Tire Questions

[bryancostanich]

Hi all!

I just bought a 3" suspension lift + 1" body lift (from toytec - Ultimate lift kit for 96-02 4Runner - Toytec Lifts: Toyota Lift Kits: FJ Cruiser Lift Kits, Tacoma Lift Kits, Tundra Lift Kits, 4 Runner Lift Kits, Sequoia Lift Kits, Toyota Truck Lift Kits) for my 2000 t4r.

Anyhow, next thing will be to get new tires (and maybe rims) for the ride. I have a couple questions:

-> what will now fit without modifications? 33"?
-> if i go with a large tire like that, do i need to beef up my steering, linkage, etc?
-> what about power, is it going to be power starved now?
-> do you recommend something smaller?
-> any good tire recs - brand/model?
-> anything else i should be asking/thinking about?

 

[thorridder]

33"s will fit fine but dont get 12.5" wide they will rub
mine didnt have a lose of power
brand is more for what you are using them for

 

[bryancostanich]

I'm thinking about getting the goodyear wrangler MT/R's with the kevlar reinforced sidewall, i do a lot of wheeling in death valley, and sidewall punctures are a problem.

how are they in the snow though? anyone know?

 

[bryancostanich]

Hm. i found a great comparison review page: Mud Tire Reviews, Offroad Tires, 4x4 Mud Tire Reviews - Offroaders.com

looks like those wranglers aren't that great. (although the kevlars might be better, but the base tire has pretty poor performance).

 

[Jon]

I've got the same lift with 285/75-16 (33x11.5) Kumho Road Venture M/T's. If you have the same wheels as me, you'll want 1.25 (i got Spidertrax)wheel spacers up front to keep from rubbing the UCA, only rubs under full drop. They will rub the bottom front corner of the rear bumper when stuffed all the way in the wheel well. As for performance, they are great on and off road, fair price too. Kumho Road Venture MT KL71

No need to beef anything up, and the stock 4.10 gears handle 33's well but any bigger and I'm getting 5.29's! These tires are nice and quiet on road with 38-40 psi and off road I've dropped them down to 18 w/o any issues, but that 20lb drop makes all the difference in the world!

Check out the vids to see what you'll be able to get through when it's all said and done YouTube - JonathanKucyj's Channel

 

[bryancostanich]

Hm. it actually looks like the MT/R's with kevlar are pretty much an entirely new tire from the original MT/R's, and they're pretty awesome compared to the old version.

 

[bryancostanich]

Jon, yeah, those don't look so bad. they look great on your rig too.

So it only rubs with a full compression up front now?

what about the back?

 

[Clemsonfan15]

So your looking for an MT?

Some of my top picks in that category would be the Toyo Open Country MT and the Nitto Mud Grappler.

If your looking for an AT then I would say Goodyear DuraTrac.

 

[bryancostanich]

These are what i'm comparing, right now. There just happened to be some good MTs that were also good on snow/rock/road. one of my biggest concerns is punctures, i drive a lot through sharp ass rocks in the mountains of death valley, etc. but i also do a bit of snow, and road stuff.

Maxxis MT-762 Bighorn 285/70R17 $260.00 11.7" 33.0"
Green Diamond Tire Icelander M/T 265/70R17 $212.00 10.4" 31.6" Only comes in a smaller tire, but great tire
Cepek Fun Country II 33x12.50R17LT $199.00 12.4" 33.0" Good Rock + Road, OK elsewhere, may be too big
Cepek Mud Country 265/70R17 $233.00 10.8" 31.9"
General Tire Grabber AT 2 265/70R17 $150.00 10.4" 31.6" Great Value, Great Street, Good Rock, ok elsewhere
Goodyear MT-R Kevlar 275/70R17 $233.00 10.8" 32.1" Supposed to be way better than the earlier MT-Rs
Parnelli Jones Dirt Grip 265/70R17 $230.00 10.4" 31.6" Pretty ok

 

[Jon]

Jon, yeah, those don't look so bad. they look great on your rig too.

So it only rubs with a full compression up front now?

what about the back?

No rubbing at all now. Rubbing on UCA was fixed with spacers. Rear was only rubbing that bottom front corner of the rear bumper. I had originally thought about just cutting the bumper and hammering the pinchweld in. But after removing the bumper side plates to ct them I decided to just leave em off, hammered the pinch weld and it's all good. As you can see I took the bumper and tow bar off completely, it was dragging every time I tried to crawl up steep stuff.

 

[bryancostanich]

Jon: got it. i ordered the spacers. I'm going to get one of the IRBIS offroad rear bumpers, i wonder if that'll clear. i guess i'll find out.