Colorado Trading Post

First, read this: http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/white_papers/tire_selection_rev1.html
It has a buttload if information in it. And I tend be a nerd about new information I haven’t previously thought about. I also recommend this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/255-85-r16-owners-experience.155849/
I mean, come on, there’s a whole thread dedicated to this size tire. I decided to go with Cooper ST Maxx well, because this:https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-off-your-cooper-st-maxx.346956/

Yeah, I did a little research. But look, at the end of the day, it’s your truck and you are the best judge for what you want and how to outrig your ride. For me, I ran 285/70r17 DuraTracs for 7 years and wanted a change. Best decision I’ve made in a while. No road noise, regained low end torque ( I’m SC with stock gears), killer looks. What finally got me though was that 99% of overlander rigs use this tire size and that’s my end game. I’ve only had them off pavement a couple of times in the two weeks since getting them, but I can already tell the difference. There’s my $.02.

 

Only reason I went with 285 S/T Maxx's over the 255's was because I kinda prefer the wider tire look. It was a completely irrational decision since I agree that functionally, 255's would be a much more ideal size for my use case. But, I'm just an idiot and went with form/function

 

Lol. I’m sure your truck looks BA, I had the same thought process. I was just ready to go in another direction.

 

Better contact pressure would be good for snow but terrible for ice, ice is all about max surface area in contact with a surface, thus wider tire has the advantage.

 

Wide - ice and sand
Skinny - snow and mud

Wide will last longer, due to the contact area. Skinny will have less rolling resistance which means less noise, better mpg and a much lighter steering feel.

I've run both, I prefer the look of wide tires, but don't want to kill the power/mpg of my poor Tacoma.

 

maybe with all this snow / ice discussion we will get pow pow on Saturday night in Denver

 

my dad and I did Yankee hill new years eve both of us having 255s. the long hill after the shooting range was all ice. we were watching a brand new heep on 42x14s fail multiple times and eventually give up. both our rigs made it up in one go.

 

The type of tire comes into play in this situation. All things equal: design, siping, tread depth and materials in the compound will dictate how well an individual tire will do in a given condition, regardless of size.

Not to mention capability of the vehicle itself. My Tacoma would do a lot better climbing an icy Hill than my 5 ton work truck.

 

Chains... everything is solved with chains.

 

Couldn't agree more!

 

oh for sure. i was just pointing one instance that skinny proved to be better.
lots of variables were at play

 

Like this right? Asking for a friend...

 

Trade for a camping hammock plus suspension for it?

 

What sizes are the jacket and pants? I may be interested and have a hammock and suspension to trade.

 

Quoted the wrong person lol Im trying to trade my hammock/ suspension for them lol

 

Not quite. In an ice situation, wide contact area gives you less friction so pressure is better in a ice situation (more pressure per sq. inch = more friction). Wider in snow is better because it gives you more contact area to pack the snow quicker and stay above it. It sounds like this is contradictory, but in a real world situation your skinny tire is mounted to our trucks and as the skinny tire cuts the snow better to eventually pack and allow the contact pressure to eventually grab traction you have already high centered. With a wide tire on our trucks will keep you on top of the snow.

Of course this is all dependent on the right tire in the right situation. That why it is better to close a tire that matches your conditions and know the abilities of your truck and yourself. And as always be prepared for the worst and assume you will always get stuck. Tires are the most important factor in a vehicles, but recovery gear is the game changer.

 

The jacket is a XL and the Pants are a 34 waist

 

I'll disagree with this. I used to have 295 and could barely get moving on icy roads in 2wd now I'm on 255 and getting to about the same tread depth as the 295s had and still don't need 4x4. With how light these trucks are the 295 were too wide and I'd just float.

In deep bottomless snow you want wide tire to help float on top.

 

Or causes more problems when they break...

 

Thats why you just added heated seat elements to your tires.... They burn through the snow and ice....