Guys, I am seriously having a tough time deciding on a tire size.

I do mostly stop and go driving below 50 MPH, I drive the highways at 70 or less a lot too, but not in mountains, just foot hills.

Do you think having 33x12.50R15 Tires on my 95 with the V6, automatic transmission and 4.88 Gears is a good idea, or am I setting myself up for dissapointment?

Things I'm concerned with are MPG, top speed, acceleration, etc.

The lift I'm getting will accomadate it OK, I'm just worried about the drivetrain...

Please help me decide

Lamm

 

Yay, my gf 2nd gen has 33s and seems to do fine, its slow but what do you expect with an auto and a v6 but gets 20 mpg on the highway

 

The above quote (via PM) was from 'strap22'. I talked to him afterwards about placing an order and he told me about how much he liked his new gearing. As i said before, i'm pretty sure hes running 33x12.5s with an auto tranny. It wouldn't hurt to give him a call or send an email...

 

look at my signature....I think you will like 488 with the 33" tires....maybe even 529. Go with the thinner 33x10.50 and gas mileage will be a bit better. ZUK

edit----I re-read and see that you presently have 488......33 is a nice looking tire on a Runner. 35" is too big and less fun on the road. 31" is so ho hum.

33x10.50 is a light tire so you may be pleased with maintaining your old acceleration and mileage.

 

What are you running now? 4.88's and 31s? If so, you WILL notice a difference. Is it one you can live with? Probably. Throw the tranny in ECT mode and plan for some 5.29's in the future if you decide you aren't happy.

 

Lamm-why are you so against running the 33x10.5 ?? I love mine on and off the road.

 

Well, you pretty much only get BFGs, so the selection is slim.

I had 33x10.50 BFG ATs on the last one, I'm wanting to try something new.

Lamm

 

I ran 33x12.5's with a 3.0 an an auto using 5.29 gears. It was great.

Now I have a 3.4 and it is over geared.

4.88's are good, but 5.29's may be better.

Skinnier, as ZUK said could be a savior.

Good luck with your decision.

 

I went from 31x10.5 BFG AT's with the 3.0/AT/4.88 combo to 33x12.5x15 MTR's about a year and a half ago.

At first it seemed really slow but I got used to it, actulally like it now. Only real problem is uphill highway driving. need to drop a gear and settle for what speed you can get.

Gas milage took a dump around town but probably due to the extra tire on the road.

I'm going to 5.29's but only in anticipation of 35's that should take me back to stock with 33's.

 

Any more votes?

I'm considering a 33x10.50 BFG MT or a 33x12.50 AT...

I think a heavy 33x12.50 may be too much...

Lamm

 

if you want an AT tire, i know that BFG makes their AT in a 33x11.5. not sure how much that may help your MPG but im sure it would ride a bit more smoothly then turning those hunky 33x12.5. just a thought. you have so many options, no need to get it right the first time. i run 33x12.5 with 488 and its not a racecar but i like it. its fun. hell i would say forget AT, i would get MT just because of the sound. may be a little rougher, but that sound man...

 

I ran a similar setup to what you are talking about for 2 years on my 93 4Runner before I traded it in on my 99. I had the V6, auto, factory 4.88s, and 31s. With this combo it was a decent vehicle. Got decent milage and was fairly good up hills. Then when I did the 4" Superlift and put on the 33x12.50 TrXus M/Ts my milage went down a lot. So did power. Up hills I was lucky if I could do 35-40, of course this is in Colorado. My milage also went down to about 13-15. These are the main 2 reasons for trading it in. With the 99 I'm getting 17-21 mpg, closer to 20-21 as it isn't driven that much, and with the 3.4 I have all the power I need right now.

 

Well, looks like its gonna be a 32x11.50 Cooper or a 33x10.50 BFG...

Lamm

 

Dude, youre def. gonna notice a difference in the mileage, speed, top speed, and all that. I also have the 3.0 / auto, and the 33's are gonna take the tole. I know I have 4.56 and you have 4.88s, but the 4.88s are meant for 31's. If you dont care about doin 60 on the highway up foothills, worse than bad gas mileage, and a weaker than normal all around powertrain, then Giddyup! Otherwise, Id stick with 31's or go 5.29s with 33's, which is what the general consensus was in another thread about autos,3.0s and 33's was.

 

Not to threadjack here, but is running a 10.5" tire going to result in better gas mileage, acceleration, and on road handling then if you ran a 12.5"??

 

It all depends on your Priority.

If it is off road go with 33's, either live with the on road performance or regear. Like I said I have the same drivetrain and wouldn't trade my 33x12.5 MTR's for anything except 35 MTR's and 5.29's. My MTR's handle better on the road than my BFG AT's did, especially in the rain. Just a little more noise and take more gas.

If your priority is street driving go with a smaller tire.

You can't have it both ways without regearing.

 

Yes. Smaller contact patch = less friction = less rolling resistance.

 

Dunlop sells a tire in the 33x10.50 size. Check out tirerack.com. You can get 33x10.50 Thornbirds but I highly discourage it. Those tires suck, pretty sidewall and you'll get a lot of compliments, but they were horrible performance wise.

 

Here is my thinking to this date:

Performance gear lists 4.88 as the ratio for 33" or 34" tires. They list 4.56 as 32" size.
Obviously this is a little off, or Toyota would not have put 4.88s in a 4x4 with 31s.

With my old 2nd gen (5-speed) I ran 33x10.50s with little problems. That is 1 ratio too low per the chart. I'm assuming any lack of performance via the slushbox would be compensated for by the 4.88 gears as opposed to the 4.56 in the 92 I had.

This leads me to belive that I will be happy with a 33x10.50. (Marc P says they are good, his rig is like a clone of mine and I trust his judgement) Now I must decide on a BFG AT or MT... The Dunlop is kind of a junk tire for a 4x4.

I had ATs in the past, they were great. So now I'm looking into the BFG MTs tread life, rain and snow handling and streetability vs. the BFG AT.

I plan of seeing if lator I can test drive a set of 33x12.50s and determine if they bog me down too much. I'm joining a 4x4 club soon, I'm sure we can find some 33s on a 6 lug rim...

Well, thats where it stands now. Thanks for all your help. I am still open to input on the issure, and also input on BFG MTs. My main concern with them is snow and rain. I know all about the ATs because I ran them for like 3 years.

Thanks guys,

Lamm

 

BTW Marc, how do you like the EZ-Locker with the auto. I had a Lockright in my 92 but it was easy to get it to unlock with the clutch...

Lamm