Chinese Mud tires 285/70/17

[KyleXScore]

I'm trying to go budget with my build and I had planned on putting some k02s on it but after finding a jacked up rear bearing someone attacked with an angle grinder and $1600 repair my budget is blown. I've put Chinese tires on my pickup before (prinx all terrain) and they were ok. If I buy some trd rep wheels would 285/70/17 fit on my stock suspension? Found these guys that look pretty tough for $170 a tire.

This is not my daily driver and is used as a work truck and weekend driving.

 

[Rednexus]

285/70R17s will probably rub a lot in the front on a stock suspension. I just had to do a body mount chop on mine after upgrading to 285s and I have a 2.5" lift in the front that's probably more like 3.5"+ over the worn stock suspension. It still rubs a tiny bit on the front bumper after trimming/heat molding. With no lift 285s would probably hit a lot of stuff.

265/70R17 or 255/75R17s are, IMO, much better sizes for a stock GX. I ran 265s on mine for 3 years after getting a lift and they were also fine totally fine. I saw no need to get rid of my perfectly good 265s over that time period. 265s or 255s will also be cheaper than 285s new, and should be readily available as used takeoffs from fullsize trucks and Jeeps, where they are a common OE size.

Regarding tires - if I was going to go cheap I'd personally pick something like a Maxxis Razr, which is around the same price as the generic Chinese tires linked above, but is from a bit more legit of a company.

 

[KyleXScore]

285/70R17s will probably rub a lot in the front on a stock suspension. I just had to do a body mount chop on mine with 285s and I have a 3" lift in the front. It still rubs a bit in the front. With no lift they'd probably hit a lot of stuff.

265/70R17 or 255/75R17s are, IMO, much better sizes for a stock GX. I ran 265s on mine lifted for 3 years and they were also fine totally fine. I saw no need to get rid of my perfectly good 265s over that time period. 265s or 255s will also be cheaper than 285s new. You can probably find used takeoffs easily as they are a very common OE tire size on lots of trucks and Jeeps. The 3.73 gearing on these is really more optimized to a 32" tire like a 255/265 as well.

Regarding tires - if I was going to go cheap I'd personally pick something like a Maxxis Razr, which is around the same price as the generic Chinese tires linked above, but is from a bit more legit of a company.

Awesome thanks for the input. I plan on putting some biksteins on here shortly. Probably 6 months or so. I'll stick to 265s in my search. I'll look up the maxxis tires.

So far I've done brakes, inner and outer tie rods, and a new wheel bearing. I had it aligned at a local shop and dudes said my tired were dry rotted and out of round. Not worth trying to balance. I had mud tires on my jeep and it didn't bother me. Is the noise and handling a big deal between at and Mt tires?

 

[Rednexus]

I've never ran MTs on anything, just ATs. The ATs I've had, when aired down, actually do pretty good in the mud around here. At street pressures they are worthless. Unless you are wheeling a ton, I'd personally stick with ATs. You could also meet in the middle and go with a hybrid terrain tire (RT), although I'm not sure if there are any decent lower-priced options in that category of tire.

 

[KyleXScore]

What's the best size rim to look for? I see 17x8 and 17x9. Would a 265 look better on a 9" rim or an 8" rim ? The 17x8 are cheaper. Looks like a cheap set of trd reps are about $700 on ebay

 

[ericm979]

9" is the outer limit for rim width for most 265/70R17 tires. Most will fit on a range from 7-9". Unless you are going for the narrow tire on wide rim stanced or low rider look, or turning it into a track car, a narrower rim is better. Less likely to get damaged and less likely to pop a bead at low pressure. The real TRD rims are 7" for a reason.

 

[r2m]

My concern with a no-name Chinese tire would be: 1) short tread life, 2) noisy, if not right away, but pretty soon 3) if you off roading, side wall protection/thickness/material

 

[Rednexus]

I second a 17x8 or skinnier wheel. I ran 265s on both the 7" OEM tires and 8.5" aftermarkets. They were a bit narrow-looking on the 8.5" but wheeled fine. IMO, 8.5" wheels are optimized for a 285/70R17. A 9" wheel is really big for a GX unless you want to run 315s or something on it.

Just FYI those TRD replicas are a Chinese wheel and might be of unknown quality. That being said, I have Chinese wheels on my GX (Vors VR37) and they've been great for 4 years and almost 50K, but it was a bit more of a known brand with good history of Tacoma forums etc. The legit OEM TRD wheels run around $230 from volume Toyota dealers, so they aren't that much more expensive than the eBay knockoffs. You may also be able to find other known-brand (but still Chinese) wheels from various online sellers that are around the same price as the TRD knockoffs (for example my Vors are listed as low as $161/wheel ea right now).

 

[K Dub]

My 80 came with Chinese MTs on them. After a year I swapped them for KO2s and was shocked by how much it improved the rig. Noise (primarily) but also handling and braking all improved drastically.

At the same time, those first tires did just fine while I had them. Just because it isn't "the best," doesn't mean it isn't "good enough."