Mickey Thompson Baja Boss 265/65/18 on Trailhunter 18” Stock Wheels

[lauren01]

Once my truck had about 8000 miles on the stock tires (Goodyear Wrangler Territory R/T), I knew that the tires were approaching end of useful life. The stock size is 265/70/18. Since 17s are considered the sweet spot in the offroad world, and I am more of a soft roader and camping /towing user at this point, I decided to stick with something that appears better than standard load, but not go to E load tires. I am not looking for changing from 73 pounds to 100 pounds per wheel/tire combination unless our future use case makes that a good idea.

I have reduced by 1/2 inch clearance, seems a little easier to get in the truck, but I don’t notice a handling difference while driving.

If I want to go to a bigger size setup, I will likely get Method Bead Grip wheels. Would like to at some point, maybe as a second set. Before that expensive decision, I want more experience with the truck and offroading close to stock weight and size.

Here’s what the truck looks like before and after.

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[gmalkmus]

The stock tires only got 8000 miles? That's like 1 tire rotation...were you doing burnouts every day?

 

[lauren01]

The stock tires only got 8000 miles? That's like 1 tire rotation...were you doing burnouts every day?

They were rotated twice. LOL burnouts are rare for me. Half our miles involve towing our teardrop trailer. Tires were changed at 9370 miles. Two of the trips with the trailer were >1000 highway miles, one last year, one last month. Another trip with just me, no trailer, was >1000 highway miles, back in January. Seems like just plumb crappy tires even for Standard Load.

Today I put 250 miles on the new tires. I need to call the shop about having alignment checked. As I got near home, my steering was pulling slightly to the right.

Mileage was up by +2 mpg each way on today’s trip.

 

[gmalkmus]

Remember, the trip computer will be artificially reading higher mpg because your tires are smaller. Also, your odometer will put on miles quicker. So if you drive 1000 miles per your trip computer, you actually only went 967.

 

[wongaust]

Any issues getting the Baja boss to balance? I had vibration issues after my first rotation (5000 miles of use) and it took discount tire three times to get it balanced correctly. When I swapped over the method wheels, I had vibration again that they could not resolve so now they swapped out with brand new Baja bosses. No issues with new tires so far. Old tires did not have anything out of the ordinary - minor feathering, no out of round condition. Been running at 30-35 psi depending on use case.

Spec:
Baja Boss 285/70/17 AT SL
First 5000 miles on stock TRD OR wheels
Currently on Method 703 17x8.5 +35

 

[lauren01]

Remember, the trip computer will be artificially reading higher mpg because your tires are smaller. Also, your odometer will put on miles quicker. So if you drive 1000 miles per your trip computer, you actually only went 967.

Remember, I’ll adjust with a scan tool.

 

[lauren01]

Any issues getting the Baja boss to balance? I had vibration issues after my first rotation (5000 miles of use) and it took discount tire three times to get it balanced correctly. When I swapped over the method wheels, I had vibration again that they could not resolve so now they swapped out with brand new Baja bosses. No issues with new tires so far. Old tires did not have anything out of the ordinary - minor feathering, no out of round condition. Been running at 30-35 psi depending on use case.

Spec:
Baja Boss 285/70/17 AT SL
First 5000 miles on stock TRD OR wheels
Currently on Method 703 17x8.5 +35

So far, with the small amount of miles incurred yesterday, I was not feeling vibration in the wheel, but I am sure I need to address alignment.

 

[Mitch33]

Those look good! I'd love to hear what you think of them offroad and in adverse conditions. I've got 32k miles on my stock tires right now and it's looking like they'll make it to 50k but I'm trying to decide what I want to replace them with. The shortlist right now is:

Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T

Wildpeak A/T4W

Yokohama Geolander A/T4

Nitto Terra Grappler G3

BFG K03

BFG Trail Terrain T/A

The Mickey Thompson's are surprisingly one of the more affordable options and I like that they're USA made. I'll be interested to hear your take on them.

 

[TacoBirdinNW]

Stock tire life is so sad, but those Mickey's look good! +1 for practicality in tire size choice

 

[TrailAdventurer]

Any issues getting the Baja boss to balance?

For sake of discussion, Discount Tire had no problem balancing mine. 17,000 miles later, all is still good, along with regular rotations.

FWIW

 

[JCNFLA]

Those look good! I'd love to hear what you think of them offroad and in adverse conditions. I've got 32k miles on my stock tires right now and it's looking like they'll make it to 50k but I'm trying to decide what I want to replace them with. The shortlist right now is:

Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T

Wildpeak A/T4W

Yokohama Geolander A/T4

Nitto Terra Grappler G3

BFG K03

BFG Trail Terrain T/A

The Mickey Thompson's are surprisingly one of the more affordable options and I like that they're USA made. I'll be interested to hear your take on them.

I have the Nitto G3 285/65/R18 LOVE THEM...

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