Tire Frustration: 285/75/17 versus 35x12.50

[04Ram2500Hemi]

So I am having one hell of an internal battle with myself, and at this point I'm stumped. I'm torn between the Toyo Open Country A/T II in a 285/75 or a 35x12.50. The 285/75 is essentially a 34x11.50 so I'm not sure I gain much with the 35. The other thing is I know I can run the 285/75 without any suspension mods, where if I go to a 35x12.50 I'm going to have to at least switch to Thuren Control Arms to make room for tire chains in winter. By sticking with the 285/75's I save myself some money on tires and the Thuren Arms, which allows me to put money in other places on the truck.

So the question is this: am I missing something by leaning towards the 285's over the 35's?

[SheepdogOutdoorsman]

Going from a 285 75 17 to a 35x12.5 17 will give you an 1 3/16" more in tire diameter and an 1 1/4" more in tire width.

[adeluca73]

Going from a 285 75 17 to a 35x12.5 17 will give you an 1 3/16" more in tire diameter and an 1 1/4" more in tire width.

Sheepdog, so that Tread Right retread company sells a Guard Dog off road tire in: 35x12.5x17 & a 315x70x17, is there a difference between these two???

[Cactus Red]

315's are generally shorter and wider.

I think you'd be happy with the Toto 34" tire. It's one I considered before buying the 35's. It was on national backorder at that time, so that made my decision easy...

Sent via Carrier Pigeon

[SheepdogOutdoorsman]

Going from a 285 75 17 to a 35x12.5 17 will give you an 1 3/16" more in tire diameter and an 1 1/4" more in tire width.

Sheepdog, so that Tread Right retread company sells a Guard Dog off road tire in: 35x12.5x17 & a 315x70x17, is there a difference between these two???

A 315 70 17 would equal 34 3/8"x12 3/8" 17, so it's 5/8" shorter and 1/8" narrower than a 35x12.5 17

[olyelr]

Its really personal preference. Some people like wider tires, some like skinnier tires.

How much time do you spend on the road as apposed to off-road? What conditions do you normally drive in?

Personally, I feel for an on road tire that see's winter roads the 285 would be a much better choice. I have had too many 12.5's and 285's, and it always seems like the 285's are the cut-off before the tire gets too wide and starts floating/skidding on snowy roads.

I feel the 285/75/17 is about the perfect size tire for a daily driver/weekend warrior. I kind of regret getting the 35x12.5's on my Jeep instead of the 285/75/17's, especially now that winter is here hahaha.

Also, not sure if you are running stock rims or not, but the 285's fit much better on them than 12.5's do. And, you likely will not have control arm rub with the 285's.

[olyelr]

Also, with regard to overall height, keep in mind many tires do not measure up to their sidewall height. For example, my so called 35" KM2's actually only measure 34.25" when mounted on my 7" wide rubicon wheels and aired up to street pressure. And that is not with the weight of the Jeep on them either, which turns into more like 33.75" (depending on air pressure).

[08TwinStickPW]

I have been happy with my 295's (33x12.00), I know they are not drastically taller, but they were at least an inch taller than the stock tires I replaced them with.

I have not checked lately, but when I was looking at 285-75's, they were almost as much as 35's.

[04Ram2500Hemi]

It's not the price of the tire that really has me thinking, it's how much money will it take to fit a 35x12.50 over the 285/75. Plus, 90% of the time my truck is just my daily driver taking me to and from work, and when weather does turn south it's usually something along the lines of either freezing rain or snow (sometimes both- that's a lot of fun). I know a ton of guys running the new A/T II and they love them, so the brand isn't the problem, it's just the dang size. I'm 90% sure I want the 285/75's, but I really wanted to make sure I hadn't missed an important detail that would really tick me off if I didn't go with the 35's.

[olyelr]

Got 'em ordered yet?

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Got 'em ordered yet?

LOL- not yet. I'm going to wait until the stock tires hit 30,000 miles (I'm shy of 26,000 right now). I'll probably be ordering them and having them mounted to a set of AEV Wheels when the time comes. The stock tires should get me through one more winter, especially with how mild it's been so far.

[2011TXPowerWagon]

I too am torn between upsizing or not. Right now I have a brand new set of 285/70/17s BFG A/T that came on the truck when I bought it a couple months ago. I really would love a set of 35's to get a wider footprint but not really wanting to spend the money for such minimal size difference. I have come to the conclusion that I will skip straight to 37's or 38's once a get some money saved up and add some lift.

[Timgco]

'14 PW: I had 35 12.50 17's on the stock wheels at first. As I posted in another thread, my Toyo MT's hit the wheel liner, flare and bolt on the radius arm. I ended up with a 315/ 18 (CORRECTION 35 12.50 18) and fits great. I liked the idea of not messing with the factory suspension for now. I put that suspension money elsewhere in the truck instead. I like the 34'ish size.

[Kbhowe1]

Timgco, do you have any problems with rubbing or hitting even at full turn? How about when disconnecting the sway bar and articulation?

The truck looks great, I am looking at getting those same rims and now possibly same size tires!!!

[Stickman]

What offset are those?

[Graveltravels]

Let me know how you like the new BFG's. I've got the KO's in the 315/70/17 on my beast right now, and want to see how these are, from someone running them on the same truck as mine!


Wheeling, mountains, being out in Gods creation!!! Does it get better??

[adeluca73]

'14 PW: I had 35 12.50 17's on the stock wheels at first. As I posted in another thread, my Toyo MT's hit the wheel liner, flare and bolt on the radius arm. I ended up with a 315/ 18 and fits great. I liked the idea of not messing with the factory suspension for now. I put that suspension money elsewhere in the truck instead. I like the 34'ish size.

So the 315's fit better than 35x12.5's??

[Timgco]

Timgco, do you have any problems with rubbing or hitting even at full turn? How about when disconnecting the sway bar and articulation?

The truck looks great, I am looking at getting those same rims and now possibly same size tires!!!

They do not touch anywhere. I did pull the wheel liners back and bolt them into place. The flare is trimmed on the bottom a little also. When flexed up (used the fork lift) it fits well. I was not able to turn the tires to full lock though when flexed up (due to the forklift). With the wheels pointing straight, it did not contact with these tires.

[Timgco]

What offset are those?

18X9 +1 offset 5" back space. They stick out a little. I would like to try a +20 offset as I think it would still allow enough room without sticking out as far. I'm going to put Bushwacker Pockets on, so it will cover, however someone that is looking to keep the wheel/ tire combo tucked in closer to stock, the +20 offset will be a little better.

[Timgco]

So the 315's fit better than 35x12.5's??[/quote]


The Toyo MT's were 35 12.50 17. (34.8 X 13.2). On the stock wheel they hit that radius arm bolt up front and was grooving the inside of the the front tires in a short time. I test fitted a couple different 17" Fuel Offroad Wheels and an XD wheel. I could not get the wheel weights to clear the caliper. So, I either went down in tire size on the stock wheel or move up to an 18" wheel.

The BFG 315 (CORRECTION, I have a set of the original KO's stacked in my garage with 315 70 17 on them) my KO2's on the PW are in fact labeled 35 12.50 18 on the sidewall. Sorry about the post on the incorrect 315 size.
The BFG's run smaller than the Toyo's. The BFG's KO2's (34.8 X 12.0) fit a little better.

[Timgco]

Let me know how you like the new BFG's. I've got the KO's in the 315/70/17 on my beast right now, and want to see how these are, from someone running them on the same truck as mine!


Wheeling, mountains, being out in Gods creation!!! Does it get better??

It's too early for me to tell if the new KO2's are better/ worse than the original KO's.

Having run the KO on a few of my past rigs, these new KO2's feel like a different tire. These run smooth over the stock Duratracs and the heavier Toyos although the tread pattern is less aggressive than both. Happy so far. Time will tell how they do. I'm not sure if I will keep these on all year or just run them during the winter months. They do great in the snow. I can only assume they will be close to the KO's offroad.

[olyelr]

Hey Timgco, I see you have the BFG A/T in the spare location as well. What size are they, I thought 35's would not fit there? And what wheel do you have it on?

[Graveltravels]

Cool!! Thank you! Mine would be winter only, as I have a set of BFG MT's to wear out, over the next few summers. For that matter, it'll probably take me a few years to wear out my KO's!


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[Timgco]

Hey Timgco, I see you have the BFG A/T in the spare location as well. What size are they, I thought 35's would not fit there? And what wheel do you have it on?

You are correct. I had to put a 33" under there on the stock wheel. Anything larger hits the suspension and hitch. It will get me by for my daily commute if I get a flat.
For longer trips I have a 35" tire on matching 18" wheel to throw in the bed.

[Juday]

285/75R17 BFG KM2


315/70R17 Goodyear MT/R with Kevlar



Just depends on the look you're going for with your truck. One thing I have noticed is that the 315's will "track" more on the highway (since it has a larger footprint). However, the D rating on the MT/R's feels much better than the E rating on the KM2's when it comes to hitting potholes/dips/bumps/etc. The D rating absorbs much more of the impact, where the E rating sent it straight through the frame...HAHA!

Yes, with the 285's you won't have to perform any more upgrades. You can slap them on and go, whereas the 315's will rub the control arms at/close to full lock. I had planned on getting control arms in the future, so it really doesn't bother me now. As far as a difference in fuel mileage, I've only seen about a .5 mpg loss, if not the same mileage I had before with the 285/75's.

It's your call.