[Heinznfries44]

Hey all.....

If spring ever gets here I'm thinking of adding some off-road tires to my collection of Rav-junk. The idea being to "change it up a bit" from time to time, swapping the low-pros on 20" chrome for some nice knobby mud kickers. Here's my question: Does anyone know for sure how big I can go WITHOUT a lift? Will 33"s fit on the Rav the way it is? (stock suspension, not lowered, no lift either). I guess I would stick with the stock 16" rims and have them powder coated black and mount the mud tires on those, I wouldn't be mounting the mud tires on my 20" chome. (obviously!) If anyone knows for sure how big a tire we can fit on without a lift I would realy like to know. Thanks, Jamie .

 

[waltrav]

Hey Jamie you always confuse me with the CAN flag… My brain works a lot on image association. :lol:

I did not see any winter pics in your album. What do you run on in the winter in Switz.?
When I put my OEM’s + winter tires on I put one of my Enkei’s open as a spare.. Gives it a nice change of look. Some people even think it’s a new model.

Hopefully the black you choose it a nice high gloss match to your RAV. I think Marc. Is going to do the same.

I too would like a set of mud type tires and a 3rd set of rims. I just find myself too aggressive for my typically great winter tires. I want to search for something like directional Mud but with Sipes if they make one.

I think I would go with a 16” after market rim though, to give it a 3rd different another look. Man I think I know why the girlfriends are always changing there hair colors :roll:

Later,

Walt

 

[Jeff]

If you are going to get larger off-road tires, you need to use 16" rims, nothing more, nothing less. One of the benefits provided by off-road tires is a softer off-road ride quality due to a larger sidewall, therefore you shouldn't get anything more than 16". Besides, a tire with an off-road tread design looks really funny on big chrome dubs.

As for the tire, you might be able to use a 31" tire, but that is stretching it, and I think 33" is out of the question. You may also need to change the wheel offset to compensate for the larger tire.

 

[Marcutio]

235/70R16 would probably be the biggest you could go safely. 225/75r16 may also work. Its tough to judge it on the RAV. I think there is allot more space than it appears to be. Jeff is right on the Off set. If you use stock 16's then you may be OK but any bigger than the 235/70 may require additional work to make them fit. I use 215/70R16 Off-Road and find these good I would have bigger if at the time realized it would fit. Oh well, next time. Cooper is a great tire. SHHH! Don't tell the boss.

Later. M.

 

[Becky J.]

My 235/70 16" fit perfectly and look very nice if I do say so myself. :wink: IIRC, when we've talked about tire sizes in the past these are about as big as you can go. I know some people with 4.1 Ravs said the 235/70 16's had a bit of rub on the 4.1. No rub on the 4.2, but I bet it's just barely.

I parked next to an '04 or '05 Sport the other day and for the first time really took notice of the tire size difference. The Sport had the OEM Bridgestones and as I was walking back to the Rav I noticed how much higher mine sat than the Sport did. I like it though because in my mind it looks tougher...or something.

Becky

 

[Heinznfries44]

Thanks for all your replies. I would be running 16" rims on the swap, but looking at the pics, if I can't go bigger than a 70 series tire I wont do it. It's just not a big enough difference from stock for me to justify doing it. What does a 70 series tire translate into, a 29" tire? I'd like to see what it looks like with 31"s, but if I can't go at least 33"s, I think I'll spend the money on a lowering kit. It's funny, back in the day my buddies ran 33"s on their Toyota pick-ups without a lift, they only needed a lift when they went to 35"s or bigger. As for what I'm running this winter, Cooper..... very deep tread and they work like a charm, no worries! Peace all, thanks again! Jamie.

 

[archer]

70 series is the tire width

 

[rav4_at]

Just a note, be careful about bigger size tires(really big) as your gearing will be affected though you wont notice much unless you offroad.

Even a minor change overall will affect your offroad descending and ascending ability as the RAV's dont have a low range. When going down a steep hill you may have to use your brakes more often to offset a big change and if you have ABS, this could cause you problems.

Just a friendly reminder to be safe and really only applies if you venture forth offroad

 

[Marcutio]

70 series is the tire width

:?:

Again: P235/70R16: (P) Passenger;(235) Width of tread in millimeters;(70) is 70% of 235 millimeters (this gives your sidewall height);(R) Radial;(16) Rim size.

235/70 is also known as the "Aspect Ratio". If translated into real numbers the width would still be 235 mm but the sidewall height would be 165 mm

Overall the height of the tire of that size is 29.95". Could just say 30" because depending on the depth of tread, which varies by manufacturer and tire model, you may be looking a small increase with a more aggressive tread.

The ground clearance is only about an inch or so more with this tire vs. stock. The RAV has a very short wheelbase so this is positive thing for us off-road. If you are going bigger for height, this will help but to really make a difference you need at least 3" and will have to do a lift.

Later. M.

 

[Heinznfries44]

So...... if a 70 series tire gives me just under a 30" inch tire, then for 33"s I'd need roughly an 80 series tire.... sound about right? And nobody seems to think we can go bigger than a 75 series tire without a lift...... DAMN! What do you think.... do you have another inch and a half of room in your wheel wells?

 

[waltrav]

235/80/16 will give you just under 31"

Here is a very good link to a tire calculator that will easily give you all dimensions.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

Just put your stock size or vehicle type in the top section.

Then below put the tire size for comparison.

Basically in this case you are just increasing the Profile on a 16", therefor increasing the diameter of the tire.

I too personally would not go with anything over 235/70/16

 

[Marcutio]

Wouldn't fit man! Guess you're gona have to do a lift or do without.

Later. M.

 

[Heinznfries44]

FYI: a 95 series tire on a 16" rim gives a 33" over-all tire diameter. 90 series gives 32", 85 series gives 31", 80 series gives 30", 75 series gives 29", 70 series gives 28" etc... etc...

Guess I'll be lowering!

 

[Marcutio]

FYI: a 95 series tire on a 16" rim gives a 33" over-all tire diameter. 90 series gives 32", 85 series gives 31", 80 series gives 30", 75 series gives 29", 70 series gives 28" etc... etc...

It's not that straight forward as I explained above. Tread width along with the profile height will give you the overall height. (30",31"etc..) I have never seen a "95" series tire or a "90" for that matter unless it's one of those "space saver spares". When you get into 31's and 33's the size usually goes by standard sizing like 32X10.5R16. Some LT tires are close to what you are talking about but a 235/85R16 simply will not fit our trucks.

Good luck. Guess if you can't go bigger you may as well go lower. :lol:

Later. M.