Pre-pismo-prep wrench day. sunday 10-13-19 (1 Viewer)

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looking around the internet tonight at winches, bumpers, etc and stumbled upon this beauty which has gotten me thinking about replacing my '95...

Anyone know this truck? Is the price right considering the low miles and upgrades?

Thats the same cruiser I was going to take Kay to look at. Shes been looking for some time now. let us know if you arent going to move on this one, its a perfect set up for her.
 
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Thats the same cruiser I was going to take Kay to look at. Shes been looking for some time now. let us know if you arent going to move on this one, its a perfect set up for her.
Tim - Much as I would love to go buy it right now (and my wife is supportive) my truck is running well at the moment and if Kay is without a good cruiser and needs one, she should go for it. Maybe she'll give me first dibs if she ever decides to let it go ;) If she declines to get it, let me know and I'll reconsider - someone in the club needs to get this thing!
 
Tyler, did that thermostat housing stay tight and dry?
 
OK since Kay was unable to buy the 97, I took it for a test drive today with my wife, it's got a few rough spots, but all in all still seems like a good deal to me, so we agreed to buy it.

So - here's a question (2 really) - This 97 has huge 35" BFG KM2 315/70/16 tires on stock 80 series wheels. The current owner tells me that under some articulations they will actually rub in the wheel well and flares. So, I've got a line on 5 nice wheels with 295/75/16 Nitto Terra Grappler that are about 33" tall for a great price, and I think the wheels will look better on this truck. On the road the 35's are a bit noisy for me...
1) Would I be foolish swapping them out for smaller 33's?
2) What's the market like for people wanting to buy the BFG 35's from me if I do?
 
OK since Kay was unable to buy the 97, I took it for a test drive today with my wife, it's got a few rough spots, but all in all still seems like a good deal to me, so we agreed to buy it.

So - here's a question (2 really) - This 97 has huge 35" BFG KM2 315/70/16 tires on stock 80 series wheels. The current owner tells me that under some articulations they will actually rub in the wheel well and flares. So, I've got a line on 5 nice wheels with 295/75/16 Nitto Terra Grappler that are about 33" tall for a great price, and I think the wheels will look better on this truck. On the road the 35's are a bit noisy for me...
1) Would I be foolish swapping them out for smaller 33's?
2) What's the market like for people wanting to buy the BFG 35's from me if I do?

isnt it already geared for 35"s? I think you should give it time and see if you get used to them.
 
isnt it already geared for 35"s? I think you should give it time and see if you get used to them.

Thanks Tim - Yes it does have 488 gearing which should work for the 33's as well. I do like the look of the wheels that the 33's are on much better than the stock wheels.

Interestingly in calculating the diameters of both tires they're nearly identical...
BFG KN 315/70/16 = 16 + (2 * 0.70 * 315 / 25.4) = 33.36" but has a wider cross sectional width of 12.41"
Nitto Terra Grappler 295/75/16 = 16 + (2 * 0.75 * 295 / 25.4) = 33.42" and has width of 11.6"

So it's down to the width difference of 0.81", and maybe the BFG's having a tougher side wall if you believe the advertising.
From reading on the internet the Nitto Terra Grapplers seem to last longer in terms of highway miles than do the BFG KN's.
Tough call...
 
Thanks Tim - Yes it does have 488 gearing which should work for the 33's as well. I do like the look of the wheels that the 33's are on much better than the stock wheels.

Interestingly in calculating the diameters of both tires they're nearly identical...
BFG KN 315/70/16 = 16 + (2 * 0.70 * 315 / 25.4) = 33.36" but has a wider cross sectional width of 12.41"
Nitto Terra Grappler 295/75/16 = 16 + (2 * 0.75 * 295 / 25.4) = 33.42" and has width of 11.6"

So it's down to the width difference of 0.81", and maybe the BFG's having a tougher side wall if you believe the advertising.
From reading on the internet the Nitto Terra Grapplers seem to last longer in terms of highway miles than do the BFG KN's.
Tough call...
I have always run the bfgs and loved them . The last set on the FJ lasted for years after they had expired. Years of brutal trails.
 
I have 4.88's and 35's and I don't think I'd want to go down to 33's. I am already 8-9% undergeared which is great off road, towing, etc... but lower than that and she will be a-revvin on the highway. I'd say give a try as it is. I get some rubbing when I push the suspension to the edges but it isn't bad and doesn't hurt anything.
 
I 2nd Frank's comments. 315/75 equal out to be actually 34.5 tall and your under geared by that 8ish %. Second 285/75 is 33ish on height. At that size you will be having high rev issues getting from point a to b like @el tipster said
 
Thanks for all the comments and words of experience! 👍 Roger all that about the 35's; however, the BFG tires presently on the '97 are 315/70/16... not 75... so it works out that they're really 33.4" diameter and about an inch wider than the Nitto 295/75/16 tires which are the same diameter... So diameter and gearing wise it's a wash. The main differences then are 0.8" wider BFG tire and perhaps the Nitto's having a slightly less trail worthy rep than BFG...
 
Ah, missed that rim size. Yeah that's good point there. In your case you could probably fix all rubbing with the 295/75.
 
So, now that the '97 has come to its new home and I'm digging into all its cracks and crevices I see that the tires are really 315/75/16 so 35's after all... but damn they're are noisy compared to my old Michelin and Cooper mud and snow tires. So far so good no major flaws detected as yet other than the cruise control likes to randomly disengage when cruising around 70 mph.
 
So, now that the '97 has come to its new home and I'm digging into all its cracks and crevices I see that the tires are really 315/75/16 so 35's after all... but damn they're are noisy compared to my old Michelin and Cooper mud and snow tires. So far so good no major flaws detected as yet other than the cruise control likes to randomly disengage when cruising around 70 mph.

Are they mud tires? A decent AT would be good
 
Are they mud tires? A decent AT would be good

The BFG KM2s seem like pretty serious mudders; did I mention they're noisy? The Nitto Terra Grapplers look to be decent AT M&S that will be much quieter on the highway. Both tires standing side by side appear to be nearly identical in height, the BFG being an inch or so wider and with much more aggressive tread pattern. I tried swapping them today to test that theory, but the Toyota alloy lug nuts won't fit the new (unknown brand) wheels. And someone radically over torqued the lug nuts on the '97 it was all my Harbor Freight 250 ft-lb electric impact driver could do to crack them loose... So I'm in search of the proper lug nuts for the new wheels...

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Mudders are often loud. That AT in the same size will be much smoother and quieter.
 
You should start a thread introducing your new kid, er, cruiser so we can see the awesomeness
 
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