Decision Time...

[TheGrrrrr]

I think I've spent more time Mud researching things over the past month or two than I have on any other non-work aspect of my life and its time to make a decision. I've read every post on tire sizes at least 5 times and have received some good feedback from @Markuson that has me narrowed down to a couple of choices. Now my decisions have a few different components to them.

In advance of Cruise Moab, I have budgeted about $2000 to get the rig ready and am looking at a couple of options. I need help prioritizing/selecting based on this budget, with the caveat that I may or may not have sliders in time for CM and have chosen easier trails to accommodate, but all of these decisions will have ramifications well beyond CM:

1. ARB Skids - $800 installed - How critical is the upgrade from factory skids in the near term given that I can probably swing them shortly after CM?
2. Tires Options:
   1. My current 275/65/18 Duratracs are on 2016 Factory Wheels with 53 offset and 1.25" spacers. They don't look right (not tall enough or wide enough) but they have about 75% tread left and should sell easily. Could mount them on my 2013 Factory wheels and sell as a set. Could I get $800 for the set of 5? That would bump up the budget.
   2. Sacrifice width for price and put 275/70/18 Falken WildPeak AT3W on the Factory 2016 wheels with the 1.25" spacers - $1360
   3. Compromise on width but go taller and more aggressive with 285/70/18 Ridge Grapplers on the same wheel and spacer setup, but no budget for regear - $1935
   4. Go with big meat and get the Falken WildPeaks in 305/65/18 on the same wheel and spacer setup possibly sell the 1.25" spacers and buy 1" spacers. Have already done the front fender liner mod pushing it forward about 1.5" - $1670
3. Rear Shock guards/skids from Trail Tailor or BudBuilt - $200

So the question is with $2000 to spend where to you put your money?

Combos I'm considering:

• Big Meat and Shock Guards, no ARB Skids
• 275/70s and ARB Skids, no Shcok Guards
• 285/70s and no ARB skids or Shock Guards

Guide me, oh wise ones!


I promise this will be my last post about tires, other than the post showing them off when they get installed.

 

[CharlieS]

Cancel that, I forgot how much stuff cost... (BFG AT/KO2 285 and Budbuilt sliders, problem solved, if you stretch your budget a little, you might even be able to fit in some Budbuilt skids.)

 

[linuxgod]

Whether or not you "need" skids depends in part on how you're planning to wheel in Moab.

I <3 my Nitto RG 285/75R17 tires. 285/70R18 is the same height. I paid about $1500 for a set of 5 (including the spare). You don't need to regear with them. The only time I really regret not having taller gears is when loaded with 5 people and towing a 6000# trailer, particularly in the mountains. You will likely need the spacers and some minor trimming etc to make them fit without rubbing when flexing.

Re: Selling the Duratracs with wheels - FWIW I got a set of 5 Icon Six Speed 17" wheels @ +25 offset for $1100 and sold my factory ones for $500-600 (I can't quite recall) on craiglist (no tires, just wheels), so if you have a little $ and time to work with you can probably make do for under $2k.

 

[Sandroad]

I can't offer advice on purchases, but I can note that at least here in Michigan, those used '13 wheels with used Duratracs would fetch at most half of what you're thinking (and then only if you're patient). If you go that route, be sure to advertise them as a set for a Tundra.

 

[Jeffwouldgo]

I tried selling the factory tires with 1000 miles on them, I got down to $50 a tire for 5 tires and ended up giving them away. In the heart of LA. I wouldn’t rely on them bumping up the budget much

 

[Angelo1]

Why are you on a budget of only $2k, don’t you live in Scottsdale where money grows on cactus. Lol jk! Side note: how do you like living there? We may head that way(D.C ranch area) once the kids head off to College, unless the wife can convince them this summer.

 

[afgman786]

If you're putting skids on your rig, you definitely should get sliders first... The likelyhood of banging up the rocker is a lot easier than underneath. You've got factory skids already... and if you want skids because you want to play in rocks in the future, why not go for a beefier set like BudBuilt or Slee?
Ex: If you've got rocks to deal with that you might not clear and can't avoid, you'll climb then putting your rockers in danger of getting smashed.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

If you're putting skids on your rig, you definitely should get sliders first... The likelyhood of banging up the rocker is a lot easier than underneath. You've got factory skids already... and if you want skids because you want to play in rocks in the future, why not go for a beefier set like BudBuilt or Slee?
Ex: If you've got rocks to deal with that you might not clear and can't avoid, you'll climb then putting your rockers in danger of getting smashed.

Yeah the sliders are on order from BudBuilt, just may not be in time for CM. As a result, I'm choosing less difficult trails and wonder if maybe I can reprioritize the skids to prioritize the tires. That way if by some miracle the sliders show up in time, I'm running BudBuilt Sliders and am on 33s or 34s with factory skids instead of BudBuilt Sliders and ARB Skids with 32s. I'd love to wait and get BudBuilt skids this summer.

 

[afgman786]

Yeah the sliders are on order from BudBuilt, just may not be in time for CM. As a result, I'm choosing less difficult trails and wonder if maybe I can reprioritize the skids to prioritize the tires. That way if by some miracle the sliders show up in time, I'm running BudBuilt Sliders and am on 33s or 34s with factory skids instead of BudBuilt Sliders and ARB Skids with 32s. I'd love to wait and get BudBuilt skids this summer.

I would do that route (actually I kind of did). Personal opinion is wait for the BudBuilt skids, and get the bigger tires and shock guards if you want. I got my BudBuilt skids and tires around the same time, this was pre-lift. Man did they come in handy! Gave me a lot more confidence to play in the rocks and gave me protection for lack of clearance at the time.

 

[Mogwai]

Tires and sliders, no skids. Even tires are not "needed" for CM, those trails love street tires. Def don't compromise just because you're going to CM and need something now, if you can wait I'd say wait and get exactly what you want.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

So tires are the priority, now the question is which ones...

 

[krice118]

your current setup will work fine for Moab. Sounds like you want bigger tires haha

If it were me I would spend the $$ on stuff to make camp easier.

 

[tbisaacs]

your current setup will work fine for Moab. Sounds like you want bigger tires haha

If it were me I would spend the $$ on stuff to make camp easier.

^ I'm with this person. Tires are damn expensive and last a long time. Is cruise moab type trails how you intend on using the truck long term? If not, then why optimize for that? Run what you have and choose trails based on your current capability. You'll learn a ton with experience. It's easy to overthink it from behind a keyboard.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

^ I'm with this person. Tires are damn expensive and last a long time. Is cruise moab type trails how you intend on using the truck long term? If not, then why optimize for that? Run what have and choose trails based on your current capability. You'll learn a ton with experience. It's easy to overthink it from behind a keyboard.

Fair points. I'm in AZ so the vast majority of my wheeling is in dirt, rocks and sand. A standard AT like the Wildpeak would do just fine here and if it were offered in a 285/70/18, I'd probably be all over it. I do want bigger tires and CM is only a marker with regard to time. If I'm getting bigger tires anyway, I'd like to do it before CM, especially since it sounds like 33s/34s vs 32s would have a substantial benefit in Moab. I have all the camping gear I want and have completed almost all of the other mods I had planned. The last few projects for the truck are currently out of budget (lockers, gears, bumpers) so I'm trying to maximize bang/buck.

 

[krice118]

if you’re looking for someone to tell you to get big 285 70 18s I’ll play.

Get more rubber! 285s (as well documented here) are a perfect size.

$2k is close to an aux tank installed

 

[krice118]

I personally went from 285s to 275s on my 100 and I love the 275s better. More drive ability better turning radius etc. I don’t think I’d like 305s. YMMV

 

[linuxgod]

if you’re looking for someone to tell you to get big 285 70 18s I’ll play.

Get more rubber! 285s (as well documented here) are a perfect size.

$2k is close to an aux tank installed

+1 to any 34" tire.

Gotta say while I'd love the convenience of an aux tank, a 4.5 gallon rotopax is $99 and straps easily to my roof rack.

Set aside $100 and get some recovery gear for Moab. Shackles, ropes, snatch block, 2" receiver shackle, etc are all a good idea. Someone else in the group will probably have a winch but it sucks to look at a recovery and think "if I only had one more snatch block (or rope, shackle, etc) I could make this recovery so much easier..."

 

[TheGrrrrr]

+1 to any 34" tire.

Gotta say while I'd love the convenience of an aux tank, a 4.5 gallon rotopax is $99 and straps easily to my roof rack.

Set aside $100 and get some recovery gear for Moab. Shackles, ropes, snatch block, 2" receiver shackle, etc are all a good idea. Someone else in the group will probably have a winch but it sucks to look at a recovery and think "if I only had one more snatch block (or rope, shackle, etc) I could make this recovery so much easier..."

My drawers are loaded with recovery gear and have a 12k lbs hidden winch. I too have a rotopax mounted to the roof rack along with some recovery boards. I'll do aux tank after/when I do rear bumper with swing out. I think I'm leaning towards the 285/70/18 Ridge Grapplers. @kreiten's pics have me on-board. They are plenty wide enough and most importantly tall. I've never been let down by Nittos and everyone seems to love the RGs, so I'm heading over to Discount Tire now.

 

[indycole]

Out of the trails you're considering, only on Top of the World would you really see the benefit of skids. That said, I've been on that trail with 200s with stock skids though they've had 34s or 35s. You can also mitigate shock/LCA damage a bit by bringing some extra hardware.

You don't need to regear to run 34s and 285/70r18 is an awesome size for this truck — you will definitely see a hit in fuel economy, though.

I'd put the money into tires, some replacement hardware, and potentially shock/LCA guards.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

LOL. Its amazing what a quick phone call can do. Talked to the dude at the tire place. For $70/tire less the 275/70/18 Ridge Grapplers are not only a lot cheaper, but more importantly, that size is far more common and easier to get ahold of should there be a problem. As a result the certificates for the tire are cheaper as well. All I'm giving up is a 1/2 Inch in either dimension and is still a full inch taller than what I have. I hadn't considered the availability aspect. That's sound logic. Tires should be here tomorrow. $1775 out the door. I won't look as cool as @kreiten but my budget is intact and I think I'll be happy with the results. Thanks for all of the input gentlemen. Its great knowing you are here.