New Wheel - Tire recommendations

[GreyShadow]

I finally found wheels that I like appearance wise. Ultra Xtreme X107. Haven't completely decided on the black or graphite finish yet though. I want to go with the 18" wheel size, instead of my OEM 20".

I have a 2016 Sport, which has the 20x9 wheels. From what I've found in one of the pinned posts here, is that they have a offset of +19.1. The wheels I am looking at have a offset of +18. For a 1.1mm difference, I should not need to worry about a spacer correct? At the moment, the truck is still in stock form, but when the wheels go on, the truck will also be lifted 2.5" in the front, and an inch in the rear.

The challenge I am facing with this, is tire selection. In January, I replaced my OEM goodyear SR-A's with Falken Wildpeak AT/3W's, after reading lots of favorable reviews. They ride smooth, did well in snow, but they cost me 3 to 3.5 mpg. As my truck is a daily driver, I can't do that all year. With the weight of 33-35 lbs that I found online for the OEM wheels + Falkens, I am around 82 lbs. The truck feels like it is glued to the ground. Takes a lot to get it moving. Is that because of the weight or the grip of the Falkens?

I was set on Michelin Defender LTX M/S's, but they are only rated for up to a 8.5" wide rim for the LT275/70r18. I'd be ok if I go with a 20" wheel, the 20's are rated for a 9" wide rim. Because of this, I started looking at the Nitto Terra Grappler G2's. Does anyone have thoughts on their rolling resistance? Less than or equal to the Falkens? Either tire here with wheel, would put me at about 88-89lbs.

If I do the same tires, on a 20" wheel, I'd be around 82-83lbs, the same weight that is on the truck now, but hopefully there is less rolling resistance.

With the OEM goodyears, I was around 20-20.5 mpg. I'd like to see at least 19. Fighting for 17.5, isn't what I am looking for. And that is only since it has warmed up. During the winter, the best I managed was 16.5. My old 2012 ram did better than that with Firestone Destination's on it.

The roads I drive everyday, are half highway, and half back roads, with some city streets thrown in. None of my drive is flat. It is all up/down (even the highway), and left/right. If I go any other direction from house, my mpg goes up by 2mpg. My drive to work sucks.

Any recommendations that you all might have, would be greatly appreciated. I am planning on keeping the OEM wheels and Falkens for winter use.

 

[AJAY]

I ran into the same situation you did when looking into new wheel setup. I wanted the lightest possible setup to keep MPG up. Looking into your rim Ultra Xtreme X107 they are a heavy wheel at 37lbs where my XD 18x9 are 33lbs. You can go even lighter with
RACELINE SHIFT at 28lbs hahah
For tires I look at Tire Size for your LT275/7018 https://tiresize.com/tiresizes/275-70R18.htm to look at weight of the tires.

Nitto Terra Grapplers G2 are great tires and come in at 1lb heavier then the Michelin. I would look into the Copper AT3 XLT as they are lighter than the Michelin and alot lighter then the Falken. The Nitto G2, Copper XLT and Michelin are all going to have lower rolling resistances and going to be lighter as well.

My next setup is going to be the Raceline Shift 18x9 +18 and the Coppers XLT in LT295/70r18 to keep weight down.

Hope this helps.

 

[MADDOG]

1.1mm = 0.0433107 inches. No spacer needed.

 

[GreyShadow]

1.1mm = 0.0433107 inches. No spacer needed.

Thank you. I knew it wasn't much difference, but never having done any mods to a vehicle before, I figured it was best to ask others, and be safe rather than sorry.

 

[GreyShadow]

I ran into the same situation you did when looking into new wheel setup. I wanted the lightest possible setup to keep MPG up. Looking into your rim Ultra Xtreme X107 they are a heavy wheel at 37lbs where my XD 18x9 are 33lbs. You can go even lighter with
RACELINE SHIFT at 28lbs hahah
For tires I look at Tire Size for your LT275/7018 https://tiresize.com/tiresizes/275-70R18.htm to look at weight of the tires.

Nitto Terra Grapplers G2 are great tires and come in at 1lb heavier then the Michelin. I would look into the Copper AT3 XLT as they are lighter than the Michelin and alot lighter then the Falken. The Nitto G2, Copper XLT and Michelin are all going to have lower rolling resistances and going to be lighter as well.

My next setup is going to be the Raceline Shift 18x9 +18 and the Coppers XLT in LT295/70r18 to keep weight down.

Hope this helps.

Thanks AJAY. I had previously looked at the Cooper tires, but double checked them, and they are about 5lbs more than the nitto. 57 lbs per their website. Definitely a nice looking tire though.

I got on to raceline's site last night, and found the 931B Injector wheel. If memory serves correctly, it was listed at 26lbs. A considerable weight saving. Now however, their website won't open, my PC and phone tells me that it is infected with malware. So I can't look at anything else. Sites like summit that sell those wheels, dont list weights.

I am still considering the ultra Xtreme 107, but have added the raceline 931b to the list, as well as the ultra 203 (35lbs), worx 808, and mamba m25. I have an emails out asking for weights of the worx and mamba.

 

[GreyShadow]

After not being able to find a 18" wheel that I liked, that was also light, I ended up going with another set of 20" wheels. I've narrowed my choices of tires down to the Michelin Defender LTX M/S and the Mickey Thompson Deegan 38 all-terrains. 95% of my driving is on asphalt, but I do still need the ability to drive on dirt, grass, etc and have traction.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how well the Michelins do when they are not on asphalt?

And does anyone have any experience with the Deegan 38's, in regards to their longevity, and rolling resistance?

I've ruled out the Nitto Terra Grapplers because of reviews that don't speak well to their longevity, and balancing issues. I had Firestone Destination A/Ts on my old truck, but they've changed the make up of the tire since I had them, and I didnt get full mileage out of the old set, so now that the tread depth is less then before, I don't trust them.

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[Grasskicker]

I have the Michelin defenders for summer tires, they are super quiet and the ride is exceptional. I gain about 4 mpg over my winter Nitto’s, it’s like driving a Cadillac over a lumber wagon. The Michelin’s have a snow flake on the side wall, I will keep them on until we get into the heavy snows storms in Utah.


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[GreyShadow]

@Grasskicker
Do you ever take the Michelins off of pavement? If so, how do they do?

How long have you had them? I put defenders on my wife's explorer back in January, and she has about 6k on them, and one of the rears is cupping. Now we get to have an alignment done on it. This is concerning to me, since we never had any alignment/wear issues on her previous tires.

 

[Grasskicker]

They are ok off road, they don’t have stiff sidewalls and it’s very rocky in the mountains here. I have a Jeep Rubicon I tow behind motor home or truck for explorations. No problems with wear, 18k miles and they still look new.


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[GreyShadow]

They are ok off road, they don’t have stiff sidewalls and it’s very rocky in the mountains here. I have a Jeep Rubicon I tow behind motor home or truck for explorations. No problems with wear, 18k miles and they still look new.


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Ok. Thanks. I probably should have elaborated more. My off road, is dirt roads in the country, trips to the dump, and driving in grass fields (dry or wet). My biggest concern is the grass fields. Not sure if they'll be any better than the oem Goodyear's.

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

Nitto trail grappler. 60k+ miles if rotated, and proper inflation.
Awesome off road, and not loud on the street. Go great in the snow.
I have ran Toyo MT and was very disappointed with snow handling (Horrible) and traction in mud compared to trial grapplers.
I also ran nitro mud grapplers...they look cool, but are loud and rough on the street, and in my opinion...don't go any better in the mud than trail graps.
Highly recommend the trail grapplers.

 

[GreyShadow]

Nitto trail grappler. 60k+ miles if rotated, and proper inflation.
Awesome off road, and not loud on the street. Go great in the snow.
I have ran Toyo MT and was very disappointed with snow handling (Horrible) and traction in mud compared to trial grapplers.
I also ran nitro mud grapplers...they look cool, but are loud and rough on the street, and in my opinion...don't go any better in the mud than trail graps.
Highly recommend the trail grapplers.

Thanks for the recommendation, but I think these are a bit overkill for what I am looking for. I want to keep the stock size tire, so i just need to decide between the Michelin Defender, M/T Deegan 38 AT, and I've now added the Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S to the mix.