Airing-down 265/75R16 BFG AT T/A KO on 8.5" MB V-Drive wheels?

[kokopelli]

Radials do appear to bluge more than a bias ply. Load range also seems to affect bulge or roundness (cross section speaking). The stock BFG RT's that I have are barely a "C" range and the sidewalls really round out, even with 38 PSI cold. That's one of the first things I noticed about my setup. The stock "E" range GY MTR's on my Rubicon's were not nearly so round (bulge-ie). Ron

PS: This doesn't address your tire/wheel combo, but just to provide background information

ocr14a previously said:

Finally! Man, I've noticed this about a thousand times over the years when running this tire on other vehicles....so is that all it is?

The other day when I was getting gas, I noticed it again on Sandi. So, I got out the presure gauge....... they're all fine (as long as 35 is fine - that's what Discount set them at and I've just left them there).

...and I forgot if I mentioned this yet, but I'm thinking of airing down to 20 for trail runs to see how it goes (not this one on this coming Sunday, because I don't have an air-up system in place yet). Is that too far down with this setup?

steven

[ocr14a]

kokopelli previously said:

PS: This doesn't address your tire/wheel combo, but just to provide background information

Yep, thanks.
I appreciate all of the comments.

[ocr14a]

Z'sFJ previously said:

If you put them on some 285's it wouldn't be an issue. Hopefully you kept them. I liked that look on your Sandstorm!Zane

Hi Zane. Do you mean on my stock 17" rims?
I kept them as well as the stock street tires.
We're planning on runnign them Nov-Apr and the BFGs May-Oct.

Also, we're putting the spare into the mix this time around. When I got these new wheels and tires, I only got 4, with the plan to get the fifth when it's time to rotate.

So, with those two things going for me (seasonal set swap and fifth tire in the rotation), I figured we'll get at least two years out of the BFGs this time instead of just 1-1.5 like we usually do (been running them on my [poser] off-road vehicles for many years - and we put 20-30k on them each year).

steven

[DrSolar]

Sounds like too little air.

The TRD wheels are 7.5, 8.5 (or 8) is minimum for 12" tires. The tire may need more air to snap to the wider wheel. They should be ok though, 8.5 is still fine for a 10-11 inch tire.

[ocr14a]

DrSolar previously said:

Sounds like too little air.

The TRD wheels are 7.5, 8.5 (or 8) is minimum for 12" tires. The tire may need more air to snap to the wider wheel. They should be ok though, 8.5 is still fine for a 10-11 inch tire.

Ok. I'm not sure if I followed all of that, but I think I got the gist.

Another question, completely unrelated, except that it also relates to my tires...
When I bought them at Discount, I could swear the guy told me they were either 8 or 10 ply, but on the side of the tire, it says, "3-Ply Sidewall".
Am I confusing things here?

steven

[Fjamming]

ocr14a previously said:

Ok. I'm not sure if I followed all of that, but I think I got the gist.

Another question, completely unrelated, except that it also relates to my tires...
When I bought them at Discount, I could swear the guy told me they were either 8 or 10 ply, but on the side of the tire, it says, "3-Ply Sidewall".
Am I confusing things here?

steven

Sidewall ply and tread ply are different. 3 ply sidewall is common.

[ocr14a]

Fjamming previously said:

Sidewall ply and tread ply are different. 3 ply sidewall is common.

Aha. Ok, cool. Thanks.

[Z'sFJ]

I was talking about putting your 16's on some 285's. Seeing how the 285's are generally a half inch wider than 265's the sides would be smooth. Anyway, let me know how the spare works in your rotation. I never did that before. As for the BFG's I went through 2 sets on my old Land Rover. Got 50K out of them both times. It took me 3 years to get there each time. Still had usuable tread left but with winter coming I swapped them out.

Zane

[ocr14a]

Z'sFJ previously said:

I was talking about putting your 16's on some 285's. Seeing how the 285's are generally a half inch wider than 265's the sides would be smooth. Anyway, let me know how the spare works in your rotation. I never did that before. As for the BFG's I went through 2 sets on my old Land Rover. Got 50K out of them both times. It took me 3 years to get there each time. Still had usuable tread left but with winter coming I swapped them out. Zane

Aha, you mean putting 285s (tires) on the 16s (wheels). Ok. I guess I was just confused the way you said putting the 16s on the 285s. :P

So, I thought by putting a bigger tire on, it would make the sidewalls stick out more. Not so? See, there are some of these things (vehicles in general - let alone off-roading) that I've just been ignorant of all these years - I just never had anyone around to discuss it with and bounce things off of and learn from - another for this forum.

Ok, on the tire tread life... Ya, I've heard other people talk about getting high miles out of the BFGs, but I just have never seen it on mine. What's up with that? One thing I can say is that they almost always give me some amount of discount for trade-in value when I get new ones. So, do you think I'm getting new ones too soon? I just don't like running on such little tread.

steven

[FJVP]

I run the same tires on a 17X8.5" wheel. I air down to 25 psi and they run fine. Just an FYI....