Correct wheel and tire for day to day survival

You have chosen poorly...


Here's one from a few years ago. A Tahoe with 24s and rubber band tires hits a stone in a road construction zone.

For me I run the stock size, one size bigger or the size found on a different trim level of the same vehicle.

 

I converted to19.5 12ply commercial tires with a pretty aggressive tread and yes the Thunder Chicken has lift blocks I regularly put 6000#s (3 Tons) of feed in the bed 2 tons in bulk bags on pallets and 1 ton in small bags around the bulk bags. Get almost no tire compression with those load which = much less wear on the tires and have around 70,000 miles on this set now. Drawback is those are a $3800 set of tires counting the two spares.



Biggest upsides they get decent MPG and pull that trailer (12,000#) and those 3 ton feed loads through my road without breaking a sweat or traction.



Personally I could care less about tire diameter in the grand scheme of things for me a much wider tire, with a good gripping tread and 12+ Ply is what I look for. That mud ain't very forgiving so I want tires that don't feel the need to ask for forgiveness

Something else to consider is the compound yer tires are made of. In todays tire technology there are much softer consumer tires and much harder rubber rubber compounds for the commercial and heavy duty tires. Friend works at Continental Tire and tried explaining it to me and all I got was something to do with more silica and heat go into the commercial grade tires as well as more steel. so by the time a 19.5 12ply shoots out the butt end of the plant it is a very tough tire with a lot more structural durability than a standard tire. I am older so I am stuck in ply ratings LOL modern ratings are based on load range and letter stamped on the tire B through F B=4ply c=6Ply D=8 ply E=10ply and F=12 ply 6 Ply or C load rated tires seem to be most common now days and are typically rated at 2750# at 50PSI. You can have 20+ Diameter tire and it only be a C or D load rated tire. Which in my world is not a very substantial tire. Can by the same toke have a 14" tire rated at F which is a very substantial tire. Those oddball size mobile home tires are a great example of a small tire that is F/12ply rated. Something the rating don't figure is impacts with road debris but a F rated tire has A LOT less give than even a E rated tire It would take a hell of a rock at a high speed to compress one of my tires enough to blow the back of a rim out

I live, work and regularly drive in some rugged ass terrain so I want the toughest tires my money can buy, that can hold heavy loads and pull those loads through 1' -2' deep mud. Tires are like preps there is no one package that is right for everyone. For most people my tires are overkill for others my tires are light weights. But the one thing everyone always seems to get hung up on is the tire diameter (Inside not overall diameter) and neglects load ratings, width and tread. When you are looking at $600-$1,000 per tire for a top shelf set that is a intimidating price tag. Thus the much lower cost C, D, and E rated tires are what is in the budget. LOL won't even get into my 17.5 16 ply trailer tires that cost more than my truck tires.......... What tire is best really comes down to yer region, your terrain and how badly you abuses yer tires on average

 

Stay within the most common sizes for a given vehicle design. Never run skinny tires and always check your tire pressure weekly.
Time and space is your friend
1. Time to failure is the combination of compression of the tire carcass and distance to failure for a given incident.
2. Space is that distance to the failure point of the rim and tire.

 

I have little steel belted load rang E tires on 12 inch rim on my trailer. They are pretty tough.

 

B.F.Goodrich's sux's, Sidewall failure with belt separation=The Death Wobble at 55mph.

 

I have gotten the death wobble for about 5 seconds then the Firestone tire proceeded to disassembled the tread and steel belt package on the interstate at 70mph.
That second part took about 1 second.

 

Have you heard back from Goodrich yet?

 

Currently I'm running Goodyear Fuel Max tires on my truck stock size. When I upgrade I'll be getting all terrain tires.

 

Depends on the vehicle...wife's suv gets stock size, my truck gets stock or one size larger, and the Samurai is significantly larger than stock.

 

I received a call Friday and was unable to hear the phone so I'll be calling back Monday

 

Running a slightly larger set of BFG All Terrains on my 1st gen Cummins! Never a problem with them, great load rating, and I can fly down the road at 90 mph all day with out any issues! It's due for a new set, so will be upgrading size and type to the Mudders! currently it has 33R11X16.5's and its getting 35R12.5X16.5's right after Christmas! will loose a tiny amount of fuel millage and ride quality, but the traction and slight increase in ground clearance will help big time!

 

Run stock size on the truck (1500) but load range E.
Car and Crossover stock size all seasons for 3 seasons, proper snows from thanksgiving until Easter.
Car's winter tires are 10 mm narrower and 20 mm taller, Crossover stock width/profile.

 

Everyone, where I live, runs large tires that stick way out on the sides. I use stock size tires recommended by the factory. I have seen trucks with broken wheel studs, all that weight hanging out is hard on suspension components.

 

31xx10.50-15 for so long I don't remember what the stock size was on the Bronco.

 

I ran that on my suburban, about an inch taller than stock but it was the "off road" package tire size a few years later.

 

Run those on my 97 Jeep Wrangler. They're only slightly larger than stock. Never had any troubles with BF Goodrich All Terrains other than the fact that I don't get tremendous mileage out of them.

However I have heard horror stories. One fellow I used to work with says a buddy in the tire business told him that the demand for the All Terrains outstripped Goodrich's manufacturing capabilities so they began manufacturing some of their tires in Indonesia, particularly the smaller sizes. He no longer recommends them as quality has begun to fall off as a result.

 

In snow country you need great snow and ice tires. I used to run Nokian's but they were getting pricey and then I had one that had 400 miles on it where the sidewall just disconnected from the tread. Fortunately it was only 5mph pulling into the cabin driveway. Those went back to the dealer!

I have Cooper Evolution (Evo) II tires on two vehicles...RWD and 4wd and they work great...snow, ice, wet. Quiet tires too. I run them year around.

You wouldn't get me to drive on Firestones...too many issues with them over the years.

 

Factory tyre on my TLC are 265/70/16 I have run cooper 265/75/16s now for the past 20yrs (on two different trucks. I would probably look at going to 285/75/16s however it would be expensive as I would need to buy 8x on one go (six on the truck and two on the trailer).

 

BFG'S and Falkens. Ran the BFG TA/KO's on my 89 Raider for years and put Falkens AT's on with 10ply sidewalls fur the Tacoma. No problems so far other than a screw in one tire and that was plugged easily. Otherwise I'm happy other than the cost of tires. Miss the days of driving my Subaru Brat, $100 for 4 tires mounted and balanced with a front wheel drive/4wd and a 300 mile range.