Just bought my first LC! Tire question

[MtnMantologist]

Hi everyone! As of today I'm the proud new owner of a 1999 Land Cruiser in that dark grey color I personally love. The owner put Mesa brand road tires on it and as far as I can tell those are a house brand of Cooper Tires. I'm interested in swapping them out for something more rugged and hopefully bigger so as to eek out another inch or so of ground clearance. I live in a place with 400" or more or snow so that's also a consideration.

Ideally I'm looking for something that fits these criteria:

1. Bigger (or taller sidewalls) for a bit extra height
2. Fits OEM ride height (no lift)
3. Spare will still fit underneath like OEM
4. Good snow performance
5. It'll be 80% road driving and I'm not looking to do anything too extreme off road. Just looking for extra performance on old mining roads and the like. So road performance in general is important.

A few more unrelated questions:

1. Does removing the running boards increase ground clearance much? I had family inspect the LC so I haven't seen it in person yet.
2. It's missing a small piece of trim between the rear bumper and rear quarter panel - how would I go about finding a replacement? (I'll try to post a picture of what I mean)
3. Would a stock LC be ok on the Alpine Loop Trail in the San Juans? With a novice driver too - I'm coming from navigating dirt roads in a Subaru

I apologize for the block of questions and thank you in advance! I'm in Silverton for Hardrock weekend and typing this on my phone from camp. I'm hoping to order tires soon so they'll be ready when I go pick up the car next week. I've tried to search for answers in advance but it's tough on a phone (again, my apologies!).

 

[MtnMantologist]

The first picture shows the missing trim piece I was referring to

 

[csw266]

BF Goodrich KO2s are a popular choice.
You can fit a 285/75/16 on the car stock. I did it recently and there are threads upon threads of other positive results.

 

[pjess50]

I just bought my 1998 LC a few weeks ago and have the same intentions with mine. I've read that 285/75/16's will fit just fine including the spare.

**edit** he beat me to it

 

[Spike555]

Very nice!! Looks to be the same color as my '04, Galatic Grey, I call it battleship grey, she is named "The Battle Cruiser".

I highly recommend Cooper Discoverer S/T, NOT the STT, I have ran those on my work van and on my Land Rover, love them.
Great on road, awesome off road and in the snow, try driving a empty cargo van in deep snow with all season tires once, if you live you'll go with the S/T's.
Seriously, the S/T's wear like iron, are severe snow rated, deep shoulder lugs for mud, siping for water and come in a commercial grade version for even more abuse.

My second choice would be Michelin LTX M/S, don't let the tread pattern fool you, these things are awesome on road and off, mud not so much, but with more siping than a siping machine they grip and go, whisper quiet and last 90k.

Third choice would be Toyo Open Country A/T, decent all around A/T.

I have also used BFG A/T and hated them, put those on my cargo van first, got stuck more than with the all seasons and they only lasted 3 months.

 

[pjess50]

Removing running boards makes a great difference. I wish I could but my sweetie is 5'3" and it's a no go with her.

 

[RND1]

Congrats and welcome to MUD! I would second the BFG AT KO2. I just had a set installed in 275/70/18 (I have an '03) and they fit great including the spare. What shocked me was how quiet they are. Almost as quiet as the Michelin LTX MS2's that came off.

Heading to HIH7 in Silverton in 8 days so I'll be putting the K02 to the test, but so far I'm very impressed with the ride quality and lack of noise.

 

[Abigail]

Another plug for the KO2s, they were my first mod when I got my LC and there were no rubbing issues using at 285/65/18. Had them on for about 25k miles so far in every type of terrain: highway, sand, gravel, 3ft of unploughed snow, rain, ice, water crossings, etc, and have had no complaints. They're very quiet on the road and my hundred seems to outperform another hundred I often run with that has has some iteration of Cooper Discoverers--- I think the tire difference is a key factor. Out of all that I've had to use my spare only one time when an unlucky sharp branch managed to puncture the tiny space between the sidewall tread reinforcement. Overall would buy again.

I would also add though that a lot of that terrain has been while aired down--- always air down!

 

[MtnMantologist]

Awesome - thanks for the fantastic suggestions so far!

Here's a follow up question that might be obvious: is there a performance advantage going with 285/75/16 on a stock height 100? I'm assuming it adds a bit of height and some improvement in off-road capability but how much over the same tires in the OEM size?

And do these tires rub when going off-road then? They're so big in the wheel wells I wonder about that.

Thank you again everyone! I'm a total green rookie when it comes to trucks and off-road but am very excited to learn!

 

[Abigail]

Awesome - thanks for the fantastic suggestions so far!

Here's a follow up question that might be obvious: is there a performance advantage going with 285/75/16 on a stock height 100? I'm assuming it adds a bit of height and some improvement in off-road capability but how much over the same tires in the OEM size?

And do these tires rub when going off-road then? They're so big in the wheel wells I wonder about that.

Thank you again everyone! I'm a total green rookie when it comes to trucks and off-road but am very excited to learn!

I'd always go with the biggest tire you can reasonably fit for that extra clearance--- also just looks cooler

Never had any rubbing off-road.

 

[geanes]

285/75/16 are the ideal "stock" sized tire on the LC. I have 285/65/18 because the PO put on the '05 LX wheels. I'd prefer the 16" factory wheel so that I could have more sidewall for offroading. KO2 seems to be the consensus choice in tire for the LC/LX followed by the Toyo Open Country, Nitto TerraGrappler, Cooper and Goodyear. The previous generation KO tire was not good and sometimes people poo poo the KO2 assuming it's the same tire. It's not. I've ridden in 2 LCs with the KO2s....one 35" on 18" wheels and the other 33" on 16" wheels. Both were quiet on the highway and had very good wet traction. I'm currently running Nitto TerraGrapplers and like them bunches. But, I got a screw in 2 of the tires last week that are in "unrepairable" tread areas of the tires Looks like I'm going KO2 now in a 275/70/18 variety.

Oh, one more thing: if you go with the wider/bigger tire, your fuel economy will take a slight hit......not that it's that big of a deal on a 13mpg land yacht

 

[csw266]

285/75 KO2 on 16" stock wheels (+ stock everything else)

 

[FROverland]

For questions 1-3:

Quick rundown of my current setup overview for the photo below.

I'm running BFG T/A KO2 in 275/65/R18 (~32" height). The attached photo shows the current setup with a Slee/OME lift setup.

I am running the ~1.5" heavy duty lift on the front to account for the ARB bumper.
I am running the ~1.5" medium duty lift on the rear.
I have the Slee diff drop installed

I have full Slee skid plates and Slee slider steps.

As the truck sits in this photo, it has an extra 430lbs over stock in parts and fuel, plus another 100lbs of gear in the back.

This should give you some perspective for the effective ride height and clearance with this tire size. I added ~1" of total lift while still maintaining the ~1" rake for daily driving. I'm very happy with the ride height and haven't had any clearance issues.

I ran the BFG's with a stock setup; stock suspension, running boards, no skids for roughly a year with no issues. The tires do great on road, and off-road. I ran ~33" Duratracs for a week and had to warranty the Duratracs due to balancing issues. I made the decision to drop down to ~32" and switch to the BFG's. I'm much happier with the size and feel of the BFG's. I have ~20K miles on the BFG's and the tread is doing fine.

For question 4:

I frequently drive in the snow in the mountains on I-70 for ski season. I have had no issues in very nasty snow or ice. I feel these are very comparable to the Duratracs on my TJ. The only difference between the two is the Duratracs are stud capable, the BFG's are not.

For question 5:

This is my daily driver. The tires are very quiet and have excellent road manners in all conditions.

Hitting on your other questions:

Removing the running boards will absolutely improve clearance. I nearly ripped mine off last year on Caribou 4x4 trail on a reasonably large hill. I recently added the Slee slider steps for protection and to replace the step functionality of the factory running boards and I'm very happy with that decision.

Regarding the Alpine Loop - I've seen people drive stock Mini Cooper Countryman over "Moderate" trails. The stock LC is quite capable and most things come down to your driving abilities.

Hope this helps.

Photo for reference (sitting with a bit of a lean to the driver side and about 100lbs of gear in the back) :

 

[084runnerltd]

I will chime in on tire selection.

Duratracs have treated me great. I have bought 3 sets for 3 differant vehicles. 4runner, 80 series and 100 series.

I sold my 80 too quickly to test the tread wear on them.

My wife's 4runner has 58k on the duratracs and there is still plenty of tread left. Rotated every 5k.

They are great in the snow, look great, decent road manners and phenomeni tread wear.

 

[MtnMantologist]

Hi everyone! Apologies for the delayed reply but my girlfriend and I drove the new LC almost 1,900 miles back to Colorado without a hiccup. It felt rock solid and so smooth. Took it straight to a shop I had 285/75/16 KO2s sent to for installation and it's like a whole different thing with the tires and no running boards! Looking forward to trying it out on some rougher roads this weekend!

And while I have your attention, is there a go-to place to order replacement trim pieces? You can see I'm missing a piece of body moulding on the right side (passenger side = right side, correct?). I believe it's part #75651. If I can get a piece in the same color for a reasonable price I'd like to do that. Thanks (again) in advance!

 

[staggrlee]

For 80% on-road, choose for that. Go BFG KO2, or even Michelin LTX A/T for better tread life warranty. Stay away from heavy KM2s and M/T agressive lug patterns (road noise & wear). Have your center lugs sipped for snow/ice and rock traction.

Keeps tires small enough that you can use chains without clearance issues and buy Rud chains. Carry them always for snow *and* mud. Keep a good bag for storing them and don't put them away dirty.

If you have wheel locks, carry a thief tool. Think Easy-Outs in a socket style. A stripped wheel lock will ruin your day/weekend.

And no matter what you end up running, carry a good plug patch kit (e.g. ARB), Windex to clean beads that have broken loose and a ratchet strap to reseat them (butane or Zippo fuel if you're a brave pyro), spare valve cores/tool. Airdown offroad to reduce puncture risk.

Oh, yeah. I also carry a valve stem replacement tool and spares. Sneaky root f*cker took one of mine off once.

 

[MtnMantologist]

Well s*** - here I thought I was in good shape with my new tires and a spare in case something goes wrong. I know what a patch kit is - but wouldn't that necessitate a compressor in the car or is the idea to patch a small leak before it becomes a big one?

As for the other things "cleaning beads, broken beads, ratchet strap, spare valve cores, etc" I'm completely and hopelessly lost. I've never owned anything outside of sporty Subarus that I didn't take off road. I'm hoping in the meantime I'll be OK with my set up and a spare tire to go on more pedestrian roads? I don't intend to do lots of crazy rock crawling and such - this is for national forest roads that get rough along the divide and some of the more moderate trails down in the San Juans.

 

[staggrlee]

Things like broken beads (tire edge unseats from rim and loses seal), vanishing valve stems etc are rare. Don't mean to alarm you.

You'll be OK without all that most likely, it's just a question of how far offroad you intend to venture, how self-sufficienct you want to be and/or how well equipped other vehicles travelling with you are, and how long you want to wait. Get AAA if you don't have it. They'll respond on any named/numbered road including FS roads -- if you have a signal. Otherwise you may end up relying on the kindness of strangers who hopefully (eventually) happen by.

But yes, you can patch a tire with a plug with the tire on the vehicle, and without re-inflating, if you catch it soon enough and it's not severe. I have. I'll always patch a tire before spending the spare. I want to know I still have a spare, plugs do work very well, and the spare is often more time/trouble. I've even seen people cram a bunch of plugs into a sidewall tear and drive out.

But really, some basic tools/spares and know-how are your best friend if you're heading off pavement. Should at least carry a $40 Autozone compressor and patch kit (if you use them once, they've paid for themselves), a lithium battery jump pack, and a few other items like oil & coolant/water. If you lift your vehicle with taller tires or suspension lift bring something to raise your bottle jack up. Sucks to find out that it doesn't have range to lift a wheel clear.

 

[cmck]

Well s*** - here I thought I was in good shape with my new tires and a spare in case something goes wrong. I know what a patch kit is - but wouldn't that necessitate a compressor in the car or is the idea to patch a small leak before it becomes a big one?

As for the other things "cleaning beads, broken beads, ratchet strap, spare valve cores, etc" I'm completely and hopelessly lost. I've never owned anything outside of sporty Subarus that I didn't take off road. I'm hoping in the meantime I'll be OK with my set up and a spare tire to go on more pedestrian roads? I don't intend to do lots of crazy rock crawling and such - this is for national forest roads that get rough along the divide and some of the more moderate trails down in the San Juans.

You'll be fine, if in doubt wheel with a buddy. Do the easy ones in the above, a plug kit and valve cores. Enjoy and Learn, the 100 is capable in stock form.