First Mods

[4Running303]

I may be the only person on this forum with these tires, but take a look at the Toyo Open Country RT's. They are an "in between" tire between their AT's and MT. They are very quiet, actually quieter than Duratracs in my opinion. They aren't too heavy (58 lbs), a little more expensive...also you'd need a lift to run the 285/70/17's, which is the smallest 17" tire they make.
Sorry that might not have been too helpful, but if you do end up lifting, its a nice alternative.

I'm in Denver, so definitely will be testing the RT's this winter.

 

[iambhooper]

the only real difference you'll notice by going up the ladder on load ratings will be the loss of fuel milage. the 4runner is very finicky about how much the tires weigh in regards to fuel milage.

imo id avoid BFG's like the plague. hate those things

Its funny you say that. I put some 275 Cooper AT3 look on my 4 day oldTrail and mileage tanked! In town im getting just over 15.

 

[marshal]

Its funny you say that. I put some 275 Cooper AT3 look on my 4 day oldTrail and mileage tanked! In town im getting just over 15.

Have you compensated for the increased diameter? My trail on 35/12.50s is getting around 17 when you do the math up right.

 

[iambhooper]

Have you compensated for the increased diameter? My trail on 35/12.50s is getting around 17 when you do the math up right.

I do it the old fashioned way... at the gas pump with my smartphone calculator.

 

[alfonzo]

Consider reading six months before making ANY mods, or you may go down the wrong path. Though I could not stand the original tires, I waited to replace them until I had a grand plan. They had soft and mushy sidewalls.

Let me tell you the order of my build:
1) lift with springs and shocks, UCA etc, front and rear bumpers.
2) 33" tires and 17" wheels
3) deeper gears and winch

I love Michelin tires on the highway and every day use. I love my Duratracs for winter and trails. Get both. Talk to the Tirerack comparing the noise from Michelin and Duratrac; I think there is NO comparison.

Chris Slee is a class act with great knowledge. I wish he was closer to me.

Take your time and do what's right for YOU the first time. Good luck on YOUR build.

 

[Dragontj]

I do it the old fashioned way... at the gas pump with my smartphone calculator.

I believe he is talking about the circumference and diameter change. That will impact your mph and mpg due to the change?

 

[noisebeam]

I put 265/70/17 (stock size) BFG A/T KO2...

In stock size the LTC weighs 45.7lbs, the LTE is 53.4 lbs, so a 7.7lbs diff per tire.
.

I should have mentioned that for my first 1300mi road trip with about 250 miles on dirt (w/150mi ~20mph or less) I got 18.8mpg average, that is with LTE on pass side and LTC on drivers.

 

[marshal]

I do it the old fashioned way... at the gas pump with my smartphone calculator.

Then you're doing it wrong. You need to factor in the diameter change of your new tires

 

[tristero]

I'll never buy BFGs again. I had a set of KM1s that I hated and were junk, I have them a second chance on KM2s and they were garbage too. They're the best looking tire out there, but never again.

Not all tires are made the same (obviously) there are many tires that have considerable weight differences between the load ratings. My 35/12.50E general grabbers are 80lbs a piece, the Toyo OCMTs in the same size are 105 a tire.

Somewhat related:

My family has run NHRA drag cars for 3 generations. We've had a whole range of cars and tried the BFG tires on several different setups, and all have been just as good as a sock full of piss. We've had reps give us "new" versions of their tires to run to get us to buy some, but not one would ever last more than a few runs. Can't get them to balance, they can't handle the heat, and literally break apart.

Recently we've had the same issues with Mickey Thompson tires. We buy two sets and end up bringing them all back. Get two more replacement sets and end up bringing them back. The MT tires are great when they are brand new though. At this point it's either Hoosiers or Goodyears.

I understand there's a huge difference between bias and radial ply, and the tire types in general, but I definitely wouldn't rely on a set of BFG tires when I'm out in BFE.

 

[IceCold81]

I'm going Pizza cutters when I get my tires... Still really leaning toward Coopers STT's in the 255/80/17's .... May even just do the 255/75/17's depending on whether or not I want to get carried away with lift and mods for fit


.

 

[goofman]

Live in CO as well and about 8k miles deep on my 15' TEP bought end of May. First SUV, let alone 4Runner and bought with, what seems to be, similar intentions (fun on the weekends, reliability on and off the trail). I had weathertech's I brought to the dealer when I picked it up (I bought from Mtn States, as well.. noticed your front plates). I put 275 KO2's on after 200 miles going back and forth between Coopers, Grabbers, all of the mentioned. No rubbing with 275's, drive a significant amount on road during the week and several trips on trails from here to Aspen and in between since purchased. Barely notice road noise difference (although still young tires 7,800miles), and an obvious more "grippier" "stiffer" tire.. which is what I wanted. I sold the Dunlop 265's that came stock for $460 on CL within 4 days (so there is a demand). The KO2's set me back $1k after taxes with full tire protection at Discount Tire - I thought that was fair, especially since it's a new tire they had to locate from another store (they price matched Tire Rack, don't let them say "that doesn't include shipping", because TireRack has a warehouse off of i-70).

Couldn't be happier. No other "mods" yet, but I did purchase a Yakima Skybox (so we can sleep in the rig, if necessary, during camp trips) and also better protection for skis. And Thule T2 bike rack for the 2 wheel rigs.

The pine beetle has seemed to kill all money trees, as well, so I'll probably have to slow down for now. However, next up will be sliders, stoked on Budbuilt at the moment but that changes every 24hrs haha. Going from there I will hopefully go with a Toytec 1-3" adjustable lift (or something of the sort) and some skid plates.

Hope this helps, see ya out there!

 

[elemint]

Like jamgolf says, unless you rock crawl a stock t4r will be more than enough. I went all over CO in a 02 Highlander and had no problems. I went through rivers, washout roads up mountain passes all with no issues. Heck, I once had a Ford Taurus wagon and did many logging and mud roads. People used to explore the entire rocky Mtns in model T's for Peres sake! Everything is over kill these days. In Africa the is no such thing as off-roading, it is called driving. I spent many wicked miles in Toyota minivans on what would be called 4x4 trails here in the US.

Since you are in Colorado, I would highly recommend getting Charles A Wells' book "Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4WD". I have used it on 3 trips. There is advice that will do you more good than most modifications. I would start hitting/enjoying the green trails, which you might find them doable in your stock 4runner. As you go you'll find out what is more important for some of the blue or even red trails.

In many cases our own limit as drivers is reached before the vehicle's capability limits are reached. Many trails/passes in your beautiful state are challenging because of heights, drop-offs, switch backs. You may not even need many modifications. Only the extremely hard core trails would require serious mods.

So if you are going to primarily do rock crawling, then serious modifications are in order. On the other hand if you are interested in going over passes eg. Black Bear, Imogene, Engineer, etc. you do not necessarily need modifications other than good set of tires.

 

[iambhooper]

Then you're doing it wrong. You need to factor in the diameter change of your new tires

The change in tire size from a stock 267/70 17 Dunlop (overall diameter of 31.7", 10.7" wide) to a 275/70 17 Cooper AT3 (overall 32.2" and 11.1) only represents a 1.6% change in height and a 3.6% change in width.

So if I pump 17.5 gallons of gas and my trip odometer reads 285, I calculated 16.3 mpg. The dash reads 16.6, which when you do the math is correct (please note, that about 50% of that mileage is in town), however I can live with 1.8% margin of error. In city only driving, I'm averaging between 14.4-15.5 mpg.

That said, Greensboro traffic flow is pathetic... you cannot make it more than one light without getting caught at a light and I did go from a SL load rating to a C or 6 ply tire, which will make a difference.