The tire debates rage on.

[MOAK]

Hey guys & gals, this is one of the best videos I’ve seen explaining why we overlanders employ the KISS method stay as close to stock as we can, especially with tires. Me? I run 285/75/16s one inch larger than stock- if 255/85/16s were readily available all over north ‘Merica I’d be using them.. so, are you an overlander? Or a weekend warrior?

 

[Wtf1]

That’s good Ino.

 

[Jeep backroads]

We just travel in the USA Canada and Mexico so we can run any size tire we want. But it’s good information for those traveling to other countries .

 

[Smileyshaun]

I would venture to guess that about 75% of the people on here are weekenders prepped good enough to stay out longer .

 

[MidOH]

I use airplanes, taxi's, and cruise ships in other countries. Just rent the damn rover if I need one.

It's cute how these guys think that they know what works over here. I have this thing called a ''job''. I need to get home in a week, I can't waste 2 days of a trip stuck in mud. Ya'll like rovers with the capability of a Subaru. That's nice.

 

[Billiebob]

Beyond tire availability the cost of all the mods plus the stress from oversize tires on components left stock is what made me go back to skinny 32s, just a bit bigger than stock. And I love them, best mod I ever made. I hated the 35s on my Wrangler and sold them with the lift 4 months after installing them.

And I go everywhere with the 7.50R16s I went with bigger tires. I just burn less gas.

 

[Jeep backroads]

I would venture to guess that about 75% of the people on here are weekenders prepped good enough to stay out longer .

Yes I’m one of them lol we do a few week long trips a couple of times a year plus lots of weekends close to home . I’m lucky I get 5 weeks of vacation pay or we could not do week long trips.

 

[MOAK]

We just travel in the USA Canada and Mexico so we can run any size tire we want. But it’s good information for those traveling to other countries .

It’s tough to find 255/85/16s or that’s what I’d be using, so we are sorta kinda limited to using what is readily available.

 

[MOAK]

I use airplanes, taxi's, and cruise ships in other countries. Just rent the damn rover if I need one.

It's cute how these guys think that they know what works over here. I have this thing called a ''job''. I need to get home in a week, I can't waste 2 days of a trip stuck in mud. Ya'll like rovers with the capability of a Subaru. That's nice.

That’s hilarious, I often wondered why Subaru’s are the “go to” overland vehicle in Africa and Australia. (Actually Landcruisers are the “go to” vehicles with Land Rovers running a close 2nd.)

 

[Billiebob]

It's cute how these guys think that they know what works over here. I have this thing called a ''job''. I need to get home in a week, I can't waste 2 days of a trip stuck in mud. Ya'll like rovers with the capability of a Subaru. That's nice.

so tread lightly is not yer thing eh ?

heres what 2WD and skinny tires can do when yer job depends on just "git 'er done"

 

[Billiebob]

I often wondered why Subaru’s are the “go to” overland vehicle

They aren't 4WD but they have the best AWD systems in the world. Most AWD systems in North America are pure marketing gimmicks aimed at getting sales. Subaru actually works and if you live in the snowbelt you know it Subarus in the Kootenays outsell all the comparable AWDs combined. I'm betting Colorado has similar Subaru dominance. IF you want 30mpg.... $5 buck a gallon gasoline will do that...... and security to go anywhere the Subaru is pretty unbeatable. Audi is another great choice for effective AWD if you have the $$$. But even then, Subaru service blows Audi out of the water.

 

[Sneaks]

They aren't 4WD but they have the best AWD systems in the world. Most AWD systems in North America are pure marketing gimmicks aimed at getting sales. Subaru actually works and if you live in the snowbelt you know it Subarus in the Kootenays outsell all the comparable AWDs combined. I'm betting Colorado has similar Subaru dominance. IF you want 30mpg.... $5 buck a gallon gasoline will do that...... and security to go anywhere the Subaru is pretty unbeatable. Audi is another great choice for effective AWD if you have the $$$. But even then, Subaru service blows Audi out of the water.

Up in my neck of the woods, the rig of choice for natives goes like this:

1) full-size domestic 4x4 truck
2) Jeeps of all flavors (except compass and patriot)
3) Subies
4) domestic full-sized SUV
5) everything else.

 

[Smileyshaun]

Every debate on the internet

 

[MOAK]

Thankfully it is a debate devoid of politics. Landcruisers, (real) Jeeps, Land/Range Rovers and Subarus are all fine vehicles. Growing up on a farm we did not have brand loyalty to any equipment, we had a John Deere/Oliver dealership about 20 miles away so most all our equipment was JD or Oliver. Cept for the old Farmall “M”. It just kept running for 70 years that I know of, kinda like a Landcruiser, provided you keep it close to stock. That Farmall sold at the dispersal auction last summer and is now restored and sitting in a dealers showroom. Point being, if we would have constantly asked more of that tractor than it was designed to do, it woulda quit running long ago. The same is true of our vehicles. There are good reasons that the best advice for buying a used, potential, overland vehicle is to find one completely or as close as is possible to stock.

 

[MidOH]

so tread lightly is not yer thing eh ?

heres what 2WD and skinny tires can do when yer job depends on just "git 'er done"

Put a 2000# camper on it's back, and make it go 80mph. BTW, that's just a vid with all of the stuck trucks edited out. Not to mention the depression era people grilling and eating their neighbors.

You can't float a one ton truck on 8" wide tires.

And tread lightly doesn't really apply anywhere in the midwest USA. There are no wilderness trails for trucks or jeeps. Only man made parks, lakes, campgrounds, and dirt roads. Even if it did, proper tires are easier on the trail anyways. Can't say I've been anywhere in canada either, where my travels had any impact at all. Michigan, maybe. Florida, maybe.

 

[KonzaLander]

It’s tough to find 255/85/16s or that’s what I’d be using, so we are sorta kinda limited to using what is readily available.

Is it, really? When I went to buy 255/85R16's from a friend who runs a used car dealership, he got them the next day. That was the same story I heard from the 3 other tire shops I called when pricing the tires. A couple of the tire shops did have 255/85R16's in stock, but they were not the Coopers I wanted. This was in small town Kansas.

A 255/85R16 and the ever popular 285/75R16 are essentially the same height. If you happen to be stranded due to a bad 255, no spare tire and don't have a day to wait for a replacement 255 tire to arrive, you could run a 285 to get home.

 

[MOAK]

Ah, yes. Try finding them in an all terrain tire. I wish Goodrich would build them or Cooper make them readily available.

 

[MidOH]

Cooper ST Maxx is available in a 255/85r16.

 

[MidOH]

 

[KonzaLander]

Ah, yes. Try finding them in an all terrain tire. I wish Goodrich would build them or Cooper make them readily available.

Ahh, I see what you are saying. It's not that a 255/85R16 can't be easily found, it's that they are only available in a limited number of tread designs.

Cooper ST Maxx is available in a 255/85r16.

That is what I run. It's no BFG KO2, but I'd argue that isn't a bad thing.

I do run a relatively "skinny" tire (255/85R16). Steering is lighter and fuel economy didn't change. I like the size for the way I use this vehicle; it is still my inefficient daily driver that takes me places I've never been before.