255/85 R16 Owners Experience

For sierra summers the 255 is going to be awesome. But I am sorry the winters up here require 285+ studding to even make it worth it. Most of the guys around here have to run 35's that are super wide to even get decent snow loft.

Thats Y I want to run the 255's in the summer. They are awesome and will save my at tire for the highways

 

A bike tire with a trucks weight on top of it will have far more traction than a road tire because of the increased pressure per inch on the road.

Unfortunately, that tiny amount of rubber would never be able to take the forces required of it, and would tear/ruin in minutes.

As mentioned, narrow, having higher pressure per square inch on the road, is worse for soft surfaces deeper than your diff/frame because it exerts more pressure ON that surface so will want to dig down rather than float on top.

Mud or snow less than your frame/diff depth, and any hard surface, and all other things being equal, narrower is better. 10/10 times, no exceptions.

What I meant by this is a 33x12.5 vs a 33x10 BFG MT will do worse in every situation where the truck cannot sink to the diff/frame. There is no advantage to a wider tire off-road other than loft on soft surfaces.

So I agree, if you're trying to float on a surface like snow withiout digging down to the dirt underneath, or mud deeper than your diff or frame, then a wider tire could very well be an advantage.

Otherwise, narrower.

 

I meant truck pressure onto the ground. Not pressure in your tires.

Airing down your tires allows your tire to mold more around (hard)surfaces. That is where the grip comes from in this instance. As your contact patch goes up you're actually losing some lbs per square inch onto the ground, so losing adhesion friction, but gaining much more friction from the tire molding around surface irregularities.

If you refuse to read this article, read this section:

http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/white_papers/tire_selection_rev1.html#performance

It explains it pretty nicely.
From that article:

 

No, you are missing the point. Train rail car wheels are 4" wide and provide incredible traction on a very smooth surface...

There is no point trying to rehash this here when the information at the link provided earlier explains it very well!

The guys with wide tires that want to keep telling us they are better for offroad are never going to read this info or wrap their brain around it -they got wide tires for looks. Good for them. I want a better off road tire and for the driving I do -tall and skinny please!

 

I guess these folks got it all wrong.

 

Haha we all love Tool, but the fact is there is a ton of anecdotal evidence (including this poll) plus ALL (100% no exceptions) of the science supports the fact that a skinny (33x10) tire is better than a wider (33x12.5) tire offroad in any situation except mud/snow/sand deeper than the diff/frame.

 

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts."

-Someone, not me

 

08pretaco made it further with an open diff taco than our buddy with LSD in the loose sand

He was running his 255s and the other guy was running 265 Duratracs which buried him in the loose shit



EDITED

 

Not trying to jump on the band wagon here but in a debate on facts opinions and experiences dont hold up well to facts.

I would not say your wrong, just that your off-roading needs may be different from the needs of those who run the 255. Many of your photos show wheeling in places that a 255 may not excel in comparison, but someone in moab may have the opposite need and therefore experience the opposite of what you have.

 

Different strokes for different folks That's why you can buy them in all kinds of sizes!

 

Agreed, everyone has their own needs. If you wanna wheel in snow where you want your wheels to float on top rather than dig down to the dirt, tall skinny tires aren't ideal.

If you're bogging through mud up to the bumper, tall and skinny might not be the way to go.

They make em in tons of sizes, buy what ya like and what works for you.

 

so them not being ideal for sand is a safe bet too then right? I only have a rear locker and I don't need anything taking away from my O/R capabilities

 

I'm not really qualified to answer that as I've never run my truck in deep sand, I can only spit back up what I've read. I would think wider would be better for sand, but then you see a shit ton of the Sahara or other desert expedition vehicles running tall/skinny, and quotes from some of the Guru's like this:

You're gonna have to just do some more research and make a decision on that.

 

it seems 255 would be better reading that quote of yours...the guy seemed to know his stuff

 

What kind of trails are you hitting, what are your 4x4 needs, how much highway v trails time, terrain?, $$$, weight in your truck.... it goes on.

 

IDK

 

I did not.


The OP states he is going to buy this size after a MONTH of research.

You offered your opinion in your first post.

Others stated their experience is different. Still others provide links to data that supports narrow tires outperform wider tires in just about every offroad driving condition found on our continent unless you are up to the frame.


Sharing your opinion over and over is sort of like arguing -or trying to convince us we are wrong.

So I asked (sarcastically) if these people also got it wrong?

To which you now act all hurt?

The thread is titled "255/85 R16 Owners Experience" and you are here arguing wider tires are better. wtf?



And yes, I thought the same thing, why isn't this in the wheel and tire section?

 

Ya no idea why in 2nd gen. Other than I tend to do the same thing (post everything here because this is kinda my 'home' forum for trucks hehe.


I'd almost want to try even taller/skinnier next time haha but there is even less choice. The Interco SSR comes in 35x10.50R16LT which would be pretty interesting. The BFG KM2's are already pretty much 34 inches though when new so not sure how much I'd be gaining for what I'd be giving up. (KM2 road manners actually kick ass, quieter than most ATs and feels great even in high G turns etc. No wandering, no wobble)

 

Thanks for the responses. A few things. It is in this section since I have a second gen. Tire forum doesn't seem to get much traffic and in the grand scheme of things, who really cares?

Second, I will be doing a lot of sand driving and conventional wisdom says a wider tire is better for sand but I have read on other forums that people running this tire in soft sand are having fantastic results so I wanted to hear people's experiences on here. Camel trophy runs sand dunes with tall skinny tires as the preferred tire.

I have only experience with wide tires but after reading and looking at what the true expedition vehicles are using all over the world I just don't see big wide tires being used with any of these vehicles which got me thinking.

Bottom line is this is why we have forums to share experiences and knowledge. Worrying about what section a thread is in or the standard antagonistic "use search" comments are counter productive. I appreciate the responses it's all good stuff!