Prepping for my July Hawk delivery. I have 285 70 r17 Toyo AT3 open county tires. 34,000 miles on them and still good tread and performance. Looking to cut weight to make room for the camper and stuff. I plan to not really get too twisted off road in the truck with the camper. Just wanna ride off into the sunset with my wife and camp as we aim our bows toward retirement. I'm thinking of going back to stock 255 70 r17 to save weight to the tune of 75 pounds. Still E rated Toyo, but smaller. Will I regret going down in size more than the advantage of saving the weight? Again, I'm not intending on going ham with this rig. I got a k5 for that and if I feel the need to wander further with the camper, I'll get a bigger truck as a base.
Anyone running stock size but E rated tires and what is your opinion?
Well, the numbers are - 1.7 inches smaller in diameter, and - 1.2 inches wider, and liighter, as you have said. But none of that means much without knowing what these tires are attached to. What are you putting your new Hawk on? What's the payload of your truck? What's it rated for? How much do you expect your camper, cargo and passengers to weigh in at? Are you really worried that 75 lbs. will be too much extra weight? If you are, you're rig's payload capacity is probably too close to the edge. If you're simply running highways and moderate dirt/gravel forest service and BLM roads with ocassional mud, sand or snow, then it's probably safe to say you can run good, A/T stock E-rated LT tires on your rig. I doubt you'll be exceeding their rated capacity, even with a loaded Hawk. Good, stock size 10-ply E-rated tires will get the job done. The bigger tires will give you an extra 1.7 inches more clearance, without a lift, and that's a good thing. You might get slightly better MPG with the stock tires and your speedo will be accurate. But really, more info with regards to your rig would be helpful to determine the pros/cons. Most people are trying to figure out if they can go up a size or two without tires rubbing while turning hard, etc.. Going back to stock tires shouldn't be an issue for you if shaving a few pounds here and there is your biggest concern. I went up from stock size LT245-75-16 to LT285-75r16 Nitto Ridge Grapplers. Personally, I wouldn't want to give up the added 2.4 inches in height/clearance. The tires don't rub and I didn't need to lift the truck. Yeah, the tires weigh a bit more but I have a 2500 Cummins diesel and it's a heavy beast and the extra weight wasn't really an issue. Just depends on what your running. -- Rich
Edited by ri-f, 17 May 2022 - 07:05 AM.
