225/75/15 vs 265/70/16

piperoo

piperoo

New member
Ok, I have 15" wheels on my 4Runner right now...but I just bought a set of 16" rims (I think they are the sport rims). I have a trip to Iowa next Thursday, and the tires on my 4Runner need to be replaced before I head out.

Will the larger tire provide a smoother ride? I honestly don't need huge tires...I live in the city...never will offroad the 4Runner (its a 2wd anyway). I am leaning towards the Firestone A/Ts or LEs on the 16" wheels. That is kind of the price range I am in. $550-ish for 4 tires.

What would you do? I just started researching tires yesterday...just want a long lasting, smooth ride. The tires for the 15" wheels are about $175 less total, but it seems the larger tires would look better and drive better. 225s seem really narrow to me.

I am getting new shocks on this weekend too (still have the factory shocks!).
 
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Let's say you are going with the same aprox height tire (265-70/16 is ~31")

The smaller wheel will have a taller sidewall. The taller the sidewall the smoother the ride. The narrower the tire the better the gas mileage. The less aggressive the tread the better the mpg. A light truck (LT) tire will withstand offroad punishment better and will have a deeper tread than a "P" series tire. A P series tire (passenger car) will be less expensive, lighter, get better mpg and ride smoother. The stock tires were a P tire.

A shorter sidewall will handle better, minimal difference between a 15"-16" on a 4runner.
 
So let's say I want to keep the 16" wheels....what tires would I be looking at? Gas mileage is only going to vary by 1mpg or so I would think which is only like $150-200 a year probably.

What would the 'stock' tires of a 16" 4Runner wheel be?
 
The factory 16" tire from Toyota on a 3rd Gen was 265/70....which is a 31" like was mentioned and looked great and drove great...I took that size tire and wheel on a 3000 mile road trip last year and got excellent mileage and ride quality. Of course, I'm on 33's now and I still like the ride quality...and the mileage didn't suffer too bad.

P.S. I thought those wheels you got were 17's?
 
I'm not sure what a stock tire would be, but I had some Michelin LTX MS on an old Tacoma. They are a great tire and last a long time. They aren't noisy and many 4runner run them. They are a bit more expensive, but they will last you a long time if taken care of properly. Now a 265/70/16 will be more expensive, but they fill the wheel well better and look better. The 225 will look small and not give the 4runner an aggressive stance. The 225 will be cheaper though.
I wouldn't get an A/T if you just drive in the city and won't be using the tires off road. My girlfriend has the Firestone Destination LE on her jeep and they are a nice tire also.
Good luck.
 
I'll second the Michelin LTX. They are kinda expensive, but are very nice.

Smaller tires won't cause cupping. You either have a bad alignment or are running the wrong PSI.
 
Cupping is usually caused by bad shocks.

I run 265/70/16 on my T4R and am happy with them (Michelins) Probably go with Firestone Destination AT's on the next tires as I don't want to spend that much money on Michelins, but would run the AT's as I have a 4WD.

If you have a 2WD, I would go with the Destination LE's........I run them on my pickup and they wear well.
 
Yeah, I am replacing my shocks too. They were supposed to do that this weekend but my mechanic only has 1 lift (with a car already on it that he isn't completed) and said he needed that to put all of the shocks and whatnot on.
 
FALKEN ZIEX S/TZO4 (265/70/16) $608 includes lifetime everything. I love them so far. I to do not offroad (yet), just city to city driving. Had them about 1 1/2 years.
 
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