I have been thinking about this for years… what is the right option without screwing over the vehicle gearing! I finally got around to solving the wheels and tyres situation.
I talked about this last in 2022, 4WD Wheels Rim & Tyre Choice, basically there is just a lot to think about before jumping into it. I was sitting in the showroom at The Wheel Deal this morning, waiting for the new boots to be fitted, where a younger bloke walked in and wanted huge muddies for his stock Hilux, and basically stopped listening to the guy when he told him they would scrub and the other issues with his choice.
The reply, “but they look good.” This is the problem from all forms of social media in choosing tyres, let alone rims. He doesn’t even do mud driving… but said he was thinking about offroad to go camping in the future. WTF? Muddies are terrible and perform horribly on everything other than in mud.
My 2021 Dmax had 18×7.5″ P33 rims, sporting 265/60/18 highway tyres. They were pretty damn good offroad, on the beach and on road. This is why I haven’t rushed to change my wheels like most do, just to venture offroad onto something mild.
I made the decision to go down in rim size by one, to 17″ and up in tyre size by one, to a 70 sidewall, as a 265/65/17 is the same size as a 265/60/18. So a 17×8″ P15 rim with a 265/70/17 all terrain, the Falken Wildpeak AT3W, which is also triple snow peak rated for when I’m in the high country.
Why those tyres? It was between Maxxis Razr AT811 and these, and these had better reviews, and whilst normally more expensive than the Maxxis, were on sale by $100 per tyre, so I went with the slightly better tyre. No noise, really comfortable, which was my aim, adding the extra sidewall without screwing over my gear ratios for power and towing.
So I added 36mm to my stance to help offset the 50mm lift and only 10mm lift on the tyres, which changed nothing for my speedo / power, which I am super happy about, but got the added sidewall for all-round comfort. I felt the comfort near immediately on the outer Melbourne roads which were crap, so it was a great immediate test driving away.
My personal advice contradicts the general Youtuber advice, but aligns with the engineering advice I have sought – wider tyres perform worse offroad and wider rims just add weight you never needed, and combined they increase fuel economy, so just don’t do it.
