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**TonyN** · 17 November 2007, 17:31

215's will look pants and tiny on your truck. Thats all you need to know, trust me!!

Radial tyres have better road manners, bias ply tyres are normally cheap or big specialist tyres (like my PitBulls)

Pickup wheels will fit your truck, normally stick out a little further as the pickups have narrower axles than a Surf, so the wheel offset is greater to get the same width overall.

**darkdezigns** · 17 November 2007, 17:33

Originally posted by fatfires

Hi Peeps
First, sorry if in the wrong section but the tyre section does say reviews, anyway.................
At the moment on my 2nd gen truck I have standard 15" aloys fitted with Roadstone Radials A/T 265/70 R15 110T

In the shed (steady Chillit) I have 5 chrome steel rims fitted with (4) General Grabber A/T P 215/75 R15 M&S 100S & (1) Bridgestone Desert Dueler 215 SR15 M&S which I am told were off a highlux pick up.

None of the lettering or sizes mean anything to me, so please educate a numpty.
My fitted tyres are getting boarderline so will need replacing, I have been reading the thread on the Insa Turbo Sahara's but now I am even more confused as the sizes dont appear to make sence
Questions
what is the difference between radial and crossply other than method of construction, does one suit the truck better than t'other, how does wear, ride and handling compare
As I do little or no off roading (at the mo) is one type better, I do quite a lot of motorway Erm... reasonable speed driving so comfort, low noise, grip and life are likely to be my main needs
Is there a way of identifying if the steel rims are suitable for my truck (can't find any I/D marks) Oh yes and I do have the set of different nuts for the steel rims!
I have recently fitted new Explorer 3000 shocks and + 20% springs to the rear end if that makes a difference, but have no lifts.
Your help and reccomendations will be invaluable, thanks in advance

hi mate 215 is the width of the tyre ie the tread,75 is the tyre wall,ie from edge of rim to the tread and r15 is the wheel size it wud fit,so in other words they will prob fit but much narrower,fraction taller,so speedo wud read slightly out as its diffrent size overall,as for crossply etc i have no idea lol

**fatfires** · 17 November 2007, 17:40

Originally posted by TonyN

215's will look pants and tiny on your truck. Thats all you need to know, trust me!!

Radial tyres have better road manners, bias ply tyres are normally cheap or big specialist tyres (like my PitBulls)

Pickup wheels will fit your truck, normally stick out a little further as the pickups have narrower axles than a Surf, so the wheel offset is greater to get the same width overall.

Thanks Tony
every answer produces another question or so,
so the 215's are skinny?...OK perhaps they are sellable?
can wider tyres be put on my steel rims?
and how do I I/D the rims?
Oh yes, any update on the rear diff, I am passing your way 3rd or 4th Dec.

**TonyN** · 17 November 2007, 17:44

Originally posted by fatfires

Thanks Tony
every answer produces another question or so,
so the 215's are skinny?...OK perhaps they are sellable?
can wider tyres be put on my steel rims?
and how do I I/D the rims?
Oh yes, any update on the rear diff, I am passing your way 3rd or 4th Dec.

Just measure the widht of the rims where the tyre beads go, might be 6", which isn't really good for much, although 31's look really fat when squeezed on a 6" rim, 7" is likely, which will be the same as your alloys. If they are aftermarket 8 spokes or similar, they may be 8", which also is fine, but may protrude a little if they are pickup size offset.

Vince posted a pic in the other wheel thread going on ATM, have a look at that and you can measure what you have.

The diff is still in the chassis, but thats all that left of the truck, easy to get it out. You can collect it OK those days, but not got time to fit it for you that week.

**fatfires** · 17 November 2007, 17:55

Originally posted by TonyN

Just measure the widht of the rims where the tyre beads go, might be 6", which isn't really good for much, although 31's look really fat when squeezed on a 6" rim, 7" is likely, which will be the same as your alloys. If they are aftermarket 8 spokes or similar, they may be 8", which also is fine, but may protrude a little if they are pickup size offset.

Vince posted a pic in the other wheel thread going on ATM, have a look at that and you can measure what you have.

The diff is still in the chassis, but thats all that left of the truck, easy to get it out. You can collect it OK those days, but not got time to fit it for you that week.

Thanks for the info mate I know you are busy and hadn't concidered asking you to fit it , I have to fit my diff breathers anyway so guess it's my time to get greasy again! if it could be available to collect from you, probably on the 4th that would be great, (will be en-route from France to home)

**nero279** · 17 November 2007, 18:01

There are two types of tyre size, imperial and metric.

Imperial is pretty straightforward aa x bb.bb x cc are all measurements in inches where aa is the overall height of the tyre in inches, bb.bb is the width of the tyre again in inches, cc is the wheel diameter it will fit, again in inches. Imperial sizes should be written as in the example above, ie) 31 x 10.50 x 15

Metric sizes are still fairly simple once explained, but a little more confusing, they should be written

xxx/yy/zz

xxx is the width of the tyre in mm
yy is the height of the tyre wall as a percentage of xxx
zz is the wheel diameter it will fit in inches

as you can see their is no overall tyre height included in these sizes which is where it gets confusing. You have the height of wheel in inches (zz). Then a ratio of the rest of the height to width as a percentage (yy). And the width (xxx).

So to work out the overall height of the tyre you have
(xxx * yy / 100) * 2 = ??mm + zz" {the * 2 comes from having the tyre wall height both above and below the wheel}

simple really huh?

**fatfires** · 17 November 2007, 19:01

Originally posted by nero279

There are two types of tyre size, imperial and metric.

Imperial is pretty straightforward aa x bb.bb x cc are all measurements in inches where aa is the overall height of the tyre in inches, bb.bb is the width of the tyre again in inches, cc is the wheel diameter it will fit, again in inches. Imperial sizes should be written as in the example above, ie) 31 x 10.50 x 15

Metric sizes are still fairly simple once explained, but a little more confusing, they should be written

xxx/yy/zz

xxx is the width of the tyre in mm
yy is the height of the tyre wall as a percentage of xxx
zz is the wheel diameter it will fit in inches

as you can see their is no overall tyre height included in these sizes which is where it gets confusing. You have the height of wheel in inches (zz). Then a ratio of the rest of the height to width as a percentage (yy). And the width (xxx).

So to work out the overall height of the tyre you have
(xxx * yy / 100) * 2 = ??mm + zz" {the * 2 comes from having the tyre wall height both above and below the wheel}

simple really huh?

No!

so with no lifts do I stick with 265/70/15's? and if so reccomendations

**nero279** · 17 November 2007, 19:32

Originally posted by fatfires

No!

so with no lifts do I stick with 265/70/15's? and if so reccomendations

or a slightly taller 31x10.50x15 (around 1" taller, marginally wider) would possibly give you more choice. Or even a 30x9.50x15 (same height as your current tyres, but just shy of an inch narrower) some would say the narrower tyre would give you better economy and better wet weather performance, whether it would be noticably different in reality i don't know.

Have a look on http://www.formula4.co.uk/products/P...pRoute=product and http://www.4site4x4.co.uk/home.aspx for ideas as to what you like. My road tyres are Insa Turbo Mountains in 31x10.50x15 and came in at �270.02 all in for a set of 4 from one of the 4site4x4 dealers. I'm more than happy with them so far.

**RodLeach** · 17 November 2007, 19:34

Im with nero, go for 31x10.50x15

OR! Get some new rims from www.4x4tyres.com an go for 16" an get 265/75/16

Which come in at 31.6" tall an come in at just over 10.00

S'nice size for stock.

**plumb bob** · 17 November 2007, 19:49

Check this link, My surf has 31x15x10.5 cooper's fitted on 7" rims, you can see what they look like, anything smaller will look daft

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/toyota...yotaSurf080407

**fatfires** · 18 November 2007, 20:36

Thanks guys, I think I know just a litttle bit more now........still confused mind!

**BEAST** · 18 November 2007, 20:50

try this site.

www.camskill.co.uk

I Got it off a thread Richard posted ages ago. BFG M/T's r cheaper on there i think.

**B16mts** · 18 November 2007, 20:55

if you've got the money, i'd go for a set of bfg a/t's in 31x10.50x15. they're nice n quiet, good in wet and dry, and pretty handy offroad if you ever fancy it. PLUS, you'll probably get something like 40,000 miles out of them, which makes them cheap in the long run if you're keeping the car relatively stock.

martin

**Antshiel** · 18 November 2007, 20:59

The cheapest i found BFG's is here cheapest by far. You'll have to add vat but still comes out tops.

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