BFGoodrich Radial T/A 255/60R15 tires

The only ones I found on the forum are wdinfla's. Anybody else have them? I'm thinking about pairing them with some MB 72 15X7 wheels.

Here's some borrowed pictures to get the discussion going...

 

So the question is how do they handle - stiff? Powersteering work overtime to turn 10" tires? etc....

 

Wider rubber will be more stable.
Steering should be unaffected if you drive "properly" and aren't making a habit of cranking the wheel when not moving.
Always be on at least a slight roll when turning the wheel.

 

Good to hear - how about MPG? Power loss? I know the tire is on the plus size list and the diameter is almost identical to the stock tires, so gear ratio shouldn't been an issue.

Anybody know how far they stick outside the fender? wdinfla has tons of pics, but none that are taken flush to the side of the truck.

 

Gear ratio would be the same.
Your rolling resistance will be slightly higher running 255 vs 215 because you're adding 40mm of width, but that can be compensated for by running slightly higher inflation.

The only other issue is weight. The 255 is a heavier tire than the 215, but assuming you are going to aftermarket alloy wheels, you will offset much of that weight when you dump your steelies.

I'd say you will likely see little to no change in fuel economy unless you are running 28psi.... kick 'em up to the sidewall max.
You can safely go higher, but the tire manufacturers won't tell us how much higher.
The sidewall max is not a "burst" pressure... it is simply a rating that the tire can carry "X" pounds at "Y" pressure.
At lower pressures, "X" pounds is reduced. At higher pressures, "X" does not increase.

 

That's going to depend on the backspacing/offset of your new rims.
Personally, I would not put a 255 on the stock wheel. If you did, the tire would stick out about 3/4" more than stock... there is less than 2" difference in width between stock and the 255s. It's not like you're going up to a 285 offroad tire.

You can get rims that have zero offset that'll stick the stock tires out 2" past the fenders, and you can get rims that have too much offset that will have a 255 rubbing the frame on turns.

 

He are my 235-70-15 tires, a little taller and wider than stock size. Fills up the wheel well pretty good.

 

I think I'm starting to understand the wheel rocket science - since I'm adding 40 mm in tire width, the wheels would need to be +40 offset to keep the 255 tire from sticking outside the fender..... right?

 

No... You have some play before you stick out unless your current tires are already within mm's of sticking out.

Keeping the stock offset, if you increase the tire width by 40mm, you'll be 20mm closer to the frame, and 20mm closer to sticking out.

20mm is not much... it's a little over 3/4 inch.


OFFSET: The difference between the centerline of the wheel and the hub mounting surface. Negative offset moves the wheel inward, positive offset moves it away from the frame.

BACKSPACING: The distance from the hub mounting surface to the rear lip of the wheel.

An 8" wheel is nominally 9" wide, so a zero offset would be 4.5" backspacing. -20mm offset would be roughly 5.25" backspacing.
+20mm offset would be roughly 3.75" backspacing.

 

I gotcha now... thanks for breaking it down.

 

How about some possible photoshopped wheels to go with the BFG's:


MB TKO:






MB 72:

 

Find out what is available in the offsets that will work for your truck.
I got all excited over a number of wheels only to find that they aren't available in a negative offset.

 

I'm looking at the MB TKO's on discounttire.com at it lists the wheel specs as 15X7 5-114.3 0MTB - so I know the wheel diameter is 15", width is 7", the bolt pattern is right, and 0 offset.

So because of the 0 offset they have to use hubcentric rings to increase the offset? I'm still not getting if tire size matters here - the 255/10" tires I would get are wider than the stock 215/8.46" tires...

 

Zero offset is going to put the tires into your fenders.
You need something more in the negative 38mm range.

 

Well shit... I'll call discount tire and see what they can do for me

 

Well I went to discount tire in person and they said the wheels would work. So now I'm just confused...

Either way I'm looking at a new possible setup:

MB Wheels TKO (46292)

16X8.5 5-114.3 18MTB


with



General Grabber UHP (32477)

235/60R-16 100H BSW


or



General Grabber UHP (32478)

255/55R-16 103T BSW


Where's the discount tire direct guy that posts on the forum? Help me help you - I'm ready to drop $1000+ on these.

 

Good luck man.

Wouldn't be the first time (if I did it with my Taco, it would actually be 3 times) that I've been told that a wheel will fit by the guy at Discount and it either rubbed and needed trimming to clear, or wouldn't fit at all and I had to make another choice.

When I bought wheels for my Tundra, they hit... BAD... and I had to take my 2nd choice. Still loved the wheels, I went in wanting one of 5 and had a clear order of preference. Fortunately, the 2nd set fit (still moved the tires out, but they didn't rub and looked good.)
On my Silverado, again, they said they'd fit, with the tires that I had. They rubbed on hard turns with any suspension compression. No sheetmetal, it was all rubbing on the inner fender liner parts, so trimming was easy.
In fairness to Discount, I was running 285/75-16 on that truck, so those tires were big. 265s, or a 285/70, would have cleared without trimming.

The difference between a 15x7 with a zero offset and a 15x7 with a -38 offset is about an inch and a half.

You're going from a 215 to a 255, so your tires (and likely the rims) are also going to be just under 2" wider.

Take a ruler and stick it against the sidewall of your stock tire. Look at how much 1.5" is... That's where the side of your new tires is going to be if you run a wheel with zero offset.

The 235 will likely be okay, but keep your options open on the wheels and have them mount up only one tire/wheel, slap it on the front, and then have them check the clearance through the full steering arc.

 

Yeah the guy seemed more like a salesman but was still helpful and no bullshit. I do see on discount tire's website there are a few other offsets available for MB TKO, so there's hope it can work out.

I'm starting to lean away from the 255 tires now, they look pretty badass on wdinfla's truck but might be too fat for my taste. I'm checking out 235/60-16 tires - I'm considering:

General Grabber UHP
BFGoodrich Rugged Terrain T/A
Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S
Michelin HydroEdge


I like the look of the grabbers - no too on or off roady.

 

I like the 255 width, but it's just too much sidewall.

When my tires are done, I'll be upgrading the rims to 17" and going with a 245.