HELP: 5 tires, 5 sizes, and still undecided

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Sun Nov 23, 2008 1:25 am

I usually don’t have trouble making choices in life, but when it comes to selecting a tire, I’m worse than my wife! :shock:

Basically, I’m needing a good tire for when I tow the travel trailer, yet something we can air down and hit the trails with, sidewall protection is somewhat important.

Objective: Keeping stock rims (My build sheet says that I have 17x7’s, not 17X7.5’s. If I have to, I will run spidertrax wheel spacers to keep the tire from rubbing on the sway bar. By using the stock rim (with spacers), I shouldn’t have to worry about hitting the wheel flare at full stuff.

I’ve narrowed it down to these four tire choices:
1. BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO
2. Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor
3. Michelin LTX A/T
4. Toyo Open Country A/T
5. Pirelli Scorpion ATR

I’ve narrowed it down to these five tire sizes (depending on the brand of tire)
245/65/R17 (29.9”)
245/70/R17 (31.4”)
255/65/R17 (30.1”)
255/70/R17 (31.1”)
265/65/R17 (30.7”)

dieselenthusiast · **Posted:** Mon Nov 24, 2008 2:56 am

Okay, I finally selected my tire (Toyo Open Country A/T). I read several on-road/off-road articles and the Toyo A/T seems to be a great value for what I‘m needing. The tires have good (quiet) on-road manners for an A/T. The tire is considered one of the best all terrain tires for off-road use, and the tire is very affordable. 4 Wheel Drive magazine and a few others tested the Toyo A/T tire off-road. The tire air’s down nicely and holds a bead when fitted right (and no sidewall issues). Whatever the A/T can’t do, the M/T will pick up where the T/A left off. Now I need to select one of these sizes. I put ***** on the tire I’m leaning towards.

Stock Rim: 17X7.0

245/70/17 Height (30.6) Rim Width (6.5-7.0-8.0) Weight (38 lbs) Sidewall (2 ply)
255/70/17 Height (31.1) Rim Width (6.5-7.5-8.5) Weight (39 lbs) Sidewall (2 ply)
245/65/17 Height (29.5) Rim Width (7.0-8.5) Weight (31 lbs) Sidewall (2 ply)
*****255/65/17 Height (30.1) Rim Width (7.0-7.5-9.0) Weight (36 lbs) Sidewall (2 ply)
265/65/17 Height (30.5) Rim Width (7.5-8.0-9.5) Weight (38 lbs) Sidewall (2 ply)

Until I can find 4:10’s, I have no choice but to stay with a smaller "lightweight" tire until I can regear. Otherwise, I would never make it up Wolf Creek Pass on my way to Ouray, Colorado pulling my travel trailer. :shock:

I’d have to winch myself up the mountain. :lol:

TAHOE · **Posted:** Mon Nov 24, 2008 9:31 am

My dad and I run the Toyos on our fullsizes, we love them. We never offroad, but they have never left us stuck in the wet slimey field or in the snow. They wear decent too if properly rotated. They are a decent price too even though we run a little bigger than you're lookng at :wink:

jeepkj02 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:10 am

1 vote for BFGs in 255/70s

tommudd · **Posted:** Mon Nov 24, 2008 10:29 am

I think your choice will work well, staying with about a 30 inch tire and the stock gearing will allow you to make it up over the high spots :lol:

without too much effort :wink:

HELP: 5 tires, 5 sizes, and still undecided

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