Wolvee

I'm trying to decide on a new set of tires and I've been told to look into a more narrow tire instead of the normal tall & wide.

Type of Uses: DD & Overlanding
Street
gravel/dirt
snow
mud/mush

(Virginia/Michigan/Colorado terrain.)

I'm considering

285/70/17 General AT's

255/80/17 Cooper ST MAXX That's 33.3 tall and 10 wide.

I don't care much about the look of the tire so much as the function.

Jus Jim

The MAXX is a good tire.

Scarlet

A slightly taller and thinner tire is better for Snow traction. And Usually (correct me if I'm wrong) a wider tire is better for Off Road, Gravel, etc.. What ever you choose make sure the overall diameter of your combination is within 3% of your stock diameter. 3% is what I've read any way. For instance, my tire on my Lariat is 275/65-18, 3.73's. The tire on a Raptor is 315/70-17. Off course there is different gearing involved. The Raptor has 4.10's. The difference in tire specs looks something like this:
My '11 Lariat overall diameter is 32.07" with a width of 10.8". The Raptor's diameter is 34.6" and 12.4" wide.


I got these numbers from a tire size calc.. I just wanted to illustrate that the Raptor uses a Wider, Taller tire because it's built for Off Road enthusiasts. I know a lot of bable.

Wolvee

Overall Diameter does not matter to me as much because I have a tuner to adjust and locker/gears are going in soon. I haven't decided on a gear yet though but will depend if I go for 33's or 35's. Minimum 4.10's.

I found an article online that made the case for tall/skinny tire sound pretty convincing for both gravel and snow but since I don't know much about offroading, I have no real knowledge base to disagree with either argument. I'll link the article when I get back to a computer if anyone is interested.

Thanks for the help...

Wolvee

Here is one of the Articles on the Skinny tire argument.
http://www.expeditionswest.com/resea...tion_rev1.html

Reading through it again I'm a little more worried that a skinny tire wouldn't work well on the highway which is where it spend >half its life.

snobdds

Tall skinny tires are where it's at. How do you think all the old timers got around without all the fancy equipment of today.

The big wide tires are for show...plain and simple.

Turbo Dog

Wide tires aren't just for show, they are better than skinny tires in mud. But skinny tires are better than wide tires in snow. You just can't get the best of everything in one tire.


I pick mine for a combination of the worst conditions I see as well as making sure they will still be fine for everyday driving. Living in WYO snow is the biggest factor...but I don't buy straight up snow tires because they don't last long on dry pavement. I'm currently using Michelin LTX M/S2 tires and they are giving very good snow performance and long lasting wear on the dry highway. I'm very pleased with them and they have done the same moderate offroading that just about any tire will do just fine, so I can't evaluate their off road performance.

UtahGuy

I run 255/85r16 KM2s on my '85 4Runner which sees all kinds of driving - it's a commuter, it's a road tripper, it's an overlander, and it does a pretty good impression of a rock crawler. Here's the pros to running skinnies, the way I see it - 1) less weight, less rotational mass, and a thinner profile for it's diameter leads to less air resistance, less rolling resistance, less sprung weight, etc, all of which are better for the motor and the suspension and lead to better fuel mileage better performance on the road, and longer lasting ball joints/tie rod ends/etc. 2) they perform better in muddy and snowy conditions that have a "bottom" - they will not float the way a wide tire does, and if you can dig down through the slop to find traction you'll be better off. Here's the one con to running a skinny profile - if you're in the slop and you can't find bottom, the wider tire will absolutely perform better because at that point it's not a tire, it's a paddle wheel, and wider is obviously better there. If you're frequently in deep gumbo or snow higher than your axles, a skinny tire might not be the best choice for you. I don't know much about Virginia or Michigan, but Colorado terrain is very similiar to Utah where I do most of my wheeling, and the skinnies are (IMO) undeniably superior for how and where I drive. YMMV.

The article linked upthread asserts that you will get better traction on the rocks because the smaller overall tread area is balanced by more weight on any given tread block, which means more friction which means more traction. I honestly think that's a push, because more surface area contacting the rock also equals more friction, and the article doesn't have enough math to convince me that one friction is better than the other friction. That's the article that all the Landcruiser and Range Rover guys will point to when they're arguing in favor of skinnies, but honestly of all the arguments out there for skinny tires, that one is the least convincing to me. Again, YMMV.

I just picked up a set of nearly new 255/75r17 BFG KM (Rubicon takeoffs) that I'm going to throw on the F150. I'm excited to see if skinnies perform as well on the pickup - it's got about 1500 pounds on my little 4Runner, so maybe they won't work as well. I'll find out and let you know.

ak_cowboy

No mud? Tall/skinny's are the way to go. Skinny tires also have less wind/friction resistance on the hwy and don't hurt the mpg quite so bad

greenheadkiller98

I had the ruby takeoffs on 02 fx4 and absolutely hated them. I've had a few sets of mud tires and these were the worst riding, scariest tire I've ever owned. They would break loose in the rain without warning in the middle of turns and you could feel every single lug when rolling slow in traffic