235/85/16 The Skinny

Before 265 70 16




After 235 85 16


Sorry for the distance difference

 

Talked me into more pics sorry

 

I think I’ll be the first with the new to Canada (been out in the states almost a year) Firestone MT2’s.

I haven’t driven them near long enough to comment on performance. They seem to ride ok being E rated, and noise isn’t terrible although you can definitely hear them and feel the vibrations they cause. All of this is expected with mud terrains.

Mild rubbing on stock suspension. I haven’t flexed it to see if it would be an issue in aggressive off-roading.

Some quick pictures:









I think with the minimal and narrow styling of the 1st gen Tacoma, they are an excellent fit and look. Not to mention the weight savings from 265/75/16’s, or worse yet 33’s. I had a 5 speed 4runner with 33’s and didn’t want to go down that road again. These are felt when accelerating and braking, but not as bad as larger, heavier tires. You can also notice the taller sidewalk and taller truck, but once again to be expected.

 

Those look great! I am seriously considering these as my next tire.

 

Thanks!

Firestone (owned by Bridgestone) makes some good tires. This one is fairly untested but their Destination AT is one of the top rated and highest mileage all-terrain tires at the Tire Rack review page.

What’s also appealing is the look and price. I had 33” duratracs before and while they are a good tire, I greatly disliked the sidewall appearance. Plus they are very common around here. They are made in Canada and we can buy them pretty cheap. These MT2’s actually came in about 60$ less with 75$ credit at the moment from Firestone.

I don’t mileage my vehicles all that quick but I’ll try to comment more when I have at least 8-10,000km. At that point I’ll have tested them a bit more. I’m not intl heavy off-roading much but do get into some sticky situations finding the next best camp site or back country trail.

 

just gonna leave this here,...will say...mine rub a bit in the front...but nothing a heat gun or dremel won't fix

 

Heat gun?

 

yeah a heat gun...shoots heat not bullets

$31 BLACK+DECKER Heat Gun, Corded, Dual Heat Settings up to 1000 Degrees, 1350 Watt (HG1300)

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker...7381_1_12?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1524971904&sr=1-12

lets you soften the plastic, bend it into shape, or in my case...out of the way, and then it gets stiff again and hardens in that position...works like a charm

 

Where are you guys finding the steel spare rims? I need a complete set. Does the 235 fit the 7" wide rim?

 

So I’m running my at2s at 32 psi on a 2014 went down from 36-38 cuz my front tires were wearing on sides but the rears were fine maybe a little higher in the middle

 

I thought wearing in the sides was a sign of under inflation. Over inflation wears out the middle. I may be wrong, and I’m sure someone will let me know if I am.

 

Well there actually sitting at 40 and seem to be fine now but it could be my alignment with problems with the LCA

 

Fiiiiiiiinaly got a set of these tires mounted up. Ended up going with the AT3's. Seemed to be the best tread pattern and tire weight for the kind of driving I do (98% highway driving). had to get a set of OEM rims for cheap tho. First impression was I immediately noticed a little more pep over my old 265/75's load E tires. Road noise is a lot less too (was running a very similar tread pattern on my old tires. Still running through my first tank of gas to see if I pick up any MPG...which it looks like I will. offroad performance is yet to be seen but I'm anticipating any difference will be negligible since my off-highway driving consists mainly of fire roads and a few times a year a snow covered road. Looks-wise, I really like them. They are different than what 99% of people put on. When I showed up at the tire store that ordered them for me, they wanted me to look at them first because they had never had a customer order these kind of tires for a pickup before. They wheeled a tire out and I said "yep, those are the ones". They asked why I wanted that specific size and I said its all about gas mileage. Less weight, less rolling resistance is exactly what I need. Still visually perplexed, they all agreed that's exactly what I would get with that tire. I aired them up when I got home to 50psi, and the ride was no stiffer than my old tires....which I guess is what I expected.

 

Nice. I run that size for my winter tires. When I had them mounted, I got the same reaction. They acted like I was putting semi truck tires on. After it was all mounted up the manager was like, "ok... I see what you were going for." I'm running stock size now, only because I got an insane deal on a set of Michelins, but next time I'll definitely be getting the same tires in the 235/85r16 size. To me, it's an ideal "+1" size for a stock Tacoma.

 

Yeah, they're good "+1" size without losing any performance over stock tires. I was gonna go the 255/85 route, but after reading @DVexile 's diet taco thread.....and fighting the urge in getting a tire that was probably just going to cause me problems anyways, I decided to stay in the 31" range. Granted they don't look as cool on my DBLCLB as they would on a short bed, but in all honesty the only way the long bed tacomas look good is if they are lifted significantly. For me this size is the perfect tire for my 125 mile commute. I would ALWAYS cheap out when I bought tires and get whatever was the cheapest Chinese off-brand in the 265/75 size. They all weighed a ton but I didn't care. It wasn't until I came on this site that i started researching and paying attention that I discovered the 235 size. Its nice to have a top quality tire on the old girl again

 

Missed your post for some reason. Those look pretty nice.

 

Gentlemen - I plan to go the 235/85/16 route as soon as my Duratrac's wear out. I have about 20k on them now. I have the TRD PRO suspension so about 2" over stock. My only concern with a skinny tire is the possibility that they'll be "sucked in" a bit from the fenders. I don't want them sticking out by any means, but I'd like them near the edge of the fenders anyway.

When I move to these tires, I also plan to switch to the faux TRD beadlock wheels. Any idea if those have a different backspacing than the factory SR5 wheels? I'm wondering if moving to those wheels may solve the issue.

 

Is anyone running these on the ‘16 SR5 wheels that look like this?

 

Anyone running these on a first gen remember how much of a gas mileage hit you took? Also interested in hearing how much it affects power while towing.

 

I have them on a 1st gen and I’m getting about 1.5 MPG less than stock. But I also have a shell, 2.5” lift, steel wheels and some armor.