The SKINNY on skinny tires

This is my first post on TW, long time lurker but the skinny tire debate has finally pushed me to make an account and post.
Hoping to get some insight into whether I’m getting a good set up or not. I currently have a stock set of wheels and tires for my TRD Sport for winter and recently got a full 2” OME suspension. I wanted to get bigger tires for summer and to do some wheeling. I initially wanted 265/70r17 falken wildpeak A/T3Ws but do to supply chain issues in Canada the shop suggested I get them in 245/75r17 and I’m also getting a set of black rhino stadium rims in 17x9.5 with -18 o/s.
Is this going to be a good set up or would I be better off waiting to get different tires? Any other advice and suggestions appreciated. Also sorry if this is not the right way to post as it is my first one.

 

Those tires, in 245/75R17 are only suggested for a 6.5-8" wheel so personally I wouldn't be comfortable running them on a 9.5" wide wheel. Personally I'd be looking at a much wider tire for that wheel and/or a much narrower wheel.

 

Thats what I was wondering when I looked on the available sizes of tires on the Falken website. I feel out of place asking the shop due to it being a very reputable Toyota specific 4x4 shop in my city. The co-owner asked him what the size specification was, and the owner said “up to 9.5””. I took at that face value but upon doing my own searching at home noticed the specified rim size range listed. However a 245/75r17 is a 9.6 “ tire, so wouldn’t a time of 9.5” be fine realistically?

 

Quick update about my mileage. After changing tires and losing 3 mpg I started combing the forum. I did some messing around with tire pressure. I use a Blue Point (Snap On) analog gauge. I have settled at 34 psi in the front and 31 in the rear. I took a 100 mile trip through hell from Harford County, Md to Burke, Va. I was on 95/295/495 dealing with aggressive driving and speeds ranging from 60-80 mph with less than ideal conditions with lots of slow downs and speed ups. Anyhow, I took a picture of my dash indicator and when I topped the tank off on the way home I did the calculation and came up with 19.3 mpg. I am satisfied with this. My final thought is this truck does Ok with highway mileage and not so good around town. I am averaging around 15.5 around town.

 

I use tiresize.com. They list all or most sizes for your wheel size. Also has an Offset Calculator, Speedometer Calculator, links and more. I am looking at either the FALKEN WILDPEAK M/T01 or BFG MUD TERRAIN T/A KM3, 255 /85 R16. $270 and $277 here in VA. I would like an All-Terrain but don't want to pay $323 for the Cooper. I have new 16" x 8" wheels with -12mm offset. Looks like it will work. Outside should stay the same and inside should move towards the outside by .5" giving more clearance on inside. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

Rim width is measured between the insides of the lips. You're going to want a tire with a tread width a bit wider than the width of the inner lips of your rim. Failure to do so results in what is known as a stretch. How much stretch you have is determined in increments (level 1 to level 3 stretch). With stretch, you lose sidewall flex and your ride becomes more rigid. You lose the ability to air down if you need to for fear of the bead coming off the rim. There's lots of videos on YouTube explaining all the aspects of tire stretch if you want to understand it fully.

 

@Drassel I would agree with Shift. That said, the 245 tire width is not tread width. It's worth understanding that the tire width measurement is actually the "section" width. So basically the widest part of the tire - this is rarely the same as tread width. The width from sidewall to sidewall is typically the widest part of the tire with the tread itself being smaller. Also, this width is measured when installed on a wheel and they specify the size. The tire you're looking at has a section width of 245 when mounted on a 7" wheel. Mounting it on a larger or smaller wheel will change that section width (albeit this isn't a huge difference, just a concept to understand).

My 255's are pretty much the exact same width as the outside lips of my 7.5" wheels. They bulge out maybe 1/2” on each side. So with 245's and a 9.5" wheel you're gonna have a lot of stretch.

 

Great, thanks very much for putting something I was worried and thinking about to rest. I’m going to talk to the shop and get it all organized. I can take being a pain in the ass to them if it means I end up using my money better and ultimately the safety of me and my vehicle. Much appreciated for all the replies.

 

Nice I’m running 33x10.50 Kendas on a zero offset wheel with no rub. Are getting much rub with these and what offset wheels are you running? Thanks

 

Yeah I ran the 33x10.5s with little rubbing as well. I have +18mm wheels with 2'' wheel spacers currently which is needed for rear shock clearance. When I had just 1.25'' spacers/same +18mm wheels on, I had to cut the cab mount as far back as possible, pound the firewall, pound the pinchweld, get rid of almost all the fenderwell plastics, slightly trim the front fender near the door, and trim the flares just a hair.
The 35s will bottom out on the inner fenderwells in several places no matter what your offset is, unless you run a bumpstop spacer.

 

What are you running for upper control arms?

 

Spc's, lower cam tabs maxed out, and castor rolled forward with the Spc's to around 2.5 degrees for a hair more clearance.

 

I love your set up, did you have to trim your fenders at all?

 

I am running 35x10.5R17 Kenda RT’s on 17x7 +4mm T4R Pro Wheels. Had to CMC, hammer pinch weld flat, hammer firewall and inner fenders. Trimmed the bottom rear corner of the fender and I ditched my fender liners instead of trying to heat mold them. I didn’t have to cut the fenders and flares but may still do it later if I switch to a 35x11.5. Running SPC’s with LCA all the way forward. I pulled my coilovers and cycled lock-to-lock with stock bumps and it still had to do some self clearance the first time out on the trail. After that, no rubbing. This was also all done originally at stock ride height.
@Buttskevin21 and I used pretty much the same formula to make it work.
This is the way.

 

Prior to wheel spacers not at all, but after wheel spacers, new rear leaf and shock setup yes.

 

Thanks, this is great info. I already have have a CMC, SPCs, high clearance bumper, and heat molded wheel wells. But the Archive Garage 2.5 relocate is what makes it a little more complicated since I'm running a spacer. I was really hoping it would be possible to fit these without cutting the outer fender flare, but it sounds like it will probably be too close with the spacers.

 

Thanks for all the info. Did you happen to take any pictures of what you had to do to get the spare up there?

 

I can try to snap a photo later but you’ll need to cut the exhaust just after the axle, cut of the exhaust hanger from the frame and hammer the tabs flat on the cross member. I also moved my spare back about an inch but I don’t think that is needed.

 

Thank you

 

Was looking at 265/75r16 before, but now I'm thinking about going to 235/85r16. Currently running stock 245/75r16. Taco is my daily driver but also my camping/adventure truck. I live in northern MN, so snow and icy roads are a fact of life 6 months of the year. Just looking for general thoughts on the pizza cutters versus the 265s. Oh and how the pizza cutters look on stock suspension, not planning any lifts any time soon.