255/85 R16 Owners Experience

I don't rub but I have 1" spacers.
You just need the right backspacing which is 4.5 inches.
My wheels are 5.25 inches so this is working for me with the 1" spacers.

 

Perfect. I have 16x8’s with 4.5 backspacing! Gonna give these a go.

 

Started out with a set of Dick Cepek extreme countries. Loved the offroad traction, and the on road manners were pretty good. What I didn't love was the life, only got ~13k miles out of them. I did have some alignment issues throughout, so maybe they would have lasted a bit longer, but I can't imagine that much longer. I also liked how light they were for the size (49 lbs). They've since gone up in price substantially (I had purchased 4 for $950 installed), so it was easy to justify a nicer, longer lasting tire.

I settled on KM3s. I think they look and perform great, but they're larger in diameter (33.1" from 32.8"), so I have rubbing issues again. I'm also getting significantly worse gas mileage (17 to <13, don't have enough tanks to be sure) and they've effectively rendered overdrive useless. It's bad enough that I'm working towards a 4.88 regear. I'm not sure if it's related to the extra tire weight (59 lbs), the tread pattern, diameter or something else. Traction has been excellent so far, even in light snow offroad. I do notice the sidewalls are much stiffer than the dick cepcks, so I have to air down more to get a decent ride.

Anyone else made this switch (or a similar one) and noticed the same type of mileage hit? I was expecting something, just not quite this severe.

I've also started a spreadsheet of what 255/85R16s are available along with some stats, hopefully its useful.
Spreadsheet

 

I have noticed my truck is much more sensitive to wind and weight, and mileage goes down significantly if I drive over 65... but, otherwise mileage seems the same around town and keeping the speed down. I too had just a touch of rubbing but was able to get rid of it by futzing with the alignment.

 

I had a similar set up on my Tacoma as well. Bumper, winch, 3 skids, HC rear bumper, gear, tools etc. I installed EBC ultimax slotted rotors and their Yellow stuff pads. It made a big improvement in the braking without having to go bigger brakes and 17" wheels.

 

Thanks for the tip.

 

No problem, I think I got them on sale from autoanything for less than $300.

 

I had some 255/85/16 maxxis bighorn for about 2 years.
TERRRIBLE in the snow. Complete death trap.

I loved my skinnies but to get the BFG K02, I had to go to the 285/75/16.

I prefer the aspect ratio look-wise of the skinny. I haven't wheeled the 285's yet, but dont like the look as much.

This is irrelevant of size I think,but my god the K02's are so smooth and quiet.

 

I like 'em because I got 33"+ and didn't have to cut/chop or pound anything.
Put them on and go.
Still happy with my speed & stock gears too.

 

I had rubbing with my 255's on the steelies because backspacing. Rubbed on the frame at full lock and stock UCA/
I spaced them 1.25 and solved the UCA, but had slight rubbing on frame.

When I was fully tucked in front I had som rubbing near washer bottle fender area on both tires.

 

Yeah, me too.
I have 1" spacers in front.
It's kinda working out because I'll need 1.75" spacers in the rear after I mod it this winter.
At least I didn't get new wheels only to now find out I'll need more bs in the rear.

 

Have had my 255/85R16 Dick Cepek Extreme Country on TRD Pro 16x7, +13 offset wheels for a while now. No issues with rubbing (3.3/3.4* caster). They have been good on and off-road (nothing I super bad as of yet) and will keep them until they need replacing. I have been thinking about switching to SCS F5 16x8, 0 offset wheels just because.....

The biggest difference I noticed was the weight and slight mileage loss but with my truck it didn't matter so much as it is not a daily driver aaannnnnd it's a brick. I did regear to 4.56 (6-speed MT, which is slightly overgeared) and it has made the truck MUCH more drivable on and off-road. It has tractor slow crawling in 1st and 4lo.

 

3 years on the M55s now. with Kings and Spidertrax spacers in the front, Bilsteins in the back with progressive AAL. I did get pulled over shortly after I put these tires, forgot to re-calibrate speedometer due to change in revolutions so keep that in mind lol. The extra height is cool but the ride is noticeably rougher than stock. Fucking amazing off road if you are good at picking your lines. I'll be going to a wider tire probably Wildpeaks vs KO2's next and looking forward to (hopefully) a more cush ride again

 

Should we be regearing for these taller tires? Anybody losing power?

 

I didn't and I think its fine as is.

 

I’m coming from a different engine and transmission in my third gen and it made a difference with my 255s. Especially Offroad.

 

How so?

 

Compared to his 2nd gen. I can’t speak for those. But my 3rd gen was significantly better after regearing it with 5.29s. It is the v6 auto like most everyone else.