Stay 15" tires or move to 17"?
- Thread starter Pskhaat
- Start date
Southern_Pride
New member
Is it mainly onroad or off-road? Old school 15" flotation sizes seem to air down better. Definitely do not drive as good as a modern 17" size on road
Pskhaat
2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
You should ask about everyone's favorite oil next
Dude you know damned well straight 30 weight is the only answer.
Pskhaat
2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
If I switch (soonish) to a FF rear axle I have to go at least 16. 33x10.50s don't seem to be readily available without a few days order time. I often sell my tires at about 50% tread remaining: more demand for 17?
Pskhaat
2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
I miss Bed Bath and Beyond, the food court, and spending time in the Apple store. Once there was this pile of snow that the plows made in the parking lot and I drove one of my wide Nitto tires up on it and people looked at me all funny.
Pskhaat
2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
Couldn't agree more with that statement. I do appreciate as much sidewall as I can get. But there do seem to be some tire availability limitations, as well as how many folks are running 15s nowadays for resale?
phsycle
Adventurer
Sounds like you already know the answer. You have to move to 17’s anyway with the axle upgrade. And definitely more market demand for 17” tires.
85_Ranger4x4
Well-known member
I like both the sidewall and look of 15's (especially on a older truck) Never really noticed any difference on the road back when my '150 had 17" wheels. It went back to 16's because the tires were cheaper lol.
I just put new 31's on my Ranger a month and a half ago, tire shop had them next day.
There is very good demand for used 15's if your current ones have any life in them.
I just put new 31's on my Ranger a month and a half ago, tire shop had them next day.
There is very good demand for used 15's if your current ones have any life in them.
billiebob
Well-known member
17s are popular now since most vehicles, SUVs and 4x4 Pickups included never leave pavement and lower profile tires perform better on pavement. But off road, on gravel, marbles, rolling over boulders, taller tires with more sidewall flex, squirm work better and definitely deliver a better ride. Tire chouce is ALL about compromise..... which compromise are you willing to make?
D
Deleted member 9101
Guest
So...you answered your own question...lol. Enjoy the 17s.
vwhammer
Adventurer
Well ya hafta be honest with yourself.
How much hard core wheeling do you do?
Heck how much actual off roading do most overlanders do that's anything other than some gravely two track
For me its not much.
A good set of all terrains on some 17s work real nice on the road but you still have a decent tread pattern to tackle some of the rougher stuff you might come across.
The 17s work fine on my 4runner but all my other stuff has 16s just because I was cheap and just bought 16 inch steels wheels for all of that.
You can still air down a 17 and get a bit more compliance.
I would run 17s on most stuff but If you are gonna run 35s or bigger then I would not hesitate to go to 17s
I will also say that I have some pretty big brakes that were not meant to be on a couple of my vehicles and 17s would have been much easier to fit.
Honestly I may have to swap to some 17s on one van because the spacers needed to clear the brakes might push the wheels out too much to be useful.
My builds and issues are likely pretty different than most so maybe none of that means anything.
But I like 17s
Heck if I was going to run some 40s or something like that I would probably even step up to some 20s for wheels if that's even a thing.
How much hard core wheeling do you do?
Heck how much actual off roading do most overlanders do that's anything other than some gravely two track
For me its not much.
A good set of all terrains on some 17s work real nice on the road but you still have a decent tread pattern to tackle some of the rougher stuff you might come across.
The 17s work fine on my 4runner but all my other stuff has 16s just because I was cheap and just bought 16 inch steels wheels for all of that.
You can still air down a 17 and get a bit more compliance.
I would run 17s on most stuff but If you are gonna run 35s or bigger then I would not hesitate to go to 17s
I will also say that I have some pretty big brakes that were not meant to be on a couple of my vehicles and 17s would have been much easier to fit.
Honestly I may have to swap to some 17s on one van because the spacers needed to clear the brakes might push the wheels out too much to be useful.
My builds and issues are likely pretty different than most so maybe none of that means anything.
But I like 17s
Heck if I was going to run some 40s or something like that I would probably even step up to some 20s for wheels if that's even a thing.
DaveInDenver
Middle Income Semi-Redneck
Why not split the difference with 16" then? A 255/85R16 is 33x10 and not a super rare size, although there's more mud terrains than all terrain in the size. You could run 285/75R16, which is a little wider at roughly 33x11 for quite a lot more option, many of which are less aggressive. They might even make a Michelin in that size.
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Pskhaat
2005 Expedition Trophy Champion
Yes, I love me some 255s
but I just happen to have the original 15s and some Taco steel 17s. Purchase of 16 wheels would be a net addition....to which I'm not apposed, yet I'm sure I could nickle & dime myself to death on this thing.Ha! I see what you did there!