265 or 285 tyres?

I would go the 285's provided your rims are wide enough to legally accept the increased width. I just went through the same exercise whether to stick with the stock 275/65R17's or get 285/70R17's. I chose to go with the larger size for two main reasons. 1. It gave me a 22mm lift for the cost of a set of tyres which I needed anyway. 2. The larger tyres have a bigger load rating meaning that with the same load I have a tougher tyre. Also they look pretty good too. I looked at the BFG's because of their claimed 3 ply wall but settled on Bridgestone D697's which have done the GRR twice now, the Bungle Bungles, the Kalumburu road to Mitchell Falls, the Munga Track and a lot of other rough off highway work in the Kimberleys. Touch wood, they haven't even got a puncture yet, they are wearing well and evenly and there is no sign of chipping. Get your tyre supplier to fit one up and try it front and rear and make sure it fits in the spare tyre carrier as well before you buy a set. Check for clearance lock to lock and estimate if you will still have clearance when the suspension bottoms out. Good luck.

I have had a 100 series for 10 years. During this time I have had 265, 275, and 285 tyres. I must say I hated the 265, did not mind the 275 and loved the 285 which I still run on the car to this day. The only problem with 285 tyres is the speed you are travelling at will be higher than the speedometer is showing.
Warm regards and safe travels.

My young bloke's got a 105 series, solid axle front end, and he has run 285/75x16 tyres for some time. Work well in most off road situations. He is currently on Mickey Thompson AT. The only problem he has is that being a non turbo diesel it struggles on hills. With the 4.5 petrol you shouldn't have that drama.
As has been said watch your speed, get the speedo re-calibrated or maybe get ready to lose the licence for a bit longer...lol

Cheers
Pop

Thanks for the replies. Could anybody tell me how much fuel I can expect to lose and also how far roughly the speedo will be out? Also is it expensive to get the speedo recalibrate? Thanks guys!

matth j

Why do you think you need bigger tyres? If you think they are needed for improved traction in rough conditions then you may be looking in the wrong direction.

You would be hard pressed finding a track in the entire country that has not been crossed countless times over the last 70 years or so with a 7.00 a 7.50 or a 205 x 16. I am not suggesting you buy those but you don't need anything larger than what you currently have. I have driven all over places like the Vic. High Country, the Simpson, the Sandy Blight Junction road, the Gunbarrel Hwy, the Connie Sue Hwy and plenty of other Outback roads on standard size 205s without the slightest bit of trouble.

Have a look at these links. These are just three of many you will find on the net that are saying much the same thing. .

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/technical-chatter/44421-narrow-tyres-v-wide-tyres.html

http://www.openroad.iinet.net.au/tyremyths.html

http://www.outbackcrossing.com.au/FourWheelDrive/Truth_About_4WD_Tyres.shtml

Also has anybody recalibrated their speedos? Is it worth it and whats it cost?

Check out the legality of the 285's. If they are deemed "oversize", there may be implications with insurance and overzealous enforcers of the law. I wanted 285's on a new Prado and the Toyota dealership refused outright to fit them. The "legal" tyre sizes are listed on a sticker on the door pillar. Who said the Law ain't an ass !

Hi Matt
I have had a 4.5 petrol/gas auto 105 and had both size tyres. The 285's were great but if your mainly on the blacktop then my opinion is stay with the standard tyres. With the 285's the power in the auto was down and fuel consumption was up and with the price of gas these days it does add up.
If mainly black topping then why do you need to increase fuel consumption and lose power by having 285's (yes they do look better on a hunjy mind you).
My experience here is just being practicable not the bling factor.
Just my 2bob's worth.

Mal

G'day matth j,
I've got a GU2 4.2TD. My standard road tyres are 265/70/16, but I also had a set of 285/75/16 BFG A/T's for quite a few years. Whilst the 285's performed very well off-road, there were a few things worth pointing out:
1) The larger tyres put the speedo out by about 7% (100 on the dial was about 107 on the road). There's a tyre size calculator on this site to help you compare different tyre sizes,
2) They are big and heavy, so changing them was more difficult than with the smaller tyres,
3) The car did not accelerate as well as when it had the smaller tyres on,
4) Whilst you're only lifting the car approx 10-20mm, keep an eye on Max Headroom when entering garages and carparks, etc. (admittedly rarely a problem), and
5) It's very difficult to find a new 285 when out touring. We popped one when out north of Broken Hill a few years ago, and it took 4 days to get the same size freighted up from Adelaide. You can of course carry a second carcase to mitigate against this.

I actually ended up selling the used 285's for a reasonable sum, and downsized to 265/75/16. I'll see how these go for a while but may consider upsizing again in the future.

I see both sides have strong points. Guess it just working out if the extra height and width is worth some bad points. For me I reckon they look great and would make me more confident offroad for sure. But with that the bad points might outweigh them. ( when I had my 02 hilux I went 4wheeling once with stock size wheels and really quick bleep myself, especially because of big ruts my car would bottom out easily which put me off 4wds)
Thanks for everbody input I will let yous know what I decide when I do. ;)

Matt,
Best not to get too technical, but for a young fella like yourself, go the 285's - they look better - fill the guards better, and give you valuable extra clearance when you're 4wding. You'll also get more miles out of them.

Cheers everybody thanks for the help!

Hey Matt. Nobody has mentioned the major dramas you have with the door handles when you go up to that size tyre! It changes they way they operate!

Ok so I'm being silly here, but there have been so many different answers to your question that I thought I would try to be if some help too!
Good luck with the door handles...lol.