Put 255/85/16s on stock OR wheels and suspension

Made four new friends today. The 5th will be here tomorrow.

 

Has anyone had the bighorns to near EOL yet? How many miles did you get on them? How poopy are they in all conditions (rocks, mud, snow, rain, dry pavement, stopping grip)?
One very solid review I got on these tires is they're marginal at best throughout the rather short lifespan ~30k miles, for the price.

They are likely the only 255 I'd buy because I'm a cheap bastard, they're kinda lighter than other 255, or I can get a set of 35s for $40 more. Which have many more reviews and are great, for the price and performance when compared to tires in 255 size. They also don't weight that much more than a 255, roughly 8lbs heavier per tire.

 

Where did you read you’d only get 30k out of them? I’m at 15k and they’re barely worn at all.

 

A member on here.

 

I think you are worried about nothing. The stock tires on the SR5 are actually narrower (245/75R16). I have 255/85R16s and a 2" lift and I haven't lost any confidence on the hiway. I don't drive my truck like a Lamborghini, but I do drive it harder than the average bloke.

 

That's not bad at all. My fuel economy dropped from 18 mpg to 14 mpg going from stock P265/70R16 A/Ts to LT255/85R16 M/Ts. I also added a 2" lift at the same time, so that could be part of it. My 2016 SR5 got 24 mpg hiway and 22 mpg mixed on the stock all-seasons.

 

The Toyo M55 is not a dedicated snow tire but it does have the mountain snowflake rating and that is why I considered it. In the end I decided to go with two sets of tires and wheels: M/Ts for the trails and stock A/Ts for daily driving.

https://www.toyotires.com/product/m...q-hCE-4jChHIOi26fOcdgdwmRXooUgThoCx-8QAvD_BwE

 

They were grossly exaggerating then. These tires are lasting way better than the stock tires did. I replaced them with the Maxxis at 25k and I just hit 40K. I do not see them being down to wear bars in another 15k lol.



Here are the stock tires when they came off.

 

Sometimes, if you wanna be a cheap bastard, you buy something that costs more but lasts longer. Transaction costs will eat you up. (every time you buy new tires, you have to have them mounted and balanced)

I like my Dick Cepek Extreme Country MTs, they're among the lightest in class around 50 pounds, and the life looks like at least 30k miles, I already have 15k on them and they look great.

 

Ya kinda can't compare any tire to dealer-equipped tires. Of the 2 vehicles I've owned that were new off the lot (my mazda 3 I traded for the taco), or still had the dealer tires on them (this taco), neither got past 30k miles. I probably got 40k out of my Grabber AT2s, which could've been better if I hadn't been fighting alignment problems due to changes to the truck (build up stages), or wheeled it and chewed them on rocks.

The person that gave me the review does have a heavier truck than mine, but I can't imagine it making that grossly of a difference.

"I Bought my 1st set because I wanted to try a mud terrain but didn’t want to spend a lot. These seemed decent.

For the 2nd set I was going to get Cooper ST MAXX @ $1600 for 5 tires. Bighorns were $1000 for 5 tires.
Prices are out the door with installation, tax, disposal of old tires etc.

The coopers are arguably a better tire. But $600 better? My truck isn’t my daily driver.

The 1st set lasted about 28,000 miles. I had a misshap where an alignment shop failed to torque the cam alignment nut and it disappeared 700 miles south of San Diego in Baja. The nearest toyota dealer was a 500 mile round trip in the wrong direction. We were able to find the same size nut and “make it work”. My alignment was so bad we had to rotate the tires after 300 miles because they were getting eaten fast.
I probably could have gotten 32,000 miles out of them if not for that.

performance wise:
Drive pavement: not bad, they’re not super loud until they start wear down.
Wet pavement: kinda suck
deep snow: good
packed snow: okay but not as good as an all terrain
rocks, mud, sand all pretty good. Never had a sidewall puncture but had some deep cuts that never leaked.
A little chipping but nothing crazy. Like I never tore a lug off. I’m pretty easy on the gas pedal when off roading though."

The folks I wheel with typically run Dicks, Micks, ST somethings, or Interco. Most of us DD our trucks as well, I'm not sold that the Bighorn is meant for me. That siping at 15k is all but gone from the center lugs.

 

Anyone run 255/85s with a wheel spacer on stock suspension? Love the look of the tall skinny but don’t love how far in the wheels are tucked in the fender. Looking at maybe .75” or 1” spacers

 

Is there a TLDR version of this?

 

Bighorns suck if you drive in conditions other than dry pavement

 

Well, I’m gonna try them out for a while. Got me mounted today.

 

What pressure are y’all running in these?

 

The shop that mounted mine put 40 psi in them. My truck drove like a cement truck. I reduced it to 30 psi for daily driving. I see no reason to use a pressure much different than what Toyota recommends. The truck is the approximately the same weight and the contact patch of the tires is approximately the same size; a bit more in theory (6% longer and 4% narrower than P265/70R16). If anything, I think I should run a bit less pressure than 30 psi. Interpolating from the manufacture's max load at 80psi, I should be able to support the truck with 23 psi, but I have little other reason to believe that is optimal. I'm sticking with 30 psi until I hear an argument to run something else.

For off the road I have been experimenting with different pressures. I have tried 30, 25, and 20 psi. I didn't notice much difference between 30 and 25, but 20 soaked up the bumps (especially rocks and roots) noticeably better. I might try 15 next.

 

Even if it feels comfy you should check out the chalk test.

 

I've heard of this chalk test you speak of, but I've not heard of much science supporting it. I am also skeptical that Toyota uses it. Are you sure it isn't an old wive's tale? I'm not saying it is. I'm just asking for the reasons you believe it is not.

 

Oh yeah absolutely check it out. The toyota reccomendations are for the tires that come stock. The chalk test helps:

Find road pressures that utilize the entire contact patch of the tire resulting in

-even wear on tires
-helps longevity for tires
-optimized traction
-avoid uneven wear

When you over inflate your tires, the center of your tire makes more contact with the ground while the edges do not, resulting in wear in the center of the tire.

Too low of tire pressure, the edges wear before the center does. Resulting in wear on the edges and pre mature tire wear.

I will grab some pics in a sec

Edit:

not the greatest pictures but this is what it ends up being. I've seen photos of people selling tires on here with this wear, and don't even realize it. It is very easy to over inflate SL tires. It is easy to under inflate LT tires. (At least on these trucks)

The chalk test gives you an honest even wear on your tires for your truck at your weight. Get a front bumper, winch, skids, sliders, or other bells and whistles? Check out your tire patch. The beauty is it takes 60 cents of chalk, 10 minutes of trying to save some $$ and get a better performing product.

 

It's basically the very definition of science. A physical result of complex dynamics.

Where chalk rubs off, you have contact (or else the chalk wouldn't rub off). If you have contact on the entire tire, there's less pressure because the same force demands it. If there's less pressure, there's less wear. Also if it wears all over the tire, then chances are it's not uneven.


But ymmv. I run my tires at 40.