After 77 pages of discussion I think we can assume consensus is futile. You’re going to have to wade through a lot of opinions and form your own.
Land Cruiser Tire Upgrades?
- Thread starter JPATTERS
- Start date
18.2 mpg with my 34" Toyos
You could also look into the Cooper Discoverer Road & Trail. They are more aggressive looking but light and performed very well in the TireRack winter testing. I just put them on this weekend ahead of the snow storm.
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I recently got the dueler ascents (265/70 R18). So far they’ve been fantastic, on both pavement and about an inch of snow in the mountains of West Virginia. I had the factory Michelins before.
I don’t think they negatively impacted fuel economy, but it did get a lot colder right when they went on so I can’t say for sure.
What do you mean "dangerous at stopping in snow"? In practical terms, they are no better or worse than any other new tire in the snow. It's not like you're going to crash and die if you have Grapplers rather than Wildpeaks, Grabbers, BFG All Terrains, etc... don't overthink it.
I just ditched the Ridge Grapplers that came on my car -- which were fine for me in the snow on several occasions -- but after 30k miles they got loud on the highway and the side knobs had worn down considerably. Replaced them with Michelin Defender MS/2s because I was honest with myself about how I was using my car.
Defenders in the snow:
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Hard disagree on this. Outside of driving practices themself, there’s nothing that makes a bigger difference in driving on snow than the tire. Tire selection can absolutely make or break you on the snow.
I saw this looking at Discount Tire 35x11.5 FIT?? . Is this legitimate?
Thinking of moving back to C load and the 35 is lighter than our 285/70/18 - We are all stock.
What kind of trimming is needed? Flaps, Brackets, Canards already gone
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I understand what you mean, and I'm currently rocking the stock geolanders right now because I love my gas milage.
But I'm also of the firm opinion that tires are the only part of the vehicle that are ever supposed to touch the ground. It doesn't matter what kind of brakes, traction system, horsepower you have, if your tire can't properly transfer that to the ground its either pointless or dangerous.
Also, no personal experience with this segment - I'm a sports car guy who recently admitted he had a family and a house and needed something that carried 11 people worth of gear, not went 11 seconds in the 1/4mile.
With that caveat:
These metrics are pretty damning. Worst in class stopping, turning, and acceleration in snow and ice.
And I don't want anyone to say a 7ft+ difference in stopping distance in ice isnt significant.
Let alone a 19 ft difference in the snow.
That feels a little dangerous.
Michelin X ice snow tires are not in the survey tests.
@faylix looks like your answer is in the chart then... just get the best rated tire for what you're after. It's one of the reasons I went with the Defenders. For my previous vehicle, when I wanted a tire that looked somewhat aggressive, handled well, and wore like iron, I had really great experiences with two sets of Hankook Dynapro AT2s... 50k miles on both sets and probably could've gone longer. Relatively quiet after all that use, too. That was on a Tacoma though.
I can’t vouch for the veracity of the claim that 35’s fit without mods but it’s on there. I did level mine prior to installing them. No cutting for me initially ( pre-ARB bumper) but I did remove the crash brackets. To be fair I never tried fitting the tires with them in there either. I love them and we have had a lot of ice this weekend in north GA.
My tire/wheel journey:
Soon after purchase, I sold those terrible 20 inch alloys and Dunlops as fast as I could. This was the only thing offered on an LC premium at the time.
Thanks to Facebook marketplace and all the take-offs that people so with their LC250's to upgrade wheels and tires, I've now got two sets of (5) factory 18" wheels (including matching spares) and switch them seasonally (keep the alternate wheels/tires stacked in a protected storage area).
Set #1 - factory Michelins LTX (265/70/18) -original OEM TPMS valves
Set #2 -BFG KO2 (265/70/18) -Discount Tire TPMS valves -work just as OEM
Could have gone one size up on the BFG's, but these were on clearance, being replaced by the KO3's, so got a good deal on this size.
My routine has become to put on the BFG's around September for my annual off-roading/camping trip to CO and leave them on until around now (spring) when winter weather is over. I then switch them out for the factory Michelins (takes me 45 mins). I do the "set #1 <-> set #2" TPMS tire swap procedure in the settings, drive for 15 mins and they register perfectly.
I must say, I really enjoy the more aggressive look and traction of the BFG's, but it's OH SO NICE this time of year to put the Michelins back on! Buttery smooth and quiet on the highway and I get about 2-3 mpg better in gas mileage. There's a reason they come from factory with these and they make warm weather highway travel SO nice.
Terrible 20's with factory Dunlops
18's with factory Michelin LTX's
(also removed side steps for factory sliders and added factory mud flaps along with the different center caps)
Factory 18's with BFG KO2's
Soon after purchase, I sold those terrible 20 inch alloys and Dunlops as fast as I could. This was the only thing offered on an LC premium at the time.
Thanks to Facebook marketplace and all the take-offs that people so with their LC250's to upgrade wheels and tires, I've now got two sets of (5) factory 18" wheels (including matching spares) and switch them seasonally (keep the alternate wheels/tires stacked in a protected storage area).
Set #1 - factory Michelins LTX (265/70/18) -original OEM TPMS valves
Set #2 -BFG KO2 (265/70/18) -Discount Tire TPMS valves -work just as OEM
Could have gone one size up on the BFG's, but these were on clearance, being replaced by the KO3's, so got a good deal on this size.
My routine has become to put on the BFG's around September for my annual off-roading/camping trip to CO and leave them on until around now (spring) when winter weather is over. I then switch them out for the factory Michelins (takes me 45 mins). I do the "set #1 <-> set #2" TPMS tire swap procedure in the settings, drive for 15 mins and they register perfectly.
I must say, I really enjoy the more aggressive look and traction of the BFG's, but it's OH SO NICE this time of year to put the Michelins back on! Buttery smooth and quiet on the highway and I get about 2-3 mpg better in gas mileage. There's a reason they come from factory with these and they make warm weather highway travel SO nice.
Terrible 20's with factory Dunlops
18's with factory Michelin LTX's
(also removed side steps for factory sliders and added factory mud flaps along with the different center caps)Factory 18's with BFG KO2's
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My tire/wheel journey:
Soon after purchase, I sold those terrible 20 inch alloys and Dunlops as fast as I could. This was the only thing offered on an LC premium at the time.
Thanks to Facebook marketplace and all the take-offs that people so with their LC250's to upgrade wheels and tires, I've now got two sets of (5) factory 18" wheels (including matching spares) and switch them seasonally (keep the alternate wheels/tires stacked in a protected storage area).
Set #1 - factory Michelins LTX (265/70/18) -original OEM TPMS valves
Set #2 -BFG KO2 (265/70/18) -Discount Tire TPMS valves -work just as OEM
Could have gone one size up on the BFG's, but these were on clearance, being replaced by the KO3's, so got a good deal on this size.
My routine has become to put on the BFG's around September for my annual off-roading/camping trip to CO and leave them on until around now (spring) when winter weather is over. I then switch them out for the factory Michelins (takes me 45 mins). I do the "set #1 <-> set #2" TPMS tire swap procedure in the settings, drive for 15 mins and they register perfectly.
I must say, I really enjoy the more aggressive look and traction of the BFG's, but it's OH SO NICE this time of year to put the Michelins back on! Buttery smooth and quiet on the highway and I get about 2-3 mpg better in gas mileage. There's a reason they come from factory with these and they make warm weather highway travel SO nice.
Terrible 20's with factory Dunlops
View attachment 60320
18's with factory Michelin LTX's
View attachment 60321
Factory 18's with BFG KO2's
View attachment 60322
The BFGs look good.
Are yours the E1 load range or the now available D1 range?
those are E - if you zoom in. They don't have the D1 out yet. My E load Toyos are breaking my back. I have them at 31PSI - 34PSI and harsh.
Welcome to the asylum.
Those will be my next set of tires when the OEM Michelins are done.
When is a chalk test not the conclusive answer for tire pressures?
When I first put on my Method MR703s and Toyo OC ATIIIs, the tires were aired up to 36/37psi. I thought the ride was pretty rough. I looked to the Tire Pressure Calculator to get an idea of where the PSI should be. Since I went with P Metric Standard Load (NOT E or C) 117 ATIII's, it spit out 28psi.
I posted that here. @Blue Bear responded and recommended 32PSI based on the Load Inflation Tables. And also recommended a chalk test. I performed the chalk test and found that 25PSI Cold, was the best PSI to get full coverage across the tread. This drastically improved the ride quality as well. It did add some bowing to the sidewall and looked air'd down. I figured this was fine. I've kept it at 25PSI for past 6 months (note I've only put about 1,000 miles on the car in the last 6 months, short commute).
Until I came across this post...
It got me thinking, am I stressing my drivetrain by having the tires aired too down? I've never had any issues, and the transmission temps are always fine. Rationally I figure that it can't be more stress than 35" tires and lots of extra weight (which plenty of users seem to be doing with no issues). But I decided to air them back up to 32 today just in case. And immediately the ride quality was worse again. I can feel every little thing on the road, stopping distance seemed to be worse too.
Is there a lower limit to the chalk test?
When I first put on my Method MR703s and Toyo OC ATIIIs, the tires were aired up to 36/37psi. I thought the ride was pretty rough. I looked to the Tire Pressure Calculator to get an idea of where the PSI should be. Since I went with P Metric Standard Load (NOT E or C) 117 ATIII's, it spit out 28psi.
I posted that here. @Blue Bear responded and recommended 32PSI based on the Load Inflation Tables. And also recommended a chalk test. I performed the chalk test and found that 25PSI Cold, was the best PSI to get full coverage across the tread. This drastically improved the ride quality as well. It did add some bowing to the sidewall and looked air'd down. I figured this was fine. I've kept it at 25PSI for past 6 months (note I've only put about 1,000 miles on the car in the last 6 months, short commute).
Until I came across this post...
It got me thinking, am I stressing my drivetrain by having the tires aired too down? I've never had any issues, and the transmission temps are always fine. Rationally I figure that it can't be more stress than 35" tires and lots of extra weight (which plenty of users seem to be doing with no issues). But I decided to air them back up to 32 today just in case. And immediately the ride quality was worse again. I can feel every little thing on the road, stopping distance seemed to be worse too.
Is there a lower limit to the chalk test?
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Thanks for posting this!!!
