Just got her, tire questions

[cascabel3]

I joined this forum last week and picked up my 2000 VX on Saturday in Arizona, drove her to her new home in Los Angeles. I have never even imagined she would drive this well. What a fine piece of engineering. I am super happy and excited to finally own this vehicle. I went to my tire store yesterday to see about putting on some decent off-road tires and was advised that they don't make any agressive threads for 18 inch rims. Something tells me that the dealer is full of BS and something tells me this site may have the answer. I'd hate to have to get new rims.

Thanks in advance.

[thedutchguy]

Don't know about rough riding, but since most of the driving is done on road you'd be best of with Bridgestone duellers.
Get a second set of wheels and tires for off roading(they could be 16") and get some tires to fit within your budget.

[AlaskaVX]

There are no mud terrain tires for 18's that will fit (from what I have seen) I couldn't even find a good tire to have studded, they all seemed to have too thin of tread. Get yourself some cheap steel wheels for winter/offroading.

[Tone]

Welcome aboard - 18" are harder to find than 15" or 16" tires (get cheap steel wheels if you are serious about offroading) but more on coming - Google "18" mud terrain" - many are taller than the 30-31" max we have without a lift. Saw Dunlop and Mickey Thompson 18" mud tires at SEMA that are coming soon. You may want to try some All Terrains as well that will be quieter.

[cascabel3]

Thanks to all of you guys for your response. I will look for a permanent solution. Here in Cali Winter barely exists and the the off-roading starts behind my house. Meanwhile I still go to work in the vehicle. I have a 91 Trooper and wonder is its rims would fit the VX.

Also, at times the idle is loping, going up and down. I know that Isuzus seem to have idle issue at times. Any answers on that one?

Thanks again.

[Anita]

Welcome to the forum! It's nice to have another Los Angeles VX owner on board. At some point we will put together a VX meet in Los Angeles.

Check the forum's search feature on idle problems and you will find a number of documented causes.

Should you ever need to find a good mechanic to work on your VX, let me recommend highly the master mechanic Mike at Sierra Isuzu Dealership in Monrovia.

[driver3]

I would NOT recommend the duelers that are on it from the dealer... IMHO they suck.... get some kumho's or some yokohamas and get them a little bigger than the originals. Mine are 285-60-18's and they are great. As for off-road I also recommend getting some cheap 16in steels and you can get almost any tire after that.

[cascabel3]

Thanks Anita, especially for the beta with your mechanic. I've had idle loping before on my Trooper but forgot what the fix was then. EGR maybe?

An LA meet, I'd be all over that and better sooner than later.

[transio]

You might want to get some Nitto Terragrapplers - 285-60-18 - many people here have them, and supposedly they're fine on- and off-road tires.

[cascabel3]

Thanks Driver3, it looks as if 16 inch rims will be the answer.

[Mile High EDGe]

I had a '99 Trooper and purchased a '01 VX, during which I swapped my Isuzu Trooper 16's with the 18's which worked out just great. The tires are over stock as well, they are Yokohama Geolander A/T+ II's - 265/70 16. And it is nice since the wheels are Isuzu and the suspension is stock, made this a cheap step up. Also just an FYI but when the VX came out in '99 the Isuzu 16's were the stock wheels and later the went to 18's.

[cascabel3]

Thanks MileHigh. That is awesome news. This means I will put the 18" rims on my Trooper and put the 16"ers on the Vehicross and have a set of BF Goodrich slapped on. I used that tire on my Trooper and it performs well on and off road. Thanks again.

[james1_10018]

do you guys think this would fit on the VX

285/45-20

[RAZ]

I have the Nitto Terragrapplers - 285-60-18
Look Great really fill out the wheel well!
Look at the pictures in my gallery
You have to click them twice to see them clearly

STEVE

[cascabel3]

Raz, where is your gallery?

[cascabel3]

Raz, found it! I want that tire and I want it yesterday!

Thanks for the FB.

[SGT.BATGUANO]

Originally posted by james1_10018
do you guys think this would fit on the VX

285/45-20

Yes, with proper wheel offset and cladding trim. I'm running 295/45/20's

[RAZ]

Do a gallery search of NITTO to see more pics of other VX's
with with those tires. You have to trim the a small corner of
the cladding on the front wheel well so they fit.
You should be able to see pics in the gallerys of that too.

STEVE

[cascabel3]

Raz,

just ordered the Nittos, 285-60-18, $800 installed. Getting them in tomorrow. Can't wait. I'll look in the galleries on how and what to cut. Thanks again

[rocket man]

Hi Cascabel or neighbor I guess you could say..

Was in a rush today otherwise would have stopped and yaked more ..other than at each stop light....good to see another VX out in the SCV(Santa Clarita Valley, CA)...Your gonna love your car. We have another one out here too its a Proton like mine..

And yes you made the right choice(IMO) as far as the Nitto tires.

I have heard Nitto is going to a "mud terrain" tread but haven't released it in 285X18 configuration, as far as I know. Might be a little noisy for my taste, but probably a good choice for our varied terrain and conditions we get out here.

The winch I installed in September came off my 1989 Isuzu Amigo(She didn't need it anymore at 240K miles and still going) The exterior assembly is from CalMini. I rebuilt the old winch and put on new cable with new solenoids in the control box...and Viola!!!

I took pics of the install and have them on a floppy disc but havn't figured how to post them on this site, otherwise I would. I have. also put in a Pioneer AVIC-1 Navigation system with a rear back-up camera....awesome in every phase...really quiets down the cockpit... getting prompted by a soft sexy female voice telling me to, "make a left then a right onto I-5 south". Of course the back-up cam is a self-evident advantage...You've had the car a week or two now right??

This is a great site with very helpful/knowledgable and polite people....no question is too stupid.....and boy have I seen real whopper's here but its all handled nicely..... abiet a few snickers and giggles maybe....


John McManus

Ps. Pleasure meeting you today and hope we meet again!

[itsaysjack]

i also have the Nitto Terragrapplers - 285-60-18
the look great, handle great and i would get them again

from the "oc"

[RAZ]

Did you get them?
I was a little worried after I ordered them.
But glad I got them. They look awesome.

STEVE

[cascabel3]

I have replied to your email in private. What a chase to catch up to you, glad we caught ya though. Nice rig you've got, and oh those tires. I LOVE MY NITOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS!!!!!!!

[cascabel3]

To all of those who recommended the Nittos:


A tire truly worthy of the VX. What a fine performance all around, and the looks, uff! Thanks for all your help, I am totally psyched.

[kuba]

Finally got my VX ironman 99 yesterday!
I have the same question regarding the tire, what are the recommandation for the 16" rim? Many thanks:)

[rocket man]

Check some past threads on this site...I have the 18' rims with "Nittos" but the errrr "hole"(wheel well);py; is same on all of our cars so you'll have the same demension issues regarding clearence. AS alluded to by others the 285X60X18 is pretty near the max without lifting/slicing the cladding more than a little/jacking the torsion bars etc . Inasmuch, as you have 16inch rims this dynamic of tire size changes.

A suggestion is, if nobody else helps you is to visit an online tire site that computes wheel diameter and section width, use the 285x60x18 measurements and reduce that measurement to inches( I think for the Nittos I have are around 32 O.D. and 10.75 width..if I recall but wont swear by so check it out for yourself.) Now check Nitto or whoever you prefer and cross match to those demensions using a 16 inch rim....one other thought is the rim offset on your 16's might be different that the 18's I have....I kinda doubt it but I'm sure there is some VX Maven out there who knows. Also you may hear that this rim may be too narrow for the tire of your choice. Personally, I have not had any problems with this such... as uneven tire wear, nibbling, instability etc. If anything its more stable and I like the idea of having that rim sucked in a little more and out of curbs and rocks way.

Good Luck;Dy;

[psychos2]

http://www.nittotire.com/

go to the link above. then go to the tire page.go to the terra grappler page and go to sizes and specs.they list all the tire diameters. the 285/60/18 are 31.38 inches. and are 11.54 inches wide.

kuba, i have 265/75/16 terra grapplers. there is a minor amount of trimming to fit. as you can see in the pic. shawn
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=590&size=big&papass=&sort=4http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/64dsc00066.jpg