Another Tire Thread

[Brentbba]

Probably a very stupid question, but I'd like opinions none the less.

Been thinking about 285's next tire replacement, which is coming up sooner than I want. Stock spare is the same 275 Michelin LTX the vehicle was delivered with 10 years ago.

Not to concerned with the variance from the larger tire on speedo. Tire calculator someone posted recently had 275's at 60mph and the 285's would only be 61.something. Not much variance and I think the speedo reads slow like most vehichles anyway, based on drive by's from stationary radar trailer reminders we have in SoCal.

BTW - I've only ever gotten about 35K out of any set of Michelin LTX's and that just sucks. Maybe I change them a tiny bit sooner than I really have to, but it's my family's saftey and that of my scouts.

If I have a flat running the 285's, how dangerous would using the 275 spare be for a SHORT, and I mean SHORT distance to get the 285 repaired or replaced? Longer term alignment issues that would need a realignment? Anything else?

Really don't want to have to spend the $$ on five tires.

 

[hoser]

If safety is a primary concern, then changing the spare should be a no brainer. I've seen too many spares that have blown out. A ten-year old tire is too old. It seems like most tires blow out when you are no where near a tire shop.

But if you are more concerned about the tire diameter difference... a short trip of say 10-15 miles shouldn't be that big of a deal assuming you aren't going too fast.

If no money to buy a 5th tire, take your best current tire and use that as a spare. That should be less than 5 years old, right? Put a new tire in place of the spare.

 

[RavenTai]

you would get more life out of your tires if you did the recommended 5 wheel rotation on a regular basis, this would require 5 identical tires, the second advantage is if you ever damage one beyond repair your spare will have matching wear to the other three so you will not have any concerns in damaging the VC, unfortunately if you damage 2 you need a new set of five

 

[cruiserman]

Get a used spare in 285 and just rotate the 4 new ones, or buy 5 tires and rotate them all. You may save a little now, but you'll be glad you have the right tire when you need it.

I'm going to have a similar problem in a while. I've been looking for a set of used street tires, and I decided to just buy new 285 Yoko Geo ATs. I've got 5 285 MTs now.

 

[nakman]

Yeah, I agree with upgrading the current spare to a newer tire, but am less passionate than others about making sure that spare is a 285... if you can't find a used 285 to use as your new spare, you could just mount your best current tire to the spare rim, then get just 4 new 285's. That's what I'd do until a nice used 285 fell into my life..

You do have diffs, after all, right? so just tell your truck to pretend it's just turning on a nice long corner.. put the smaller tire on the back so you don't affect steering, then drive to the tire shop to get the flat fixed. Better to have all 5 be the same, but not that critical, IMO.. I was running 4 285's and a 275 as my spare, but when I recently upped to 295's I bought 5. And yes, that hurt the wallet.

 

[Brentbba]

Thx - at $150-160 (285's) per tire vs $130(275 LTX), there's a difference.

 

[e9999]

I don't remember what the VC would do in that case (see previous threads), but I would guess that besides the VC issue (which may not be too serious at low speeds anyway) the diffs would take care of the difference in size just fine, as long as you are not locked anywhere...
E

 

[cruiserdan]

If there is a variance in the tire diameter it will make a difference. How big a deal that is would depend entirely on how great the difference and how the vehicle is operated with the odd-ball tire in place. I would think that it should be treated much like a temporary spare in that it should be speed and distance limited such as 50mph and a maximum of 50 miles. I would not lock the diffs unless absolutely necessary.

 

[Junk]

I always buy 5 and yet never rotate any of them. I figure they get rotated during my tire swaps froms street to trail tires and back again often enough that if I just toss them into the pile and put them on wherever that it eventually evens out.

Personally though, for !50-160 quid, I would not skimp on something that could bite me in the buttocks. Coin up.

 

[G-Cat]

The big difference you'll notice w/ 285s isn't the speedometer, it's the shift points. I have to set my cruise 0n 76 instead of 74 w/ the 285s or it will jump in and out of overdrive like crazy.

Buy five.

 

[Beowulf]

Brent,
Best practice recommendation would be to buy 5 and rotate 5 every 5k miles.
-B-

 

[Curran]

I always buy 5 and yet never rotate any of them. I figure they get rotated during my tire swaps froms street to trail tires and back again often enough that if I just toss them into the pile and put them on wherever that it eventually evens out.

You mean that you've had those poor street tires on your beater for over a year without rotating! :flipoff:

Curran

 

[Crusin]

The big difference you'll notice w/ 285s isn't the speedometer, it's the shift points. I have to set my cruise 0n 76 instead of 74 w/ the 285s or it will jump in and out of overdrive like crazy.

Buy five.

I'm trying to deside on switchin to 285s, what do you mean by setting on 76 instead of 74?

 

[Brentbba]

I'm trying to deside on switchin to 285s, what do you mean by setting on 76 instead of 74?

At with 275's your speedo registers at 60 mph and for arguement sake, consider that your true speed, even tho most speedo's read faster than you are going.

Now put 285's on and when your speedo reads 60 mph you are actually going just over 61 mph in true speed.

 

[G-Cat]

I'm trying to deside on switchin to 285s, what do you mean by setting on 76 instead of 74?

With stock tires, I could set my cruise-control on 74 on the highway and the Cruiser would remain in overdrive for the majority of the time. When I switched to 285s, if I set the cruise control on 74, the Cruiser would shift in and out of overdrive (even on long flats). This is because the larger-diameter tire changes the speedo (slightly) and, thus, changes your transmision's shift points (slightly). The way I overcome this is to set my cruise-control on 76...this way my Cruiser stays in overdrive on the highway. but it also increases my risk of getting a speeding ticket.

What I need to do is get a tru-speed speedometer calibrater from sleeoffroad...that would return my shift points to stock specs with the 285s.

BTW, if I had it to do over again, I'd get 305s. They are about 3/4" wider than the 285s (same height) and, I think, look better on 80s.

 

[Brentbba]

Any issues with a 305 and stock height?