another Q on tires but a subjective opinion needed

[Altitude]

Hot take.

If you’re like most of us and you drive your LC around town all week and hope to get onto a trailhead road here and there when you can, the 20” wheels will serve you better in terms of handling and stability. A 20” wheel is not a 22” or 24” wheel and there is still plenty of sidewall.

The Land Cruiser looks fantastic with a 275/60/20 tire, slightly larger than OEM.

My argument breaks down when you get into heavier off-roading and start thinking about E load tires and manipulating pressure. But my theory is that a tiny percentage of us does that with any regularity.

 

[GR8Santini]

Halaweh - Your dilemma really gets decided by YOUR fulcrum point - deciding where is the point of light OR, versus how much on-road use. You need to ask how you really are going to drive your LC.

Our fulcrum point in the decision was we drive 80-90% on road, deal w/ bad weather (flash flooding) & lots of Caliche dirt roads around our property. We might wander OR a few times per year, & occasionally need to tow. So we kept 20” & upgraded to 275/60 R20 Wildpeak. Mid to aggressive AT tire w/ great on road handling & especially strong WET HANDLING.

#1 was Wet on road handling as my highest priority, & lots of AT tires aren’t all that good at it.
#2 Priority was overall BRAKING. To get good braking we needed light tire, A/T4W with low load rating can be pretty light for the size.
#3 was the RIDE, & again Wildpeak does really well with how they are built & last (warranty).

Lots of people will make their #1 on how it looks. That wasn’t high for us, but turns out Falken makes a good looking tire. The 275/60R20 gave us a bit more sidewall, bit wider, yet fits in spare tire well. Also fits a stock LC w/o issue & looks good if you have 2-3” lift.

Simple recommendation is you need to make your decision for you, & not what others tell you works for them.

 

[Markarian421]

Hot take.

If you’re like most of us and you drive your LC around town all week and hope to get onto a trailhead road here and there when you can, the 20” wheels will serve you better in terms of handling and stability. A 20” wheel is not a 22” or 24” wheel and there is still plenty of sidewall.

The Land Cruiser looks fantastic with a 275/60/20 tire, slightly larger than OEM.

My argument breaks down when you get into heavier off-roading and start thinking about E load tires and manipulating pressure. But my theory is that a tiny percentage of us does that with any regularity.

I agree 100% with going with a 275/60R20 tire on the 20" wheels, that's the size I use for winter tires. Fits perfectly and my speedometer is a little closer to correct!

 

[halaweh]

i am sold on keeping 20" and jump to AT 267/60/20 or 275.. reason is exactly what said above.. I am 90-98% of the time on road and sometimes I go dirt/beach/little off roading and thats what I call light off-roading.. I came here from a highly modified Rubicon JL with 35" MT on a headlock expensive setup with ARB dual compressor for airing down and up which for 4+ years got in use maybe 3 times.. I dont think I will ever need an airdown hence why I am going KO3.. I am not even mounting my ARB permanently and keeping that in a box for the exact same reason!! not much of heavy off road usage.. I prioritize here road handling and wet weather with confidence if I have to do some dirt roads.. I think too much rubber makes the LC wonder around.. something I hated for many years

 

[Upright Hominid]

If you consider gravel roads, light off roading then I'd stick with your 20's. I have a 2024 1958 which came with 18's and the road tires. I think I had them a week before switching them out to KO3's. I drive mostly highway but when I am off road it's gravel roads to very poorly maintained side roads to full on trails both desert and alpine. Road tires would let me down in all situations but the highway part of that equation. Even light off roading has hazards you don't have on a paved road, most notably tire killing rocks, roots etc. More side wall is just a requirement in my opinion. Being able to let down pressures when it gets hairy is also a thing for me. The KO3's with the 18" wheel feels exactly the same cornering and at highway speed as the factories, I just bump the pressures back up for road use. Mine are 275/70R18's mounted on SCS F5's. The stock wheels now have Nokian hakkapeliittas on them for winter. The KO3's are not good on ice.

 

[Sugarloafer80]

I have the premium model 26, has 20" inch rims and 265/60/20 street tires. ride is Ok but the tires are not giving me any confidence at all with any kind of light off-roading not even driving normally on bad roads

I am debating if I go 265/65/18 BFKO3 and chose a solid rim like Icon or method or dirty-life or save the money and stay 265/60/20 and just change the tires to KO3s keeping stock rims

part of me says: go 18 inch and change wheels and tires since aftermarket rims will push the tires out a bit and gives a better look overall and the ride will be smoother on bad roads and it gives me confidence to do light off-roading

the other part says, since overall dimension wont change much and a KO3 on either rim sizes will give similar confidence on light off-roading but it keeps the highway speed/cornering at speed similar to factory which I like and that is more than 95% of my driving style about..

why I really should also consider moving to 18" rims not just the tires (besides availability and cost options with AT tires)

Sounds like you are just lacking confidence. Have you actually gotten stuck or do you think every rock, hill, obstruction should require ZERO effort??? Sounds to me like you haven't read the manual, don't know what center lock, rear lock, hi/lo mode etc can even do....it's not all about the tires.......

 

[halaweh]

Sounds like you are just lacking confidence. Have you actually gotten stuck or do you think every rock, hill, obstruction should require ZERO effort??? Sounds to me like you haven't read the manual, don't know what center lock, rear lock, hi/lo mode etc can even do....it's not all about the tires.......

FYI I came here driving Rubicon with 35" MT on a bead-lock rims and all the goodies goes with that setup to fully flex if you understand that background and my Q here.. I concluded that I am going to keep my 20" stock and change the tires to KO3s same size until next tire change and then the beat will transform to 35" with bead-lock, some elevations and armor and potentially other expensive mods to make the ride a proper off-roader.. until then I will enjoy gravel roads and some sand dunes and some snow and a KO3 on stock 20" is more than enough that keeps my highway driving solid and not very bouncy which matters me the most at this stage of ownership..