- Location
- Stinkwater
On Black Dragon this weekend I burped a bead and lost a bunch of air in one tire, and then later coming out of Copper Globe I nearly pinchflatted two more, to the point I don't trust them. The tires are Rubicon takeoffs, 255/75r17 BFG KM load range C, I was at roughly 20 PSI. The easy out is obviously to hit KSL for another used KM or two, they can be had pretty cheap. But I'm not sure I'm a fan of these tires on this truck - great traction, but not enough sidewall I think, both in terms of height and strength. So I need to look at options. The truck is an F150, pretty much stock, that sees daily driving and family camping duty. It probably pushes 6000 pounds with family and gear loaded. This weekend is the hardest I've pushed it yet and probably the hardest I ever will, but it'll still see it's fair share of rough roads and light crawling in remote locations, and I want tires I trust to get me in and out.
1) Buy new? Taller tires would give me more sidewall to work with. There are two tall skinnies with an E load range available that I know of for a 17" wheel, the BFG KM2 and the Cooper ST MAXX. I'm a huge fan of the KM2, but they're nearly $250 a pop and might be outside the budget. I thought I liked the Coopers but watched a buddy with a very similar truck struggle with those tires on this weekend, so I'm maybe not as high on them anymore? If I decide to buy new they're still on the short list, but not on top like they would have been a month ago. Those are $200 or so each in the size I want. There are a grip of AT and MT E rated tires in the 285/70 range, but those tend to be more expensive than my precious skinnies, so most of those are going to be further down the list (money talks, though, the right price could bump any of them up). I think 265 and 275 series are all too small, and bigger than 285 would require mods to fit that I don't wanna get into.
2) Smaller wheel? Dropping to a 16" wheel also gives me more sidewall. I've been thinking I'll want a 35 or 37 for the 4Runner if/when I ever get around to finishing the engine swap, so I wouldn't be adverse to robbing the 255/85r16 KM2s that are on it now (my favoritest tire ever) for the F150. Those would be slightly taller than my current tire, on a smaller wheel, with the E load range I want. I'd need to find a set of 16" wheels with the elusive 5x135mm bolt pattern to put them on, but that's cheaper than a new set of tires.
So I'm conflicted - stick with what I've got and tone down the offroadish activites, buy new tires (and what kind?) and kill the pocketbook and piss off the wife, or rob the KM2s from the 4Runner and postpone the pocketbook-killing and wife-pissing-off until later. What would you guys do?
1) Buy new? Taller tires would give me more sidewall to work with. There are two tall skinnies with an E load range available that I know of for a 17" wheel, the BFG KM2 and the Cooper ST MAXX. I'm a huge fan of the KM2, but they're nearly $250 a pop and might be outside the budget. I thought I liked the Coopers but watched a buddy with a very similar truck struggle with those tires on this weekend, so I'm maybe not as high on them anymore? If I decide to buy new they're still on the short list, but not on top like they would have been a month ago. Those are $200 or so each in the size I want. There are a grip of AT and MT E rated tires in the 285/70 range, but those tend to be more expensive than my precious skinnies, so most of those are going to be further down the list (money talks, though, the right price could bump any of them up). I think 265 and 275 series are all too small, and bigger than 285 would require mods to fit that I don't wanna get into.
2) Smaller wheel? Dropping to a 16" wheel also gives me more sidewall. I've been thinking I'll want a 35 or 37 for the 4Runner if/when I ever get around to finishing the engine swap, so I wouldn't be adverse to robbing the 255/85r16 KM2s that are on it now (my favoritest tire ever) for the F150. Those would be slightly taller than my current tire, on a smaller wheel, with the E load range I want. I'd need to find a set of 16" wheels with the elusive 5x135mm bolt pattern to put them on, but that's cheaper than a new set of tires.
So I'm conflicted - stick with what I've got and tone down the offroadish activites, buy new tires (and what kind?) and kill the pocketbook and piss off the wife, or rob the KM2s from the 4Runner and postpone the pocketbook-killing and wife-pissing-off until later. What would you guys do?
