ISO: Tire recommendations

[fasteddie2015]

Hi. Still pretty new to LC and this forum. But I like both a lot so far.

I picked up a used 2015 LC with 112Kmi ! A lot of miles but pretty well cared for. (My other cars are lexus and toyota with V-8s and well over 100K mi each so the mileage didn't concern me.) I'm planning to keep the stock wheels on the LC.

Anyway, it came with Toyo Open Country II A/T in th standard size on stock wheels: 285/60/18 . I like the ride and low noise of the Toyo's. Here in texas the windows are closed most of the year, so tires have to really howl to be noticed. I've been reading discussions about proper tire pressure an what stands out is that my Toyo's run at a lower pressure than the KO2's, etc.

So I'm ready to get a new set of Toyo A/T II but I see a lot of other tires mentioned. Hoping to get some recommendations and also learn about the characteristics of a higher pressure tire like the KO2's vs a lower pressure tire like my Toyo's.

My driving is about 85% city and hwy and 15% off road, nothing extreme, more beach than mud.

So, 1) what tires do you recommend and what are the tradeoffs road vs off road? 2) What are the advantages of high pressure(LT) vs low pressure tires (P or metric). 3)The spare is the 5 year old original. Keep it or replace it with a matching tire?

 

[Fisher23]

I run the Toyo RT which are between the AT and the MT.

They handle good in the sand, but an AT handles better in the sand.
The RT's handle better in the mud than an AT but not as good as an MT.

The higher pressure tires "e" are better towing or in rocks due the side wall thickness, but in soft sand the softer P tires can ballon out more when you drop the psi down to 18-20 psi so they are better for that.

I keep the same size and tire for a spare and rotate it in. At 5 years I would check for sidewall rot.

 

[bloc]

The primary difference in pressure is between a p-metric or euro-metric vs LT-metric, which all KO2s are.. then some models further break down into the C/D/E load rating. Even the lowest load LT-C tire will usually need substantially more pressure than a euro or p-metric.

Tire weight can play into things as well.. A C load LT is a lot lighter than an E, but still heavier than a P-metric, generally.

AT2s are available in euro, p, or LT versions sometimes in the same size, so make sure the info you gather is on the relevant type.

All of that said, my p-metric AT2s in 285/70/17 at 32psi are slightly noisier than my e-rated 285/65/18 ko2s at 42psi. Bfg did a great job with this tread design.

 

[catastrofe]

Hi. Still pretty new to LC and this forum. But I like both a lot so far.

I picked up a used 2015 LC with 112Kmi ! A lot of miles but pretty well cared for. (My other cars are lexus and toyota with V-8s and well over 100K mi each so the mileage didn't concern me.) I'm planning to keep the stock wheels on the LC.

Anyway, it came with Toyo Open Country II A/T in th standard size on stock wheels: 285/60/18 . I like the ride and low noise of the Toyo's. Here in texas the windows are closed most of the year, so tires have to really howl to be noticed. I've been reading discussions about proper tire pressure an what stands out is that my Toyo's run at a lower pressure than the KO2's, etc.

So I'm ready to get a new set of Toyo A/T II but I see a lot of other tires mentioned. Hoping to get some recommendations and also learn about the characteristics of a higher pressure tire like the KO2's vs a lower pressure tire like my Toyo's.

My driving is about 85% city and hwy and 15% off road, nothing extreme, more beach than mud.

So, 1) what tires do you recommend and what are the tradeoffs road vs off road? 2) What are the advantages of high pressure(LT) vs low pressure tires (P or metric). 3)The spare is the 5 year old original. Keep it or replace it with a matching tire?

I’ve been a Bridgestone/Firestone user for quite some time. I’ll be putting Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo III on my LC in a week or so, stock wheels, LT285/65/R18. I had the Duelers on my Tacoma, and they’re a great all-around AT tire.

 

[bloc]

A note about pressures.

When talking about required pressure to safely support a load one of the biggest factors is tire temperature. Get the body of the tire too hot and it starts falling apart.

Friction within the internal structure of the tire as it is rolled down the road flexing across its contact patch is a major contributing factor to beat buildup, and generally more tire pressure reduces flexing which reduces heat buildup.

P- and euro metric tires generally have less robust construction which makes less internal friction when you drive down the road, so less pressure is needed to keep temperatures in check.

Contrast that scenario with a very heavy duty e-load LT tire with enough structure to withstand 80psi, and LT tires usually having harder tread compounds, deeper lugs, and more solid construction to deal with the use case of a truck tire. The same size tire at the same pressure with the same load on it will build up more heat.. so more pressure is required to offset this effect.

An example of this would be my fuel mileage dropping ~3mpg when I went from stock 33psi p285/60/18 tires to 42psi lt285/65/18 KO2s.. yes they are bigger which could explain things. But I then switched to p285/70/17 at 32psi which are even larger and got almost all of that mileage hit back. The more pliable construction of the p-metric tire has less rolling resistance and therefore less heat buildup.. even at a lower pressure.

The lower required pressure was a major reason I went back to a p-metric tire. The reality was most of my miles are on road, and I don’t beat the crap out of my tires when I do go on trail. The weight (ride quality) and mileage benefits outweighed the possible penalty in durability, in my case. I did tear a sidewall on my current trip but it was a hard hit on a sharp rock and there’s no way of knowing whether an LT tire would do any better.