The OEM tires (BF Goodrich Rugged Trail T/A) on my 2004 Tacoma DC 4x4 are coming to the end of their useful life.

The truck is primarily used on road as a weekend toy hauler (dirt bikes, mountain bikes, etc).

I’m staying with OEM size (265/70R16).

I’ve narrowed my choices down to these:
Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo.
Michelin LTX MS.
Firestone Destination A/T.

One thing I noticed while researching was the great variations in tire weight. According to Tire Rack, the Firestone Destination A/T’s are 51 lbs a piece, while the
OEM BF GoodRich All Terrain T/A’s are 37 lbs a piece. Wow. Big difference.

Any info out there as to how tire weight affects a 2004 Tacoma DC 4X4 w/ v6?

Specially, impact on acceleration, braking, and MPG.

Thanks
Bob

 

Did all the tires have the same ply rating? Were they all rated "C" ply, or "D" ply, or "E" ply?

You've answered your question, the heavier tire will impact your acceleration and deceleration (brake wear), fuel mileage. If the heavier tire has more plys then it will ride slightly stiffer but will be more durable (theoretically, because there may be variance on ply thickness etc.).

Cheers

 

General rule of thumb is that each pound of rotating weight is equal to 10 pounds of dead weight in the truck.

 

I just did a search on Tire Rack on the destinations a/t. The ones that are 51 pounds are the "D" Rated ones. The load index for those is 2835. The 4 runners have a tire rating of 111s witch the load index for 111 = 2403 pounds per tire.

The other one they have on there is the 111s sl witch weighs 40 pounds per tire. I have those on my 99 and love them. They have about 38,000 and i will prob have too replace them this fall, witch by then they will have prob around 50,000 on them. There awesome in the snow I think. Ride pretty good too. I am prob going with the KUMHO Road Venture AT KL78 next.

Good luck.

 

As its been said already look at the load rating. Load D is the absolute most you need.

The factory tires are just glorified car tires and will offer the lightest weight. But if you are not doing any serious off road I'd suggest getting another P rated tire and NOT LT tires. The P rated tires will generally be lighter and cheaper. And good enough for most uses.

For example - I believe the REVO's come in both P and LT

 

i have had the Michelin ltx m&s tire on 2 of my dodge rams. my 02 ram i have bfg a/t's and love them. my 98 ram i have some courser a/t's and i like them. i did not like the michelins. the tread did not wear evenly(the alignment was perfect and tires were balanced), and i had to take both trucks back to the dealer for the sidewalls cracking all of the time. i have had zero problems out of either tire on either truck.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotational_energy

Read up on this. For dead weight, energy is .5*m*v^2. For rotational energy, the energy is .5*m*v^2 PLUS .5*I*w^2. This is why there is about a 10 times difference.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

Although we are extremely pleased with the Michelin LTX M/S on my wife’s Rav4, I think I’ll give the Revos a try. Biggest thing I tow is a SeaDoo, so load rating shouldn’t be a concern. I like the looks of the BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A, but sounds like the Revos will serve my purpose better.

Thanks,
Bob.

 

I think you will like the REVO's they do well in most situations. The only place I think the BFG's AT KO's do better is puncture resistence. But I don't think the BFG's will suit your purposes since they don't handle well and they are heavy.

I would suggest getting a good road hazard with any tire you get.

 

My parents run the Revos on their Suburban. Most amazing set of tires I have ever dealt with. Those things went through snow and rain like they were dry pavement. I became so accustomed to it that It was dangerous for me to switch to another vehicle after driving that suburban for a while.
Another factor was probably that it was a 2500 series with a 454 and a heavy duty towing/suspension package. so the weight helped to cut through the snow.

 

I was noticing the same thing last fall. I was on a logging road that had a couple inches of snow on it and the Ford F250s had narrow tires on them and were able to go a lot faster than I was with 31X10.5 R15s. Narrow tires and weight probably have as much to do with performance in those conditions as brand.

 

My Revos are a lot better than the previous junk Pathfinder tires I had on. Rain and snow is no longer an issue for me. Only issue I have is with 30K on them they are getting louder but they still have great grip.

 

FYI the BFG all terain K/O's don't weigh 40 lbs they are closer to 51 in a 265/70/16...trust me I have been researching tire weights for like 3 months now trying to find somthing light.

Best I have found are the BFG mud terrains in a 245/75/16 they weigh only 37lbs as compared to the 51 lb 265/75/16 Yokohama Geolanders on my rig now. that what I will be getting when I have $1000.00...