10.50 vs 12.50

Hey everyone, I'm having a dilemma. I was thinking about getting new tires for my 97 tacoma. I currently have 1 inch wheel spacers and rims off of an old jeep cherokee . with that set up my offset is 3 inches. The stock rims were flush with my fenders where now my wheels stick out 3 inches. I am getting the stage 3 bushwackers to cover up the width of my tires. I was planning on doing a 3 inch suspension lift and 33 inch tires. But here is where my problem is... i dont know whether i should go with a 33x12.50r15 or a 33x10.50r15. This truck is mostly driven in late fall, early spring, and winter. So it does see ice, snow, and some water. I've heard people say the 10.50 is better in mud, snow, and on the highway but I've also heard others say the 12.50 is just as good. My rims are a 15x8. Ive also been debating on what tires i should get. Does anybody have experience with the hankook dynapro mt? I have the 5 speed and the 3.4 quad cam v6 so power isnt the issue.

 

I've got 11.5 AT and the truck gets fishy in the rain. Maybe that extra inch of friction could help in bad weather?

 

Im running 11.5s too. Shares benefits of both and Id go with 11.5s again

 

I would go with the 10.5 for sure. I think it's the perfect size for our tacomas. I have ran both 11.5 and 10.5 and there was no difference in traction.

 

Thicker tires look so much cooler though.

 

33x10.5 tires will allow you to run factory backspacing without issue, provided you have a lift on it. All the gain of ground clearance without the hassle of the wider tire.

 

However, I don't have factory spacing. I have 1 inch spacers to fit my aftermarket rims and the rims I have are about a 2 inch offset from the stock rims. And there is only about 3 brands that make a tire for a 33x10.50 which doesn't give me much of an option

 

Here is a 33x12.50 on a 10" wheel. On my current truck

My last truck was almost the same and I had 33x10.5s on 8" wheels. It never ever rubbed anywhere. I can't say that for the green truck because I just put the wheels on. The 10.5s do look more proportionate to the trucks. But with the right lift 12.5s look very mean also

 

^^^^^ have you had those tires in any sort of terrain other than pavement yet? Just wondering how they do offroad. There's shops around here selling them pretty cheap and thought about giving them a whirl when mine are done.

 

They do great off road. Big lugs with lots of room between them to clean out. Do just as good as a tire twice the price. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another set

 

cool, I'll keep them in mind when the time comes in a few months. The cleaning out in the mud is mostly what i was concerned about as the gaps between the center lugs look a little tighter than alot of the other mudders out there. Definitely a good lookin tire.

 

You can run a 10.50 or a 12.50 on an 8 inch rim, so you're good there. As for width, I found that my 12.50s do better in deep snow because of the greater cross sectional area. Conversely, at a given tire pressure, you'll have more volume in a 12.50. So you'll have a larger contact patch. This makes for better dry weather cornering but lowers the contact pressure in icy conditions. As for me, I just make sure I keep my air pressure up in winter to counteract that and haven't had any issues with my Duratracs. (this is why I, personally, lean towards a wider tire)

Either way, I don't think you'll notice much of a performance difference. The big question for you is: "how much will I have to cut to fit my tires with those spacers on?" If 12.50s force you to cut more than you're comfortable cutting, there's your answer. If your good with cutting as needed, check what tires you want to run and see what size they come in and go from there.

 

The gaps in the middle are tighter. But I can stick my index finger in there pretty easily.

 

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Bigger is better!