About To Buy New Tires

[EmptyV]

So I'm about to buy some new rubber. I'm only 2WD and keep my wheeling to high speed high desert style offroading. I'm debating on either the BFG All-Terrain T/A KO's and now looking at the Baja T/A's. I had a set of All Terrain TKO on my old Explorer that went for 75K miles but stayed on the street. Does anyone have any experience with the Baja T/A's? I know most of you are backwoods 4 wheelers but any help would be great. Fueler any any other San Diegans would be a great help as that's my type of terrain.

 

Billy

[01silvapathy]

I heard that the Baja's wear out real quick and that they get real unstable on wet roads. I know it does not rain that often in San Diego, but when it does come down it comes down hard. The AT's do great in pretty much everything, and they are cheaper

[EmptyV]

I heard that the Baja's wear out real quick and that they get real unstable on wet roads. I know it does not rain that often in San Diego, but when it does come down it comes down hard. The AT's do great in pretty much everything, and they are cheaper

 

Holy ........! I just looked at some pricing sheets for the Baja's and dayum! A set of 5 will cost well over $2500, thats insane! I'm not even sure if they make a tire small enough to fit in our wheel wells. Sorry for wasting your time and thanks for the reply.

 

Billy

Edited April 27, 2010 by EmptyV

[esy]

bajas are very expensive and near pointless for on-road use.

 

if you are going into more desert running, move onto floatation sizing, that'll help better.

Edited April 27, 2010 by edwinsyip

[FUELER]

id suggest getting a wider rim than stock, and getting floatation sizing like edwin mentioned.... as wide of a tire as possible

 

im a fan of the BFG AT...

[esy]

well, in order not to have to go super wide and lifting the vehicle with an SL and an SFD, the OP can just get a simple flotation size in the 31". he'll have to air down the tires either way which will allow for a larger footprint.

 

i, too, am a huge fan of the BFG KO tires. the tech used while the tires are aired-down are second to none.

[EmptyV]

Yeah I'm switching from 16x7's to 17x9's which I picked up yesterday woot woot! I think I'm going to slap on some 285x70R17 BFG TKO's with help from Andrew's ultra informative 33 thread. I'm not to familiar with flotation sizing but I'm guessing it's just another term for airing down? I'm ordering the wheel spacers for the front as we speak. Now my next hought is a high lift jack but how do you use one with running boards? Should I drop those and put up a set of rock sliders for jack placement? I just want to make sure I'm fully prepared for everything.

 

Thanks!

 

Billy

[01silvapathy]

Yeah I'm switching from 16x7's to 17x9's which I picked up yesterday woot woot! I think I'm going to slap on some 285x70R17 BFG TKO's with help from Andrew's ultra informative 33 thread. I'm not to familiar with flotation sizing but I'm guessing it's just another term for airing down? I'm ordering the wheel spacers for the front as we speak. Now my next hought is a high lift jack but how do you use one with running boards? Should I drop those and put up a set of rock sliders for jack placement? I just want to make sure I'm fully prepared for everything.

 

Thanks!

 

Billy

 

Yay for my thread being useful to atleast one person But when you do def put up pics! Are you going to switch out coils from your OME to AC's? If you are still running OME's if you want I can go and attempt to take a fender measurement and we can compare just to be sure. As far as steprails go, I dont know if you should take them off. While I like the look of them being off, with the type of driving you say you are going to be doing (high speed desert running) you may have an issue with stones hitting the side of your truck (esp if you go with BFG AT's they love to grab and hold onto stones!) I dont know how much it would help stop the problem but its worth a try with them on and if it doesnt help then take them off Onto the last topic about jacks. Yes you could replace your side steps with sliders but they are expensive, and you are not 4wd which means you should not be on rock or getting close enough to stuff to cause a use for the sliders, atleast in my opinion its not enough of a risk to justify dropping 500 bucks for a set of them when you wont be using them. A hi lift would work with those sliders though so that would be your only use for them, as a jacking point. I have used my rear hitch as a jack point for a hi lift before but I would not advise doing this because it can be very unstable having the whole rear end up in the air with only one contact. Now if you did like I did and once you get the truck up in the air throw some jack stands under the axle you will be fine. But once again with the type of terrain you plan on running a hi lift has issues, mainly with the foot. If you put it in sand I imagine it will just dig into the sand and not get any lift without a stable base point. You can however buy an off road base thing to put under the foot to give it a more stable footing. But what I would really look into is a Air Lift jack. Its pretty cool, you attach a tube to your exhaust and it inflates a giant air sack which in turn will raise up the vehicle. Which would also be good for sand! It wont be as able to sink into the sand. It would be cheaper than buying a set of sliders and a hi lift....just my opinion. Here is a link to the Air jack made by ARB called the Bushranger X Jack

 

A video of how it works, in the situation you would probably be in those x tracks would probably come in handy also.

 

 

Link to the jack

http://ruggedrocksoffroad.com/arb-bushranger-xjack-p-6025.html?osCsid=2ffupkqjm730rdhr9lk1ern602

Edited April 29, 2010 by 01silvapathy

[esy]

flotation sizing is essentially standard size tires (i.e,. 31", 32", 33", etc.).

 

they're different compared to metric sizing, in that, they essentially "float" on top of the surfaces. the reason for flotation sizing is that a tire typically has a tendency to "sink" in softer soil, sand, etc due to soil compaction. high flotation sized tires will help alleviate that problem. if you actually won't come across such situations on a regular basis, there's no need for it then.

 

being able to air down a tire is different from flotation sizing. BFG KO tires have technology in them to allow the tires to air down and still give rigid shoulders (this tech is called ShoulderLock technology) and not ride on the sidewalls of tires, resulting in damaged sidewalls/runflats.

[TooQForYou]

Have you looked into Nitto Dune Grapplers? I have no knowledge of them, just thought I'd throw them out there.

Edited April 30, 2010 by TooQForYou

[nismothunder]

The procomp xtreme a/t is a good tire...

 

BFG are all good,and so are Genral Grabbers(GG's are the one I'd look at)

I know they wont fit the the Mickey T Baja belted is a supurb sand tire...

[EmptyV]

Have you looked into Nitto Dune Grapplers? I have no knowledge of them, just thought I'd throw them out there.

 

I checked out the Nitto Terra Grapplers a while back and came to the conclusion that yes they're cheaper but definitely don't have the tread life the TKO's do.

 

The procomp xtreme a/t is a good tire...

 

BFG are all good,and so are Genral Grabbers(GG's are the one I'd look at)

I know they wont fit the the Mickey T Baja belted is a supurb sand tire...

 

I also checked out the General Grabber A/T2's and came to the same conclusion as far as tire life span goes.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've been researching since October but for some reason keep finding new tires, it's insane how many different A/T tires are out there.

 

Billy

[esy]

in all my experience with tires in the shop and what i've ridden on in the past, General is a horrible tire/company. they might make one decent tire, but for what it's worth, i would personally stay far, far away from them.

 

i'm in the boat of spending the cash for good tires off the top and not dealing with crappy tires down the road. the BFG KO tires are what started it all and you can't go wrong at all. at the same time, not only are you buying good tires for your off-road needs, but it's all about safety first and foremost. i don't skimp on something as important as tires since that's the only thing connecting you to the road.

 

that's the end of my PSA.

[EmptyV]

Yay for my thread being useful to atleast one person...

 

A video of how it works, in the situation you would probably be in those x tracks would probably come in handy also.

 

 

Link to the jack

http://ruggedrocksoffroad.com/arb-bushranger-xjack-p-6025.html?osCsid=2ffupkqjm730rdhr9lk1ern602

 

A ton of people are gonna find that thread extremely useful. And thanks for the info on the air jack, that seems to be a really practical way to go.

 

So I just got back from my tire guy and he mounted one 285/70/R17 on the back and front to check clearance and my rear fender flair measured @ 35 3/8" from the ground with the OME 922 HD coils. I didn't measure the front but it seems that the farthest we could mount it while pressed up against the coil seat left a 1/4" gap off the hub. Is the 1.5" spacer still necessary or can I use a smaller one to clear the coil seat. Much appreciated!

 

Billy

[01silvapathy]

A ton of people are gonna find that thread extremely useful. And thanks for the info on the air jack, that seems to be a really practical way to go.

 

So I just got back from my tire guy and he mounted one 285/70/R17 on the back and front to check clearance and my rear fender flair measured @ 35 3/8" from the ground with the OME 922 HD coils. I didn't measure the front but it seems that the farthest we could mount it while pressed up against the coil seat left a 1/4" gap off the hub. Is the 1.5" spacer still necessary or can I use a smaller one to clear the coil seat. Much appreciated!

 

Billy

 

Id just go with a 1.5 because you know how pissed you will be throwing tools against the wall in rage when you get smaller wheel spacers and the tires dont fit. LOL

[EmptyV]

Id just go with a 1.5 because you know how pissed you will be throwing tools against the wall in rage when you get smaller wheel spacers and the tires dont fit. LOL

 

Yeah you're probably right, I'll stick with the 1.5" spacers. Because of the offset/backspacing I'm already going to be sticking out by 1/2" so hopefully this wont be too exaggerated. Again 1000 thanks, you and everyone else have been a huge help. Fueler you might have some competition for the toughest Q coming next week. :coffee!:

 

Billy

[esy]

i'd like to see some pics of your truck. you say you have the 922 coils, but do you have anything in front?

 

from what i understand, the 922s are the medium coils for the rear. kind of want to see what kind of lift you get with the OME. don't see too many people with the OME.

[EmptyV]

i'd like to see some pics of your truck. you say you have the 922 coils, but do you have anything in front?

 

from what i understand, the 922s are the medium coils for the rear. kind of want to see what kind of lift you get with the OME. don't see too many people with the OME.

 

I forgot to mention I've also got coil spacers in the rear, pictured below. There's been some discrepancy on which coils are the medium and which are the HD. I think last year I emailed rugged rocks (who I purchased them from) and they said the 922's are HD coils. I've also got 922's up front with NX4 1" spacers. I'll get pics up once I get the new tires on next week.

 

[esy]

yeah, i just sent an e-mail to them in an attempt to clarify things as well. i keep seeing that the 922s are the rear medium coils, 928s are front HD coils, 923s are front medium coils, and 921s are front light coils. do you have pics of your lift with stock wheels/tires? or whatever larger size you're running now? just trying to get an idea of what the OME looks like. and is it a .5" lift like ruggedrocks says they are? or is it a 1.75" lift like rockyroad says they are?

[EmptyV]

yeah, i just sent an e-mail to them in an attempt to clarify things as well. i keep seeing that the 922s are the rear medium coils, 928s are front HD coils, 923s are front medium coils, and 921s are front light coils. do you have pics of your lift with stock wheels/tires? or whatever larger size you're running now? just trying to get an idea of what the OME looks like. and is it a .5" lift like ruggedrocks says they are? or is it a 1.75" lift like rockyroad says they are?

 

Here's the link that Steven Lutz @ Rugged Rocks gave me for the 2" rear lift springs, OME Springs I'd definitely double check with him just to be safe. Here's what it looked like right after the springs were installed. I'm pretty sure it's 1.75"+ and not the 0.5" they're stating.

 

[esy]

Here's the link that Steven Lutz @ Rugged Rocks gave me for the 2" rear lift springs, OME Springs I'd definitely double check with him just to be safe. Here's what it looked like right after the springs were installed. I'm pretty sure it's 1.75"+ and not the 0.5" they're stating.

 

 

see, that's really weird. when i click that link, it takes me to the front light load spring page. unless they've got everything jumbled up like crazy. i don't plan on lifting anytime soon, just trying to sort everything out for the future for whenever i do possibly get around to doing it.

 

yeah, that lift looks much more normal for our trucks. a 265/70/16 would fill it rather nicely, and a 275/70/16 would fill it pretty well. still undecided about the lift right now though.

[TooQForYou]

It says in ARB's catalogue that the 928 is the HD.

http://www.arbusa.com/uploads/PDF/accessorizeYourRig/nissanPathfinder.pdf

Edited May 1, 2010 by TooQForYou

[esy]

awesome link! thanks!

[TooQForYou]

No prob!

[EmptyV]

see, that's really weird. when i click that link, it takes me to the front light load spring page. unless they've got everything jumbled up like crazy. i don't plan on lifting anytime soon, just trying to sort everything out for the future for whenever i do possibly get around to doing it.

 

yeah, that lift looks much more normal for our trucks. a 265/70/16 would fill it rather nicely, and a 275/70/16 would fill it pretty well. still undecided about the lift right now though.

 

I'll let you know how well the 285/70R17's fit. I test fit the rear and it looked good. My only concern is rubbing against the fender flair when flexing.

 

Billy