Final thoughts for tires

He's gonna need a lift and most people recommend >=1.5" spacers to run 285-wide tires so they don't rub on the upper control arm. I'm on 4.5" back spaced wheels and a 3" lift with 285/75R16.

 

Here's the terra grapplers in 265 70/17 on the TRD PROs with no lift.



And an idea how far they stick out.

 

@jsinnard I want that TRD sticker, dammit.

 

Yep, it's nice. Matches the mountain bike too

 

Thing is slick, man. I bet the dealer would want $100 for a pair, too.

 

The size of contact patch, aggressiveness of tread and weight all effect mpg. Diameter (wthin reason) itself doesn't really effect mpg but you don't normally go bigger diameter without one of the aforementioned. Keeping the tire more narrow helps mitigate at least one of them.

 

Those look like 255/85/16's. Actually, they look a little smaller- maybe 235/85/16. Those 2nd gen rims are definitely 16". Great tire size with minimal rubbing.

 

I google imaged it and those came up, but now that I take a second look I think you're right. You should post a pic of you truck from the front or back so that he can see the width if you have one. I love the 255/85r16 or 255/80r17 from the side, and the fact that it's more practical for gas mileage and snow. But I just wish they were just a little wider. Just a hair to narrow for my liking.

 

This is pretty misinformed...

Diameter is directly tied to weight, circles grow in area substantially as diameter/radius increases. Growing in area means growing in weight. ADDITIONALLY, as diameter increases the gearing ratio is thrown off. Meaning you push that skinny pedal harder to go the same pace. More gas pedal = more RPM = worse fuel mileage. Size of the contact patch and tread aggressiveness mean little to a tire's efficiency, otherwise, hot slick tires would stick like glue. Your "aggressive tread" AT's have substantially less rubber actually holding onto the ground than a normal road tire would.

Poor/non-existent (tube front bumpers? Long travel? Wind-catching fender flares?) aerodynamics are FAR more likely to impact mileage over simple tire size. And the tread pattern is a drop in the giant bucket of things sucking momentum off your truck.

 

A lot of incorrect info in that first paragraph.

 

Not necessarily true either except that I agree that aerodynamics are more influential that tires (especially at highway speeds).

As for tires, weight is going to influence things the most. But bigger tires don't always equal more weight. A slightly larger C-rated tire may still weigh less than slightly smaller E-rated tire. And size of the contact patch will not always equate to more MPG either.

It really comes down to weight and rolling resistance...but weight is usually the main thing that effects vehicles MPGs (besides aerodynamics).

The tires with big aggressive treads tend to weigh more because they want deep treads that dig/grip the loose terrain better. But those blocks around the edge of the tires are ultimately cause the weight of the tire to increase along the outer perimeter of the tires. This extra weight requires more energy to move those tires.

Additionally, those blocks need to be fairly solid because no one likes to feel like they are driving around on sponges (plus they don't want to replace their tires every 10,000 miles). In order to make these tires feel better on the road, they can't use softer/lighter rubber to fill out those blocks/aggressive treads...so again, they are going to weigh more.

 

Check Ebay, or there is a vendor who does custom stickers here ... probably cost $10-20

 

Gearing changes affect acceleration, but fuel efficiency to a lesser extent. Mass placed at the outside of the rotational radius has the most impact. Rotational inertia increases proportional to radius squared. This has more impact than gearing changes.

 

I stopped at your first sentence. Gearing alone isn't going to change fuel efficiency at all but it will change how a person drives which WILL effect fuel efficiency. Ask a hybrid owner: most of your fuel mileage is lost on acceleration and getting outside the "sweet spot" of your engine's highway idle.

I did not disagree or refute your additional information of physics. I'd argue I said exactly the same thing less eloquently.

 

I didn't say it wouldn't affect it, I just said to a lesser extent ...

 

285/70/17 bfg km2

 

Nitto G2s are great. Get the C rated ones if you can they are lighter. Lighter tire and wheel combo = less un-sprung weight = better performance = better mpg all else being equal. Regarding MPG and aerodynamics - I just took off my TRD Sport front air dam the other day and am getting 1-2 mpg better gas mileage, and my butt dyno says its faster now as well!

 

Post pic of your truck borown14 with your nittos

 

Any recommendation on tire size for 17" Pro TRD wheels? Bouncing back an forth between the 275 70 17 and 265 70 17. Thought?

 

I went with KO2 in C. Like em so far...