LUVTruck.com

I wanted to get your opinion on tire sizes. I have a 80 Luv 4x4 with a 2 inch body lift. No cuts to the fenders.
Right now I have 215-75-R15 on there. Eventually I might go with 31's, but for now I have to keep within a budget of $100 a tire, and only 1 pair for now (again for budget reasons). So if I went with just a little wider width of say 225-75-15, would the greater width be good for wheeling? I would say 2/3 of the time I drive my Luv on the street, and the other 1/3 I wheel it. So what are the pros and cons for a wider tire for the street and for the wheeling (a combo of light mud and snow).

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1980 Luv 4x4 with a 5 speed tranny.



"When all else fails, follow the directions".

Someone posted a link to these. Stays in your budget
http://www.onlinetires.com/products/veh ... q+owl.html

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Luvless
1980 Mikado-Sold.

1993 Lexus SC400 my Daily
2004 Yamaha WR250F my new love in life
2016 Toyota Camry my girls ride

From what i understand wide tires can have issues with hydroplaning in still water and snow on the highway more than narrow tires but i think that has more to do with 10.5-12.5" wide tires.
for wheeling the extra width and deeper lugs will help a lot with gripping on slick terrain like mud. Your aiming for mud terrain tires right? The big lugs will help dig in when your going uphill. When i was still 4x4 my biggest issue was my 195 width tires losing traction and slipping downhill, even in gravel.

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Luvless
1980 Mikado-Sold.

1993 Lexus SC400 my Daily
2004 Yamaha WR250F my new love in life
2016 Toyota Camry my girls ride

225/75 are about 3/8" wider & 3/4" taller than 215/75s, 235/15s are about 3/4" wider & 2" taller. The wider & taller the tire the more likely to rub at full turn lock, the first place they hit is the seam at the back at the fender liner & the front outer fender corner that hangs behind the bumper. Bend the seam over, trim the front if they hit, or lift the suspension, or both. Neither of these tires is enough wider than your current tires to make a lot of traction difference provided the tread is all the same. Generally narrow tires work better in deeper snow or mud, wider in shallower. 31s are 1" wider & taller than even the 235s, trimming is required, probably also a suspension lift, your wheel offset & width will have as much effect as the tire width. Each larger size tire will lose a bit more power (a full 10% between 215s & 31s) & the speedo will read progressively slower the same amount (the speedo you can correct by using a speedo gear with fewer teeth), but ground clearance will increase a bit, up to 1.5" with 31's just from the tires.
All four tires must be the same diameter or the gears will bind in 4wd & the greater the difference in tire diameter the harder the gears will bind, so if you are buying only two tires at a time avoid using 4wd until all tires are the same size.

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'78 Chevy LUV,1.9,4sp,headers,31's,SAS Dana 30,Dana 20,SOA rear w/Aussie Locker, rough body, bought new 12/4/78.
'87 Trooper,2.3,5sp,headers,31's,ball joint flip & spacer,Aussie Locker rear,Superwinch hubs,brush guard w/5.5K winch,more to come.

Thanks for the Link. To answer your other question I'm do some mud, and also in the winter time some snow wheeling.

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1980 Luv 4x4 with a 5 speed tranny.



"When all else fails, follow the directions".

Thanks for the info on the width difference. I think most of the mud I came across isn't very deep, but some of the snow areas can be.
Based on that info I think I'm sticking with the size I have for now. Plus I'd rather have the money for all 4 tires and be able to Wheel in.

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1980 Luv 4x4 with a 5 speed tranny.



"When all else fails, follow the directions".

If I stick with the same size but the tread is different from 1 pair of tires, could that cause the gears to bind?

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1980 Luv 4x4 with a 5 speed tranny.



"When all else fails, follow the directions".

I run 205/75/15 on my truck and we only had to cut the plastic in the wheel well back a little bit. I get great control in the snow and have no problems offroad in 4low

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Hannah - '79 4WD, 32/36 Weber, and a Pacesetter header.