17-Inch Tundra Wheels & BFG A/T Tires

17" TRD 5-lug Tundra wheels with BFG AT LT285/70R17E tires.

Part of being The Tire Meister means that I need to have wheels on which to mount the treads I’m evaluating. Unless I want to constantly remove my proven, primary tires, extra wheels are desirable. Extra wheels make for better, more consistent tire testing, and back-to-back swaps of mounted tires is an easy process. Mounting & balancing tires and wheels is not easy, nor inexpensive. I’m not an aftermarket wheel aficionado—quite the contrary—I like perfectly fitting, relatively inexpensive, OEM aluminum wheels for my 4x4s, and using the same wheels eliminates a testing variable.

With the assistance of Craig’s List, finding take-offs from dudes who want “Lighter, Stronger, Faster” wheels, is relatively easy—as long as you have a current model truck that guys are actively modifying. (Are there actually lighter and stronger rims for the second generation Tundra than the 17-inch forged aluminum OE wheels?) This said, 17-inch 5-lug Tundra wheels are not that common, but the big wheel craze is a live-and-well, so with some patience take-offs can be found. Finding a set with worn tires, or no tires, seems to be the key to reasonable prices. Many want $1500 for their almost new take-off TRD 17-inch Rock Warrior wheels and BFG AT tires. I’m not a big fan of the BFG All-Terrain so there’s no way I’ll pay that kind of money.

The set pictured here was not located on Craig’s List, but on a Tundra forum. A guy posted a feeler several weeks before he planned to install 20-inch wheels and 35-inch tires on his Tundra after a 6-inch lift. He was in the same state so I sent him a PM. Turned out he was also in the same metro area, what are the odds? I made him an offer, he accepted, and we waited for his truck to be lifted. A couple weeks ago I purchased his TRD Rock Warrior 17-inch wheels, lug nuts, and locks, along with well used original BFG All-Terrain tires.

Copyright © 2012 James Langan

Tire Technology 101

It these modern times with almost endless high performance, specialty tire choices for trucks, cars, and motos, it’s easy to forget how far we have progressed in just the past few decades. Prior to the 1980s there were few enthusiast, recreational off-highway truck tires.

As trucks and tires have advanced to a very high level many are now focused on the toughest tire available, thinking this is the best option. Maybe so, if you are continually puncturing your tires and/or ripping sidewalls, maybe you do need the toughest tire. However, some have forgot or never knew that the problem with light-truck tires just a few decades ago was that most were bias-ply designs and were very inflexible. They were pretty rugged as bias-ply tires tend to be, but in addition to their limiting tread designs, on-highway handling was only fair, and sidewall and tread flex, a key component of traction, was almost non-existent. Radial tire design and the specialty tires have changed this in a big way.

This comical and entertaining historic advertising movie from 1939 for the Fisk Tire Company illustrates how advanced tire technology has become and how different it was decades ago. At minute 4:00 in the video, the narrator explains how the rubber “inserts” allow the formerly continuous tread ribs to flex and act independently. This is essentially the same as what’s accomplished with the siping of modern tires, allowing tread blocks to conform and move independently, and providing biting edges for grip. Flexibility is key. If you want traction, you need flex. Most modern tires do offer a lot of flex, and flexibility is part of the reason handling, ride, and traction is so good (think radial tires). It’s important to remember and focus on the fundamental principles of traction and drivability.

Copyright © 2012 James Langan

A New Tire or Two

Old TXR 255/85R16D spare and a Not so old Dick Cepek F-C II 285/75R16D

Several weeks ago I cut a sidewall on one of my LT285/75R16 Dick Cepek Fun Country II (FC II) tires. The story about the sidewall cut and trail will be told later, but with only three FC II treads on the 4Runner I was in need of at least one new tire. Since I had been running a close enough 255/85R16 spare, I decided to buy two FC II to insure I had the exact tire in the unlikely event I ruined another casing in the near future. My calculations indicated that if I rotated the older three tires on one side of the car, all with 3/32″ of wear, and the two new ones on the other side, the wear would even out over the next 30,000-miles.

Most tire warranties don’t cover off-road use. This is term is open to interpretation, as many state and county roads in the rural west are not paved but are still very clearly roads. Regardless, since the three older FC II treads had been purchased mail-order and were not covered under any road hazard warranty, I decided to buy the new tries mail-order as well. One of the local tire shops I do lots of business with would have mounted & balanced the new treads for a reasonable fee, but I decided to play with a little old school technology and balance them myself. It wasn’t easy.

Copyright © 2011 James Langan