Tires are confusing!

Hi guys, I looking to put new tires on my 02 taco. I'm building it to be an overlanding truck. I have a 2.5 inch lift on it. Right now it has 265/70 r16's on it (31inch ish). And I was told I could go to a 32 inch with out much issue. It is my EDD I don't want to go to big and I want to stick with AT tires not anything more aggressive.

I was told that the ko2 's are great, but I wanted to here from other people about what they run.

Are ko2's the way to go or should I shop around? Money is a factor

 

IMHO you should select a tire type that fits 80%+ of your driving.

I'd wager my lunchtime diet coke most overlander builds are used under 5% in that function. A set of cheap OE wheels and an appropriate tire can be installed for those actual events. Kind of like using snow tires. Those tires can be used, because you're not piling on a bunch of highway miles.

 

I agree for most of the time. However i live in Denver and spend a lot of time in the mountians. So I do a lot of snow driving and I go wheeling every other weekend. And the most important factor... I have a small town house and my wife is not ok with having 4 extra tires around. That's why I want to get a good set of at tires

 

Better definition, like you have now given, of your needs and restrictions will help folks give you good recommendations.

I'm sure you've read in the Wheel/Tire forum a lot already, right?

I think you'll find some recommendations for Coopers in there (along with other types)

What tires are you running today, and do you have problems with them being cut or punctured? (trying to determine ply needs)

Always keep in mind, no one tire does all things.

 

I run 255/85/16s with a 2-3" lift, and don't have any issues. The Cooper ST MAXX have been pretty quiet on road and great off road, and in the snow. A little more expensive, but I still maintain about 15mpg combined and have seen 20mpg all highway. They're supposed to be an AT/MT hybrid

 

this might help with figuring out size (@turbodb talks about stock tire size so I'm mentioning it here):
https://adventuretaco.com/what-size-tires-fit-my-lifted-tacoma/

As an alternative to the KO2s take a look at Bridgestone's REVO 3 AT Duelers.
https://www.bridgestonetire.com/tire/dueler-at-revo-3

@Discount Tire, Tire Rack, Costco - all good places to check

 

First off there is no relevance to lift height and tire size. The lift is only based on how the truck looks just sitting there but when you start driving the suspension is cycling and st some point it’s where it would be at stock height.
With that said I would highly recommend the falken wildpeak at3 over the BFGoodrich any day of the week. Another option that’s still at but a little less aggressive is the hankook Dynapro atm. We have all three on our vehicles so I’m speaking from experience. If the truck is mainly a dd then I’d definitely go with a c rated or p rated over the heavier LT tire. Just for reference my wife’s xterra has 265/75/16 and it’s stock height and no rubbing.

 

I owned a set of KO2's and I only got 18,000 miles on them. If you are driving over jagged, firm, hard surfaces on a regular basis, I wouldn't even consider them. They have a bad tendency to chunk, lose bits of rubber.

 

Idk, if the Ridge Grapplers come in the size you’re looking for, but check them out too. Falkens are a great value.