Best tire/ size

[Ricktuk]

before you ask yes I did a search but couldnt quite find the answer I was looking for.

background; last month my daughter finally sold her beloved Erica Su. A 1999 limited. bought it when she was 14 for 2k. I didnt think it would get through high school but here we are 7 years and 70k later. She found a 2010 limited. Nice even though its a 2wd.

She needs tires. Currently it has 265/45 20s on it. the width looks good but would like some higher profile tires to as she says "De momify it" It is uses mostly on the road with weekend camping trips. More dirt road than mud. I love the BFG KOs on my tundra, but I am in mud on the jobsite at times. A small lift may be in the future (1 to 2 inches) but on stock suspension till then. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Humble Leader]

265/70/17 stock size . michelin defender M+S

good in warm weather, good in colder weather, good in wet weather. OK for offroading as long as it's not extreme mudding, rock crawling etc. quiet, easy to balance, lasts a long time

the only drawback is it will not compete with a true winter tire if you have very cold temps and snow. light snow with warmer temps no problem.

 

[thatoneguy]

100% stock size of all the non-limited trims, which as Humble mentions is P265/70R17. Definitely get p-metric tires, not LT's. I would certainly not bother with a lift. You could go with reasonable all-terrains if you'd like. P-metric Wildpeaks and AT3's and such don't sacrifice much on road performance.

 

[Humble Leader]

100% stock size of all the non-limited trims, which as Humble mentions is P265/70R17. Definitely get p-metric tires, not LT's. I would certainly not bother with a lift. You could go with reasonable all-terrains if you'd like. P-metric Wildpeaks and AT3's and such don't sacrifice much on road performance.

oh that's a good point, the limited trim has different tire specs but same diameter at 245/60R20. I swapped my limited rims out long ago and forgot about that point.

 

[jax4pres]

Ive had good experience with Cooper AT3 LT, theyre rugged, work great in rain/snow/dirt/whatever, but work well as every day driver too, though they will get 'louder' after the first 30k, still would def buy again

 

[Hungryhawk]

All the advice here is very good. I found a set of 4 rims 17" off an SR5 for $100 on the runner classifieds. Ditch the 20". I am keeping them as spares and soon will toss the steel spare and replace with aluminum.
Giant number of options for the rubber. When my daughter needs new tires on her SR5 I will get her the Michelin defenders. I put a set on my sons CRV a few years ago and they perform great.
For my SR5 I chose Pirelli Scorpion AT. Very sure footed feel on any surface.

 

[schwein]

I actually recommend the opposite of everyone here,

I would get 275/55R20's I am on my second set of Hankook DynaPro ATM RF10's, 50k miles easily, make the limited look much less mommy mobile, dramatic look change.

but you can also just down size and get the 17 inch wheels as well..

 

[RichN]

I agonized over this same decision last summer for my 2019 Limited. I finally went with Black Rhino Rapid wheels paired with Goodyear Duratrac RT 265/65-18 tires. They have about 13,000 miles on them and we just got 9-10 inches of snow on Monday followed by another 4 last night. I was out driving in the worst of it both times when most of the roads hadn't been touched. I couldn't be happier with the way they performed. It still handles great on dry roads, too. Not much tire noise on the highway, either. I did not go with the LT tires since my off roading is mostly just mud and dirt without a lot of rocks.

If you want to read more or see pictures, here is the link.

Wheels - Raceline or Black Rhino

 

[RichN]

One other thing I forgot to mention is that the taller sidewalls definitely make it ride smoother. One of my motivations for switching wheel size was that the ultra low profile tires made every little bump feel like it was shaking the car apart.

 

[thatoneguy]

One other thing I forgot to mention is that the taller sidewalls definitely make it ride smoother. One of my motivations for switching wheel size was that the ultra low profile tires made every little bump feel like it was shaking the car apart.

Hence why so many people prefer to stay on 17" wheels on these cars. 18's would have less sidewall in the same tire diameter. So unless one feels that 18's look significantly better than 17's on these vehicles....

 

[RichN]

Hence why so many people prefer to stay on 17" wheels on these cars. 18's would have less sidewall in the same tire diameter. So unless one feels that 18's look significantly better than 17's on these vehicles....

Tire selection is a compromise between road handling, off road handling, ride comfort, and multiple other factors.

I took the approach of letting the tire size dictate the wheel size. My first two 4Runners, a 2003 and 2007 SR5 both had 265/65-17 tires and I thought they had a good ride comfort and a good balance between road handling and the light off roading capabilities I need. I also remembered how mushy my cars from the '70s felt on 70 and 75 profile tires (the last cars I owned with those higher profile tires) and how much better they handled when switched to 60 profile tires. I also don't do much off roading over rocks where I need a lot of side wall flex.

Based on all of these inputs, I wanted to go with 65 profile tires. I wanted to keep the overall tire diameter as close to the stock tires as I could. Lastly, I didn't want to worry about tire rub, so the maximum width would be 275. Looking at available tire sizes, the tire size that most closely satisfied all of the conditions was 265/65-18 or possibly 275/65-18.

Once I had settled on a tire in one of those sizes, then I looked for wheels that would support both of those tire sizes.

I went with the smaller size to be safe on this initial purchase. After seeing them on the car, I should have room for the the larger size when it's time to replace these. The speedometer now reads about 2 MPH high at 80 MPH. The stock 20" tires read about 1 MPH high.

 

[thatoneguy]

Tire selection is a compromise between road handling, off road handling, ride comfort, and multiple other factors.

I took the approach of letting the tire size dictate the wheel size. My first two 4Runners, a 2003 and 2007 SR5 both had 265/65-17 tires and I thought they had a good ride comfort and a good balance between road handling and the light off roading capabilities I need. I also remembered how mushy my cars from the '70s felt on 70 and 75 profile tires (the last cars I owned with those higher profile tires) and how much better they handled when switched to 60 profile tires. I also don't do much off roading over rocks where I need a lot of side wall flex.

Based on all of these inputs, I wanted to go with 65 profile tires. I wanted to keep the overall tire diameter as close to the stock tires as I could. Lastly, I didn't want to worry about tire rub, so the maximum width would be 275. Looking at available tire sizes, the tire size that most closely satisfied all of the conditions was 265/65-18 or possibly 275/65-18.

Once I had settled on a tire in one of those sizes, then I looked for wheels that would support both of those tire sizes.

I went with the smaller size to be safe on this initial purchase. After seeing them on the car, I should have room for the the larger size when it's time to replace these. The speedometer now reads about 2 MPH high at 80 MPH. The stock 20" tires read about 1 MPH high.

Fair enough. I would suggest that tires have evolved from the 1970's (were you buying radials or bias-ply back then? Also, strength). 90% of 5th gens come factory on 70-profile tires, and I wouldn't describe them as mushy.

If they're P-metric, are your 65-profile tires SL or XL load rated? the 70's are SL rated, nice for keeping costs down. My P265/70R17 Wildpeaks were $220/each new, and I didn't even like paying that much.

 

[RichN]

Fair enough. I would suggest that tires have evolved from the 1970's (were you buying radials or bias-ply back then? Also, strength). 90% of 5th gens come factory on 70-profile tires, and I wouldn't describe them as mushy.

If they're P-metric, are your 65-profile tires SL or XL load rated? the 70's are SL rated, nice for keeping costs down. My P265/70R17 Wildpeaks were $220/each new, and I didn't even like paying that much.

The DuraTrac RT 265/70-17 and 265/65-18 are both XL rated. I've always been a "buy one, cry once" person. The total cost of 5 wheels and tires was about $3,800, and it did make me flinch a bit at the time, but 6 months out, I don't even think about.