New L(er)RR Tire Advice

Hi all,

sorry it's been a million years since I've posted but I'm back and needing advice again. Go figure.... So my job requires a 110 mile round trip daily commute and like everyone else, money actually is kind of a big deal. When I started with my mods, performance and mileage were my number one priority. I jumped on with a CAI, exhaust, and a chip. Then, I got tired of looking all stock and bit the bullet on some race runners, deavers, 18"moto metals and 285/60 Terra Grapplers. Yah, I know, kind of counter productive.... Anyway, I'm about 6000 miles out from having to buy new tires and after having the Nittos, I don't want to go there again for the following reasons:

1. Dropped fuel economy with wheels and tires alone from avg 20.2 (22.8 personal best) to 16.1 avg (17.8 personal best)

2. They always had a wreck of a time balancing them.

However, Nittos look amazing mounted and were exactly the look I wanted. Is there anything out there that still have a fairly hard compound with a decent a/t tread pattern, plenty of meat, and a lower rolling resistance that might make my wallet a little happier at the pump, and a little bit of cool sidewall action going on?

I've always been a Michelin man but I just don't know if I can do that to the look of my Taco... I've checked out the Yokohama Geolander A/T and my father n law is really a fan of the Pirelli Scorpions. I live in the south practically in the desert so snow and rain aren't something I usually have to contend with but it would be nice to tackle it when I need to.

thanks in advance,

Joe

 

subscribed...I need both the tire knowledge as well as knowledge of the chip. I come from the VW world...if you don't chip your car, it sucks! Chips usually netted better MPG and in some cases a whole lot more power (especially for the turbo engines). I can't seem to find much of any information about tuning the Toyotas.

JER

 

As far as I recall, chips just cause your truck to run in an open loop which destroys your fuel mileage, and will eventually cause a CEL. You can have the same effect on your truck without the CEL by slamming the skinny pedal to the fire wall.

 

I am using the Unichip. I haven't dyno'd or anything but the increase in power is noticeable and there were definite mileage gains. Nothing substantial like you'd get out of a diesel with a bully dog system or a six gun, but it's not bad.

 

I have a set of Michelin LTX A/T 2 and they have been great tires. I have about 70k miles on them right now and I'm sure I can get another 15-20k out of them. I do 70% highway or back country road driving and not much stop and go.

 

I did allow for the change in mileage. It should only yield about 9 extra miles per tank with the tire size change....

 

Had the Geolander A/T-S on my last truck (F150 supercrew). I loved the tire. Nice quiet road tire with a lot of great all terrain characteristics. Handled the wet and black ice roads of the Northwest. A fairly light tire that does a respectable job offroading in light mud or snow. Tires have a decent amount of tread and had a pretty good life. Had about 40k on mine when I sold the truck and they would easily lasted another 10-20k.
Prices were pretty decent, Discount Tire matched The Tire Racks price. Currently running 265/70/17 BFG AT's on my Taco now. Wish I had gone with the Geolanders for my particular style of driving.