Tire question: series differences on stock rim

[Boogieman]

Looking to change the stock tires for something a little larger and taller. I understand the stock tire is 245/18/60. What I'd like to do is go to something like a 275 or 285 even, in a 50 series. Just wondering what the most common tire size would be to add a little 'machoness' without going monster-truck like or needing a lift kit. I don't mind the stock 18" 5 spokes, so I can stay with those, unless I need a wider rim. But just want to add a little uniqueness to mine, and still be able to fit in the garage.
Thansk for the help.
Keith

[Joe_Black]

Going to a wider tire (275, 285) with a lower profile (50) will keep you at about the same height. What gets most people is that the series number represents sidewall height as a percentage of width. So the sidewall height of a stock 245/60 tire is 147mm whereas the height of a 285/50 is 142.5mm. Not a big difference at 4.5mm.

Keep in mind the wider you go the poorer your fuel economy and handling will become. Anything much over 255 tends to "hunt" the road crown, especially on the SWB VX. To reduce the tendency you need to lower the air pressure which then increases the friction drag giving you a mileage hit.

Looking cool ain't cheap!

[Boogieman]

Actually, I wrote that backwards. What I meant to suggest was, I'd like to go to a taller/fatter tire; so that would actually be a 70 series tire I guess. Personally I'm not a fan of large wheels and low profile tires on SUV's, though that's just my opinion. I'm just looking for some feedback of tire size choices on the stock wheels that add some 'off-road' look to it without needing the lift kit.
Didn't mean to be confusing with the previous post- got my series direction backward.

[Joe_Black]

No worries! I picked up a set of 15" Nissan Frontier alloys and put Yokohama Geolandar MT+ tires in 30X9.50 and really like the look and ride. They're only on for off-roading or rallycrossing, but the first time I used them was at a rallysprint which had about 10 miles of asphalt and included a flat road course as well. The tires did very, very well keeping the VX competitive with the Subarus.

Here's a photo for reference...



30X9.50 would be a good balance of traction, appearance and performance and can be had in a number of more streetable tires, such as the BFG All-Terrain. I'm a big fan of having an off-road set of wheels in addition to the stock wheels so you can switch as needed. 16" Isuzu wheels are plentiful in a variety of styles and that size gives you plenty of rubber choices as well.

[mbeach]

I love that picture of Joe's Dragon -it's the pic that made me go out and find ours.

On the subject, I had 285s and they were just fine -on dead flat and straight roads. On crappy pavement, they wandered terribly. On gravel and soft dirt they performed very well.

I guess it depends on what your primary usage will be. I personally will go with taller tires (for clearance) on 16" wheels (for selection) in a narrower section width (no greater than 265). Picking wheels with a lower offset will "fill out" the wheel wells without giving the negative handling characteristics of wide tires.

[Hiss]

Nitto Terra Grappler 285/60/18 on stock rims.

Discount tire sells them. I have 25000 miles on mine and the still look pretty new.