Thoughts on 255/75r17?
- Thread starter KlunkerBiker
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Bumping an old thread instead of starting a new one. And I know this has been beaten to death buttt… it’s so confusing I’m just trying to find the Goldilocks zone of lift , tire spare etc . People fit a 265/70-17 not quite 32 in the spare location but a 255/75-17 is 32” does it fit tread depending?
I plan on a 2-2.5 in lift I have a class3 hitch and would love a IV hitch to tow my car to the track (it’s a Miata so it’ll be under 5k )
I want to get it right first shot .
Buy once cry once
The spare tire space will fit a 31.6" tire with the factory large Class IV hitch, with some variation. My 265/70R17 Falkens are 31.7 according to Tire Rack. The spare did not fit. I put sway bar spacers on and now it fits. Another poster here with the same tires and wheel width had the spare fit without mods.
MAYBE a 255/75 will fit with sway bar spacers. It looks like there's an inch or so clearance between my sway bar and the tire at stock factory ride height. However I don't know exactly how the bar moves as the suspension cycles through its travel. Which is why I want some clearance between the tire and bar. Mine's not rubbed yet.
A lift will only affect the static ride height. Unless you put on extended bump stops (which will reduce travel and articulation), the suspension can compress just as far as when its at factory ride height.
Different tires of the same nominal size can have different actual sizes. Falken Wildpeaks and Rubitreks run large. KO2s run small.
MAYBE a 255/75 will fit with sway bar spacers. It looks like there's an inch or so clearance between my sway bar and the tire at stock factory ride height. However I don't know exactly how the bar moves as the suspension cycles through its travel. Which is why I want some clearance between the tire and bar. Mine's not rubbed yet.
A lift will only affect the static ride height. Unless you put on extended bump stops (which will reduce travel and articulation), the suspension can compress just as far as when its at factory ride height.
Different tires of the same nominal size can have different actual sizes. Falken Wildpeaks and Rubitreks run large. KO2s run small.
Thank you
the class IV hitch knowledge is understood but what about with the smaller class III ? i only need the 5K towing and have the smaller hitch
I don't know for sure but I think there's not not a huge difference between hitches. There's a frame member back there.
Two years later, are you still enjoying your Conti TerrainContact tires?
Understandable but it seems there is more space with the smaller hitch . Otherwise people wouldn’t differentiate the two .
even if it means you can fit 31.6 with the class IV , 31.7 with the KDSS spacer.
Than you can fit 3_.__ with the class III. and __.__ with the class III And the KDSS spacer.
I just want to figure out that buy once goldi locks zone . And would almost prefer pizza cutters
r2m
Richard
Do you have a favorite shop for tires, if so can they mount one on your spare and do a fitment?
You can make it easy on them and have the spare already dismounted and sitting in the back of your rig and when they do the tire swap, you can do the crawl-under and checl fitment.
A tire shop would be far more likely to accommodate if you can minimize their tech's time futzing with pulling and remounting the tire.
On the off chance you see this after 3 years, it looks like you didnt have the class III hitch at stock height and added it some time after lifting? Did you add swaybar spacers along with the hitch to make these work? I currently dont have a hitch and would love this size tire.That's the exact same size tire I ran on my GX prior to lifting it (and even after for a few months) except that I was running the 18" flavor (255/70/18) on the stock GX460 wheels which are 7.5" wide like the Trail wheels. I didn't have any issue with this setup both when stock or when lifted. See pics below for reference.
Stock height
Lifted
255/70/18 on 7.5" wide stock GX wheel vs. 275/70/17 on 8.5" wide SCS wheel. Not a whole hell of a lot of difference in height, mostly width.
Did the size of the stock wheel/spec'd tire change between the second generation GX460 (I have a 2010), and the third generation like pictured above? What about the size/layout of the spare tire setup?
Edit: Wait! I didn't realize the second generation ran through 2023! I thought when the front end changed substantially it was a new generation. Oops!
Edit: Wait! I didn't realize the second generation ran through 2023! I thought when the front end changed substantially it was a new generation. Oops!
re_guderian
SILVER Star
I know this is just me, and it's an unpopular opinion, but that is a god-awful amount of brain power and effort to go to in order to have a matching spare. I just run the OEM spare in the OEM space, with OEM KDSS bushings, and an OEM hitch. The number of flats I have experienced in 4 decades of "my-style" of off roading, (which are 4, all in one week-long trip where I had 2 very mismatched spares, and trips to a tire store along the way for patches) and the negligible impact of running mismatched tires for a very, very, very short time and distance, make this game of running a matching spare have the most insanely negative return on investment, both mental and financial, amid any aspect of owning and operating the GX.
I will humbly be the first to post here, CL, and every known GX social media group on the planet when running my OEM spare with 32" tires grenades ANY part of my driveline, but for now, I'm pretty confident in the Torsen transfer case, and the ability of my differentials to differentiate, that I don't lose ANY sleep over it. Literally none...
A five tire rotation saves you literally no money over a 4-tire rotation, and if you have a matching spare and are NOT diligent about 5-tire rotations, you'll eventually end up with a spare that is over an inch larger in diameter than your other tires anyway. These rigs aren't Subarus, or other makes with a viscous coupling, and it's well documented how much difference the Torsen transfer case can withstand. But I think a lot of GX owners just like to have a(ny) reason to throw cash at mods.
In the links below are examples of "my-style" of off roading and some pictures of actual terrain you can survive traveling on with mismatched spares. Granted, it's 60 series, v GX, but I ran dozens of miles with t-case in 4lo with 3 different sized tires on. Was running 33x10.50x15 BFG AT's, the 2 spares on the driver's side were significantly smaller than that, and different from each other. I had one flat on the uphill, and then 2 flats at once on the wash-out. I got the one flat repaired during a stop in Globe, AZ mid-trip, so I always had 2 spares. After getting 2 flats at once, I drove for probably 80 miles with no-spares (a little stressful), but got them both fixed in Cibeque, AZ ( a really, really, really small town) before hitting the highway home. I see the argument posted a lot that you HAVE to replace a tire with an exact match, and you CAN'T do that in small towns, etc etc. Sure, "IF" you majorly blow a sidewall or something, that's true. But those are the rarest of events, right? C'mon, even if you blow a sidewall, and can't find a match in the smallest town you're in, buy the closest size you can for the least money, and use that as a spare for the rest of the trip until you get home. It's still THOUSANDS of dollars cheaper than some of the options out there to run 5 matching oversized tires on the GX.
Clearly, if we're talking Rubicon-level rock crawling, then yeah, I'd probably throw a matching spare in the back. But if you're doing that, you probably don't want an OEM trailer hitch and OEM KDSS bars on there anyway.
A flat while climbing a rough dirt surface
forum.ih8mud.com
8000 lb rig, Really??
forum.ih8mud.com
Last edited:
r2m
Richard
To not discredit your post, my personal preference will always to have a matching spare after personally having "grenaded" a Toyota Previa all-wheel-drive drive train (trans, diffs, etc.) with the wrong size spare, I'm a little gun shy keeping anything less than the right size spare. Fortunately it was still under warranty and Toyota paid the entire $3,500 bill (back in 1995 dollars).I know this is just me, and it's an unpopular opinion, but that is a god-awful amount of brain power and effort to go to in order to have a matching spare. I just run the OEM spare in the OEM space, with OEM KDSS bushings, and an OEM hitch. The number of flats I have experienced in 4 decades of "my-style" of off roading, (which are 4, all in one week-long trip where I had 2 very mismatched spares, and trips to a tire store along the way for patches) and the negligible impact of running mismatched tires for a very, very, very short time and distance, make this game of running a matching spare have the most insanely negative return on investment, both mental and financial, amid any aspect of owning and operating the GX.
I will humbly be the first to post here, CL, and every known GX social media group on the planet when running my OEM spare with 32" tires grenades ANY part of my driveline, but for now, I'm pretty confident in the Torsen transfer case, and the ability of my differentials to differentiate, that I don't lose ANY sleep over it. Literally none...
A five tire rotation saves you literally no money over a 4-tire rotation, and if you have a matching spare and are NOT diligent about 5-tire rotations, you'll eventually end up with a spare that is over an inch larger in diameter than your other tires anyway. These rigs aren't Subarus, or other makes with a viscous coupling, and it's well documented how much difference the Torsen transfer case can withstand. But I think a lot of GX owners just like to have a(ny) reason to throw cash at mods.
In the links below are examples of "my-style" of off roading and some pictures of actual terrain you can survive traveling on with mismatched spares. Granted, it's 60 series, v GX, but I ran dozens of miles with t-case in 4lo with 3 different sized tires on. Was running 33x10.50x15 BFG AT's, the 2 spares on the driver's side were significantly smaller than that, and different from each other. I had one flat on the uphill, and then 2 flats at once on the wash-out. I got the one flat repaired during a stop in Globe, AZ mid-trip, so I always had 2 spares. After getting 2 flats at once, I drove for probably 80 miles with no-spares (a little stressful), but got them both fixed in Cibeque, AZ ( a really, really, really small town) before hitting the highway home. I see the argument posted a lot that you HAVE to replace a tire with an exact match, and you CAN'T do that in small towns, etc etc. Sure, "IF" you majorly blow a sidewall or something, that's true. But those are the rarest of events, right? C'mon, even if you blow a sidewall, and can't find a match in the smallest town you're in, buy the closest size you can for the least money, and use that as a spare for the rest of the trip until you get home. It's still THOUSANDS of dollars cheaper than some of the options out there to run 5 matching oversized tires on the GX.
Clearly, if we're talking Rubicon-level rock crawling, then yeah, I'd probably throw a matching spare in the back. But if you're doing that, you probably don't want an OEM trailer hitch and OEM KDSS bars on there anyway.
A flat while climbing a rough dirt surface
8000 lb rig, Really??
But... that's me.
re_guderian
SILVER Star
grabbed method rims w the same +25 offset. put on 255/75/17 (32.1"). no rubbing until i went offroad. only had a bit of rubbing on the driver's side where the bolt attaches the running board endcap to the truck. replaced it w a lower profile screw. the tire will fit the stock spare location. i have no lift nor a hitch.
no change in mpg's either. tad better actually as i dropped weight at each wheel vs oem. hope that helps someone.
no change in mpg's either. tad better actually as i dropped weight at each wheel vs oem. hope that helps someone.
It definitely helps. Any chance you would be willing to share a pic or two?
update. getting a very little rubbing at the front of the running boards when the suspension articulates. ie, hardly ever on surface streets.
not sure if ill do a body lift first or do the suspension lift.
anyone have the 255/75/17 tires and can confirm theyll fit underneath w an oem trailer hitch?
not sure if ill do a body lift first or do the suspension lift.
anyone have the 255/75/17 tires and can confirm theyll fit underneath w an oem trailer hitch?
and on the topic of mpg's...dang im impressed. i decided to try driving the speed limit on surface streets to see how well i could time the stoplights every mile or so. not easy for me as i can have a heavy foot. not only did i get to my destination in the same amount of time, BUT I WAS GETTING OVER 20 mpg's in city driving. pretty happy w that.
