worth it to go back?

[Gren71]

Yep, and then further more crippled because people tend to get more features on them than a sport. Steel bumpers can be almost nothing or kill the payload. My RR Arcus is pretty much just a winch plate with a shell, some of those full width ones add some serious weight though.

Really curious to see if you notice a big difference when you tow.

me to! My TT is at the shop getting some warranty work done now. I was hoping to pull it around this past weekend but it wasn't done. Fingers crossed I can get it soon and give it a test run.

And hopefully it tows the same or better than my other tires since I already ordered 255/75/17 Kenda Klevers (34lbs each, same as stock 245/75/17)

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[whiteglad]

The Bridgestones weigh 34 lb. Falkens in SL rating weigh 41 lb. and in E, 51 lb. If you go up to 33" then the 255-80-17 Falkens are 52 lb and in Rubi, wider size, 62 lb. I decided to go up to the 33" Falkens but the lighter, narrower ones, same width as stock. If I wanted some strength but mostly on highway use, I might have picked the SL Falkens at 41 lb. I had little confidence in the Bridgestones just looking at them, and dismounted, they sure seemed flimsy for any trail use.

 

[Gren71]

The Bridgestones weigh 34 lb. Falkens in SL rating weigh 41 lb. and in E, 51 lb. If you go up to 33" then the 255-80-17 Falkens are 52 lb and in Rubi, wider size, 62 lb. I decided to go up to the 33" Falkens but the lighter, narrower ones, same width as stock. If I wanted some strength but mostly on highway use, I might have picked the SL Falkens at 41 lb. I had little confidence in the Bridgestones just looking at them, and dismounted, they sure seemed flimsy for any trail use.

I certainly cant speak to trail use but Ive been more than impressed going back to them as a regular use tire. Handled a recent rain storm better than my geolanders...which was sorta depressing considering the cost of them.

 

[Gren71]

Well my tires arrived but….f my life…I ordered the wrong dang size!
I ordered 255/70/17…

i wanted 255/75/17

so i called giga-tire and i have to say they were the easiest customer service ive dealt with in a long time. They said they would send me return labels and as soon as they received the tires id get a full refund.

Needless to say I was impressed. I took a gamble on a tire seller i had never heard of and so far it’s worked out.

that being said…i found out the 255/75/17s weight 45lbs each…which is 11lbs heavier per tire than stock. Not exactly what i was looking for so sorta a happy mistake i was able to look deeper into the tires.

Does anyone know will the extra 11lbs per tire really be all that noticeable with the narrow tread? (10in as apposed to 9.6in)

im loving the current stockers and im hesitant to go too heavy again.

 

[Gren71]

Update as of today


I was getting 17.5 miles to the gallon average, now I get 20 to 21.


At 20 miles per gallon average it’s giving me an extra about 50 miles per tank.

I average about 4 tanks a month so it’s an extra 200 miles a month

200 miles at 20 miles per gallon adds extra 10 gallons of gas every month

At three dollars a gallon that’s $30 a month it saves me

So over the course of the year going back to the original tire size will save me $360.

From a purely profit perspective, it’ll take me 8.3 months of fuel savings alone for the $250 used tire purchase to pay for itself. Or 17 months to pay for the new tires I have on thenow.

The cons

-it doesn’t look the same as it did with the big tires

- I feel more of the road bumps and general Road terrain changes with the softer smaller tires thanI did with my larger E rated

I’m sure there’s a few more cons since I haven’t taken it on the beach, or with it, yet since switching back

Pros

-decrease wear and tear on steering components

-the increased horsepower and torque response while accelerating

-it doesn’t gear hunt anymore when going up hills

-decreased where and tare on my brakes

-the significant increase in fuel mileage

-improved steering (seems like less wandering)

All that being said I do have a set of 255 75 17s of equal weight to the original ones, but with a slightly stronger sidewall from towing, that got mounted this week.

i just picked up the truck today so now we’ll see what the difference is with the new tires.

right out of the gate the jt doent seem to find 8th as fast as with the stock duelers. Not sure if thats the different tread pattern or just the truck figuring out the slightly larget size. MPG seem to be the same thus far though.

 

[Gren71]

Another Update.

I lost 2mpg with the terrain contact ATs. They were quiet as heck and rode very smooth..but the MPG was the same as my larger E rated tires. Which sort of defeated part of the purpose of all of this switching.

Got some take off 255/75/17 Dueler ATs that someone took off their brand new bronco.

They are fantastic. 21mpg this morning and it tows beautifully! Very happy to stick to the original tire style and size (close enough)

So was it worth it?

Y E S

 

[Gren71]

Final Update

after driving 275 miles with the duelers im BEYOND pleased.

-better handling
-better mpg
-no increase in road noise
-smooth ride
-great in heavy rain

i drive %80 highway %20 city/local

here is my trip odometer

the duelers also pulled my camper beautifully this morning. Felt the same as my larger 10plys.

heres then camper hooked up with a well adjusted WDH and air bags inflated to 35psi.

overall I am beyond pleased with the switching back to the original tire type, and the look of the slightly larger size fits well in my opinion.

so just to reiterate for my final update.

Was it worth it to go back?

Absolutely yes it was.

 

[IOS-XR]

Switched from our factory 20” Dueller HL’s on the Diesel HA last week. Went to JL Rubicon take off BFG KO2’s. Rough average from the dash shows I’m down about 1.5mpg. I’m going to swap back and forth for winter and summer. Solid choice on the Dueller AT’s. I’ve ran three sets of those on my company trucks. Have General HTS tires on my 2021 Silverado and when they need replaced I’ll probably go back to Duellers. So far the best mix of traction and quiet/soft ride. They are excellent in the snow, meh in the rain….

 

[Jeeperjamie]

Final Update

after driving 275 miles with the duelers im BEYOND pleased.

-better handling
-better mpg
-no increase in road noise
-smooth ride
-great in heavy rain

i drive %80 highway %20 city/local

here is my trip odometer

the duelers also pulled my camper beautifully this morning. Felt the same as my larger 10plys.

heres then camper hooked up with a well adjusted WDH and air bags inflated to 35psi.

overall I am beyond pleased with the switching back to the original tire type, and the look of the slightly larger size fits well in my opinion.

so just to reiterate for my final update.

Was it worth it to go back?

Absolutely yes it was.

Looks like it sits nicely with the camper behind it. What's that camper weigh, just curious, I've been looking at them.

 

[Gren71]

Looks like it sits nicely with the camper behind it. What's that camper weigh, just curious, I've been looking at them.

I haven’t put it in a scale but im guessing, with gear, 4,500ish.

the airlift bags abd sumo spring bumps stops in the rear make a HUGE difference when combined with a good WDH.

as far as the TT goes. We have the 18TO black label and absolutely love it. Light enough I can do long trips with ease with the whole family in the truck.

i keep the bags to 20-25psi now so the camper sits a little more level.

 

[BAT]

As much as I would like to go back to the milage gain, etc from the stock tires. I just can't get past the truck looks so out of place with the stock tires. I'm running the Rubi take offs currently and its really mostly for the looks cause It took a hit on the gas mileage but I guess I am going to have to live with that. Maybe I can find some that look as good but are a bit lighter than the Faulkens. Assuming I don't move up to 35's. I don't want to take another hit on gas mileage since its a DD and the two days a week I will have to go into the office once they force us back its 55 miles each way.

 

[Gren71]

As much as I would like to go back to the milage gain, etc from the stock tires. I just can't get past the truck looks so out of place with the stock tires. I'm running the Rubi take offs currently and its really mostly for the looks cause It took a hit on the gas mileage but I guess I am going to have to live with that. Maybe I can find some that look as good but are a bit lighter than the Faulkens. Assuming I don't move up to 35's. I don't want to take another hit on gas mileage since its a DD and the two days a week I will have to go into the office once they force us back its 55 miles each way.

its definitely a "too each their own" thing. Personally I would rather have better MPG and such on my daily driver than have the look of the meaty tire. I love the look of MTs, but getting 16mpg would make me vomit haha Down the road Ill find something that looks better, but Ill keep it in the same size 245 or 255 by 75/17. And honestly Ive grown to like the look of the slightly smaller tires with the 2in lift.

 

[BAT]

its definitely a "too each their own" thing. Personally I would rather have better MPG and such on my daily driver than have the look of the meaty tire. I love the look of MTs, but getting 16mpg would make me vomit haha Down the road Ill find something that looks better, but Ill keep it in the same size 245 or 255 by 75/17. And honestly Ive grown to like the look of the slightly smaller tires with the 2in lift.

If I had to do the drive daily I would definitely have to consider going back to stock or near stock for MPG what with the gas prices now.

 

[BaliMawr]

I cant get the idea of going back to stock tires out of my head...Am i just dumb to think this would be worth it?

I keep reading on here, and other places, that the stock tire sizes are best for towing since they maintain the power for the max town and dont add any extra weight or anything. And, after looking at pictures, they dont look awful with the 2in lift and stock tires...

Am i way off here or would there be a benefit to going back to stock tire size?

I'm thinking the same thing, as mind's a towing and daily driver. I'd also be curious about what affect a front load leveler might have on not. I'm planning air bags, so I'm not too worried about maintaining rake.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I'm thinking the same thing, as mind's a towing and daily driver. I'd also be curious about what affect a front load leveler might have on not. I'm planning air bags, so I'm not too worried about maintaining rake.

Tests by numerous groups, including GM, Motortrend, and others including tests on Ford, Ram GM and other trucks proved that aftermarket bumpers, wider tires, especially those with a "courser" tread and other factors absolutely impacted not only MPG - but they took trucks over a race course and the top mph was reduced greatly by various factors.
Wonder why newer trucks have a seal between the bed front and back of cab?
Drag............ air was getting in between and increasing the drag, interrupting the air flow along the sides.

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