I need new tires pretty soon but I'm not sure which route I should go:

1. 5x Road/SUV tires on existing 19" wheels and spare
2. 5x A/T tires on existing 19" wheels and spare (not many options)
3. 5x A/T tires on new 18" wheels and new spare and keep road tires on existing 19" wheels
4. I guess a fourth option could be to switch to 18" wheels and sell the 19s if there's a good 18" compromise tire between A/T and Road.

I don't drive the truck much, mostly a couple highway road trips a year and around the city on weekends, under 10k miles for sure. I do take it off-roading once or twice a year (Muddy Chef!) and I would love to do more. I have a full sized spare with a Pirelli Scorpion on there (must be old) and Continental 4x4 Contacts on the rest. I do value handling and despite this being a truck, it does handle pretty well to avoid crazy drivers. I also have the center resonator out, so it is already louder than stock, but fairly quiet on the highway cruising. I'd rather not have it be too loud to drive on long 5+hr road trips.

Is it worth having two sets of wheels and hassle of swapping the spare every time I want to offroad? Is it worth the handling/noise sacrifices of going A/T if I only go off-road a couple times a year?

 

I can't comment on how well they wear yet or how they behave towards the end of life, but I think the BFG KO2s might be perfect for you. They are certainly not a mud tire, but have a lot of traction off road. They have very good on road manners, very little noise, and are pretty good in the snow. I really think it's the almost perfect all-around tire. I would buy the 18" rims, get a set of KO2s and if you like the on road manners, then just get rid of the 19s after a few months. That's my $0.02.

 

I'm not seeing the BFG KO2s in 255/60/R18?

 

I run Cooper Zeon LTZ 285/60r18.

love them. Perfect at stock height.

 

True, but they have them in 265/60/R18s. Shouldn't require any mods to run those expect perhaps moving the sensor wires in the front driver wheel well up a bit. Would take 5 mins to do.

They are an LT tire though, so the ride will be a bit harsher than with normal passenger tires. But thicker sidewalks for taking it off-road.

I have the 275/65r18s and they're awesome, but do (did) rub a small amount in a couple of the wheel wells. Minor stuff though.

 

So if I stick with 19" wheels and tires and get something like the Cooper Zeon in 255/55/19, should I get 5 to replace the spare tire as well? Never been used as far as I can tell, and it's not the stock tire (right?) so I at least know it's younger than 9 years old. Any issues with using one different tire (same size) in an emergency, keeping in mind most offroading is done 100-200 miles from home?

 

djkronik, here is what I do, and I have no regrets:

I kept my 19s and had road tires on them. Now I have Nokian winter tires but that's because I went to the Yukon Territory in '14. I bought some 18s from a local guy for $400 or so and put Goodyear MT/Rs on those. I found an 18" rim that fits (it came off a BMW X5) and put a BFG Rugged Trail T/A on it just as a "get me home" spare. Also my regular spare (on the 19s is a Michelin and is a "get me home" spare).

So for you something like this would be Scenario 3b.

There are pros and cons to it. The con is the cost of buying a second set of rims and tires and having to swap them 2x a year (Discount Tire does this for free, I take them donuts). The pros, of course, are the performance. The MT/Rs are absolutely badass off-road. On the road...not so much. When I switch back to stock-sized tires I am reminded how much better the Rover feels at stock geometry. The Nokes are also incredible performers in cold weather.

What I don't have is a "touring" tire, but I don't really take the LR3 on long road trips anymore, anyway. Hope this helps in some way.

 

Houm is speaking the truth here.

I run the same type thing. I have maybe 285/55/r20 (Previous owner bought the 20's) road tires for 90% of my driving (which is still only a few miles a year as I have Honda company cars for that)

I also had the factory 19's with road tires since the vehicle was an HSE and the previous owner kept them. I got lucky and found someone to trade his 18's for my 19's. Those also have road tires (265/55/r18). I then found a steal on some take-off Cooper AT3's (265/65/r18 - 32.1" tire) for $200 a set to put on those wheels.

So now, I have a little investment and a lot of flexibility for choices. The road tires / wheels (20's), the A/T tires / wheels (18's) with a backup set of road tires for them. While you're there doing all this mess, I suggest finding a good powdercoater and paying $50 a wheel to get those bad boys coated in some kinda black lol

As for A/T tires, I like both the Cooper AT3's and the Falken Wildpeak AT3W's. The AT3W's are a lot cheaper than the AT3's (if you're looking for cheaperish). If I had to buy new (which I likely will next round), I'll opt for the AT3W's. The only unknown for me is how the AT3W's perform on-road as none of my close friends use them. But nearly all my close friends use the AT3's on their trucks and SUV's (70-80K mile tire)

 

Our LR3 has 18" General AT II at all 4 corners. Rides and drives fine I've only done about 3k miles with them so far but no complaints.

 

Yeah I think what is holding me back from getting a second set of 18" wheels is the fact that I already have two sets for my other car (winter/summer) and the thought of having to change out 4 tires AND a spare every time I want to go offroading and then change them back seems like a lot of hassle. Plus storage of 9 wheels + tires at any given time. And then finally the cost (I'm at almost $2k for 5 cheap 18" wheels, tires, mounting, plus another $1k or so for new 19" road tires). Yes, it's the "best" solution if money, effort, and storage were no worry. This is still my dream setup:




On the more logical hand, for $1500 or so I could get a set of 5 Cooper Zeons in 19" and just leave them on all the time.

I'm going to be honest as well, part of the reason for buying A/T tires is also the look.