Tire Choice Advice - 2018 SR5P

[jpaws]

Hello,
First let me say this forum has been a wealth of information and I have used it thoroughly to build my 4Runner.

Current Dilemma:
I had some 275/70/17 ST Maxx's put on my rig a few weeks ago and really enjoy the looks and performance of these tires. At 59 lbs a tire, my MPG has taken a decent hit and I am down to 13.6. My daily commute to work is mostly city driving, and I can really feel this extra weight taking off at lights. I knew there would be somewhat of a MPG hit and performance loss, but I can't decide whether to live with it or not.

Last Thursday I contacted Discount Tire (which is awesome) and they said they will give me a full refund for the Coopers, and shipped me a full set of Duratracs in 265/70/17 load C. These are 44 lbs a piece and are arriving today.

I have about 2.5 - 2.8 inch lift, sliders, full RCI skids in aluminum - so I have some weight and never really got above 16.3 with the original tires.

On to the dilemma...
1. Coopers - Like the 275 size and concerned the "slightly" smaller Duratracs will look too small with the lift.
2. Duratrac setup will be 60lbs lighter then the ST Maxx. This should bring the performance back...I think.
3. I plan to offroad this truck (beach, Uwharrie/NC) and have read the sidewall in even the C load Duratrac isn't great, and prone to puncture where the ST Maxx will excel.
4. From reviews it sounds like the Duratrac will be louder with a little wear.


SO....
What would you do here? Which tires do I return? I am not a super stickler for MPG, but down in the 13's is just terrible. At the same time, I don't want the Duratrac's to look silly (small) with my lift.

 

[Paragon1]

Ive run DTs, and currently run KO2s. Aesthetically the DT is a tough one to beat, but it sucks in the rain almost as bad as the KO2s, and they tend to track onto every groove in the road. I never had a puncture issue, and as long as you're not getting too extreme you'll be fine. My gas mileage took a hit with the KO2s, BUT it drives much quieter. I cant speak to the other ones you mentioned but I've run 3 sets of DTs over the years and always liked them. There really not that loud, nothing the radio cant fix anyway.

 

[chester4Run]

Mileage posts are tough to answer due to driving style variable, but here's some info for you to ponder. My use case and setup sound similar to yours.

I added the RCI aluminum skids as well with no impact on mileage. I saw about 1.5 MPG drop when I installed the OME lift, which raised the vehicle about 3 inches all around. Shortly after the lift I switched tires from firestone destination LE2 (very road oriented) to yokohama geolander G015 A/T (mild A/T tire) with no mileage impact. Both sets of tires were/are OEM size (265/70/R17).

I'm getting 19 mpg mixed (mostly highway) driving. If I reset mileage with cruise set at 70 mph I get 20.5 mpg. (sorry, nothing manually calculated)

 

[jpaws]

I appreciate the input. UPS delivered the Duratracs, and there isn't much of a height difference at all. I really like the idea of shedding 60 lbs in tires, but for some reason, I feel like I am downgrading from the ST Maxx. Not sure why I am so indecisive here...I need to get over myself and just make a decision. They are just tires after all.

 

[MTN4RNR]

I have had my S/T Maxx's for 55k miles and have had nothing but great experiences with them. You'll save some weight with the Duratracs, but the notoriously weak sidewalls would steer me away personally. If off-road performance is a big reason for your tire choice, I wouldn't sacrifice tire strength, traction and reliability. FWIW lifted, sliders, loaded for a weekend, full roof rack and roof top tent... I still average about 15-17mpg (18-19 with a breeze :thumb3. More info on my experiences, here.

 

[ryan87]

I would say adjust your driving habits for a week and reevaluate. on the dash im usually mid to high 16mpg with 255/80/17 st maxx, gobi rack, 3+ inches of lift..then again i drive pretty slow

 

[Rainier42]

These:

https://www.tirebuyer.com/tires/fal...GW597Pp8oCEtOMqIFXQaU2l6Ma5xCOQYaAngxEALw_wcB

 

[jpaws]

I like your idea. Maybe I will evaluate my driving habits. My 4Runner has 6500 miles on it, and since new it's always been low compared to this forum. I am 43 with 2 kids so my general driving habits aren't very aggressive.

I will play around with a few things (put the OEM air filter back in which is currently a dry AFE, and remove my sprint booster) to see if that does anything.

I was looking at the new Duratrac's in my garage, and wow the sidewalls are paper thin. The amount of flex is insane. With one hand I can squish the entire tire to the floor with the sidewalls collapsing and this is a C tire.

 

[Hans Moleman]

I like your idea. Maybe I will evaluate my driving habits. My 4Runner has 6500 miles on it, and since new it's always been low compared to this forum. I am 43 with 2 kids so my general driving habits aren't very aggressive.

I will play around with a few things (put the OEM air filter back in which is currently a dry AFE, and remove my sprint booster) to see if that does anything.

I was looking at the new Duratrac's in my garage, and wow the sidewalls are paper thin. The amount of flex is insane. With one hand I can squish the entire tire to the floor with the sidewalls collapsing and this is a C tire.

I had Duratrac load range C and now have load range E on my 2006 Tacoma. My original load range C Duratracs cupped and I was supposed to get load range C again as a warranty replacement but they mistakenly installed load range E.

Although the load range E rides stiffer, it seems to be a built better than load range C version. Besides more plys, the the E seems to have a different compound. The wet traction seems to be a lot better and the noise is far less. And the E's balanced a lot better than the C's because they have far less road force.

If you are looking for a C tire I would not get the Duratracs.

 

[mteolus]

C range should be fine! No need for E load especially in an SR5 where your 4x4 roads will be much more tame. Weight matters, I just put C load KO2s (285s) on mine (51 lbs) and so far so good. A Jeep rental place in Ouray Colorado rents brand new next gen Rubicon's and they all run C load and no problems for a rental that is off-road 99% of the time.

I ran 265's on mine with a lift for a year and a half. Only thing I didn't like is the factory off-set and backspace on the wheels and the lack of aggressive look of the Duelers. I still think you would like 275's better though. I'll update my sig with the new tires soo, but you can see what a lift and 265's look like in my current sig.

Edit, new C-Load KO2 285s. SCS Ray 10 Matte Gray wheels with -10 offset and 4.30 backspace. Perfect.

 

[litezzz]

What type of trails are you planning to do? If you aren't doing serious crawling C's will be plenty fine. I've done trails in Mojave, Death Valley, Eastern Sierra's, Southern and Northern CA, all on the stock P rated tires, no issues. Whichever you choose to go with i'm sure either will be fine.

 

[jpaws]

I have no plans to do anything too serious. One thing to note is my ST Maxx pressure is at 40 PSI right now which may be a little low for the size/ply. I am trying to figure out these conversion charts to try something higher. Maybe 46.

 

[johnbt]

Heavy tires are such a drag.

I've driven all of the legal Outer Banks beaches from the Virginia line down to Ocracoke on the factory tires. I typically leave them at 17 or 18 pounds for a week at a time unless I'm going 50 miles or so in a hurry.

I'll replace them with better quality P-rated all season tires when the tread wears down a little more - probably around 30k or so.

 

[ryan87]

I have no plans to do anything too serious. One thing to note is my ST Maxx pressure is at 40 PSI right now which may be a little low for the size/ply. I am trying to figure out these conversion charts to try something higher. Maybe 46.

If they are E load I run mine about 34psi

 

[MTN4RNR]

I have no plans to do anything too serious. One thing to note is my ST Maxx pressure is at 40 PSI right now which may be a little low for the size/ply. I am trying to figure out these conversion charts to try something higher. Maybe 46.

I run 38 in mine and have found a sweet spot. In my experience anything above 40 starts to get noticeably stiffer. But definitely experiment with pressures.