Off Roading with P-Metric Tires

[phillipeino]

I have read some mixed reviews about using passenger tires for off roading. Is it advisable not to off road/trail with only certain tires? The tire i'm looking at are the GY Duratracs. I am new to 4runners and will probably only hit some light trails once or twice a year. What do you think?

 

[fo' runnin']

I have read some mixed reviews about using passenger tires for off roading. Is it advisable not to off road/trail with only certain tires? The tire i'm looking at are the GY Duratracs. I am new to 4runners and will probably only hit some light trails once or twice a year. What do you think?

You'll be just fine, just don't hit any sticky mud!

 

[KidVermicious]

I have read some mixed reviews about using passenger tires for off roading. Is it advisable not to off road/trail with only certain tires? The tire i'm looking at are the GY Duratracs. I am new to 4runners and will probably only hit some light trails once or twice a year. What do you think?

Carry a good spare, a repair kit, and/or a can of fixaflat. Don't air down very far. Duratracs have a rep for weak sidewalls, and that will be worse with P rated tires.

They'll be fine for occasional use if you're careful, just be careful and be ready to repair or change a tire.

 

[JB.]

I have read some mixed reviews about using passenger tires for off roading. Is it advisable not to off road/trail with only certain tires? The tire i'm looking at are the GY Duratracs. I am new to 4runners and will probably only hit some light trails once or twice a year. What do you think?

Lot's of discussion in this thread.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/off-roading/54667-tell-me-about-your-offroading-p-rated-tires.html

I have a hard time reconciling my own experience (7k off-pavement, LT tires, no flats) with various reports I see of people getting flats off-road. Other than the obvious potential difference of extreme obstacles that my truck never sees, I think the answer was presented to me recently when reading about a group trip through an area I've been through many times. One member was talking about breaking something on his truck every time he does the trip. We're talking about a 4th gen much tougher and more capable than mine.

So, approach is everything. I tend to think P-rated ATs are potentially much more durable than they are often reputed to be.

I wouldn't hesitate to get them and use them the way you've outlined. If it were me, I'd probably air down to the low 20s.

 

[Burnzy]

Hopefully this helps. I just got home from Wheelin 4 Hope. That's a weekend of trail riding that benefits cancer research, $100.00 per person. I just bought my 2007 SR5 V6 3 months ago. I have never been off road other than some real bumpy dirt roads. This was a first for me. Out of the 200 vehicles there (they limit it to 200) I was the ONLY 4runner. Not only that but I was 99% stock. The only thing not stock were my P rated 265/70 17 Nitto Terra Grapplers. I aired down to 20lbs based on nothing but interweb advice(most of it from here). Then I went on to navigate every obstacle that the other 20 built Jeeps did. Granted, I was slower and did a lot of scraping.....But the bottom line is I did everything they did. There was a shit load of mud, in fact it was all muddy clay having just stormed the day before. I ran over tons of large rocks, countless fallen trees and did 3 stream crossings that included climbing a big ass rock face on the other side. I did it without stopping the guides said I walked it. At least half of the built Jeeps with bigger tires had to go up an down a few times before the got up. Bottom line is my P rated tires did awesome, no cuts, nicks, no damage except for some erasing/grinding off of the lettering on a couple tires The stock 4runner was the center of attention, people were amazed that it did everything. So was I.

 

[Plano26]

Hopefully this helps. I just got home from Wheelin 4 Hope. That's a weekend of trail riding that benefits cancer research, $100.00 per person. I just bought my 2007 SR5 V6 3 months ago. I have never been off road other than some real bumpy dirt roads. This was a first for me. Out of the 200 vehicles there (they limit it to 200) I was the ONLY 4runner. Not only that but I was 99% stock. The only thing not stock were my P rated 265/70 17 Nitto Terra Grapplers. I aired down to 20lbs based on nothing but interweb advice(most of it from here). Then I went on to navigate every obstacle that the other 20 built Jeeps did. Granted, I was slower and did a lot of scraping.....But the bottom line is I did everything they did. There was a shit load of mud, in fact it was all muddy clay having just stormed the day before. I ran over tons of large rocks, countless fallen trees and did 3 stream crossings that included climbing a big ass rock face on the other side. I did it without stopping the guides said I walked it. At least half of the built Jeeps with bigger tires had to go up an down a few times before the got up. Bottom line is my P rated tires did awesome, no cuts, nicks, no damage except for some erasing/grinding off of the lettering on a couple tires The stock 4runner was the center of attention, people were amazed that it did everything. So was I.

Thanks for the post; most helpful. I'm running P-rated Toyo OC AT II's and no problems so far. Only taking it out on Easy/Moderate trails (upto 2.5 rating) so far. Did/do you air down to 20 psi all the time? Just curious as I haven't air downed yet; just wasn't sure if advisable with the P-rated tire (but I do have a tire repair kit just in case).

 

[tchlong03]

4runners just rock. Keep it quiet so all the jeep guys don't start buying up all our 4runners.

 

[JB.]

I'm running P-rated Toyo OC AT II's and no problems so far. Only taking it out on Easy/Moderate trails (upto 2.5 rating) so far. I haven't air downed yet; just wasn't sure if advisable with the P-rated tire (but I do have a tire repair kit just in case).

As a general rule, all tires are less prone to flats when holding less pressure, but there can be situations where the too much sidewall bulge -- especially on a Standard Load tire -- can result in a flat where there might not have been one otherwise.

At street pressure, the bulk of sidewall stiffness comes from air pressure rather than sidewall construction. As pressure is reduced, the contribution of stiffer sidewall construction increases as a percentage of overall stiffness.

That is why I mentioned psi in the low 20s. Should be low enough for good performance, but not so low as to have a high risk of pinch flats, etc. But that psi is just a guess. My experience is with LT only, but I'm always interested in hearing about people's experience using Standard Load tires off-pavement.

 

[KidVermicious]

I pinchflatted a Big O Bigfoot AT p-metric at 18 psi, though I was kinda rallying it a bit.

 

[Plano26]

As a general rule, all tires are less prone to flats when holding less pressure, but there can be situations where the too much sidewall bulge -- especially on a Standard Load tire -- can result in a flat where there might not have been one otherwise.

At street pressure, the bulk of sidewall stiffness comes from air pressure rather than sidewall construction. As pressure is reduced, the contribution of stiffer sidewall construction increases as a percentage of overall stiffness.

That is why I mentioned psi in the low 20s. Should be low enough for good performance, but not so low as to have a high risk of pinch flats, etc. But that psi is just a guess. My experience is with LT only, but I'm always interested in hearing about people's experience using Standard Load tires off-pavement.

JB: Thank you for the great information; I was thinking about only taking the psi down to around 22-25 or so as see how it goes. When I first took her out was going down a hill and the wife was videoing it and when I went over a small rock it shot out from the left front tire; knew I had too much pressure; I should of just rolled over it; didn't air down and the street pressure was 35 psi. Will report back on how things go this weekend; taking her up Montana Mountain here in AZ. Thanks again

 

[Plano26]

I posted this in the "What did you do in/to your 5th Gen today" thread but wanted to also post it here as it relates to running "P" rated tires.

The Prescott, AZ No Club Club had a recovery course this weekend; great time and learned a ton about winch's; hi-lift's etc...I was the only T4R; rest were Jeeps...I'm just running stock rig with "P" rate Toyo's (didn't air down) and had no problems running the trails. It was very narrow & rocky as hell in places and got tons of pin striping. There were 3 punctures (1 jeep while going up the fairly steep hill we practiced on and another vehicle lost 2! He stayed behind for a friend to get him.

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