Tire and wheel recommendations (33")?

[bmblauvelt]

I have a 1977 Bronco Ranger with old 15" x 8" Alcoa aluminum wheels (I think they are now called Mickey Thompsons), and 33 x 12.5 x 15 BFG Mud Terrain T/A tires. The tires are showing their wear and age, and are about due to replacement. I originally bought them about 10 years ago when living in SE PA and active with the wonderful Baltimore 4 x 4 club, and the Mud Terrains served their purpose at that time well. I have done less wheelin lately, but need to replace the tires, and was thinking of switching to something with better wet pavement performance and less noise. Does anyone have any recommendations on tires (and wheels)? I have been scouring the Tire Rack site, and it seems that the latest iteration of the BFG All Terrain T/A KO has about the best performance in all categories in the Tire Rack ratings categories. However, surprisingly the Firestone Destination M/T is the only tire that outscores the All Terrain in just about every category including on-road performance and noise.

I have my 33 inchers mounted on 8" wide rims, but I see the recommendations all say a minimum of 8.5"rims, so I may need to move up to 10" wide rims. I am inclined to get the same wheels (Alcoas which are now part of the Mickey Thompson line I understand) in 15 x 10.

Any comments or suggestions other than 15 x 10 Mickey Thompson wheels with 33 x 12.50 x 15 BFG All Terrains?

 

[cbearly]

I think you would be fine running a 33 X 12.50 X 15 tire on the !5 X 8 rims you have. I talked to a friend of mine that owns a tire shop about the 8.5" rim recomendation and he said they run fine on 8" wide rims. The Trexus tires I have are recomended for a 8.5" or wider rim but they do great running on the 8" rims I have.

I don't have any experience with the Firestone Destinations, but I've run the BFG All Terrains on a couple of vehicles and have liked them.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Sounds like you are going for a more street friendly tire combination. Not having shopped for mild offroad tires in 10+ years I won’t even try and recommend anything.

But for the rims you can go either way. The 8” rims are better if you want to protect the rim from rocks and other offroad damage. They also hold the bead better at low tire pressures. On the street (where it sounds like you want to drive) you will wear the center of the tire more. To even out the tire wear you can run lower tire pressure. This makes for a softer tire that rides nicer, but tends to squirm around a lot more. It also reduces the load carring ability of the tires.

Stepping up to a 10” rim the sidewalls are not pulled in as far. The tires are not as bouncy. You can run high tire pressure and keep the tread in even contact with the road. The higher pressure has less rolling resistance so longer tire life and better fuel economy. The higher pressure lets you use more of the load carring ability of the tire. That higher pressure can also hurt ride quality. If you are running super stiff springs and shocks you may not want to do this.

So you may want to play with tire pressure a little with the tires you still have. See what a difference it makes from say 20 and 30 PSI.

If I was in that position, and could afford it. Go with he 10” rims for the street truck. The 12.50s fit so nice on the 10” rim

 

[wildbill]

Stay with the 8" rims you will be better off. As for tires ta's are going to be somwhat quite and work well on the street good luck with your choice. Bill %)

 

[BoltBuster]

I have ran 33s and 35s on 8" rims it just causes the tire to stand taller what .5" higher??

I prefer and will be mounting BFG M/Ts on 10" I like the look

 

[TonyPDX]

I think you will really like the BFG A/T's. They are a great all around tire. I wouldn't buy Firestone/Bridgestone as they have hidden major safety defects twice. (That just doesn't sit well with me).

If I were buying rims I would get 10"s but if I had 8"s I would happily run them with 12.5" tires.


Tony