GX470 Skinnies

[Roy]

Time to pick up some new shoes for the GX (stock height - stock wheels). I'm planning to go with KO2s and am looking for opinions on skinny sizing. The consensus seems to be that the largest tire that to comfortably fit a stock GX is 265/70/17. I'm in the PNW and the worst my truck ever sees is light snow (6-12"), well packed mud, and summer fire roads. I've always preferred a skinny tire for my purposes. Have and of the GX'ers out there ever "gone skinny"? If so, what are your observations in terms of off-road-ablility and DD performance/safety?

Here are the sizes that I'm looking at (all load E):
265/65/17 - d=30.56" w=10.43" sw=6.78" -[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Stock.[/FONT]
265/70/17 - d=31.61" w=10.43" sw=7.3" - I'd like to go skinnier.
255/70/17 - d=31.06" w=10.04" sw=7.03" - I've had great luck with 255's in the past. These seem like the safe bet but they're roughly the same size as stock.
245/75/17 - d=31.47" w=9.65" sw=7.23" - This is where I think I'm headed. Slightly taller and skinnier than stock.
235/80/17 - d=31.8" w=9.25" sw=7.4" - Including these for comparison but I've pretty much ruled them out. Chances are I'd need a narrower wheel.

Right now I'm leaning toward the 245's. Is anyone else running these on a GX? Any thoughts/concerns would be greatly appreciated.

 

[little_joe]

I was running 255/75R17 on my GX (Hankook Dynapro ATm) - great tire for DD, for forest roads, light trails. The only issue I had was on the beach in deep soft sand, even aired down. Ran them with stock suspension and Radflo, either way they rubbed the plastic liner forward of the front tires - no biggie, just heat that up and push it out of the way. I'd stick with that size if there were more LT/C- or E-load options.

 

[zolo]

I run 235-80/17s on my Prado 120.
Factory wheels no need for narrower wheels. They ride great and work well offroad. Its a great size for Toyota's in general. Love the size.

 

[zolo]

Some photos for reference. Just imagine an L where the T is

 

[Owyhee H]

Not a GX but I run the 245/75R17 on a 2006 Tundra and love them. They are as narrow as I would go on the stock 7.5" rim. I would love 17 x 7" rim with the correct backspacing but haven't found any yet. I run michelin but was and still am looking at the KO2.

 

[nater]

How about the 34x10.5x17 BFG AT KO2's? They are basically 33.1x10x17's when you really measure them, and they work great on my FJ with a mild lift and no body mount chop.

 

[p nut]

For your purposes, any of those tire sizes will work just fine. Pick the cheapest one. Looks wise: I like the stock 265 width on GX and 4Runners, but just personal preference. Skinny tires (<245mm) looks disproportioned.

 

[Dalko43]

Scott Brady actually wrote a good piece on tire size and why, in general, skinny tires are better than wider tires for overlanding. I believe he also listed the desired widths in relation to the vehicle's GVWR:

http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/white_papers/tire_selection_rev1.html

 

[Roy]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm gonna pull the trigger on the 245's. I'm not comfortable with 235's on a 7.5" wheel. 255's are nice and all but I the 245's .2" taller. It's like getting a free lift .

 

[p nut]

Scott Brady actually wrote a good piece on tire size and why, in general, skinny tires are better than wider tires for overlanding. I believe he also listed the desired widths in relation to the vehicle's GVWR:

http://www.expeditionswest.com/research/white_papers/tire_selection_rev1.html

Like anything on the net, take that with a grain of salt. The real world difference, at least specific to the tire sizes mentioned here, are not that drastic. Actually, from my experience, narrower tires proved to be worse off road, on road, while getting the exact same MPG as a wider counterpart. Only advantage was cost.

 

[zolo]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm gonna pull the trigger on the 245's. I'm not comfortable with 235's on a 7.5" wheel. 255's are nice and all but I the 245's .2" taller. It's like getting a free lift .

Just as a reference. 7.5" rims are approved rim widths for both BFG and Cooper for the 235/80-17s.

 

[NMBruce]

Like anything on the net, take that with a grain of salt. The real world difference, at least specific to the tire sizes mentioned here, are not that drastic. Actually, from my experience, narrower tires proved to be worse off road, on road, while getting the exact same MPG as a wider counterpart. Only advantage was cost.

I have found that going from a 255/75/17 to a 285/70/17 will lose you 1-2 mpg. I keep track of all my fill ups and that is what happen to me with a Wrangler Unlimited

my GX470 will get 265/70/17 or 255/75/17

 

[p nut]

I have found that going from a 255/75/17 to a 285/70/17 will lose you 1-2 mpg. I keep track of all my fill ups and that is what happen to me with a Wrangler Unlimited

my GX470 will get 265/70/17 or 255/75/17

It shouldn't be surprising you lost MPG when going from a 31" tire to 33". My post was regarding width only. i.e. 235/85/16 vs 265/75/16. Both are roughly 32" tires but one is narrower.

 

[Roy]

Gas mileage is a concern for me since this is a DD. In this range of sizes though, I wouldn't expect to see a notable difference from the stock tire dimensions. Also, since I'm going both narrower and taller the deltas will offset a bit (Going from a 265/65/17 to a 245/75/17 works out to roughly +3% in diameter and -7.5% in width.). I'd actually anticipate a more appreciable difference from tread design and rubber formulation deltas than I would from scale.

Cost-wise, Tire Rack quotes KO2s in the sizes I listed from $197 (235) to $211 (255) ea. So price isn't too much of a factor in this case.

 

[pittsburgh]

Gas mileage is a concern for me since this is a DD. In this range of sizes though, I wouldn't expect to see a notable difference from the stock tire dimensions. Also, since I'm going both narrower and taller the deltas will offset a bit (Going from a 265/65/17 to a 245/75/17 works out to roughly +3% in diameter and -7.5% in width.). I'd actually anticipate a more appreciable difference from tread design and rubber formulation deltas than I would from scale.

Cost-wise, Tire Rack quotes KO2s in the sizes I listed from $197 (235) to $211 (255) ea. So price isn't too much of a factor in this case.

Have you checked out 4wheel parts?
http://www.4wheelparts.com/Tires/LT...aspx?t_c=13&t_s=536&t_pt=101509&t_pn=BFG75445