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Tyre tread and fuel economy. And size....

wobbly

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My truck currently has 255/80R16 BFG KM2's.

On a run (at 60mph) I get 25/26mpg, around town def less, maybe as low as 20mpg.


Would swapping to a more road biased tyre improve fuel economy at all?

I'm thinking of BFG AT pattern.


And.....

My tyres are 33", cant get AT's in that size, so am looking at next closest size - would this be 265/70R16 - think its a 31.5"?


Cheers

Pete
 
A smaller lighter tyre must improve fuel economy look at transit vans and tippers etc they have ridiculously small hoops while being designed to carry heavy loads long distance at minimum cost .
 
General grabbers, so near enough. I will get bfg next time - the gg's last long but 2 of 8 developed balancing issues.
 
Apart from the tread pattern, economy is all about optimizing the gearing from the engine through to the road. Whatever the truck has as standard is likely to be the most economical.

Larger diameters increases the size of the gear and often the engine can't push such a high gear economically. A bit like riding a bike in a gear one step higher than your legs will push. Come down a gear and you could pedal it all day.

Going from 255/80/16 to 265/75/16 will have 10mm wider tread on the road (more friction) which you can reduce with say an AT tread pattern, and a 10mm reduction in diameter, which may improve economy, depending on the designed diameter for the truck.

Dimensions in the photo...
 

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I've had a set of 275/70-16 Runway Enduro AT's on for the last few years and could get 30+mpg on a run and regulrly get 24-25 just running around. Recently replaced them with a set of BFG AT KO's of the same size and the round town mpg doesn't seem to have suffered much although I've not done any long runs yet. I would get 21-22 mpg towing the caravan to Scotland at motorway speeds so I'll be curious to see how the BFG's compare with the trips this year. The AT pattern on the Runways was much more road biased than that on the BFG's.
 
Had a look at pneus online, they have 265/75R16 BFG AT-KO at £151 each.

There are cheaper options I guess, Toyo or Yokohama seem to be sub-£100.

The change from MT's is due to the fact that I dont want to sell the truck and buy a van, but my annual mileage has risen quite dramatically.

I'm thinking of putting on more road biased tyres and reducing weight where possible, ie removing rear end seats and running with less in the boot.

Pete
 
Clive

My bad, Ive got 255/85R16's, not 80.....

Towpack

Will have a look at the Runways. My preference for bfg is the wear quality.

Pete
 
pete what you need to remember is your 95 is massive and looks right on the 33"s if you then change to 31 you would need to lower or it will look crap. Why do get a second set of road 33" and change them over when you need to do some offroad work. that way you get the best of both worlds. 285 75 16 is another 33" size which i am sure you can find some road biased tryes in.
stu
 
For the best fuel economy you are better of with a h/t tread in the 265/75R16 size.
 
If i remember correctly Beau who is a tarmac junkie upgraded his aftermarket wheel & tyre to bigger wheels and lower profile tyres not so long ago and is selling up his spares prior to emigrating . Why not send him a pm see if he still has the older stuff .
 
Shame you're downsizing Pete - I understand the arguments in favour of the smaller diameter and tread pattern etc. Ultimately the OEM size of 265/70R16 in a HT type tyre, such as the OEM Dunlops are probably the optimum for fuel economy.

However with your SL and body lift, you'll end up with them being lost in the arches. I would personally go with a 265/75R16 tyre in a "HT" or one of the less aggressive ATs, such as the Toyo Open Country or Hankook Dynapro RT10 etc.
 
I think the two most important factors for this argument, is the width of the tyre, and the tread pattern eg how aggressive it is. Another factor is overall diameter.

Narrower tyre means less rolling resistance = better fuel consumption
Less aggressive tread pattern means less rolling resistance = better fuel consumption

Obviously how much the gain is, is another question.

Lastly if your cruiser sticks on the motorways often then it's worth getting larger diameter tyres so your gearing is slightly taller in 4th gear. However if you find you drive in town a lot then the 31" tyres (stock size) would be a better bet, with pulling away from the lights ect. So in the end it's all about weighing up your options.

Most guys on the forum get 25mpg so I don't think you're doing too bad. If I was to cruise at 60mph on the motorway I could get 30mpg quite easily, but I can never drive that slow :lol:
 
when i first had my 80 i had some Michelin synchrones fitted, a road biased tyre, regularly got 25 - 26 running round the houses, changed to Maxxis 751's a more offroad biased tyre, low 20s on a good day.
 
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