Advice for Tires

Hey everyone,

So I'm still new to owning a truck, so forgive me if I sound stupid. I'm wanting to replace my tires on my 16 Tacoma TRD Sport before I move cross country. I know we'll be towing a trailer (not sure what kind yet) behind us and we'll be taking back roads most of the way.

Currently, I have GeoDrive Tires and I haven't had any issues with them, but I'm not sure how they'll do towing 3500+lbs for the last half of their life spans. I know the front two tires are at they're half life while the rear tires are nearing the end of their life span. I planned on keeping the front two and holding them as spares for the long trip as a precaution.

My tire size is 265/65 R17 112T

 

Welcome to TW...

 

Simple answer, air them up to the appropriate pressure according the tire manufacturer for expected load (Weight) that will be on the tires. As long as the tread depth is good, no reason to change them out early beyond keeping all four tires as spares.

If you really want to change them out, and incase you plan on changing things up, don't go over 265-285 in width (depends on the upper control arm), and don't go over 34" in tire size. You already have 17" rims which is good. Reason for 34" is that 34.1" tires, IE: 255/85R17, will rub the top of the fender while jumping and hopping.

 

3500 is well within comfortable towing, from what I have heard. 4500-5000 is where you *might* consider tires. Unless "nearing the end" is 3/32 (iffy) and travel is on cold icy-snowy roads, just keep the truck on the pavement and inside the lane-lines.

 

Welcome to TW. It’s not clear what your question is. Are you looking for tire brand suggestions? Are you asking if the tires you have will be ok for your trip or are you asking something else. If you are asking for tire brand/type then we need more information as to type of driving. For example % of time street/highway driving, drive in snow, drive off road, tow a trailer on a regular basis and so on. Please clarify what exactly you’re asking.

 

As long as nothing crazy heavy is being placed in the bed, I second this, just be mindful to not cross the 4,800lbs mark on the rear axle, combined load rating of the tires, that gives ~180lbs of allowance before being maxed out, and do not follow the door panel tire pressure, that is a guideline, that only applies the the factory tires with no cargo, not the rule.

Although at that point, you are probably crossing the axle limits bu a long ways if some how load the rear axle beyond 4k lbs

 

265/70/17 in the tire of your choice. Towing, I'd go with a 10 ply.

 

Bfg Ko2 all terrain E-rated.

 

I say replace all four, carry naught but the stock for spares. Get yourself a cheap inflator and plug kit instead. You'll need the weight (and space) if you are already hauling a house move.

 

I mean just in general. I mostly drive street/highway. I go camping maybe 4 or 5 times out of the year so not a lot of off road travel. We're moving to Arizona from New England, so no worry about snow. I don't usually tow, expect maybe once a month I have like 250lbs to at most 500lbs in the bed. I always had Michelin tires on my Camrys because Costco, but my coworkers are telling me that its not good fit for my Tacoma. Everyone says that Coopers are good, but Toyota doesn't recommend them.

 

Which part of AZ? PHX is hot, dry, no snow or ice. Prescott or Payson (just below the Mogollon Rim which adds a couple thousand feet from the valley) has some winter. Flagstaff get full winter with snow/ice at 6000-7000 ft.

 

North Phoenix near Cave Creek and Scottsdale

 

Michelin Defenders are a great choice for Tacoma tires considering your described use case.

Your coworkers are either misinformed or they think you use the truck in ways that require something else. Or it could be they think 'aggressive looks' rule the tire choice.

'Toyota' doesn't recommend any tires for anything that I know of. Are you speaking of a dealer?

 

Moving to Az. you will be driving offroad. No doubt.

 

Hot, dry. Winters become a frozen wasteland of maybe 40 at night. A little more rain than Chandler/Tolleson because of a little more elevation and hills force rain. Get used to nose/moth getting dry for adjustment. Rock Springs a few miles north has pies so desired that the line at Thanksgiving/Christmas are long.

And check out this: https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/arizona.84/

 

Just don't go cheap China made crap.
2 things I never go cheap on, tires and brakes.
Good luck with your truck.

 

Yep ... Falken Wildpeaks AT4 for me. No games for me.

 

I scouted PHX in September before moving. I moved at the end of December. I drove north route (40) in September and south route (20 through Texas) to move ... avoid winter, especially the drastic drop along I-17 from Flagstaff. It did not help that ABQ has signs saying "exit if this light is flashing" which could only be for winter ice/snow. El Paso is still damn cold even if not icy.

 

Holy moose poop, you are in for some shock. New England lush and green to Arizona hot dry grey desert. That is going to take some gettin use to. I like AZ but have never lived there. You’ll like Flagstaff and Sedona.
Since you seldom off road and it sounds like mild dirt roads, as far as tires a set of LT (light truck) tires would meet your needs. You like Michelin so a set of Michelin Defender LTX would be perfect. They are great tires, highway and towing and light off road.
Prepare yourself, tire threads are insane on this forum. You’ll get a zillion responses mostly saying get the tires I have cause they are the best cause I have them. Good luck and good fortune on your move to Arizona.

 

For the Toyota bit I had seen it in a few different places when I was researching tires. Mostly dealerships and a few forums (it's actually how I found this forum.)

My coworkers have more luxury cars, so that might be why? I don't know. I was mentioning Michelin as my go to and then it sparked a whole thing about taking better care of my truck.

I still have a month to prep for the move, but the more I get done before I move, the better off I am. If I can get away with Michelin Defenders until I can get down to AZ and start work again, I'd rather do that. Worse comes to worst every state has a Costco in a few different cities and I know for a fact, everywhere has Michelin tires. I was just worried about towing with the wrong tires.