I prefer my 255/85 treads.

*what i'm leaning to*
255/85/R16 BFG M/T on 16x7 Taco Wheels
PROS: Ultra skinny, no fitment problems on 16x7, lots of clearance even with narrower track, nice beefy tire with better mud traction.
CONS: Ultra skinny, will they hold up to emergency maneuvers on the highway? Noisy tread (this doesn't bother us, it will complement the wind noise from all the crap on our roof rack...also, hard to find tire size? And, will the narrow tread/big sidewall be more susceptible to sidewall punctures and tears?

Another Choice: Any of these choices with other brands of tire. My reason for picking BFG is I'm relatively sure i can get ahold of a replacement pretty much anywhere (those of you with experience in this, feedback?)

I love this size and would not really consider it “ultra skinny” but all things are relative. Maybe compared the very popular wide tires of today, but a few decades ago narrow (and shorter) tires like 16x7.50 very popular and common.

With the possible exception of the Cooper ST tires I mentioned above, as well as the Dean SXT & Eldorado Tire’s Trailcutter RT (both Cooper subsidiaries), most 255/85R16 tire are big tires. Taller than many “thirty-threes” with section width of 10-10.5” and a tread width of about 8-inches. The Cooper’s have a much narrow tread width of 7.2”.

You might want to read this thread:

http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8619&highlight=cooper+255/85R16+tires

and do a search of the many others here about tires/sizes/width, etc.

My bias it toward a narrower wheel but my experience has been okay with wider widths. I have run 255/85 on 7, 7.5, and 8-inch wheels. Sevens on the F350, eights on a Jeep, now mostly 7.5” on a 4Runner. 255/85R16s have been fine on all of them. Evasive freeway maneuvers are rare and there are many variables but have not been a problem with this size on my vehicles.

I’m not sure I understand the concern about a tall sidewall being more susceptible to punctures? The sidewall of the tire does the work and the more sidewall you have (cushion of air) will help the tire ride better on and off-highway. If the tire is aired-down too much to where the sidewall folds over, then the sidewall can be more susceptible to damage, but this is true for other sizes too. In addition to the size, one of my favorite features of the 255/85 size is the D-load-range. They are tough truck tires that hold 3,000-lbs each at 65-PSI, ride nicer than E-range tires, while being tougher (In theory) than a C-load-range tire. Again, there are many variables amongst this size depending on the specific tire.

Everyone has their own tolerance for noise. Not to try to talk you out of the BFG MT in 255/85 (I have a set) but on a long trek with lots of highway miles you might want a quieter tire like the BFG AT you have been considering (or something else). If your roof rack is noisy then maybe it is a non-issue. I notice the quieter the 4x4 the quieter tire I prefer. But even in my loud F350 there are moderately loud tires like the BFG MT that I can barely hear over the engine/wind and are fine in the F350, but a little annoying in the 4Runner. But even in the old loud diesel I find an extremely loud tire annoying/tiring.

Tire size availability would be one of my concerns in other countries for the 255/85R16.

James

 

[NewWorldOverland]

Thanks Redline,

you make sense

...so anybody know about availability of 255/85s in latin america?

 

[NewWorldOverland]

...so I checked bfg's websites for size availability on M/T:

Argentina:
30X9.50 R 15 LT 104Q MUD KM TR T/A LRC TL RWL
31X10.50 R 15 TL 109Q MUD KM TER T/A LRC TL
33X12.50 R 15 LT 108Q MUD KM TER TA LRC TL RWL
35X12.50 R 15 LT 113Q MUD KM TER TA LRC TL RWL
LT215/75 R 15 100Q MUD KM TR T/A LRC TL RWL
LT235/70 R 16 104Q MUD TER T/A KM LRC TL RWL
LT235/75 R 15 104Q MUD KM TR T/A LRC TL RWL
LT235/85R16 120Q MUDTERTAKM LR ETLRWL
LT245/75 R 16 120Q MUD KM TER T/A LRE TL RWL
LT255/70 R 16 115Q MUD TER TA KM LRD TL RWL
LT285/70R17 121Q MUDTERTAKM LR DTLRWL

Brazil:
235/75 R 15 104Q MUD TERRAIN T /A KM
245/75 R 16 120Q MUD TERRAIN T /A KM
265/75 R 16 120Q MUD TERRAIN T /A KM
31X10.50 R 15 109Q MUD TERRAIN T/A KM
33X12.50 R 15 108Q MUD TERRAIN T/A KM
LT215/75 R15 100Q MUD-TERRAIN T/A KM

Mexico lists them on their site, can't find any other country websites for BFG.

FYI...

I guess with this tire it may be necessary to carry 2 spares.