255/85 R16 Owners Experience

Good to know! Thank you.

 

Have you considered spacers? I'd guess they would get you off of everything but the plastic, and plastic is easily'd.

 

I am currently entertaining the thought of a 3/4" Bora spacer or new wheels with less backspacing. Spacer scares me, and new wheels are expensive.

The plastic fender got the heat gun treatment and no longer an issue. I still have my mudflaps on and they have been pulled back with a hole and zip tie, but I still rub under compression, not too bad. One weekend in the future I'll shave them down.

 

They scared me too at first. I used red locktite and torqued mine down to spec. I checked the torque after 100, 500, and 1000 miles, then every 5,000 after that when I rotate my tires. 30K later, they have never budged under the torque wrench. I'm not trying to sway you. Rather, sharing my experience. (spidertrax here BTW)

 

This right here us why I have troubles justifying moving to a wider tire. I don't rub anything (from what I've seen) with my Cordovan TrailCutters, but others rub with different brand. I don't have to worry about my UCA's or buying spacers, however, I don't perform as well in some offroad conditions as well as wider tires.

 

Very much appreciated! I will probably go that route. I only need them in the front, and only 3/4"

 

I wanted to share some info with yall wheelers I learned from my last trip. I've been experimenting around with different PSI levels. I'm settled on 36 PSI for street. I was running 40 PSI, but the ride was too god damned rough, and 36 PSI is working very well.

I ran my Toyo MTS at 20 PSI for 250 miles off road in Death Valley. Speeds range from 1-53 MPH at this PSI. Terrain was mostly hard pack with lots of rocks. Alluvial fans, etc.

A pic of the truck.



Here is a pic of the sidewall deflection at 20 PSI, truck was 400-500 lb over stock, i'm including the weight of dual battery, shell, fridge, recovery gear, water, etc.

Ran over a small rock, and decided to take a close up view.

Check out the tread formation. Near perfect engagement.


At 20 PSI the ride was very comfortable in the rocks. I've gone down as low as 12 PSI with these tires, but I think the comfort for me was near the same. Very subjective, comfort, but I was happy to say the least.

 

Found out this last weekend that my front tires will slightly rub on the fenders when the front suspension is fully compressed. Nothing major, just need to take a dremel to it and problem will be solved.

OME Lift, 2.75" w/ 886 Coils (no bumper yet, should be here next month)

 

I actually like my stock OR wheels so I'm hoping to get away with a tire that fits and won't rub a ton. Lots of cool looking aftermarket wheels but I'd much rather spend that cash on other stuff that I don't have yet. I handle having to do some trimming or re shaping. At this point I'm leaning towards the ST Maxx.

Interesting to see the results of running your psi that low @Crom. Did you ever feel like your sidewalls were too exposed to sharp rocks risking a puncture or tear?

 

Not at 20 PSI. I felt it was great a great balance for comfort, and traction for the terrain I was in, and for the speeds of travel.

I've also done similar terrain at 15 and 12 PSI, and that low I was worried about long term damage to sidewalls for longer trails.

I also noted more deflection at 12 PSI than 15 PSI, more than I expected, and I did worry a bit more for the sidewalls.

It's all about trying to match PSI to the terrain, etc.

I've posted other pics in this thread at different PSI levels which I think are interesting.

 

Very nice information @Crom. Thanks for sharing!

 

I recently found that more than anything, the caster on your front alignment will determine how much you rub with any tire. I have had various combinations of these tires with different wheels and came to the same conclusion each time.

Combo 1) BFG KM2s with Stock TRD Offroad Wheels, 2.8* caster with Light racing UCA. minor rubbing only on full lock full stuff hard impact type things.

Combo 2) BFG KM2s with Stock Steel Wheels, 2.8* caster with lightracing UCA. No rubbing at all.

Combo 3) Cooper ST Maxx with stock steel wheels, 2.8* caster with light racing UCA. No rubbing at all. (ST Maxx is shorter than the KM2 in the same size)

Combo 4) Cooper ST Maxx with SCS F5 3.5 BS 2.8* caster with light racing UCA. Rubbing on every turn stuffed or not. I removed my rokblokz mud flaps, cut a bunch of plastic, flattened the pinch weld a little, and did the cab mount chop and it finally cured most of the rubbing.

Combo 5) Cooper ST Maxx with SCS F5 3.5BS 3.5* caster with light racing UCA. Rubbing is all gone.

Combo 6) Cooper ST Maxx with SCS F5 3.5BS 4.0*caster with TC UCA. Rubbing is still gone. Reinstalled the mudflaps and still no rubbing.

Story line is. If you have rubbing adjust your caster to the max. If you have stock UCAs get some LR or TC UCAs which will give you more caster.

 

I have the LR UCAs and running at 3* caster. I thought about taking it in to the alignment shop to adjust the caster, but it's such a non-issue and the alignment shop dudes have already seen me too many times this year.

Also running the S/T MAXX tires. They barely rubbed at all, and I mean I had that bitch compressed as much as it physically could before there was rubbing. It was hardly any contact, certainly not damaging to the truck or tire, and only at a specific wheel angle, like 20* or something (guesstimate, I didn't actually math it out).

 

I actually adjusted mine in the driveway once with the adjustable star washer on top of the ball joint. Just mark where the big bolt/nut is coming up through the arm, then jack up under the LCA just to get the tire off the ground. Loosen the big nut on top and twist the star washer underneath to increase the caster. Once you get it, tighten it back down and lower the jack. I had the alignment shop check to see if it messed with anything else and only the caster changed.

 

Quick question guys, I just got the 255/85/16 st maxx tires on Monday, what is a good psi to run these at? Guy at big o says I should still run stock psi and I'm not sure if that's true or not? As of right now they are at 30

 

I run mine at 35-36

 

Front and back? I think mine were 35 in the front and 30 in the back

 

Yes I have a really heavy rear end though. Usually about 1-2 psi difference front to back is normal. 5 sounds a bit excessive.

 

Hmm I'll have to run down to the gas station and get it all dialed in! What about these cold Utah winters we have should I run more or less?

 

^ same