Okay, I've looked for information concerning the pro's and con's of mounting 315/75R16 vs 285/75R16 on the H3, but can't seem to find much. I understand the 315 will weigh more, but is it enough to snap the halfshafts up front due to excessive wheel spin? Also, will jumping up to 315 noticeably impact the crawl ratio (I do have the Adv. package)? I have no problem with the 285's, but it will only cost $200 more to upgrade to 315. I am seriously considering the BFG T/A KM2 tire.

Thanks in advance,

Levi

 

Midwest,

I'm running 325/60/R20 and my truck is fine! thats BIGGER and HEAVIER than the 315/75/R16 you want to run! got for it! MPG will get a hit thou!

 

Depends what your goals are? Just for looks, off road?
Km2 is a good tire, not so good in wet conditions or snow.

 

Okay, so I need a tire that will do well in winter conditions, meaning snow and ice, but I also want something that performs well offroad and will not chunk out. Average rainfall where I live is 15" or less per year. I don't know anyone who runs this tire, but it rates high in the user survey on TireRack (for what that is worth). I have looked at the Duratrac but am not sure how it will handle sharp rocks. Anymore thoughts?

 

Got the285 Duratracs.Best tires i ever bought.Superior, off road, in rain,in snow.You wont be sorry.

 

The DuraTracs are a great all-around tire, but I don't think I would trust their sidewall to sharp rocks. Any tire can fall prey to sharp rocks really, but if you're going to be dealing with sharp rocks a lot, I would go with a Mickey Thompson MTZ or a Cooper STT. They basically have the same carcass, which includes a stronger sidewall than the DuraTracs have.

That being said, I know people have taken the DuraTracs to Moab and done plenty of rock crawling and not had any issues. I guess it depends on how much you plan on being in the rocks. If it's only occasional, then like gotafish said, you won't be sorry if you get the DuraTracs.

 

So not to Hijack the thread totally.... but since I've never owned a set of Stock 285 Duelers, how to they do? Are they tossed by owners as soon as you buy the rig or are they a decent tire?

 

The stock 285 Duelers are a great road tire for the 3 (IMHO the 265 were a complete BS move by GM and nothing more than passenger car tire trying to look truck), they do allow for some mild off road (pretty good at 12PSI in the sand), handle snow/ice conditions well, but if you want to do more off road... they gotta go.

Every tire is a compromise between daily on road driving vs vigorous off road adventure, so it depends on which side you personally wish to tip the scales. In a perfect world, I'd have two sets of tires and wheels and swap them for whatever I was doing.

For the I5, 305 MTZs is what I went for, same 33" diameter as 285s, but same 1" wider like the 315s. Works for me. With an Alpha, I wouldn't hesitate to go with 315s as it has the extra balz to offset the power loss.

There have been plenty of broken half shafts on 285s, be careful with the skinny pedal. Wheel with the brain, not the right foot.

 

This actually depends upon which brand and model in that size you are comparing it to, some 325s are 35.5" in diameter, and in a 20 you lopped off 4" of side wall which reduces weight, but makes 20" less desirable because of significantly less side wall flex when aired down.

There is no right or wrong answer. Again, all a compromise.

 

I completely understand what you mean! I wheeled 33" Boggers on my suzuki samurai for years and never busted a birfield joint or shaft. I had friends wheel 33" mud terrains and break stuff all the time! The funny part is, I went exactly the same places they did!

Ok, back on topic, sorry to hijack your thread!