Does tyre size really matter?
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004 at 16:27
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Longy
Hi all,
Being a realtively new comer to the whole 4x4 thing, I have been doing some research and have found all the reasons why people go to bigger tyres. I understand the ground clearence and many other issues that come with it.
my concern is that, my 95 rv6 4runner comes with 31x10.5 R 15 as standard. I will mostly be doing touring and perhaps going off to a few specific 4x4 tracks in Vic Mountains.
To me it would seem that to fit 33's would be great and would look very cool. I have been told that a 2.5in lift will get them under but will not clear them from the body. So a body lift is needed. With all the sidebars and towbar on my truck I dont really want a body lift.
So my question is, wouldn't it be better to keep the standard size of 31's but just with a more aggressive pattern like a ProComp Xterain compared with the same sorta price as going to a 33 BFG or something similar......?
ANy ideas on this would be great as I plan on a doing a lot of offroading but are not too sure that I will need bigger rubber. ANother reason for this suggestion is that I've seen a mate go
places in his suzuki with 31's that others cant with 33's so interested to hear your thoughts.
Cheers.
Reply By: Member - Roachie- Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004 at 22:14
Wednesday, Jun 09, 2004 at 22:14
Longy,
Mate, you've got a very capable vehicle there already (and that's saying something coming from a died in the wool Patrol owner!!!).
Like a couple of others have said, you don't need the hassle of 33's; really.
Get a good set of 31's (I use Cooper S/T, but BFG A/Ts or Goodyear MT/R would also be very good or better). You won't have to modify your
suspension, body lift, speedo settings, final drive gearing etc etc.
I recently went through the same thought patterns and would have loved to get 285's instead of the 265's I was (& still am) running.
Just my opinion.
Roachie
AnswerID:
62524
Reply By: stevesub - Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 10:50
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 10:50
From my years of offraoding, I have found that driver skill matters more than tyres. Standard 31 inch tyres are OK unless you get huge ruts. We have friends in NZ who are 4wd trainers and they go
places in their Discoverys with standard size tyres (Cooper muddies) and get through where vehicles with 35inch tyres get stuck. - Just skill on their part.
If you have not done so, it is better to spend your money on a 4wd training course and learn how to drive on what you have got. Also join a club if you can, they do great stuff and provide training.
We run standard 750-16 (31") Desert Duellers on our Troopy and have no problems incl doing club stuff. On our Landrover we have standard road tyres and it is amazing where you can go on them - much to others amazement.
Stevesub
AnswerID:
62594
Reply By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 12:23
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 12:23
The 4 runners were very underspeced in trye size, they have these bleep y little things on them std to save money and make the vehicle cheaper, just like they pulled out all the cool stuff that the surfs have to make them more "cost effective" for the australian market. The Surf's came with much bigger tyres std and have no modifications to
suspension in order for them to fit. Not only that but with the amount of clearance I've got with my tryes I could easily go bigger without moding the
suspension, I've seen a lot of 4 runners and surfs running Prado 16" rims instead of 15's without any major dramas. (that would of course need an engineers cert). I am stuck with my 10R 15 Desert Dulers as I have less than 1mm clearence on my garage as is, I had to remove the metal tabs on the roller door so I could fit as it is!
The Bridgstones have been unreal, they were on the surf 6 months ago when I bought it and have been some pretty harsh
places and done about 20k in that time. Been faultless and have some unreal traction. They have been at 10psi fully loaded on sand to 42psi on rocks and have just been brilliant.
I don't care what anyone says though, wider tryes make a big difference in sand, I do more sand driving than anything else being in WA and of course you need your pressures right, but the wider the tyre the less you sink. It's basic science guys, remeber surface areas!!??
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Greg Harewood - Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 14:39
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 14:39
Jeff - I think this has been discussed many times before but...its actually the front to back contact area of the tyre that is most important in sand not the width. ..so larger diamater tyres are better on sand not wider ones. This is why even "fat" tyres must have pressure reduced on sand same as "skinny" ones. If there is any advantage gained by having fatter tyres (if any) it is small compared to advantage gained by reducing your pressures (whatever tyre size) thereby increasing front back contact area. Why? - basic science - drive is front to back - not sideways, combined friction of more sand in drive direction prevents tyre spinning.
Having said all that, fatter tyres do have their advantages - but driving on sand isnt one of them.
Cheers
Greg
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Follow Up By: Member - Jeff M (WA) - Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 15:14
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 15:14
"I don't care what anyone says though" LOL
All I know it from my experience of changing to bigger tyres and the huge difference it made on the beach.
As I mentioned before, lowing tyre pressure is a must regardless of tyres, however if you tyre is wider it is going to sink less. Greg, if you don't think it makes a difference, that's cool. But IMHO it's better, but it's only MHO.
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Follow Up By: Greg Harewood - Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 16:13
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004 at 16:13
Jeff - no worries - obviously the change has made a difference - my guess it wasn’t due to the extra width but some other characteristic of the tyre - diameter maybe slightly bigger, maybe the tyre flattens out more back to front when pressure reduced than the old ones....whatever the case, any advantage (either real or imaginary) should not be attributed to the increase in tyre width...its a fallacy that has been perpetuated for a long time because it seems logical. Cheers
Greg
PS I supppose I dont care what anyone says either - but Im happy to listen and chat..maybe Im wrong?
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