Buy 4 or Buy 5?

[Trail14]

First post, sorry if this is a stupid question. I've put about 35k miles on my '14 Trail edition, and I can't stand the lack of off-road tires any more. I don't want a lift, and don't want to void any warranties, so I'm looking to put stock size MT's on it (KM2's probably, I do a lot of highway).

It looks like the KM2's are 31.7" tall in the 265/70-17 size, and the OEM tires are also 31.7" tall. Apart from showing off how badass they look, and having an off-road worthy spare, is there any mechanical reason to replace the spare? I can't find any shops locally that stock the tire, so I have no idea if that 31.7" is true, or nominal. If it is slightly different in diameter will it be a big issue?

Side note: Does anybody really know when the KM3's are coming out?:wtf:

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Swarty]

First post, sorry if this is a stupid question. I've put about 35k miles on my '14 Trail edition, and I can't stand the lack of off-road tires any more. I don't want a lift, and don't want to void any warranties, so I'm looking to put stock size MT's on it (KM2's probably, I do a lot of highway).

It looks like the KM2's are 31.7" tall in the 265/70-17 size, and the OEM tires are also 31.7" tall. Apart from showing off how badass they look, and having an off-road worthy spare, is there any mechanical reason to replace the spare? I can't fine any shops locally that stock the tire, so I have no idea if that 31.7" is true, or nominal. If it is slightly different in diameter will it be a big issue?

Side note: Does anybody really know when the KM3's are coming out?:wtf:

Thanks,
Matt

I fit a 285/70 in the spare slot. The stock tire is crap and would be a nightmare to get stuck off road with.

 

[carlomagne]

Not bad for a new thread with the first post. :banana:

As far as the spare goes, I'd avoid it if I were you especially since you're going with a stock size. I've seen too many people try to sell 1 brand new tire because they had bought it as a matching spare that was never used or rotated into the set to evenly wear.

Just have a tire plug kit and a compressor in your trunk at all times.

 

[Wandering1]

Carlomange, are you running stock size tires? Which are they. Looks great on your rig, and don't see a lift in the sig, so assuming stock size.

 

[cbielat]

You'd be perfectly fine running the stock spare if needed especially if you're sticking with a stock size mt. Very minimal difference if any.

 

[carlomagne]

Carlomange, are you running stock size tires? Which are they. Looks great on your rig, and don't see a lift in the sig, so assuming stock size.

No, theyre 285/70/17 Nitto Trail grappler. Thanks! Dual TRD license plate frames are the only sig-worthy mods on my 4runner.

 

[Jhalko]

When I put the duratracs on I got 5, I seem to be wandering further and further away from people and figured it would be nice to have, just in case. Otherwise I had a crappy P rated for the last few years...

The folks responding are FAR more experienced off-road than me though.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Do what you want but if you are doing much harder off road trails and get a flat out in the middle of no where and it is not repairable do you really want to rely on a weak sidewall stock tire? Also the KM2 is a nice tire. I had them on a Jeep Wrangler. Just be aware that when they are new they are very quiet but get much louder as they wear. Can you deal with the road noise everyday down the road? If you are mostly highway I would go with the KO2 all terrain.

 

[cbielat]

I run two spares now with my Duratracs(both spares Duratracs). After I've finally fell victim of seeing first hand how thin the sidewalls are and having 7 plugs in the sidewall of one tire, I don't have the confidence in them anymore regarding side impacts. Don't get me wrong, I love how the Duratrac performs in all conditions, but those sidewalls, damn. Kind of getting off subject but they are all the same size. I still wouldn't be worried if I had my stock size spare in there somewhere.

 

[Trail14]

Thanks for all the replies. I don't do a lot of "trails" per se, but think I need the MT's for the clay/mud we have at our hunting camp. I really don't know if they'll do any better than all-terrains at cleaning out the sticky mud, but that's what I'm looking for. Alabama red clay seems to be about the worst case scenario for clogging treads, but that's what I'm trying to avoid. Punctures could happen, but mostly I want to be able to drive anywhere on our land, rain or shine. I also need to get 50k out of the set... if possible.

 

[Hellamatic]

Buy a full sized used tire as a spare. I had a buddy that blew out one of his Duratracs and replaced them as a pair, so I just gave him a couple bucks to buy the other one he took off. Got a full sized matching Duratrac with around 50% tread left for 60 bucks. You should be able to stop into a tire shop and buy a used one for cheap too.

 

[Jeremy556]

I run two spares now with my Duratracs(both spares Duratracs). After I've finally fell victim of seeing first hand how thin the sidewalls are and having 7 plugs in the sidewall of one tire, I don't have the confidence in them anymore regarding side impacts. Don't get me wrong, I love how the Duratrac performs in all conditions, but those sidewalls, damn. Kind of getting off subject but they are all the same size. I still wouldn't be worried if I had my stock size spare in there somewhere.

Come to the dark side...

I had a couple sets of Duratracs and every tire had at least 1 patch or plug, many of them several. 2 sets of MTRs and not a single patch or plug needed yet. As far as traction and off road performance, the difference between MTRs and Duratracs feels like the difference between Duratracs and the stock AT20s, or whatever passenger tire comes on the 4runner. Though they do have the similar trade offs in noise, ride softness, and are worthless on ice and packed snow without siping.

 

[cbielat]

Come to the dark side...

I had a couple sets of Duratracs and every tire had at least 1 patch or plug, many of them several. 2 sets of MTRs and not a single patch or plug needed yet. As far as traction and off road performance, the difference between MTRs and Duratracs feels like the difference between Duratracs and the stock AT20s, or whatever passenger tire comes on the 4runner. Though they do have the similar trade offs in noise, ride softness, and are worthless on ice and packed snow without siping.

My issue is the winter traction. I know these would suck LOL. Like you said. I'm thinking of the Cooper SST or whatever it's called or their new MT. Looks a bit similar to the Duratracs. Always find myself looking at the siping.

 

[NORTHERN]

So when will the KM3 be released for sale ?

 

[Jetboy]

Stock spare is OK for me. I used it just two weeks ago. I have 285's on the rest. No noticeable difference for me with one slightly smaller tire. Kinda depends on where you're going and how likely it is you'll get more than one flat tire.

 

[Storm Runner]

Since LE's have full time 4WD, you should get a spare that's the same size as the rest of your tires, right? If not, do you run the risk of damage from different rotational rates?

 

[m85476585]

Since LE's have full time 4WD, you should get a spare that's the same size as the rest of your tires, right? If not, do you run the risk of damage from different rotational rates?

That would be best, but I think another thread concluded that you won't damage anything if they don't match. The limited slip center doesn't use friction or viscous coupling, and supposedly it will never wear out. One mismatched tire is similar to always turning slightly. The Limited can actually handle mismatched tires better than other trim levels in 4WD because of the center diff.

I don't have a very good understanding of how the Torsen diff works, but my impression is that if you are coasting it acts open. If you are accelerating, it puts more of the force on the slower output side. I don't know what it does if you are engine braking, but it probably acts the same as accelerating because the drive side is applying torque on it, just in the opposite direction.

So with one mismatched tire you won't hurt it because turning slightly won't hurt it. But the driving dynamics might not be the best, and you probably wouldn't want to run that way all the time.

 

[HEAVY WT]

I went with all 5, figured if I damage a sidewall on my KO2s and then have to drive back, chances are my regular spare is more likely to no survive either. I picked up the tires for $164 each so figured it was cheap insurance.

 

[NZDZRT]

4 or 5?

I went with KM2 pizza cutters. I keep two sets of tires, one stock, the other for off road. I bought a (5th) used KM2 that was down to the last 30%, in the 255/80/17 like the other ones. I keep it under the truck no matter which tires I am running, the logic being I am more likely to have a flat off road than on. BTW, the 33" tire fit fine, even with KDSS hardware under there!

NZDZRT

 

[oljedi11950]

I fit a 285/70 in the spare slot. The stock tire is crap and would be a nightmare to get stuck off road with.

Ditto [MENTION=88975]Swarty[/MENTION] !! One of 1st things I did plus having had my spare wheel from 05 no brainer ! Imo that is