"Skinny" Tires...

[ScottyDog]

Love the skinny look! I think I've always loved the expedition style Land Cruisers / Land Rovers seen in documentaries I used to watch as a kid... wait, what am I talking about.. I still watch em!!. My wife rolls her eyes when we (my boys & I) catch a glimpse of a Land Cruiser or RR on the Discovery Channel or Nat Geo.

Anyway, at one time my brother, my son and I all ran the same tire/ wheel combo (255 85 16 BFG KM2s on Tacoma/Tundra steelies) on all three of our vehicles + spares to make it easily interchangeable. They all drove great, however I did have to run 1.25 spacers on my FZJ80 as it got a little wobbly as the wheels/tires sucked in a little bit. But on my brothers Tacoma and my son's FJ62 it was fine..

Here are a few pics

My FZJ80, Son's ex-FJ62 and my brother's ex-04 Tacoma




My Brothers.. ex-FJ60

 

[downhill]

Where people get into handling trouble is putting too narrow of a tire on too wide of a rim. Sure, 235/85 is a great size, but not on an 8" rim. Also, I think wider tires feel better in off camber situations with a top heavy vehicle.

yep, the 7" stock wheels work well with the 235s. They would work on a 6" or 6.5" too. Unfortunately there just isn't squat for aftermarket narrow wheels. I wouldn't use an 8" on a 235.

 

[targa88]

AS much as I like the "skinny" tyres (255-85-16) my issues has always been with the availability when travelling - should you require a replacement tyre.
Not easy to find and not a common size.... IMHO...

 

[ljtuck]

I run 235/85/16 on my Dakota most of the time on 6.5 inch steelies. They are a Hankook mud terrain, however, and as great as they are in snow they kinda suck on ice so I run street tires with siping for the winter usually. Drives great on the highway (way less wandering than fat tires) as well as most anywhere else I go.

 

[JSimmons]

Hey guys,

Wow! Some great replies from all of you. Thank you very much for the words of wisdom.

Worry not, Joel. Long-time skinny tire guy here. Never a problem on the highway or trail.

Good luck with your choice, whatever it ends up being!

Thank you for the reassurance, 6string!

I am in the same boat. I am going with a skinner tire on my 04 GX. I like you have had a hard time finding skinny all terrain tires. I have finially narrowed it down to these:

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tires/hankook/size/viewProductDetail.do?pc=10809

They are rated very well and come in 255/75/17 which is a little over 32 inches and 50,000 mile warranty. I also have a thread in the firesite chat were others have given thier option on the tire and most are good to great:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/73049-Hankook-ATM-s

You can search the site and you will find several threads on skinny tires.

TexGX

Tex - Thank you for the heads-up. That looks to be a decent tire at a fair price. I have been thinking about the 255/75/17 size in a couple of brands. Off the top of my head, I think General Tire and Cooper may also make one in that size...I might be mistaken.

I would observe that the arguments for narrower tires are easiest to make for on-highway travel over off-highway. I'm not arguing against narrow for off-pavement, just saying narrow is certainly good on-highway.

I find it amusing that you would suspect the skinny tires would be a problem on road. Quite the opposite is true! They track well, ride well, steer well, everything well. They are great on icy roads, and they don't hydroplane. I think you would be way ahead of the game by getting 16" wheels though. In the 16 there are countless excellent choices. You also want a high sidewall on a skinny tire because it works better when airing down. My favorite is the 235/85-16, 32" tall. I have found that the perfect fit for my 07 Tacoma. It clears everything without modifications, and also allows the use of chains, which for me is a no brainer. The narrow spare fits up high under the truck where it's out of the way. With chains and ARBs it's like driving a tracked vehicle. :sombrero:

The reason I was worrisome about the on-road behavior of skinny tires, is because outside of off-road rigs, I'm a big BMW fan. I've had several that were quasi-race prepped, and better handling for sportier cars usually means, wide, sticky tires. Ergo, my initial assessment would be that driving something with a higher center of gravity with narrower tires would detract from the rig's on-road manners with stock rubber. However, both of you have given me a much better feeling about going with a narrower tire on the 4Runner. Especially the tracked vehicle comment...I just saw 2 LMTVs and 4 HMMWVs get stuck in some serious mud on Fort Campbell these past few days. And they are all equipped with big, wide, Goodyear M/Ts.

Jsimmons - I like the avatar pic.

Ua mau ke eia o ka aina i ka pono o hawaii.

Myself, born and raised, upcountry Maui. Land of the Paniolo.

upcountry - I gotta admit that I was born and raised in Oregon. But, I graduated from UH Manoa and my wife is from Waialua, O'ahu. Still have plenty family in the islands and it feels like home no matter where I go. And I'm probably one of the only haoles you'll meet who likes poi and poke. I would kill for lau lau right now. I never made it to Maui. Most of my friends are from Kauai' or the Big Island.

See the islands on the basket fairing?

I just bought a 2006 Tundra TRD 4x4 that has 265/70/16's in an off brand make. I am replacing with Michelin 245/75/16's. A little narrower and a little less aggressive will get me better mpg and be quieter on my 95% highway and 5% forest service/BLM roads.

I'm in the same boat. 95% highway driving with 5% mild trails...haven't gotten into anything extreme.

255 x 17 x 75 are availble in Goodyear MTRs and GSA

I have that size Goodyear MTR on my 4 Runner and they are great.

I have a 2008 4Runner, SR5, V6, with factory 17" wheels. It has 255/75 Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires on it, no wheel spacers. Only other pertinent mods are some front fender liner relocation & trimming (no painted surfaces, only the black plastic fender liner), and Bilstein 5100 shocks (front are adjustable height, set at the +0.85" setting; rear are not adjustable). A 255/75/17 also still fits in the stock spare tire location under the rear of the vehicle.

Some photos and more discussion here: (not sure if you have to log in to be able to view photos)
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/84780-bilstein-install-2.html

I think it rides/drives/handles just fine on road and off, no noticeable difference in handling. OTOH, an old XJ Cherokee I used to have was a scary drive with ~ 4.5" lift and 33x9.5 BFG M/Ts on stock wheels -- that vehicle was much better with 32x11.5s on slightly less-backspacing wheels. The XJ had a much higher center of gravity and flexy suspension. Oh, and a Detroit locker in the rear too, which didn't do much for its on-road handling...

Dan, Karl - seems like 255/75/17 is the size to go with. I too have those same factory 17" wheels (from your photos) but I am not 100% sure on their width. I think I remember reading somewhere that they were 7" wide. ??

It seems like the vast majority of your guys suggest going with a 16" wheel for the sake of all those tires options. As it was pointed out, 255/75/17 might not be a common size if you get yourself in a bind. But, I'm not so sure the Wife wants yet another set of stock wheels stacked up in the garage. Is there a market for these stock 17s? Anyhow...again, thank you very much for the input and advice. This is a great forum with great people. I'm active on a few auto-related forums and this is one of the best.

 

[skiroc]

This is a great forum with great people. I'm active on a few auto-related forums and this is one of the best.

Agreed. What I like about this forum is that folks are generally focused on function, not looks. On some of the truck specific forums a typical post might be "how do these tires look" and they get lots of responses, with not one person asking about how they are going to be used. Even though this is an expo related forum, if "skinny" m/s tires meet the need, people say so.

When I was looking to get a new (used) truck, I was surprised how many fully loaded 4x4's with tow packages are out there, and the owner had never taken it off road or towed anything. They got all that stuff along with the TRD decal, paid a hefty price, just because it looked cool... which of course was good for me!

 

[JSimmons]

When I was looking to get a new (used) truck, I was surprised how many fully loaded 4x4's with tow packages are out there, and the owner had never taken it off road or towed anything. They got all that stuff along with the TRD decal, paid a hefty price, just because it looked cool.

Exactly what I found when I bought my '08 4Runner.

 

[01tundra]

AS much as I like the "skinny" tyres (255-85-16) my issues has always been with the availability when travelling - should you require a replacement tyre.
Not easy to find and not a common size.... IMHO...

That's a very good point and something I always consider when making changes to my vehicles.......learned that one the hard way !

 

[olsen_karl]

Dan, Karl - seems like 255/75/17 is the size to go with. I too have those same factory 17" wheels (from your photos) but I am not 100% sure on their width. I think I remember reading somewhere that they were 7" wide. ??

It seems like the vast majority of your guys suggest going with a 16" wheel for the sake of all those tires options. As it was pointed out, 255/75/17 might not be a common size if you get yourself in a bind. But, I'm not so sure the Wife wants yet another set of stock wheels stacked up in the garage. Is there a market for these stock 17s?

Those 17" wheels are 7.5" wide. A 16" wheel will fit on the 4th gen SR5 4Runner, but not on the Sport (bigger front brake) or the Limited with the big brake option. I use 16" wheels for my snow tire set (with 245/75 tires) because they were available cheap on craigslist, and 16" tires tend to be less expensive than 17".

FWIW, the 255/75/17 tire is the stock tire size on the JK Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.

Another tire size to consider is 265/75/16 or 265/70/17; both will fit on the 4th gen without rubbing or huge lifts, and will fit in the stock spare tire space. But these aren't tall/skinny tires.

 

[CodyB]

I really like the Toyo Mt 235/85/R16 tires I have on my 09 DCLB Tacoma. The tires provide great clearance under the truck and fit fine with an OME suspension. That size is also readily available since many dually trucks run that size. The load range E makes them a bit stiff but they get the job done.

 

[Redline]

snip...

Another tire size to consider is 265/75/16 or 265/70/17; both will fit on the 4th gen without rubbing or huge lifts, and will fit in the stock spare tire space. But these aren't tall/skinny tires.

They may not be tall and skinny but they are pretty great sizes, as you know. 265 mm wide is about where I draw the line for a narrowish tire, I really noticed the difference when flipping between 265/75 and 285/75 several months ago. 285s are wide (the new normal), but 265s not really. Not super tall, but pretty good at 31.6–31.9" depending on the tire. And the tire choices are almost endless.

 

[Danimal]

I really like the Toyo Mt 235/85/R16 tires I have on my 09 DCLB Tacoma. The tires provide great clearance under the truck and fit fine with an OME suspension. That size is also readily available since many dually trucks run that size. The load range E makes them a bit stiff but they get the job done.

Cody, any pictures of this set up on your truck? I'm considering this exact tire for my 11 DCSB, but I'm not looking to lift the truck.

Dan

 

[Utah KJ]

I've always bought the 235/85R16 MT/R. The cool thing about this size in an MT/R is it's the only size they make without white lettering; it makes the other MT/R users jealous.

 

[Redline]

You're right, blackwalls are the best, wish I could get more of 'my tires' with plain black sidewalls (on both sides).

 

[Owyhee H]

Cody, any pictures of this set up on your truck? I'm considering this exact tire for my 11 DCSB, but I'm not looking to lift the truck.

Dan

I have a 2011 and had the 235/85R16's on for a while they fit great and there is no problem with rubbing or other. The only reason i switched was I wanted stock gearing (4cyl). These are the same diameter as the 265/75R16 and they fit without rubbing. Sorry I dont have any pics of these with no lift.