Which 255/85/16 is best for Expedition?

[joshoisasleep]

here's a quote from two british guys who really put these tires to the test. They were in a very heavily loaded landrover defender 110 and drove around South America.

Tyres - the Michelin XZL 750x16 tyres were great and never had a puncture but only lasted 40,000kms before they became dangerous on wet roads. The BFGoodrich Mud Terrains 285/85 we have now lasted better (50,000 kms and still plenty of tread) but have had a whopping 18 punctures. Two punctures where pieces of metal penetrated, one a stone went straight through, and the rest from dirt getting inside and wearing through the inner tube. Tubeless rims next time! Only carrying one spare was never a problem, we were lucky not to have two punctures close together. We carried a punture kit and tyre levers (very useful for adjusting fan belt tension and hitting things with!) but never used it.

quote from www.ihana.com

[hks3sgte]

XZLs would be perfect for off-road-use-only. But there is a difference in the way an XZL is built and the BFG MT is built. BFG MT= more street-oriented.

[nastav]

I have 285/75/16 BFG AT on my FJ60.
They are pretty quiet on the highway, and they have been fine so far off-road.
I went to S-N-T for the first time this year, and the tires (aired down...but not THAT aired down) were fine.
I'd say that while the BFG AT is not as hardcore looking/wheeling as some of the Mud tires, they will probably be better suited to your needs right now.
If you build the truck up more, or begin to do some more difficult trails, maybe an upgrade will be justified.
I believe they measured out to 33" x 10.2" or something, which was a bit smaller than the Goodyear MTR of the same size i picked up on Craigslist for $80 never mounted.
I personally like the tall skinny look, and would consider the 285/75 as wide as I'd like to go.
Search the various tires on this board and others, as you will find that certain brands have reputation for being very difficult to balance, and some Jeep magazine reviews have said that certain brands will not balance; something to think about on a long road trip.
Get a spare the same size as your tires, even if it is a used tire......you want the same size spare (or close), the stock spare will seem like a donut spare after you go up in size.
BTW: You will have a blast at S-N-T.

[TundraSkyline]

I recently went from 265/75 Bridgestone Revos to 255/85 BGF MTs and love them.

In snow they worked extremely well engaging the abs way-way less when forcing it to engage.

On the freeway with the windows up they hum a little more than bald tires do (compared to a new tire). Window down alongside the k-wall, that makes you want to change lanes. Not loud, just unpleasant.

I'm sure they work well in mud so I'll take their word, but driving Berdoo, Pinkham, Old Dale, and misc. in JTNP I had not a single issue at norml pressure...except for removing small stones before getting back on the 10.

[Sherpa 60]

Those boys at Peterson publications have run off-road comparison tests over the years on Mud Terrains vs. All Terrains.

Basically both tires performed much the same with the MT having the advantage in mud and a slight advantage on rocks with the AT having the advantage in sand and snow. Not radical differences, but perhaps enough to steer you in one direction given the type of off-road conditions you typically expect to see.

I personally run All Terrains because I feel they perform better on the road with little sacrifice off-road to the MTs for the conditions I experience. Quiter, better traction wet or dry, better in sand (which I see a lot more of than mud) and as a bonus less expensive. I often have to travel long distances to get to the trail head. With a fully loaded vehicle and often sub-par roads I want a good stable road tire that will perform wet or dry. The ATs have worked well for me in that regard.

As to the comment about ATs not being good off-road tires? Don't forget ATs are the go to tire in the Baja 1000. Granted a specific focus, but certainly not to be doscounted.

And...why 255s??? I get the English look thing, but 10"?. As long as you get the right load rating and sidewall stiffess not qiute sure why a slightly wider tire wouldn't be a better choice.

[hks3sgte]

Originally Posted by Sherpa 60

And...why 255s??? I get the English look thing, but 10"?. As long as you get the right load rating and sidewall stiffess not qiute sure why a slightly wider tire wouldn't be a better choice.

Many reasons.

For me, it comes down to this: as tall and as wide as it needs to be, not any more!

I'm not a fan of wide tires. Skinny tires have gotten me through averything, so I keep them.

[MidLife]

Sherpa,

I just bought the BFG M/T in 255/85/16 and I can say so far it looks like its a good thing. I can't say for sure because I have only driven them about 10 minutes at FWY speed and about 10 min city driving.

They are much more quiet than I expected. They make a little more road noise than my worn out Michelin LTX M/Ss, but not a much.

Wind nose and Freeway noise is much more prevalent. I only drove about 65 mph. They might make more at a faster speed. I am very happy with this choice.

I did notice that my braking felt diminished with this size over the 275/70/16 I had. I checked the pads on the driver side rear wheel and its very, very worn.

Good thing its not my dd. Looks like I need new brakes.

[Sherpa 60]

Unfortuanately that is the delima with seting up a truck for the trail and then having to drive it on freeways etc. The are compromises and the trick is to find the appropriate balance...which is often a very individual thing.

Unless you are trailering the rig, if you travel long distances on-road get to your destination I personally want a tire that minimally compromises my ability to stop, corner, deal with wet weather, and perhaps most importantly evasive manuvers.

I am also not a fan of "wide" tires. I have 33X10.5s on my truck. That selection was partially driven by my retaining the stock rims (and although others have gone to 12.5s I feel these are too wide for the rim). I considered going to a 8X16" rim which offers tires with much higher load capacities, but I would have jumped to a 285mm wide tire, again defaulting to to a little better on-road performance (and with no impact to off-road performance). And we are not talking radical difference from a 255 to a 285, say 1.2"?


To each his own!

[TundraSkyline]

Oh another cool thing I forgot to mention about the BFG M/Ts is as your crawling to a stop on pavement you get a brief sensation like full metal-to-metal contact in your brakes from the big lug tread rolling- took a few minutes to get used to.

[The Adam Blaster]

Some thoughts on the new BFG KM2 that is sort-of out, will be coming out in more sizes later...
They are more aggressive than the previous model KM. The tread pattern is a slight blend between the KM and the Krawler tire that is/was meant for offroad only purposes.
To be honest, i used to run 31" BFG KM's on my Cherokee, i liked them a lot and didn't mind the slight vibration/road noise that they made. But, i also liked to hit some harder trails from time to time.
I WOULD NOT recommend the KM2's as a dail driver or expedition tire. They are likely not going to last as long as the previous KM, will be louder, worse on fuel economy, and I would consider them to be an 80% offroad , 20% onroad tire.
Take my opinion for what it is worth, but i work on the order desk of a tire distributor here in Canada.

For the longer distances that an expedition vehicle is going to see, and the fact you're likely to stay on paved and lighter gravel roads most of the time, i'd stick with an A/T tire.

[ashooter]

Toyo is now making their Open Country M/T in 255/85R16 for those of us who likes tall skinnies. There's a GREAT thread over at expeditionportal.com posted by "Redline". Not sure if it's kosher to post a link here, but it's easy enough to find if you're interested.

Les Schwab apparently has them in stock, but I haven't been able to locate them in Texas... The dealers I've called say their suppliers have a part number but no availability date.

[alia176]

Here's my .02 cents...

For an all around expedition rig where fuel economy is a factor, go with an AT tire. Sure, they don't look cool or sound mean but an AT tire will traverse most surfaces with ease. Considering that we spend 99% of our time driving on the tarmac getting to our destination, it makes little sense to spin those heavy MTs!

My favorite brand of AT tires are the BFG AT (triple sidewall, super quiet, etc.) They're expensive but they last a long time. If you got the funds then buy the real thing vs tires that are "similar" to the BFGs!

Good luck.

edit: BFG doesn't make AT in 255 85 so I guess my comment is moot!

[BC40]

I'm a fan of the Toyo M-55 in this size. The tread blocks on the shoulders of the tire are spaced close enough together that the tires don't get an uneven funky wear pattern on a heavy truck.

The term 10 ply rated is a bit misleading. None of the radials that are 10ply rated have 10 plies. That is a carry over from the old bias ply truck tires.

I run 33x10.5 BFG MT on my cruiser and we have 255/85/16 M55's on the 1 1/4 ton CUCV. Both work well for their application.

[sandcruiser]

how do the 255/85 compare to the 33x10.50 in size? They should be pretty close, right?

[JohnnyC]

toyo m-55 is a true 33" tire

33.4" tall width is 10.4"

a bfg at 33x10.5 is 32.8" tall and 10.5" wide and is in 15" rim only AFAIK

[JohnnyC]

if you can find them ....the rover crowd says the best for exped is the XZL 8.25r16 a 34" tire 9.4?" wide tire...they wear like iron and are SUPER strong

the elusive XL is even harder to find.....here is a pic of the xzl...great tire for extreme use...

for an everyday tire a bit too much....for normal off road...they dont flex...but....for expedition you want a tire that will not fail.

http://www.roverhybrids.com/images/DSCN0695.JPG

http://www.roverhybrids.com/images/DSCN0706.JPG

[BC40]

how do the 255/85 compare to the 33x10.50 in size? They should be pretty close, right?

Similar in height, less sidewall bulge for the 16. They look quite different though nominal size should be close.
Here is a lousy side shot with the two trucks back to back. The FJ40 has 33/10.50/15 BFG MT on a 7" wide rim, the chev has 255/85/16 Toyo M55 on a 6.5" rim.
The chev is very heavy and requires the higher load rating tires. It would not be well suited to mud terrains in my opinion. BFG AT's would be alright, but the toyo's have a good reputation for gravel use by forestry companies on their trucks, so that seemed a good endorsement. Those michelins would be great if they were commonly available in N. America.

[sandcruiser]

I've seen a firestone tire in 8.25r16. Big. Noticeably taller than a 33"

I like 'em, but suspect that they ride about as hard as nails.

No $ for vehicle stuff right now, but when I do have a little to spend, I think I'll go with a Firestone Wilderness ATIII in 255/85r16 on 4runner 16" rims. But in these parts, that's probably $1,200 or so, and a hard upgrade to justify vs. a bunch of little things.

Originally Posted by JohnnyC

if you can find them ....the rover crowd says the best for exped is the XZL 8.25r16 a 34" tire 9.4?" wide tire...they wear like iron and are SUPER strong

the elusive XL is even harder to find.....here is a pic of the xzl...great tire for extreme use...

for an everyday tire a bit too much....for normal off road...they dont flex...but....for expedition you want a tire that will not fail.

http://www.roverhybrids.com/images/DSCN0695.JPG

http://www.roverhybrids.com/images/DSCN0706.JPG

[ashooter]

Originally Posted by sandcruiser

No $ for vehicle stuff right now, but when I do have a little to spend, I think I'll go with a Firestone Wilderness ATIII in 255/85r16 on 4runner 16" rims...

Do they make that tire in a 255/85R16? Doesn't show ANYTHING in that size on the Bridgestone/Firestone website.

[hks3sgte]

Originally Posted by JohnnyC

if you can find them ....the rover crowd says the best for exped is the XZL 8.25r16 a 34" tire 9.4?" wide tire...they wear like iron and are SUPER strong

the elusive XL is even harder to find.....here is a pic of the xzl...great tire for extreme use...

for an everyday tire a bit too much....for normal off road...they dont flex...but....for expedition you want a tire that will not fail.

http://www.roverhybrids.com/images/DSCN0695.JPG

http://www.roverhybrids.com/images/DSCN0706.JPG

Even BETTER than the XZL is the XZY!

take a look here...

The Vehicle

[sandcruiser]

I don't know about the website, but I saw a prado about a year ago that looked so good I had to stop and check it out....

The tires were 255/85r16 Firestone Wilderness AT. Not sure if they were ATII or ATIII, or what, but the tread pattern is pretty recognizable, so I'm certain thats what they were.

Originally Posted by ashooter

Do they make that tire in a 255/85R16? Doesn't show ANYTHING in that size on the Bridgestone/Firestone website.