Tire Choice Help (1 Viewer)

[clindsay123]

Hi all,

Know this has been discussed a ton but I haven't been able quite make a decision.

I am currently looking to replace E rated KO2s (275/70/18) with another 33" option.

I would like to switch to a C rated tire as this is a daily driver in Los Angeles that I plan to take on moderate trails at most. More of a camping exploration vehicle in the Southwest / West Coast. The E rated tire is simply too harsh for my liking and I'd invite the lower unsprung mass / improved breaking and acceleration on a C rated tire. MPGs improvement wouldn't hurt either.

I am going to switch to a 16" FCS F5 wheel as it's very light at 18.5 lbs. The 2 options below are the only options for C rated tires. I'm leaning towards the 255 but am concerned it will look funny? Anyone has any photos or confirm it looks alright. Otherwise I'll lean towards the 285, just don't want to impact the steering to heavily.

Wildpeak A/T4W - 255
Open Country C/T - 285

The other option would be to keep my current 18" OEM wheels and just replace tires with SL rated All Terrains, but I'm concerned those will puncture in the desert.

Let me know your thoughts!

 

[jLB]

If you’re looking for 33”, load range C tires, and buying new wheels, you may want to consider 285/70R17. A common (factory) Jeep size, so there are lots of options.

 

[clindsay123]

If you’re looking for 33”, load range C tires, and buying new wheels, you may want to consider 285/70R17. A common (factory) Jeep size, so there are lots of options.

I've looked into this and unfortunately the SCS F5 is not avail for the 100 series in the 17" option. I'm really committed to this wheel to save weight.

 

[GTV]

FN Wheels 17” is lightweight and has a better offset.

 

[jLB]

I've looked into this and unfortunately the SCS F5 is not avail for the 100 series in the 17" option. I'm really committed to this wheel to save weight.

Isn’t the SCS F5 16” 5x150 a 0 or +10 offset, meaning you’re pushing everything out 2” on each side?

 

[MountaineerLC]

JMO, but if the ride with E rated tires really bothers you, you’re better off getting a second set of wheels and running SL rated tires for daily driving and switching to your E rated tires for off-roading. There really isn’t any free lunch and tires that are suited to on road performance and comfort aren’t well suited for off road and vice versa.

Secondly, stick with 18’s or find some 17’s. Going with 16’s is shoehorning yourself into one or two non E rated tire options. (That could be discontinued down the road as 16” wheels get less and less common)

JMO, of course. Good luck in your quest!

 

[Coin]

If you’re dead set on the 16’s and those two sizes, get the 285’s.
255’s look silly. I know some on here will disagree, but they are wrong.

 

[dubdub20003]

Okay, so I assume your desire to go from E to C is weight? Or also stiffness reduction? Anyway, there may be little weight difference between the two.

Spend a lot of time on tiresize.com, and see all the tires by size, where you can see diameter within sizes too. Search by vehicle, then click alternate sizes, to see other options. You can also compare tire size to tire size. Then I would ( and did) cross reference on Tire Driver - Homepage | TireDriver.com - https://tiredriver.com/. Which is a better resource than most of us who only buy a set or two every few years, and let’s you weigh what is important to you.

So I also went to the lightweight SCS F5. Love ‘em. But decided to really maximize the lightness, and went to Hankook Dynapro A2X Extreme, I think, which weigh in around 38 lbs in SL trim. So I effectively saved 10 lbs of the stock wheels and up to another 22lbs off other common tire options that bump up to 60 lbs. I didn’t wheel hard, so didn’t want to pretend I do and pick a suboptimal tire for my use case.

Good luck! I love buyin* tires. Whole reason I stopped leasing was because I never got to buy tires! Okay, not ONLY reason.