Tires & Wheels

See below: 285/75 R 16 Fierce Attitude M/T's installed

First set of tires: 265/75 R16 ElDorado ZTR Sport's

The ElDorado ZTR Sport tires are a nice five rib all terrain, but are really lacking when it comes to aggressive looks and off road ability. With over 45,000 miles, the 265/75 R16 ElDorado's were beginning to wear pretty thin. Blanch had enough lift to fit 285/75 R16 tires, which are basically 33 x 11.50 R16's. Here are a few pictures of the ElDorado tires before they were replaced.

Second set: 285/75 R16 Wild Spirit TXR II's

The TXR II's offered the more aggressive looks and off road capability I was looking for. They feature a sidewall that's similar to BFG's All Terrain KO's, with a tread that's almost a mud terrain, but not quite. With about 40,000 miles, they were wearing through the siping and were cupping pretty badly, despite regular rotations. What did these in for me was the weather cracking that developed around the rim area, causing slow leaking. Overall though, these were a good traction tire in the snow and on the ice. A few pictures of the TXR II's...

New wheels: Pacer 164P 16"x8"

After a few months of having the spacers, I discovered one of their downsides: they were very difficult to balance, even after having a reputable shop try several times. The steering wheel shake was noticable at speeds between 40 and 60. Since I do a fair amount of highway driving in that range, something needed to be done. My goal is to run larger tires at some point and because the spacers weren't going to be the long term solution, I decided to pick up some new wheels.

A local shop gave me a great deal on Pacer's 164P wheel. It's a 16x8 wheel with 4.25" of backspacing and -6 offset. These will set the tires out about .6" from the stock wheels without the spacers, which will allow enough room for larger tires, or tires with side lugs. The Pacer wheels look absolutely stunning on my rig! There's plenty of clearance (probably enough for 305's) and for the first time in a long while, the steering wheel shake is gone and the 4Runner tracks straight and true.

And finally, a shot of the upper A-arm clearance with the new Pacers.

New tires: 285/75R 16 Fierce Attitude M/T's

When it comes to tires, I'm pretty picky about what I buy. I want something that looks good and still performs well in a wide variety of off road and daily driving situations. After considering many tires, I decided on the Kelly/Fierce Attitude M/T's. At first glance, they have the tough looks I was wanting with the tread and siping that will work on nearly any surface I drive on. With only 100 miles or so, it's too early to how they'll perform, but look for a review of them here soon.