255/80/17 vs 285/70/17

[Skruffles]

I have a 2003 Toyota Sequoia that I plan to make into a light touring rig with occasional trials mixed in. Looking for an all terrain tire that will be comfortable chewing through highway miles while still providing good off-road manners. I know there are few tire companies that offer the 255/70/17, but the pizza cutter style is more appealing to me for touring and camping. Just looking for some insight from the community about what tire size and all terrain tire to go with. Cheers!

 

[Billiebob]

Had the BFG 255/85R16s, Loved them. But expensive, heavy, they only last 75K kms, less than 50K miles. But great tires. 255/85R16 is a 33x10.00R16.

And i've had a lot of other LT tires up to 35x12.50R16s. Of ALL the LTs the 255/85R16s were my favourite.

Today tho I've stepped up to a fabulous pizza cutter. 7.50R16s, technically a 185/100R16.
The plusses
100K kms life expectancy, 60K miles.
Quieter, smoother ride, fabulous thru mud. slush, standing water. They excell on the highway.
And gas mileage..... from the 33x10.50R15s or the 255/85R16s to the 7.50R16s I gained 5mpg... no other changes, just different tires.
That works out to a range INCREASE between gas stops of 95 miles. And in the real world yes, I commute 300 miles often. I could never do it on a tank of gas, now I can.

Any losses???? None, these go everywhere the LTs went. They just ride smoother off road.

7.50R16s vs 245/75R16s, the stock Jeep Rubicon tire size. Hard to believe the skinny tire will last 30% longer.
Took me 45 years to discover the best tire size was the tire which came stock on my 1977 F250.



The other benefit of a skinnier tire.... tire chains have more room in the wheel well and the chains will be lighter.

 

[Toytime]

I’m a pizza cutter fan myself. I’m running LT245/75R17 Falken Wildpeaks (load range E) on my 3rd gen 4Runner and they do great in both respects. Quiet and not harsh on the highway then air down off road and have the confidence of the 10 ply rated sidewall and a good grip. They are also 3peak rated for snow. I just purchased a 2006 Sequoia myself and plan to have the same or similar setup. It took me a few months of research before I circled back to the Falkens. Very happy with them, mostly desert rock, climbs and deep sand use so far.
Good luck with your search. It will be awhile before I pick new tires for my Sequoia.

 

[slomatt]

I somewhat recently put Toyo Open Country A/T IIIs in 255/80R17 on my Tacoma and I've been really happy with them. They ride smooth and are quiet on the highway. I was concerned about putting E rated tires on the truck but so far it has not been an issue, though since it's winter I haven't had them aired down on a trail yet. The main reason I went with the 255s over a 285 was I wanted to fit 33" tires without having to do a cab mount chop, and after testing on the truck the only rubbing under compression is on the front of the plastic fenderwell liner, which I've since heated and melted to reshape it.

Currently these tires are on my 4Runner so I can see how 33s do with the stock gearing and manual transmission. Interestingly, on that truck there is no rubbing up front but when stuffed in the rear they rub on the plastic fender liner. The crawl ratio of this truck isn't great with the 32s I usually run, and I think the 33s would not be enjoyable when trying to rock crawl without regearing the diffs or lowering the transfer case ratio, but they look pretty cool on the truck. :) I'm going to swap them back onto the Tacoma.

 

[HuffyWK]

I pulled the trigger on some 255/80 WildPeak's today. AT3's as they seem to be discounted at the moment. SToked to get em dirty!

 

[MOAK]

255/85s are my favorite size, good luck replacing them if needed when far away from the rat races. What’s important is how easy will it be to limp into a tire store in ( name any town or small city in North America large enough to have a tire shop ) our friends case, Healy, and buy a same size spare tire off the shelf, or even wait a day or two to get one. Because of this I run 285/75s a very common size. I’ll soon be moving up to a full size pick up and will do research on common sized 35” tires. Not much worse than having to buy a mismatched tire while touring only to have to buy the correct size when you can find one.