andrewbares
New member
I've been wanting to upgrade to the 1" bigger tires, 32" tires - the largest that can fit on our 3rd gens without rubbing, and a flat finally prompted the upgrade.
HOW DO THEY DRIVE? GAS MPG? More on that below the pics.
I took before/after pics... honestly it's hardly noticeable in the pics. Obviously the new tires look dramatically better - their tread is new compared to 6/32nd and they're fresh black, and the tread on the new ones BFG KO2's is also more aggressive than the old Firestone Destination A/T's. In person it definitely looks better than the old tires.
I have a 1-1.5" lift on the truck, so these tires definitely fill out the lift nicely whereas the older stock size tires looked a bit smaller in there.
HOW'S THE RIDE?
They're actually smoother/softer over bumps than my old tires. I think that's mostly because these are light truck tires which weigh 53 lbs, whereas the Firestone's were passenger tires that only weighed 40 lbs. I had two unrepairable flats from dirt roads on the passenger tires in 3 years, so hoping these light truck ones hold up better (2021 update - Still running the same light truck tires, ZERO flats after 4 years!). This heavier "unsprung" weight seems to pair better with my OME suspension kit which appreciates the heavier tires. I went over some speed bumps that are usually violent, and the suspension actually absorbed the bumps!
WHAT'S THE GAS MILEAGE LIKE?
2021 Update: Last 3,000 miles on the new tires: 18.3 MPG (after adjusted down for 3.3% additional odometer travel due to bigger tires). I normally was getting 18.6 MPG. So that's a drop of 1.6% MPG, which is pretty minimal.
2017 Original: First trip stats are in: 18.1 MPG (after adjusted for 3.3% difference in odometer travel).
HOW'S THE ACCELERATION/POWER?
This one seems quite noticeable to me, although it's likely the heavier tires rather than larger diameter tires.
Stop and go traffic is worse than before. This is probably only true for manual transmissions. Before, you could pretty much only use the clutch to start and not even bother giving it any gas, since 1st gear was geared so low. Now, I actually have to drive it like a normal manual car and give it a bit of gas as I let out the clutch. Feels more similar to my sports car I used to have. It's no longer a super easy-to-drive manual! Now I don't mind about it being more difficult since it's still easy for me (been driving manual long enough that this doesn't mean anything), but if I had to sit in stop-and-go daily I would NOT enjoy this. However, after feedback from others, it seems this is likely the weight of the tires rather than the larger diameter. The RPM difference should be so negligible (the tires are only 3.3% bigger in terms of circumference) that any acceleration difference I'm feeling is probably instead coming from the 32.5% increase in tire weight.
Acceleration and power definitely feels weaker than before. The heavier tires are probably the 99% influencer here. I definitely have to downshift where I used to be able to stay at the same RPM and accelerate previously.
IS IT WORTH IT?
2021 Update: I think so! MPG was only very minimally impacted, the bigger tires look better, the light truck tires seem to have held up against flats, and the extra clearance has been handy for deep snow!
2017 Original: Idk yet! I'll see how the MPG's do. Hopefully I don't get flats either with the LT tires. And hopefully off roading will benefit from that 1/2" of higher clearance. It definitely looks better, but that's never been crazy important to me.
HOW DO THEY DRIVE? GAS MPG? More on that below the pics.
I took before/after pics... honestly it's hardly noticeable in the pics. Obviously the new tires look dramatically better - their tread is new compared to 6/32nd and they're fresh black, and the tread on the new ones BFG KO2's is also more aggressive than the old Firestone Destination A/T's. In person it definitely looks better than the old tires.
I have a 1-1.5" lift on the truck, so these tires definitely fill out the lift nicely whereas the older stock size tires looked a bit smaller in there.
HOW'S THE RIDE?
They're actually smoother/softer over bumps than my old tires. I think that's mostly because these are light truck tires which weigh 53 lbs, whereas the Firestone's were passenger tires that only weighed 40 lbs. I had two unrepairable flats from dirt roads on the passenger tires in 3 years, so hoping these light truck ones hold up better (2021 update - Still running the same light truck tires, ZERO flats after 4 years!). This heavier "unsprung" weight seems to pair better with my OME suspension kit which appreciates the heavier tires. I went over some speed bumps that are usually violent, and the suspension actually absorbed the bumps!
WHAT'S THE GAS MILEAGE LIKE?
2021 Update: Last 3,000 miles on the new tires: 18.3 MPG (after adjusted down for 3.3% additional odometer travel due to bigger tires). I normally was getting 18.6 MPG. So that's a drop of 1.6% MPG, which is pretty minimal.
2017 Original: First trip stats are in: 18.1 MPG (after adjusted for 3.3% difference in odometer travel).
HOW'S THE ACCELERATION/POWER?
This one seems quite noticeable to me, although it's likely the heavier tires rather than larger diameter tires.
Stop and go traffic is worse than before. This is probably only true for manual transmissions. Before, you could pretty much only use the clutch to start and not even bother giving it any gas, since 1st gear was geared so low. Now, I actually have to drive it like a normal manual car and give it a bit of gas as I let out the clutch. Feels more similar to my sports car I used to have. It's no longer a super easy-to-drive manual! Now I don't mind about it being more difficult since it's still easy for me (been driving manual long enough that this doesn't mean anything), but if I had to sit in stop-and-go daily I would NOT enjoy this. However, after feedback from others, it seems this is likely the weight of the tires rather than the larger diameter. The RPM difference should be so negligible (the tires are only 3.3% bigger in terms of circumference) that any acceleration difference I'm feeling is probably instead coming from the 32.5% increase in tire weight.
Acceleration and power definitely feels weaker than before. The heavier tires are probably the 99% influencer here. I definitely have to downshift where I used to be able to stay at the same RPM and accelerate previously.
IS IT WORTH IT?
2021 Update: I think so! MPG was only very minimally impacted, the bigger tires look better, the light truck tires seem to have held up against flats, and the extra clearance has been handy for deep snow!
2017 Original: Idk yet! I'll see how the MPG's do. Hopefully I don't get flats either with the LT tires. And hopefully off roading will benefit from that 1/2" of higher clearance. It definitely looks better, but that's never been crazy important to me.
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I swear the heavier tires must be making it feel dramatically different. Anyways I'll make those corrections. Reading all these comments is great!
