another tire thread, new lift installed looking at Nitto TG or Duratracs?

[theizzardking]

so, i got my ome (882) and 3/4 inch spacer and lc 8 wraps put on this last weekend and am looking for new tires to buy on Saturday, i got a few questions, first what tire size should i run on the stockers (16 inch 5 star), any rubbing issues with a 285 or a 255? as those are the sizes i'm most interested in, i have the stock e locker in the rear on my '99 limited and am unsure of what the gearing is and what effects the 2 differant sizes will make, even though at first thought they seem as if they would be about the same when it comes to gearing.


right now I'm leaning more towards the duratrac's in a E range since they have the server weather rating, please keep in mind i live in Washington where 75% of the time means i'm driving on wet roads, the main reason I'm not even considering the BFG's is the reviews i've heard about dealing with wet roads and standing water, which is bother very common here.


are my assumptions correct? what is your experience? what do ya think?
let me know, $900-1000 in one lump sum is brutal for me, i need longevity here as well as i drive 80 miles or so a day to work and back and do epic road trips of about 5K or more every summer.

 

[rusm]

I've recently had the KM/2's and Hankook ATM RF10 tires and really liked both. The KM/2's siped are the equal of the Hankook's on the road, and far superior off road. The Hankook's have a 60k mile rating the 285 size, KM/2's no rating but should last ~45k miles judging by other people's trucks and the wear I'm getting with mine. 255's fit just fine on my truck and have never rubbed that I've heard on my truck, 285's might fit or you might need a spacer.

 

[JohnsD90]

255/85/R16 Nitto's.

 

[theizzardking]

255/85/R16 Nitto's.

i don't need to know your opinion, i know exactly where you stand lol

 

[econhonda]

I know you asked about two specific tires, but I just went with the Treadwright Guard Dog MTR's. They are retreads that look similar to goodyear's old MTR's. The tread pattern is tighter though so the tire ends up being a really aggressive all terrain, IMO. I am in Moab right now as I write this and I can't say enough about how well these things have performed. I really like the Duratracs too, but for $500 shipped to your door, it's hard to beat the treadwrights. Mine are 265/75/16's so they priced at only $427 shipped to my door! I was skeptical at first, but after lots of reading I feel very good about them. With regular rotations, I expect to get 40-45K miles out of them. Food for thought anyway.....

 

[GX4SEVEND]

I'm voting the 285 Duratracs. I have them and love them. I'm also running the stock 5 stars.....you will need spacers on or they'll rub

 

[theizzardking]

I've recently had the KM/2's and Hankook ATM RF10 tires and really liked both. The KM/2's siped are the equal of the Hankook's on the road, and far superior off road. The Hankook's have a 60k mile rating the 285 size, KM/2's no rating but should last ~45k miles judging by other people's trucks and the wear I'm getting with mine. 255's fit just fine on my truck and have never rubbed that I've heard on my truck, 285's might fit or you might need a spacer.

so do the km2's have better wet road action then the at k/o's?

good to hear from a local, i'm really interrested in what the Wa and CO guys have to say about these tires, should i open my search up to the bfg's as well?

i do like the idea of getting 60K from a tire though....

 

[brian2sun]

The only thing I'm concerned about with the Treadwrights is airing down for off road because I have heard they advise against it on their site because the new tread (glued on) can separate from the sidewalls.

There won't be much of a difference power/gearing wise between 255s and 285s. I noticed a slght loss of power going from 285s to 255s as the 255s are a bit taller and height makes a much bigger difference on power than width. The E range is really really stiff with OME heavy coils. I couldn't stand my E 285s and OME 883s so I had to ditch them and get Ds. It rode like a fork lift. The Ds are a lot more comfy.

My 255s rub a little off road even with a lot of fender trimming and 4" of lift. I wheel a lot though so my tires get stuffed all the time. On road they probably won't rub ever. No wheel spacers needed for 255s, but most need at least a 1/4" spacer with 285s so they don't rub on the UCAs. Wheelersoffroad.com sells the 1/4"ers for ~$6.

 

[xskydivingdudex]

random question but ur first line caught my eye... so how did u fit the 882s and 3/4" top plate spacer on top? when i installed my 882s i could barely even fit that on there let alone with my 3/4" spacers so they have just been sitting in the garage collecting dust.

 

[xskydivingdudex]

r u looking at the nitto terra grapler or the trail grappler... but if its the terra grap i say go with the duratracs though the Nittos will last longer but dont really give an aggressive look.

 

[theizzardking]

random question but ur first line caught my eye... so how did u fit the 882s and 3/4" top plate spacer on top? when i installed my 882s i could barely even fit that on there let alone with my 3/4" spacers so they have just been sitting in the garage collecting dust.

thanks to brians2sun's tips on the install it went mad easy, he knows his stuff, he (brain) keeps telling people to undo the 4 bolts that mate the lower control arm to the rotor assy and i noticed alot of people just don;t pay attention or mentioned they did that, it makes a world of difference, i can now swap out the front coils and put in the new ones in about 45 minutes a side from taking the wheel off to putting it back on.

you jack up the truck, undo the (3) 14 mm bolts on top, then put another jack under the lower control arm and start jacking up on it till the weight is off., then undo the large shock bolt on the bottom of the shock, undo the sway bar end link bolt and the 4 bolts Brian keep mentioning, 4 bolts on the bottom of the control arm that mates the rotor assy, then lower the jack under the control arm now the coil over should just about fall out. then when you go to put the new one in you just do the top 3 bolts first then move the rotor assy out of the way and step on the lower control arm until the lower shock bolt slides into place you may need to give it a little love from a mallet, but honestly i didn't have to do that, just had a buddy step on the lower control arm until it lined up, i never used the spring compressors at all through the entire install except for re-assembling the front coils, but not for putting them on.

long story short you get almost unlimited moment from undoing the bolts from the lower control arm that goes into the rotor assy, 4 hex bolts 14mm or 17mm i believe.

 

[theizzardking]

r u looking at the nitto terra grapler or the trail grappler... but if its the terra grap i say go with the duratracs though the Nittos will last longer but dont really give an aggressive look.

looking at these 2

Tire Sizes - Discount Tire Direct

Tire Sizes - Discount Tire Direct

 

[xskydivingdudex]

oh ok well i wonder if i can get some picks from Brian or something bc i might just try to get the top plate spacers on when i install my 9 wraps so itll give it more height and help give less rake.

EDIT: ur sig says u have 881s but the first post of this thread, u said u had 882s? sry just kinda confusing...

 

[theizzardking]

oh ok well i wonder if i can get some picks from Brian or something bc i might just try to get the top plate spacers on when i install my 9 wraps so itll give it more height and help give less rake.

EDIT: ur sig says u have 881s but the first post of this thread, u said u had 882s? sry just kinda confusing...

i'll take a pic for you and post it here in a few hours, also i just updated my sig, to avoid confusion, lol , i didn't quite have the lift on yet, at the end it said waiting for tires, so i was kind of unsure which ones i really had as i bought the kit about 6 months ago, lol

 

[theizzardking]

also man, what else should be done with the lift, pan hard bracket and what else was there? breathers right, but wasb't there another bracket of some sort your meant to have?

 

[xskydivingdudex]

lol ok kool and thnx dude ya i just hate seeing the spacers going to waste...

 

[RonMAIDEN]

I'd say both are solid tires but the Nittos probably have the edge in street driving but the Duratracs are a bit better in the snow and overall off road but otherwise I don't think you'd go wrong with either tire.

 

[theizzardking]

Thank you izzardking for being the first to listen to me about the 4 bolts!!!!! Hallelulah!! I swear I've suggested that many times like you said, but no one seems to actually do it. Glad I could help and now someone else can confirm it makes install go way faster and easier! And I must give credit where credit is due, Elton gave me the idea first.

you have no idea how much easier that makes the job man, i would suggest that is the only way todo the job, if you were doing this for a living the amount of time it takes to get those 4 bolts out vs. the amount of time you spend trying to wrestle the dam thing in, the 4 bolts when almost every time, also doing it that way your not putting alot of stress on the other parts in the suspension, not to mention how easy it is to jack the lower control arm back up to the bolt holes and put them back in.

i know personally for me this is going to become S.O.P. for me every time i need to pull these things out!

(Brain posted this in another thread, i thought i'd move it in here where the conversation is going on, i think i'm going to start another thread on my install...)

 

[theizzardking]

here are the 4 bolts that brian suggested you remove.


bottom view

side view

side view with bolts circled

 

[theizzardking]

just returned from teh lez schwab and they now have me leaning toward the
Yokohama Geolander MT, in a 285, they are a bit more expensive then the other ones i'm looking at but the guy i talked to knows his stuff and says he has them on 3 of his trucks and that he's getting 60K out of them plus they have a mileage warranty.

how do you guys feel about these ones?

Yokohama Geolandar M/T Plus