265/60/18 -> bfg at 285/65/18

[doctahjones]

Hey doctahjones,

I have another question for you. Not sure if you have tried this yet, but would your stock OEM tire jack lift the Pathy high enough to remove the wheel and put the spare on with those size tires?

I have the 18" wheels too and when I installed the air bags, I needed a bottle jack to lift the suspension high enough to get the wheels off an on again. I now carry a bottle jack as standard equipment. Seems strange to me that I would need to do that and thought those large wheels and lift may cause even bigger issues.

when i first put the air bags in, (was stock sus and oem tires) the standard scissor jack worked just fine (although i used my small 2.5 ton floor jack). they both have about the same reach.

but now i'm going to have to replace the scissor jack the pathy comes with. i've also been looking for a floor jack that will fit without a block or without doing like a farm jack.

[doctahjones]

got tired of having black bits sprayed all over my front doors, so i mod'ed the mud flaps so i could put them back on. i 'mounted' the flaps to a wooden workbench i have, and then just used a handheld jig saw to cut through.


stock on left, mod on right



stock on left, mod on right



before it would rub on the mudflap, now at least it only (sometimes) barely rubs on the fender liner. notice my AWESOME heatgun work where i melted through the fender liner.




no more running boards, but now back with mudflaps!

[NVSteve]

before it would rub on the mudflap, now at least it only (sometimes) barely rubs on the fender liner. notice my AWESOME heatgun work where i melted through the fender liner.

Mudflaps are on my To Do list. My problem is that the stock flaps are cupped on the bottom. During the winter, it works just like an ice cube tray. Pretty much every time I want to head to work in the morning after having driven home the previous day through snowy roads, there is a solid chunk of ice wedged between the tire and flap. Takes a bit of work chiseling all of that crap out, and it is all because of the cupped bottom of the flaps. This is what I had in mind when/if I do get around to tackling them: http://www.amazon.com/Rally-Armor-Ureth ... X72Y1GAO8M

[doctahjones]

interesting about the ice cube tray....

maybe i'll saw off the buttom 'cup' part? or just buy after market ones like you listed

[Touchdown]

Looks great doc!!

I got the same size...no issues at all!

[Oly 22]

Hey doc,

now that you have had the BFG, for awhile, how do you like them. How do they handle on wet roads and snow? How is the wear and tear?

[doctahjones]

Hey doc,

now that you have had the BFG, for awhile, how do you like them. How do they handle on wet roads and snow? How is the wear and tear?

oh i love 'em. alot. wet and snow i've had no problems at all. wear seems pretty good. i haven't done any measurements in the last few months but compared to the cheap oem long trails, these ATs are very worth the money. i was going through 2 of those LTs every 4-6 months (like down to 3/32nds left, but they only started at like 10/32).

last time i checked about 4 months into having them i had only lost 2/32, and they started at 16/32.

so far i have no qualms about buying these again when the time comes....probably in another 18 months?

i do have one problem with them though. i -have- to keep them aired up to at least 45psi, otherwise i get much quick wear on the outer edges of the tire. i guess since i got the load E tires i'm probably not even in the load range so they're concaving in. down at 32-35 they're super squishy. 40-42 seems nice, but 45+ and they're pretty damn hard if you're on gravely roads.

i'll try to remember to get some depth measurements on them tomorrow.

[Oly 22]

Thanks doc,

I think I have narrowed it down to two tires. Rears are really bad and I am driving back from the Rocky's to Vancouver tomorrow (10+ hours). Want to order a set, a soon as I get home.

[doctahjones]

Thanks doc,

I think I have narrowed it down to two tires. Rears are really bad and I am driving back from the Rocky's to Vancouver tomorrow (10+ hours). Want to order a set, a soon as I get home.

i'm not saying that "bfg's are the best evar!!!", but for my very limited 4x4 type of experience, i'm definitely good with buying them again. those duralasts or others might be good too, but i haven't driven on those so i can't speak to 'em. i also figure that once you get up to this level of buying tires, they're all going to be 100% better than oem/all seasons anyway, so i don't think you can really go wrong in choosing something that would be worse than oem.

[Oly 22]

Understood and agreed, any of the tires I am looking at would be an upgrade over stock. In my travels, I have been able to talk to customers that run the tires I am interested in and none have had anything bad to say about them. At the mines, a number are running the Yokohama Geolanders and the mine truck shop says the have been the best to resist cuts, from rocks and seem to last the longest. Up north, most run the BFG All Terrians, for the same reasons. With talking to customers and input from forum members, I don't think I can go wrong with either way I go.

[ThePainClinic]

I'm planning on scooping a set up BFG KO's for my summers and when the snow hits I'll snag a set of the Duratracs. I was looking at the price difference for the KO's on Tire Rack:

285/65/18 $1128

275/65/18 $864.00

I'm not running a lift yet. I thought someone on here had put on the 285's without lifting it and had minor rubbing? I'm tempted to do the size smaller as the cost of tires is nice plus I might be able to get away with not lifting it.

Thoughts? Why such a big difference in price?

[akley88]

as far as price the sectional width on the 285 is .5" bigger and the tire is 4 pounds heavier with a wheel width min suggestion of 8" so its probably just manufacturing costs there.
if you dont want to worry about clearance the 275 is the better bet, and most people wouldnt be able to tell the difference between the 2 tires.
just out of curiosity when would you need a 2nd set of tires for the winter when you have the BFG's

[doctahjones]

just out of curiosity when would you need a 2nd set of tires for the winter when you have the BFG's

2nd'd. the bfg ats do -awesome- in the snow imo (the main reason i got them). i've driven through a good foot (really probably more, just don't want it to sound like a fish tale) of snow with no problems. we went snowboarding up in winter park, and it dumped 12in+ of snow while there. they closed the pass so we ended up staying the night. the parking lot and surrounding areas had tons of snow.

[ThePainClinic]

as far as price the sectional width on the 285 is .5" bigger and the tire is 4 pounds heavier with a wheel width min suggestion of 8" so its probably just manufacturing costs there.
if you dont want to worry about clearance the 275 is the better bet, and most people wouldnt be able to tell the difference between the 2 tires.
just out of curiosity when would you need a 2nd set of tires for the winter when you have the BFG's

Yeah thats what I wondering as far as size wise. I'd like to see a pair of the 275's on so I can compare them with the 285's. Either way I think I would probably need to lift it, regardless of the size? It's roughly $300 in savings between the two.

I had some KO's on a S-10 ZR2 and they rocked initially but after a few seasons the rubber became hard and they wouldn't self clean so when the snow became slushy and hard they just packed into the grooves and the tires became like skis. I ended up getting the Trxxus M/T from Interco. Amazing tire for snow be it powder or wet slush.....sadly they don't last very long and they're super soft so you have to be anal about rotating them otherwise they bad.

[NmexMAX]

Not sure why or if it's an issue but the 275 65 is not rated for severe snow. I think this was covered earlier in this thread, but they wont have the snow flake symbol whereas the 285 65's do have them and are rated for severe snow conditions.