I am currently low on funds but want new tires, I have 265/75/16 on my 2.5" lifted 3rd gen. I've been serching for tires and this is what I came up with, please advise on what to get...
I went to my local walmart to see what they could get me in 285/75/16, and they told me have the tire Liberator A/T LT and I could get them installed with lifetime balancing, 40k warranty, and flat repair for $425. Or I could get a tire like the Yokohama Geolander A/T+ or Dunlop Radial Rovers mounted and balanced for around $525 at another store.

I like the 40,000 mile warranty, lifetime balance and the cost of the walmart tires, but is it worth the extra hundred to get some real tires?

 

Okay, I'll jump in... One man's opinion...
The Geolandar AT and Radial Rovers (assming AT also) are no better than the discount tire in practical terms. In other words, if you ain't gettin a performance traction tire and you ain't gettin a performance road tire, then save money! By the way, those are great prices!! My tire guy (business relationship and long time friend) can not sell me Geo ATs for that price installed. Actually, he can't sell them for that price and he'd install them for free. I never knew Wallies had such good prices. Me, I'd either save up some for BFG KMs (or similar, but I have never found a better tire than the good old Mud Terrain TA) or go with the Liberators and save some dough.

 

I got them installed today, the Liberators, and I'm not too impressed. Should a 285/75/16 have a wider footprint than my old 265/75/16? The footprint of the liberators is not wider and actually is alittle smaller than my old 265 Big-O A/T's. I want a wider tirer along with taller and I though I would get that with the 285's. I can return them if I like tomorrow because they could not balance a tire that big, and the manager said if they're not up to par then I can bring them back no charge.

 

The 285's should be about an inch wider.

 

Damn, I'm taking them back then. I want a wider footprint, what tire do I need to get in 285 to get a wide footprint, are wide foot prints only on max off-road terrain not all-terrain?

 

TTT I need some advice please.

 

Sorry, adding another question here...

Did your new tires rub at all?? What type of lift do you have for you to stick those size tires in there? You said 2.5" lift... is this the OME?

 

Also, you may not want to get much wider tires. That will probably cause htem to rub even more, right?

 

i have dunlop radial rovers and can tell you theyre great on-road tires. i like them a lot, but will be upgrading to bfgs or duelers as soon as i need to change em.

they actually stick really well in the wet and did a great job in the snow. i say run with the dunlops.

 

No rub at all, if they had a wider footprint there may have been a little if any. I have coilovers in the front and OME in the back, great lift.

 

Are they a pretty wide tire? I want a think tire like these.
What tires look like this other than the BFG's? they are alittle steep for me.

 

no, theyre nothing like that. theyre street tires, not very trucky. which is the only thing that i hate about them.

 

Different tire companies sizes vary - considerably! And they're stated sizes on their websites don't reflect reality either. Long time lessons learned. Trick is to take a tape measure with you to the tire store. For example - General Tires are always a full size smaller than they should be! Kuhmos tend to run almost a size bigger. Some Swampers (SSRs) can run almost 2 sizes smaller than you expect!

I have the Dunlops on my F150. (265/70R17) I like them a lot for a street tire, and the price was great.

 

The rover RV's are? What about the mud terrain?