Tall and narrow tires

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
That link you posted at the start is a good read thanks!

Indeed all the forestry trucks around on Vancouver Island seem have fairly narrow rubber on them.

Picking a good widely available tire is a smart move too.

A really good point the post makes is the majority (80%) of increased contact surface
comes from the length of the tire.
Also less fitment issues always a plus.

Could you not use some quality spacers or less backspacing on the rims could still give you a bit wider stance?
Your new rig should be able fit 31"s (diameter) no problem,if not I am sure there are a number of Vancouver area members that will lend you a grinder......

I am such a sucker for big meaty tires so I will probably go even wider at some point,
with all the fitment and trimming issues that goes with it.

I have to say I am pretty keen to see what you are cooking up here!

Right On!

[jessef]

Forgot one more thing.

16" tires may be more difficult to find than 15" tires if you are not in an area that has dedicated major brand tire shops.

It really depends on how far away from the cities you are going and how rugged.

My ideal tire sizes that I've found in central america are 31x10.5x15 and 237/75/15's . Those two are very common sizes.

The places I've been to are far far away from cities who stock new tires, let alone any tire shop.

I had a guy replace one of my dented aluminum rims with an old school split rim and it did the job.

I would also go with steel wheels. They can be bent back to shape over and over again and fixed.

Aluminum is soft and can tear.

If you are set on 16" wheels, Toyota makes their steel one's 16x7 4.5" backspacing.

Also flares are good and bad. If the flares rips off, which is easy on the L300 on the front, you're stuck with an open face tire spitting up dirt/rocks until you fix the flare. Upside it you can run wider tire/rim combo.

If I'd be doing the c/s america trip in an L300 and would want the wider track with wheel/tires, I would ditch the fiberglass flares in favor or a 3" L-shaped rubber strip and carry an extra roll if any of them get ripped off down the road.

[fexlboi]

Thanks Jesse!
Steel rims are a must for sure. It's just hard to find used steelies with the right backspacing. I really want to go as wide as possible, so 4.5" would be not enough. The only new rim I found so far is a ProComp Rock Crawler with 4" backspacing. Might be worth to check out a few junkyards.

[DeliTan]

Hi All;

So, to recap my confusion...

I have a stock LWB L400 (unlifted) and a need to go to points north (Coq and Hwy 1) so I need snow tires, which I haven't used in 30 years.

Several friends agree to go for tall and narrow.

I am ready to buy steel rims and good "winter" tires. I can source the rubber from my tire buddies but where should I buy rims? Used would be OK. What do I need to know about bolt patterns and stuff.

thanx

john

[ShaneA]

Hi All;
What do I need to know about bolt patterns and stuff.

thanx

john

Hi John,

Here is some info I got from jfarsang in a pm:

"Rims would be 15x7 with 3.75" or 4" backspacing
Typical Toyota/chevy rims
6x5.5 bolt pattern same as Toyota/Chevrolet
31's are good or you can go smaller for dedicated snows."

I recently bought dedicated snow tires as I'll be traveling Hwy 1 to Whistler many times this Winter. I bought Yokohama Geolander I/T G072 in a 31x10.5r15, the same size as my other tires. They were installed by Kal Tire, I was very happy with their service and their price.

You might want to pm Mardy and see if he has any steel rims available. I actually managed to find some nice Toyota rims with 31x10.5r15 A/S tires that still have decent tread for about the same price as new steel rims. Check craigslist and just search for "Toyota rims" or "Chevy rims", you'll find a lot of them with the correct bolt pattern, then you just have to ask them if they have the right back spacing.

Hope this helps,
Shane

[fexlboi]

31x10.5r15

If I would buy a dedicated snow tires, I wouldn't go 10.5 wide. A wide large tire has to "plow" a wide path through snow which causes more resistance. The narrower the tire, the easier you can get through snow.
Many articles about the right winter tire size on the net. Google is your friend :)

[ShaneA]

Yes, I realize a narrower tire will cut through deep snow better but you also lose lateral traction. I will be running up Hwy #1 to Whistler at least 5 and maybe even 10 times this Winter. The chances of deep snow for me is much lower than a light dusting, slush, packed snow or even ice. So for my driving conditions I chose to stick with the size I have.

If I lived in the interior of BC or in any other province in Canada I would definitely go with a narrower tire.

[fexlboi]

Just for going up and down the Hwy 1 to Whistler it probably doesn't really matter which winter tire you have. I agree Shane

Back to the original topic of this thread. I called a few places in the States and it seems the Firestone tires are made in Canada, which saves duties. That's great. Don't know why it is much harder to get them for a decent price in Canada then.
tiretrack has them for US158 which is a pretty good price. A shame they don't have the right steel rims. Idealy I would like to get everything incl. balancing from the same place. Let's see what 4wheelparts.com and discounttire.com have....

[Meanman]

I have a set of 15" stock steelies off of an L300 and also ma set of stock teardrop aluminums for an L300 that I'd part with fairly cheap.

[fexlboi]

Guys could we please keep this thread clean from any winter-tire, 15" rim stuff which is not related to the initial subject. Thanks

[ShaneA]

Don't know why it is much harder to get them for a decent price in Canada then.
tiretrack has them for US158 which is a pretty good price.

Canada has much higher environmental and other taxes that are passed on to the consumers when purchasing tires.

I have purchased tire/wheel sets from Tirerack for a previous vehicle. They were delivered to my parents (just across the border) within 3 days and shipping was free. Even with declaring them and paying the duty and taxes at the border I still saved about 20%.

[fexlboi]

shipping was free

Wow. How did you do that? The Firestone tires at tirerack are cheap there for sure, but after adding the $150 of shipping (to an address in the US) not anymore. Also tirerack does not have the right steel rims, which makes it even more expensive for the whole deal. Most times balancing, mounting are included if you buy rims/tires at the same place. I should have a few more quotes in a couple days...

[fexlboi]

Ordered.
5x Firestone Destination M/T 235/75R16
+ 16x7 Rock Crawler Steel rims
Just a few more weeks and we will see how they look on a l300

[jessef]

Nice.

[fexlboi]

The tire project is almost finished. Thanks to TardisDeli we made a overnight trip down to the States to pick up the tires. The officer at the border did not even bother to charge anything for it :)
Everyone got almost a heart attack as they saw the tires :D They are huge! At least compare to the worn down 30x9.5R15 Geolander M/T. There need to be a little bit of trimming done on the front, but overall I'm surprised by the good fit. Will see how it is once we go offroading. So far I can not report about performance and handling. Still nor insurance on the vehicle, but I'll get back after a few trips.