I think the sweet spot for 18" rims is the 275/70/18, there are two lightweight choices: The General Grabber AT/X which is 45 lbs, and the soon to be released Nitto Terra Grappler G3 which 46.5 lbs.
Tire Upgrade ?
- Thread starter JPATTERS
- Start date
After parking next to this monster back in July (first photo) I decided to do a small upgrade (because size does matter)... Went from 275/70/18 (33.2") to 285/75/18 (34.8") KO3 tires, requiring only minimal adjustments to the front fender clips. Used Toytec strut spacer and Spidertrax wheel spacer on the stock wheels, without any cutting required. Only downside so far is no room for spare tire.
This looks amazing, great size….I am planning to go to 285/70R18…one concern I have is which tire to get, between the Falken Wildpeak at4 or Toyo Open Country or KO3 - concern is the weight and highway ride. How is the MPG, acceleration and braking feel?
Braking and acceleration feel similar to my 275/75/18 tires. I can't compare to the stock size since I swapped those out at just 5 miles. As for fuel economy, I'm currently getting around 15 MPG, down from the 16.8 MPG I was averaging before. KO3 all the way... Im exclusively BFG on all my Land Cruisers.
17" wheels are a very tight fit. I asked Method about their wheels and they said it's just a few mm clearance from the brake calipers. So they fit, but there's a potential to get gravel or something jammed in there. (I'd say especially in the case of driving through a mix of mud and gravel -- I grew up about 10 miles from the nearest paved roads, sometimes a 4WD was the only way to get to town.) That's probably why Toyota doesn't put 17" wheels on them.
This looks great! The 285/75/18 is a sweet spot and tire choice excellent.
What was actual lift from the spacer and was it only applied to the front struts to level? And what did the wheel spacer do exactly? Did that give you some offset pushing the tires out a bit to give a wider stance?
Not sure where to bring this up… BUT…. With all these 17” wheels going on the LC’s, with such ‘tight fits’ between the calipers and the 17” wheels, can the brakes properly cool when used for heavy braking?
That is a fair question, but not something that I would be worried about. Sports cars that can generate alot of brake heat often have similar tight clearances between the caliper and the wheel.
For a truck I'd prefer more clearance but not because of heat.
I agree with TheBat, they're still open to the sides where most of the cooling will come from.
The 17" wheels I have (Black Rhino Stadium 17x8 +35mm) have about 3/4" of clearance between the wheel and the calipers. Not sure about other wheel brands or styles, YMMV.
At 3/4" I wouldn't be worried at all.
