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Opinions on Tyre size

Andy Harvey

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Messages
343
I've just had the tyres rotated and balanced on my 100 as the fronts were out of balance anyway and hopefully this way they will all wear out at the same time so I can change out for what I really want which is Cooper AT or ST. Currently I have 275/70x16 BFG ATs on unfortunately Cooper don't make that size so the choice is between 265/75x16 or 285/70x16.

Anyone have any opinions on it. I have a feeling that the 285s should fit without rubbing on standard suspension (still got AHC fitted) and the 265/75x16 should be pretty close to the standard diameter.

Alternatively could try Falken AT which come out pretty cheap compared to the BFG and I have heard reasonable reviews about them or maybe KUMHO which I think are also available in 275/70x16.

I like the Coopers best as I had great experience of the Cooper ATRs that I had on my 80 - not really agressive enough for anything really serious off road but great in the snow, great handling on road and they seemed to last really well.
 
I went with 285/75/16 in a mud terrain on the recommendations of most people including Julian
I didn't get to try them with AHC as mine was broken, but I would be surprised if they would rub
Have a look on http://forum.ih8mud.com/100-series-cruisers/ for more info on tire (yank spelling) sizes
 
I had 285x75x16's on mine when it was still standard and they're not even close to rubbing so the 285x70x16 should be fine if you choose that size.
 
I've got Cooper STT's 285/75/16 and while there was no rubbing on normal :lol: driving, when I was in Morocco on some very rocky tracks there was much rubbing, when I got back I had the Cruiser lifted 3", problem solved! :D
Chas
 
Thanks everyone. I think I will go for the 285s, I worked them out on my spreadsheet tyre size clculator and they are only just less than 1 inch larger diameter than the 275s. Now to chose between Cooper ATs and STs. Will probably go with the STs but will have a long hard think about it.
 
Andy, just a quick question - are you sure you have your tyre size right there? I am not aware that there are 285/70/16s available - certainly not in the brands you've listed :? Perhaps this is just a typo and you really mean 285/75s?

The height difference between 275/70 and 285/75 is about 1.6 inches (43mm), according to an online tyre size calculator :mrgreen:

Cheers,
 
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Andrew.

Yes you are right, typo did mean 285/75 and then went and calculated 285/70. But yes 1.6 inches is about spot on.

Will have a think about the impact of this. My wife is a bit disabled and finds difficulty getting in my truck except when the suspension is on it's lowest setting and the 0.8 inch rize may make a difference

Think I might stick with the 265/75 as Cooper do an ST in that height and to be honest I am OK with the slight reduction in width. The 265/75 comes out at 31.65 inches diameter as opposed to the 275/70 which is 31.16 inches so only 1/2 inch additional diameter which won't make that much difference (1/4 inch additional height on low setting)
 
I agree with you on the width, Andy - I don't the extra provides much meaningful advantage and gives the disadvantage of extra rolling resistance and thus fuel consumption.
Sadly there were very few options in 255/85 when I was tyre shopping or I would have gone with them instead of 285s. I now suffer from a nasty case of 255/85 BFG KM2 envy :cry: Obviously the 255s are not what you're after in terms of height.

The 265s should be an ideal compromise for road use - and theyy're generally cheaper than 285s :twisted:

Cheers,
 
Yep the 265s are £50 cheaper a tyre which is amazing. Also for the sort of use my vehicle has narrow tyres will be a bit better. the only sort of thing apart from normal road use is going out in bad weather for 4x4 Response especially in the snow and I have always prefered narrower tyres in snow as they get a bit more bite as they have more weight per square inch.

Actually to be honest apart from really wet mud I think the only place offroad that wider tyres are better is on dry desert sand.
 
Andy Harvey said:
Actually to be honest apart from really wet mud I think the only place offroad that wider tyres are better is on dry desert sand.

Maybe but the experienced guys view is that tall tires air'ed down are better than wide tyres air'ed down, spreading the weight forward and backwards instead of side ways, but this is only what I've read.
 
Yep somewhat agree, depends on the vehicle. My experience in the UAE suggests that if you have loads of power you want to float a bit so wider spreads it out to the side and helps you stay at the top of the sand but would agree if the vehicle has less amount of power as you need to force the sand down at the front to stay on top. My best experience off road in the UAE was with a big block powered GMC Yukon so with all that weight, power and torque wide was best. Think it is somewhat horses for courses and I agree there are differences of opinion.
 
None of the group I was with last year get stuck in the sand, so I don't have anything to compare with.

This just reminded me, I must make some waffle boards tomorrow :mrgreen:
 
Also to add, depends on driving style and quality of sand. My experience of sand driving (also never got stuck) is air down the tyres to around 20 (never had beadlocks), drive like you stole it :D and take inclines and declines straight on. The Jeep Cherokee I had at the time (the Yukon was only a borrow) had enough power to keep moving at a brisk rate so that you didn't sink down into the sand (if you start to sink you end up building a small hill in front of the tyres and it can make things far more difficult). It takes quite a bit of bottle to keep at enough of a rate to make sure you don't stop on any soft stuff. In the UAE the sand was all really fine grained stuff and very dry. When you walk on it you sink in quite a lot and it is tough work to walk on.

Also found that road tyres were no trouble on it, you didn't want anything too agressive as you don't want to dig.

I definately would have liked some waffle boards though just in case, would have been a nice bit of security.

I love to watch videos of the local guys out in the Petrol 80s and 100s taking tourists out for trips. They look like they are mental but they really know what they are doing and you very rarely saw any problems - rollovers or getting stuck.
 
Most of the guys who don't get stuck out here in the sand run 9.00x16 Siam Desert Tyres. Granted, they're cross-plies and are dubious on wet tarmac, but aired down to 10 psi they work wonders.

I can get most places on 7.50x16 Yokos, at about 15 psi, where 275/70s definitely struggle. Wide is not best is sand, somewhat counter-intuitively, tall and narrow is the way to go.

Why else would Toyota put 225/95x16 Dunlops on the work 70s as standard?

Cheers
 
I want to eventually fit a set of 265/75R16 Marix Panther AT Retreads or either a set of Insa Ranger 265/70R16 AT's to my truck. Any problems envisaged with either of the chosen sizes?

John
 
I've just been quoted £75 per tyre for a set of five 265/70/R16 Marix All Terrains which is the largest tyre they do in a R16. I really wanted to either stay with what I've already got, a 275 or go up to a 285 which means I'm going to have to bite the bullet, save some pennies and get me a set of brand new BFG's ATs. Lucky for me, I've got plenty of wear left in my "Nankang" R16's.......

John

The Dark Dude.
 
My 2c - those will be too small! All your efforts to improve fuel economy will go out the window with the short gearing. As you're shelling out decent money for any set of new tyres, why not get your desired size and get a quality tyre. I know you're keen on retreads - I think this is a false economy as they're overpriced for what you get and yet they're cheap for a reason. Lose-lose IMHO. Tyres = safety priority number one.

Cheers,
 
Andrew Prince said:
My 2c - those will be too small! All your efforts to improve fuel economy will go out the window with the short gearing. As you're shelling out decent money for any set of new tyres, why not get your desired size and get a quality tyre. I know you're keen on retreads - I think this is a false economy as they're overpriced for what you get and yet they're cheap for a reason. Lose-lose IMHO. Tyres = safety priority number one.

Cheers,

........And it is for this very reason I've chosen to abandon my preferred option of quality retreads and go for a set of brand new Bridgestone AT's instead. I was thinking of giving the Cooper's a look in, as they are considerably cheaper than the BFG's but I've been driving retreads with the BFG pattern for the last eight years and it would be preserve to abandon them NOW!

Does anyone know what tyre pressures (front and rear) I should put into my Nankang 275/70/R16's?

John

The Dark Dude
 
Dark Dude said:
Does anyone know what tyre pressures (front and rear) I should put into my Nankang 275/70/R16's?
You need to use a bit of trial & error to find the optimum pressure - suggest you start somewhere between 32-35 psi and take it from there. Too wallowy, up the pressure - too harsh, lower it a bit ;)

I found with road tyres, the ride was quite susceptible to pressure but with muds I can't feel the difference between 25 and 38psi, so I run 35 psi for on-road usage.

Cheers,
 
Hi there,

I,m running 295/75-16 on both trucks, no problems. On road I prefere 50 psi which is significantly different than you guys :? ...I recently changed my tires on the 100 after 140.000 km. I kept the old ones since I know they have many km's in them still....

greetings

Lars
 
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