Tire Question Help!

[lillers23]

Hi all,
I'm very close to buying new tires within the week. Falken Wildpeak A/T3W. I am 90% decided on P 285 /70 R17 117T SL.

My 4Runner is my daily, I am planning on doing some light off-roading with new tires etc installed. But, mostly a daily. If I do any camping, it will be very short term and we won't be lugging our entire kitchen and living with us. Maybe 1 night max.

My question is: for the way I use my truck, is P 285 /70 R17 117T SL plenty okay? Will it let me do light off-roading (not sandy dunes, not huge rock crawling, but more gravel, some packed mud, packed sand, mayyyybe Flagpole type)? Because I've also looked into another option: LT285 /70 R17 121S E1. They're more expensive, but from what I've been told, they're more capable off-road. But more like Moab rock crawling capable. Is there any reason I should be considering them?

Thank you in advance for your advice!! I'm very anxious to get this right and have no regrets!!!

 

[Bayou_Pro]

From what you are saying I would do the P-Metrics all day long. They are much lighter and more ride compliant. Load won't be an issue at all, they just won't take abuse as well as an LT.

 

[lillers23]

From what you are saying I would do the P-Metrics all day long. They are much lighter and more ride compliant. Load won't be an issue at all, they just won't take abuse as well as an LT.

For the extreme n00b aka myself, would you mind expanding on what you mean by abuse? Like, run over a sharp-ish rock abuse? :rockthrow:

 

[Bayou_Pro]

For the extreme n00b aka myself, would you mind expanding on what you mean by abuse? Like, run over a sharp-ish rock abuse? :rockthrow:

Yep pretty much. Things like sharp rock and rocks against the sidewalls. They also say the LTs hold up better on continued use on rough washboard roads. Can't say that would ever be an issue with most of us being weekend warriors.

 

[MAST4R]

I use my P265 70 17 Wildpeaks over sharp rocks all the time.

Keep your air pressure at 33 psi OFF road as well as ON road.

Do not air down P-metric tires and you stand a much better chance of being fine.

I do harsh terrain on P-metric all the time, at street pressures. Air down in rocks, though, and watch a sidewall burst.

They do not need to be aired down because they have plenty of flex at 33 psi and are plenty comfortable enough over ANY terrain.

Abuse would mean spinning the tires in rocks. That's abuse for the trail, the tires, and your drivetrain. So use locker, crawl, MTS, a-trac, whatever you have and like when needed. Don't wait to lose traction to start using them.

EDIT: in sharp rock, 33 psi may procure you a tread puncture but that's much better than a sidewall burst.

Either way, when using P-metric tires, make sure you have a matching spare.

 

[Horsethief]

Are you lifting?

From what I've read on here lately, you'll need a 3" lift, most likely with new upper control arms, and be ready to trim plastic and possibly your body mounts.

If that's not the plan, you're prob better off sticking with the stock size.

I don't want to deal with all that BS on mine (or lose my decent mpg) so I'm just going with a good AT tire in the stock size on mine.

 

[shrub1]

From what you are saying I would do the P-Metrics all day long. They are much lighter and more ride compliant. Load won't be an issue at all, they just won't take abuse as well as an LT.

I agree with this.

 

[redneckj]

Hi all,
I'm very close to buying new tires within the week. Falken Wildpeak A/T3W. I am 90% decided on P 285 /70 R17 117T SL.

My 4Runner is my daily, I am planning on doing some light off-roading with new tires etc installed. But, mostly a daily. If I do any camping, it will be very short term and we won't be lugging our entire kitchen and living with us. Maybe 1 night max.

My question is: for the way I use my truck, is P 285 /70 R17 117T SL plenty okay? Will it let me do light off-roading (not sandy dunes, not huge rock crawling, but more gravel, some packed mud, packed sand, mayyyybe Flagpole type)? Because I've also looked into another option: LT285 /70 R17 121S E1. They're more expensive, but from what I've been told, they're more capable off-road. But more like Moab rock crawling capable. Is there any reason I should be considering them?

Thank you in advance for your advice!! I'm very anxious to get this right and have no regrets!!!

Why not run the 275/70/17 Falkens in the C load range?

 

[MAST4R]

Why not run the 275/70/17 Falkens in the C load range?

I know why I do not.

I really wanted that tire (before it was released). Then it turned out to be 57lb.

That's not abnormal for the size, for some reason, but it is still a huge weight penalty (17lb over stock, 10 over 265 PWildpeaks and 255 75 Firestone MT2, 8 over 285 70 P Ridge Grapplers, 3-5lb than most others in 255 75 or 265 70).

Others may not mind the weight penalty, though.

 

[lillers23]

[MENTION=207682]Horsethief[/MENTION]: Yes, I'll be getting a 2.5"-3" lift with bilstein 5100 and OME springs. Planning on trimming, and hoping stock UCA will be okay for now.
[MENTION=105479]redneckj[/MENTION]: I'm mainly set on the 285's