Tires and Load Range - Help Appreciated!

[the great him]

:violin:
haha. lame man. just because you can, doesnt mean you SHOULD.

absolutely, without question it will be a better drivng experience with the proper gearing. whether its financially a good choice is a different issue entirely.



blasphemy!

our 4runners(the 4wd ones) came with 4.10, 4.30, and 4.56 gears, now there are guys who have 4.56 gears from the factory that are running 285s, are you saying that they need to regear to have a better driving exeriance? i could MAYBE see your point with the 4.10s(but thats what i have and honestly cant tell the difference). a 285 tire on a truck with 4.56 gears in like that same truck having 4.30 with stock tires... probably more like a 4.40-4.45 but yeah... same goes with a truck with 4.30 and 285s being similar to a 4.10 truck on stock tires...

just so you know, you can run a 4.30 diff in the rear and keep your 4.10 up front, the difference is so insignificant that it wont damage the diffs or tcase. its not untill you really get down in the gearing like 5.29 and lower that you will reall start to see issues, but guys still run 5.13 fronts and 5.29 rears or vice versa...

my point is you will not notice the difference in going up one tire size as far as gearing goes. you will notice a bigger change in adding more passengers or more cargo in the truck.

 

[02T4RVA]

Just curious... how do I know what "gears" I have on my 02 4Runner SR5 Auto? I hope this is not a question like the white wall lettering (haha).

 

[JB.]

Hi Everyone,

Need some help/advice/.02 ... again

I have a 2002 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4x4 for my son who is turning 16 at the end of this month. As it was recommended from some people, instead of me picking everything out and surprising him, he and I are working together on getting modifications done.

His budget was $3000 to include lift, wheels and tires.

This will be a daily driver for him and he might do some camping / light off-roading.

We have ordered the Toytec Ultimate Lift Kit and we have ordered 17" Level 8 MK6, -12 offset, Matte Black.

He likes the Goodyear DuraTracs, Kelly Safari TRS and Nitto Trail Grapplers. We are looking at the 265/70/17s. The tires I have seen all say E. I understand (correct me if I am wrong), but there is also C out there? Should I be looking at Load Range C tires instead of E?

Thanks!

E is not ideal since it eats into the budget in both purchase price and operating expense (heavier) while its main benefit (hard offroad abuse) is being wasted. C would be better but I don't want to exaggerate the difference. Look for C but E will work.

If you're willing to widen your shopping range to all-terrain tires in general, you also have the option for a Standard Load (P-metric tire) as opposed to the Load Range tires (LT tires) like the above. Per your description of intended use (daily driver - maybe light offroading) this type of tire would be even better than a Load C tire in terms of how it actually performs. Also, less up front and operating costs. The tradeoff would be a little less aggressive tread and thus look, and the fact that some tires (like the ones you mentioned) are unavailble in P-metric. Since you have a set budget and are mostly only getting the negative performance characteristics of the LTs without utilizing much of the benefits, it might be worth looking into.

So, as not to confuse, I'm talking about a tire labeled on the sidewall like this:

-- P265/70/17

As opposed to this:

-- LT265/70/17

LT is further divided into load ranges C,D,E.

 

[the great him]

the only for sure way to know is to pull them out and count them or do a drive line spin test...

but their is a code on the VIN plate in the door jam of the drivers door that should have the axle code on it. look at the VIN plate and give us your trans code. or better yet just take a clear pic of the VIN plate and post it up we can decode it to about an 90% certainty

 

[Millerad1651]

Follow up question:

Now that I know what tire I am leaning towards... Goodyear DuraTrac 285/70/17's, Load Range D... where is the best place to buy tires? Directly from Goodyear, Internet?

Thanks again everyone!

Go with Discount Tire Direct.com. Especially since they sell the wheels He wants. They will mount and balance them for you before they ship too. No tax and free shipping. You will get free lifetime balance and rotation at any local Discount Tire. I also suggest getting their certificate of replacement. This covers the entire tire for any reason...you just go to a local Discount and they'll replace it. Certa are usually $30-40 per tire, but well worth it IMO.
Call them after you have your cart full, and talk to someone. Tell them you are ready to buy now, and you'll get an even better deal.
That's what I did last year, and ended up saving close to $200 over buying separate. And that doesn't include costs for mounting somewhere.

 

[white_n_slow]

just so you know, you can run a 4.30 diff in the rear and keep your 4.10 up front, the difference is so insignificant that it wont damage the diffs or tcase. its not untill you really get down in the gearing like 5.29 and lower that you will reall start to see issues, but guys still run 5.13 fronts and 5.29 rears or vice versa...

This depends on the level of traction. Running 4.30 and 4.10 gears (~5% difference) would be acceptable in a limited traction situation like mud, sand, gravel, etc. The moment you get traction in both axles, you will be doing damage to your drivetrain. Run a 4.10 with a 4.56 or 4.88 and you might as well duct tape a grenade to your transfer case. The difference between 5.29 and 5.13 is ~3%.

my point is you will not notice the difference in going up one tire size as far as gearing goes. you will notice a bigger change in adding more passengers or more cargo in the truck.

I'm not trying to argue here, since you obviously have a strong opinion on the matter But I absolutely noticed the difference going from a 265 to a 285 (an undersized 285, at that). Might have something to do with the manual transmission, might have something to do with the altitude. But it was definitely noticeable... still "acceptable" in terms of performance, but not ideal. Just my personal experience.

 

[the great him]

well if you like to drive around in 4 low on the pavement then you have other special needs, and we here cant help with those... idk about most of you but i only use 4wd when i need it, like in limited traction situations like say snow or ice or mud...

 

[white_n_slow]

well if you like to drive around in 4 low on the pavement then you have other special needs, and we here cant help with those... idk about most of you but i only use 4wd when i need it, like in limited traction situations like say snow or ice or mud...

I get what you're saying, but that combo could end your day in an environment like Moab slickrock, where you've got plenty of traction, but you still need to be in 4wd

 

[TheUltimateBohab]

yeah just ask them to mount them "blackwall out". what they are saying is that this tire has white lettering on one side so if you want it, you can have it out, but most prefer it in.

maybe its different for truck tires but most of the cars i have owned only let you mount tires in one direction says things like "mount this side out" or have arrows for the way they are supposed to spin....

 

[white_n_slow]

maybe its different for truck tires but most of the cars i have owned only let you mount tires in one direction says things like "mount this side out" or have arrows for the way they are supposed to spin....

Not so much with truck tires. A lot of them can be mounted either way (inside sidewall vs. outside) or rotation direction for that matter. There are some exceptions though.

 

[nevada]

maybe its different for truck tires but most of the cars i have owned only let you mount tires in one direction says things like "mount this side out" or have arrows for the way they are supposed to spin....

more on cars yes.
but there are some directional truck tires aswell.

MOST have Symmetric tread and can be mounted either direction.


some info for those interested.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=180

 

[seanshreds]

I think this is kind of off topic but if I were you, I would enrich this experience by having you two install the lift together instead of having a shop do it. It will give him more pride in the truck and in my personal opinion, it is really fun to work on my own truck. I am stock but do all my own repairs and maintenance and I am 17 and have had my truck since about 2 months after my 16th birthday when I got my liscense.