Tire help please (1 Viewer)

[Foggy415]

First let me just say I apologize in advance for starting a thread that's so self-centered. I try my best to not make needless posts and do my best to search for answers to questions, but frankly there is so much knowledge I'm lacking about tires and the wheel/tire database is overwhelming. I'm hoping i can appeal to the great minds here for some help.

I have a stock 2020 HE that just got EE skids and SDHQ sliders installed. I would like to put the OEM strut spacer and some meatier tires on the stock BBS 18s before I start going off-roading more heavily. I do mostly city streets/highway but want to explore more off-road and occasional trips to snow. Also, I don't do any towing. One thing that is important to me is I love the quiet/smooth ride the LC has, often I just go for a drive to clear my mind and I want to try and avoid too much cabin noise/harsh ride. I would like a tire that looks nice and beefy, but it's not my top priority

• Should I get wheel Spacers?
• What size is largest/optimal for no rub? (Will have OEM strut spacer installed)
  • (I'm ok with doing minor inner fender massaging, but don't want to do much)
• What is the best tire for my scenario? (Falken, Nitto, Cooper, Toyo, Michelin, General -I'm lost)
• What is the best Load rating to get considering I don't do any towing.

Basically- want a good looking tire that will fit well and will not be too loud or harsh, and ideally with 3peak rating. What's the best all-arounder?
Please help me fellas, I'm lost.

 

[jsloden]

Any off road tire you get is going to be louder than what you're used to. If quietness is your top priority get a set of michelins and call it a day. If you want to go off roading then get a set of ko2's or geolanders but just be prepared that they will be louder going down the highway. The michelin defender is a great off road tire and will probably get you everywhere you need to go and is proably the quietest tire you can buy. But it doesn't have the beefy look you say you're looking for. Either way you're going to have make sacrifices.

 

[TheIcemanCometh]

My two cents, take it for what it is worth.

• Don't get wheel spacers. Seems like many people have issues.
• larger is not necessarily better - you need to better define what you mean by off-roading.
• See my post Cooper® Discoverer Road+Trail™ AT (275/65/R18)
• again you need to better define what you mean by off-roading. E load are going to give a louder and harsher.

 

[goldwater58]

Michelin Defenders. Checks every box except the "looks cool" category. I'm loving mine. XL load range, stock size.

 

[Foggy415]

Any off road tire you get is going to be louder than what you're used to. If quietness is your top priority get a set of michelins and call it a day. If you want to go off roading then get a set of ko2's or geolanders but just be prepared that they will be louder going down the highway. The michelin defender is a great off road tire and will probably get you everywhere you need to go and is proably the quietest tire you can buy. But it doesn't have the beefy look you say you're looking for. Either way you're going to have make sacrifices.

I appreciate the feedback. I have seen the thread on the defenders and they do seem like a great tire, although not as beefy looking as my inner child desires. I'm leaning between those and the coopers mentioned below. thanks again

 

[Foggy415]

My two cents, take it for what it is worth.

• Don't get wheel spacers. Seems like many people have issues.
• larger is not necessarily better - you need to better define what you mean by off-roading.
• See my post Cooper® Discoverer Road+Trail™ AT (275/65/R18)
• again you need to better define what you mean by off-roading. E load are going to give a louder and harsher.

Good point, by off-roading I mean some rocks, some mud, some snow, but mostly street in all honesty. There is a 4x4 recreation spot not too far from me that I want to go explore which has a good mix of obstacles and trails. I don't plan on doing anything insane, but do want to have some more beef than the stock tires to avoid flats and for airing down.

Those Coopers seem really nice, like a good sweet spot between super loud and aggressive and something more street oriented. Excuse my ignorance, but isn't an E load kind of high if I don't plan on towing? Load ranges are what confuse me the most so sorry if I'm off

 

[achris44]

Check this thread
Good look, and may fit your use case as well as anything else

 

[TheIcemanCometh]

Excuse my ignorance, but isn't an E load kind of high if I don't plan on towing? Load ranges are what confuse me the most so sorry if I'm off

Towing, lots weight in (shelves, frig, battery) or on (front bumper, sliders, skids, etc) the vehicle, rock crawling are all reasons to have E load tires. From what you are describing I would not go with an E load tire.

 

[jsloden]

The Michelin will cost you more than the coopers but they are a much better tire in my opinion. I've had over 50 cars with probably 25-30 different brands of tires. Michelin tires are consistently the smoothest and quietest tire I've ever had. When I first purchased my lx it had a set of hancook dynapro's on it. They were a decent tire and handled everything I threw at them. The owner before me had a very poor alignment though and had completely worn them out. I was only able to put about 10k miles on them. There was a person near me selling a set of michelin defenders that were almost new WITH a seet of lx rims for a few hundred bucks. It was like night and day. The michelins did just as good off road as the hancook's and were completely silent on the road. They were also completely smooth.

 

[clrussell]

I wouldn’t be against a 285/65r18 with no spacers.

So many tire options here.

Faulken at4w
Bfg k03
Nitto recon grappler (available in an extra load which isn’t a bad idea)
Yokahoma geolandar at4
Cooper stronghold
Goodyear duratrac RT

All of these are “quiet” none will be oem quiet

All great in snow and off road.

So many options.

My top3 :
Faulken at4w
K03
Duratrac RT