I bought a set of 18" wheels and 285/65 Nitto Trail Grappler tires for my 2002 last fall and really liked the way the truck looked. I was however, not very happy with what it did for fuel mileage. Truck had been averaging over 18mpg with the 17" LMM wheels and 285/70 Nitto Terra Grapplers I replaced, but the new combo dropped that clear down to 15.5-16mpg. I've been doing a lot of traveling for work and I finally had enough this month. The loss in fuel mileage and super noisy Trail Grapplers were just too much for me.
Bought a set of 275/65 Cooper A/T3's last week and am extremely happy with them so far. I'd forgotten what it was like to ride around without the radio cranked trying to cover the sound of the tires. They balanced easy and handle nice on the concrete highways around here. I had read good reviews on these about life span, so we'll see how it goes... These tires are about 1/2" narrower tread and 1/2" shorter than the 285/65, can barely tell a difference with them on the truck. I was able to drop the torsion bars a bit though, which has helped the ride some.
PS- I've run one tank of fuel through the truck with these tires...fuel mileage is back I think it's the aggressive tread and extreme weight that hurts the mileage. These Coopers are almost 20lbs per tire lighter. I'll agree the Nitto's looked better on the truck, but I guess I'm just old enough the 'cool' factor isn't worth it anymore. Nittos are for sale if anyone is interested
Bought a set of 275/65 Cooper A/T3's last week and am extremely happy with them so far. I'd forgotten what it was like to ride around without the radio cranked trying to cover the sound of the tires. They balanced easy and handle nice on the concrete highways around here. I had read good reviews on these about life span, so we'll see how it goes... These tires are about 1/2" narrower tread and 1/2" shorter than the 285/65, can barely tell a difference with them on the truck. I was able to drop the torsion bars a bit though, which has helped the ride some.
PS- I've run one tank of fuel through the truck with these tires...fuel mileage is back I think it's the aggressive tread and extreme weight that hurts the mileage. These Coopers are almost 20lbs per tire lighter. I'll agree the Nitto's looked better on the truck, but I guess I'm just old enough the 'cool' factor isn't worth it anymore. Nittos are for sale if anyone is interested
