285s; Would you do it again?

You don’t need to regear for 285’s. I have a tune on my truck and it drives better than stock on stock tires

 

truck has the wrong gear ratio and crappy diffs stock

16’s don’t clear necessary bigger brakes

 

He is 2nd gen. Your 3rd gen has a 6speed and a different power curve.

 

Mine is a 285 75 16 but a 285 70 17 would be basically the same overall diameter. I didn't go with a 255 because I didn't want a straight up mud terrain and basically all 255s are MTs. I wish my truck spent all it's time in the dirt but unfortunately life doesn't work that way. So i went with a all terrain rugged terrain type tread pattern for longer life and better on road manners. I did a lot of research and got one of the lightest wheel and tire combos I could find in a 33ish size. These are fn 5 star wheels that weight less than 19 pounds. The tires are mickey thompson baja legend and weight less than 56 pounds. So in total I only gained around 8 pounds on each corner. I didn't notice any change in performance after adding the wheels and tires. In fact it's only feeling a little more sluggish now that I've added full steel skid plates and a camper shell. I still average right at 18 mpg. I don't floor it and I drive a lot of 55 mph country roads.

 

Even on the 2nd gen you wouldn’t need a regear. They offer tunes for the 2nd gen that would get the job done too and at a lot cheaper of a price

 

Loving my 285/75/17s!

Had to do a tiny bit of trimming, but to me the look and performance in the end was definitely worth it.

 

OP if it’s skinnies you’re after don’t forget about 34x10.5R17. They’re .4” taller and .5” wider than 255/70/17. They come in load range D1. Not sure about fitting them on a 2nd gen but I remember seeing a thread about it at one point.

 

I went with 285/70r17. I love the extra clearance and the grip. Little plastic trim and no rubbing issues.

 

In hindsight I should have skipped 285 and gone straight to 35s (or 315s).

 

I dropped down from 315s to 285s last year. Wish I had done 255/85/16. Next time ill get them.

The 285s are nice, but i like the look of 255s better.

 

After the work and effort that went into getting 34s-ish (285/75s) to fit, there is no way (or need) for anyone to do 35s unless you just like going to the extra effort for the extra 1" look.
After 7 EJSs in Utah, I found you don't even need 35s for hard core rock crawling unless you intend to do 8+ rated trails.
VS a Jeep, Toyota makes fitting 35s with no rubbing way more difficult. I just found from experience they are not necessary for hard core wheeling except for the looks.

 

Its not that much extra work to get 35s to fit. A CMC and trimming the plastic is all you need. If you're wheeling, then flattening the pinch weld and a bit of massaging with a bfh and you're good to go. The rest will self clearance. I cut 2" front my front fenders/flares (didnt even touch the rear) and I barely rubbed when I had 35s. Ran those for 5+ years, until last year when i added more suspension up front.

OP already said he didn't want 35s though.. so my point is moot.

 

A lot more work that 33s.

Very true.

 

Dont need to cover the CMC. It just looks better. A cut is all you need - not that much work to do that.

 

I've done all that including CMC, pinch, cutting my larger flares & pushing out the inner liner; it's a bit of work, especially when doing it yourself.

Unless you live in an area that never receives ice treatments for the roads you most definitely need to cover the chop; unless you don't give a shit about your frame rusting. Ask me how I know.

 

Idk. I didn't think it was that much work. I got a new frame in 2019, first thing I had to do was cut it to put my tires back on.. its still not covered. Painted the bare metal yes, but I haven't welded anything back to the cab mount

 

Maybe they don't use salt or salt substitute in VA, but they do here in NE. When you chop and don't put anything to cover it, that shit collects in the cavity, and immediately starts the corrosion process, even when painted, as unless you are powder-coating electrostaticly, normal rattle cans or air brushes can't get into the deepest cavities created, even when it looks like it has.
I can speak from experience on that one, but do as you please.
I'm just telling everyone who does live in an area like that they are definitively going to regret not welding up a weatherproof cover if they have a CMC.

Not everyone is a DIYer, or even capable of doing a cab chop and pinch themselves. Your level of "easy" may not even remotely be everyone else's.
Again, do as you please, but speaking for everyones level of comfort working on their truck from your own, isn't remotely accurate.

 

Hey man, are you still running the Baja legends?

I’m strongly considering them in 285/75/16 for my next set and curious about how you like them after having them for a while.

 

I went skinny. 255/75. C rated and still lightweight. I'm really not interested in putting 50+ pounds of rubber on each corner for little more than looks.

 

Yeah I've been really happy with them. They have worked well in rain, highway speeds, mud, rocks, etc. The only reason I won't get them again is IF I go to a 255 85 16. I wish mickey thompson made a tire in that size. I haven't decided if I'm gonna do that though.