sabom_matt
New member
Thought this might be of use for someone going down their own tire rabbit hole right now.
First, I have an Icon stage 2 lift with the viper cut and don't mind doing a body mount chop if needed. I've also been running stock size KO2s for 40k miles with an excellent experience, except for snow/ice, which I encounter maybe 3-4x/year when I drive up to the mountains during winter here in SoCal.
I really wanted to get some 255/80/17s for many of the reasons given in other threads, e.g. larger diameter with relatively less unsprung weight etc. I was strongly considering Falken Wildpeaks vs. Geolandar G003. Wildpeaks for their better road manners and snow performance, Geolandars for their better mud/rock performance, aggressive look and relatively good road manners for a mud tire.
Unfortunately, 255/80/17 tires ONLY come in E load. The other big reason for considering skinny tires for me, was hoping to have a larger diameter tire with less unsprung weight, but both of the above tires weigh 3-4 pounds more than the 285/70/17 KO2s I ended up buying.
So I ultimately chose 285/70/17 C-load KO2s because:
- Fantastic experience with my stock C-load KO2s on 95% of the terrain I frequent; e.g. dry, rocky, southern California trails or on road/highway
- Only 3lb heavier per tire than the stock size (48 vs. 51lb)
- Rarely drive on snow/ice over the last 40k miles; have chains if needed
- Have a lift and viper cut, don't mind a body chop if my new wheels with -12 backspacing make it necessary
- Decent price point; paid $260/tire with discounts
If ANY of the big tire companies made a 255/80/17 in C-load, I very likely would have gone that direction.
If you read all this, congratulations, and hopefully your rabbit hole will be more shallow than mine was
Cheers,
Matthew
PS: waiting on RRW RR5 in Matte Gunmetal to arrive before mounting tires
First, I have an Icon stage 2 lift with the viper cut and don't mind doing a body mount chop if needed. I've also been running stock size KO2s for 40k miles with an excellent experience, except for snow/ice, which I encounter maybe 3-4x/year when I drive up to the mountains during winter here in SoCal.
I really wanted to get some 255/80/17s for many of the reasons given in other threads, e.g. larger diameter with relatively less unsprung weight etc. I was strongly considering Falken Wildpeaks vs. Geolandar G003. Wildpeaks for their better road manners and snow performance, Geolandars for their better mud/rock performance, aggressive look and relatively good road manners for a mud tire.
Unfortunately, 255/80/17 tires ONLY come in E load. The other big reason for considering skinny tires for me, was hoping to have a larger diameter tire with less unsprung weight, but both of the above tires weigh 3-4 pounds more than the 285/70/17 KO2s I ended up buying.
So I ultimately chose 285/70/17 C-load KO2s because:
- Fantastic experience with my stock C-load KO2s on 95% of the terrain I frequent; e.g. dry, rocky, southern California trails or on road/highway
- Only 3lb heavier per tire than the stock size (48 vs. 51lb)
- Rarely drive on snow/ice over the last 40k miles; have chains if needed
- Have a lift and viper cut, don't mind a body chop if my new wheels with -12 backspacing make it necessary
- Decent price point; paid $260/tire with discounts
If ANY of the big tire companies made a 255/80/17 in C-load, I very likely would have gone that direction.
If you read all this, congratulations, and hopefully your rabbit hole will be more shallow than mine was
Cheers,
Matthew
PS: waiting on RRW RR5 in Matte Gunmetal to arrive before mounting tires
