pre plan for 35's

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

puulboy

puulboy

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Threads
84
Messages
721
I am trying to pre plan my next tire purchase
History
When my Fj was new I got some moto metal alloys and 285/70/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers. I thought they were the worst tires in the world. No Grip, no mud and I could not balance them to save my life.
It turns out I think it was the wheels that had a problem.
I got a deal on some barely used Hankook Dyna-pro M/T same size and I converted to stock steelies.
They actually were nice. Always balanced out and seemed to grip good in mud and on the rocks. Then I got a deal on some stock steelies and Goodrich KM2's, Same size. The Hankooks still had life but I wanted to try the KM2's
So that's what I have now.
My impressions of the KM2's is they bite well but not better than the Hankooks . They do seem to chunk and the sidewalls gouge easily. They seem to wear more quickly too.
So I want to go to 35's
I found some 2010 16" FJ Alloys and want to mount a 315/75/16 or 35 on them.
Here are the choices I was thinking Hankook dyna pro M/T, They are very reasonable, or try the new Nitto Trail grappler, if they have the 35 size for 16's yet, or get the KM2's in the 35. Any thoughts on these choices?
Thanks
Don
 
I'm sorta/not really/well maybe/I'd really like 37s or 38s/but probably not/ shopping for tires. What I found strange was that Hankook didn't seem to offer any kind of factory warranty... BFG at least pretends...
 
Spike, do they still have some in stock or claiming theyre out again?
 
I am running a 33" Nitto Trail Grappler with almost 6k miles & I really like them...
I know there is a 35x12.5.17 Trail Grappler on the market, not sure if a 16 is out..

Keep us posted on your hunt Don-puulboy
 
i have the hankooks, in the 295. they are wearing very well. i have over 15k on them and there is plenty of thread left. i too plan to go bigger, and was looking at the km2, or the trxus. have heard ups and downs on both. the hankooks seem to do well, but not great. they seem to have trouble over ledges. noticed bfg ats had less trouble than i on a couple occasions. but for the price, have been worth it.
 
Don,
I've had real good success with the Nitto Terras. First in the 285/70/17s and now the 315/75/16's. I'm surprised to hear they didn't serve you well.

If I remember right, you are not daily driving the FJC as primary transportation these days. That certainly would afford you the opportunity to go more aggressive like MTZ or Cepek Mountain Cat radials (if supplies have lasted the Desert Rat price was nice) or some older model GY MTRs. I wouldn't rule out e-bay as a source either as several venders offer free shipping. I got a screaming deal from a place in Nebraska on my MTZ with free shipping.

Stay away from BFGs because they just chunk out here. I had a side by side comparison for the first 2 years I owned my FJC with a guy that got the BFGs - same size, same time and we did most runs together. Terras held up well, BFGs . . not so much.

Good luck,
Norm
 
IMHO the Nittos have a real bad problem with their sidewalls ;-) Oh and I'm kind of growing partial with the black steel look of your 17"s!

Really though I'd wait for the Trail Grapplers. I'm hearing some good reviews about them. Plus we all need a guinea pig to test them out for the rest of us...

Oh yeah some used 17" black steel rims and 35" Trail Grapplers would be pretty nice on the ol' red hippo.
 
murf said:
Spike, do they still have some in stock or claiming theyre out again?
Click to expand...

Sorry Murf, didn't see this- last I heard they had 35 in stock in town, I bought 4 last week, so 31.
 
Good information everyone. I have a call into Nitto, to find out when they will make the 315/75/16. I am waiting to talk to them, before I make a decision. I also need to get some money together too. I will keep everything in mind. That's why I titled it pre-plan for 35's. If I decide not to wait, I will have to think about all the other choices offered here too.
thanks
Don
 
I got to be partial to MTR's; I have 30,000+ miles on mine with about 65% wear...worth the money, except in the mud, where they chock up and are worthless.
 
I have had very good results with the Nitto Terra Grappler. The only caveat is on true ice, IE melted snow that has been packed, thawed, then refrozen. In those conditions, they don't do so well unless you let most of the air out of them. I can pretty well count on traction with my locked 80 in any conditions except for sheets of ice. When I had the stock lo-rider tires, I had secure traction on pure sheet ice that I do not have now on 35" tires. But in all other ways the Nitto's are excellent.
Most impressively, they don't call Nitto's "Iron-Sides" without a reason. I have run my Nitto's mostly flat over sharp rocks many times. The sidewalls on those tires are thicker than the tread on a lot of tires. I have one with several patches in the sidewalls, it is working just fine. The tire carcass on a Nitto is nearly bullet-proof.
Having driven high-speed desert buggies for ten years, I am an expert at tearing out the sidewalls of tires. I once had a habit of "wearing out" a tire while 3/4 of it's tread remained. Having several repairs in the sidewall was less common than simply shredding a tire. Desert buggies go through tires like bathroom tissue! They get flushed! We wiped our butts with torn sidewalls! The tire is an integral part of the bumper system on a desert buggy. That meant that we destroyed tires and wheels almost every weekend just for fun. We would hammer the wheel back into shape, and put a new tire on! We are good to go! It is not so with a LC. It is a different world.
My Nitto's cost a lot more, and I am more responsible. I am a bit more careful.
I think that they could improve on the tread pattern.
I would like to see a tread that has a finer tread within the heavy tread blocks. The Nitto could benefit from a better snow pattern tread. I will stay with the Nitto because of the heavy sidewall. But I could wish for a tread pattern that works better in snow.
 
Last edited:
FJ40LVR said:
I got to be partial to MTR's...except in the mud, where they chock up and are worthless.
Click to expand...

:lol::lol::lol: MTR = misleading tire rating?

Don - The Terra Grapplers been very very good to me. And of most responses you got only a few of us have FJC's - including Norm (OffRoad Rage). Just be sure you check overall fitment including travel, turning, etc. Kevin had to guide me thru a few mods and even with 1-1/2 drop to the bump-stops and bending some brackets, I till make rubber to plastic contact in the rear fender wells.
 
Blues Dawg said:
:lol::lol::lol: MTR = misleading tire rating?

Don - The Terra Grapplers been very very good to me. And of most responses you got only a few of us have FJC's - including Norm (OffRoad Rage). Just be sure you check overall fitment including travel, turning, etc. Kevin had to guide me thru a few mods and even with 1-1/2 drop to the bump-stops and bending some brackets, I till make rubber to plastic contact in the rear fender wells.
Click to expand...

I hear ya man. I am leaning toward either the Nitto's or the Cepek Mountain Cats 160 each quoted from Desert Rat. I don't think I can get the deal in time though,
thanks for all the input from everyone
Don
 
Now you guys got me thinking... :hhmm: I was going to buy 315's just after I completed my latest repair. I wanted to get opinions from people living in Arizona first as too which tire to buy. This will not be my DD but will be transportation to work at times. I am still not decided on which to buy.
 
hey guys, i just bought 315/70r17 hancocks at for the dodge they were 189.00 at dealer tire supply on 35ave an broadway the truck rides great like new ... only 200 mi so far keep ya posted any body want a pic hollar:hillbilly:
 
I am not sure, but I have seen pics of LC's built overseas. Mostly at stock, they look like mine. 2.5 or 3" lift from the dealer with 34" tires mounted. No flares, frills or running boards.
I pretty much see mine as a stock factory truck the way that Toyo intended it to be. It not a soccor mom wagon. 35" Nitto's, 3" lift and no frills. No fender flares and no B.S. Mine is a real Toyo stock Land Cruiser. It is the way that the factory designed it.
l'll be the first to admit that this truck has the ability to do things that scare the hell out of me. And that is a tall threshold to reach. I am one who has been known to run a desert car at very high speed in places where I should have known better.
Once, years ago I went up four peaks with a friend and his girlfriend. I had a desert baja buggy, and he had a K5 GM blazer. The conditions were all snow and ice. We opted to go back down on the north side.
His lady wanted a ride in the fast car, mine. And so I let her.
There was one point on the decent where I actually did a "HotWheels" move. It was a tight inside turn with a high bank on the inside. It was covered with snow. I didn't realize it then because gravityand g-forces are pretty much equal. They both feel the same. I didn't realize that the car was ten feet up on the vertical bank of the turn, high above the roadway. How was I to know or care? The car was under control. It didn'd matter to me that that I was playing skateboard in a 2500lb. car. It was fun!
When we got to the bottom, I wasn't sure if Dean was mad that Candy had fun, or that she might have been in danger, I tend to think he was jealous. Candy liked it! I used centrifugal force to fake gravity. She thought the tires just popped all by themselves. I had to replace two tires, and then we went wheeling in the mountains
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom