I bought wheels today for Kandy Van. Total impulse buy. They're 20" XD Panzers like this:
They also came with four like-new Goodyear LS-2 tires on them. Two problems with that. First, they're listed as "grand touring all season." Not a terrible thing, but this is an AWD adventure van and something a bit more aggressive like an A/T is a wiser choice. Second, they're 275/55-20s which makes them a full 1.5" larger diameter. The speedo currently reads about 2 mph over GPS on the highway, so it would now read about 1 mph under which isn't really a concern, but I don't think they'll fit without rubbing. I'm going to try them this weekend and see what happens, but just setting them beside my current 245/75-16 it looks like they'll catch on the front or rear of the wheel well.
So I'm tire shopping. Factory tire diameter is 30.5". The tires on the new wheels are 31.9". So I'm looking for an AT tire (or suitable LT A/S) that does snow, light mud, and light off-road in the 31" range. My googles are failing me. Tire Rack turns up 3 options in 255/55-20, none of which look that great. Amazon brings up the same 3 recognizable names and about 10 unpronounceable HWIFANG or SILTROK brands that I am hesitant to try.
Thoughts on a good tire? I'm looking at the aggressive side of A/S or the light side of A/T. My go-to for this application is Conti TerrainContact AT, but it's not available in my diameter.
Sinpletire.com has access to all the weird ones you've never heard of - but also Nokian. There might be something in that line that suits.
Any idea what load range you need?
It's a half-ton and I tow up to 6000 with it. I think that a 110 load range or an XL should suffice. It currently has E-range H/T rib tires on it that are not only terrible up north, but the E-range is punishing and overkill.
I'd love a D-range, but so few companies even make D anymore. So C range or an equivalent LT/110/XL should do the trick.
Javelin
MegaDork
4/12/22 10:21 p.m.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
I put the new Nokian Outpost AT tires on my Cayenne and have been loving them.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nokiantires.com/amp/tires/all-terrain-tires/nokian-tyres-outpost-at/
My concern with a non-LT tire is the towing part. Will I notice much difference in construction between a "crossover" tire and an LT?
IIRC, if you put passenger vehicle tires on a light truck you have to derate their load capacity by 9%. The combination of high load rating and relatively low profile is a challenge.
Look at 265/50-20. 30.6" so the diameter is right, and Tire Rack has a handful of XL all-terrains with 110+ load ranges from major manufacturers - including the Continental you mentioned.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
A little bit of talk from your friends at GRM about LT vs. passenger vehicle tires: Understanding the Difference Between LT Truck Tires and P-Metric Car Tires.
I use these On both my wife's H2 and my Sierra Denali and they have been great off road snow rain no problem They are even good on the highway in terms of noise strongly recommend them
https://www.herculestire.com/tire-details/Hercules/Terra-Trac-AT-II
What about 265/50R20? That seems about right and turns up a few ATs for me, including the Falken Wildpeak and Toyo Open Country.
EDIT- Keith beat me to it!
Fallen wildpeak A/T trail comes in the 255/55R20 110v XL
Sku# FK28712950
Whenever I'm looking for a specific tire and come up short I always head over to vulcantire.com. I found These-https://www.vulcantire.com/cgi-bin/tiresearch.cgi?stock=4912&f=at51lt_t.cst in 245/75/16 they seem to be the island of lost tires sometimes, btw that set is kuhmo.
I had considered 265/50, but they spec out to ever so slightly smaller than stock. Not that I'm overly worried about it. My speedo will read 2.1 mph fast instead of 1.9. I was hoping for some speedo correction with this but maybe it's time to hack an ECM if it bothers me.
The 265/50 does open up about double the options.
I was supremely happy with the Conti Terrain Contact on the Branger. CaptDownshift, sell me on the Falkens.
Severe duty snow rated, 65k treadlife warranty, can handle up to 41lb of pressure (not a lot, but better than a non XL), with th 110 load index they'll handle up to 2337lb of payload per a tire. Their wet traction is probably where they perform best. Finished the TireRack survey of on/off road all terrain tires ranked #1 out of 32 options, which means it leads the field in confirmation bias.
If you wanted to go the other way on the Speedo, Most of the 255/50/20 are in the 30.1 range but either way both sizes should work well.
I guess I'm just a little shocked at how few LT tires there are in this size given the fact that nearly all trucks these days use this kind of size range of tire.
Most of the A/T tires in this size are either P- or 44psi Crossover tires.
Yeah, it's all p metric with some XL's but no LT or E load range goodness.
https://westlaketireusa.com/light-truck-tires/sl369-radial-at-2/
265/50/20 gets you close to that size as well. We have these on the Sierra in a 245/70/17. Really good AT tire.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
I guess I'm just a little shocked at how few LT tires there are in this size given the fact that nearly all trucks these days use this kind of size range of tire.
Most of the A/T tires in this size are either P- or 44psi Crossover tires.
I think it's the profile. A 5" sidewall on a working tire is pretty short. The trucks with 20s are not working trucks, so they get P tires.
My Ram 2500 came stock with 32" diameter tires and 17" wheels, so that's 50% more sidewall height than you are proposing.
I run Falken brand tires on my Prius fleet and like them.
Pat G has Falken Widepeaks on his Ram 4x4. I think he likes then
BTW... set the new wheels in front of the old ones today just to see what they look like.
Might paint them bronze.
The Falken isn't going to be as quiet as the Conti ContactTerrain, at least according to my research. I did hours of reading accounts online and came to the conclusion that if you want quiet and capable, the Conti is the way to go.
I absolutely love the Contis and bought them at your recommendation. The only time they have not exceeded my expectations is in deep snow. My van struggled in 12" snow. But then again, it's 2WD with an open diff.
Maybe the Falken would be better there, but it's hard to say without a-b testing. A million trucks and SUVs have them and I think most people are happy from my research.
Nice wheels btw.
In reply to CyberEric :
I know, right? Those Contis on the Branger were so amazing.
Funny how on Tire Rack's website the Conti absolutely crushes all the other A/T tires they test by huge margins, but the customer reviews put them as like their 10th favorite. I think most customers have that "new sneakers make me run faster" bias.
Nice looking wheels! You can fit 33s on an AWD express just by cranking the torsion bars all the way and adding a 2" block in back or a 1" block and an add-a-leaf. It wont have that pillowy ride any more but you will have some proper room for tires.
Can always get a proper rekey lift and new shocks down the road if you like the look.
It used to be the case that even proper published heights varied quite a bit between manufacturers, as I recall BFGs always ran pretty small for their sidewall size. I am partial to the BFG All Terrains, white letters out of course.
