D3 17" Tyre Advantages

[Ralph1Malph]

Hi all,
I'm currently running 18" on my TDV6 and am slowly setting it up for touring predominately.
Part of this journey is investigating steel rims for mounting play tyres - aggressive A/T or even M/T's.

Is there any advantage to 17's as they seem to be quite popular and available.

I've read a bunch of posts and stuff and as per any car, it seems to come back to the trade off between tyre wall height giving more flex and give whilst offroad versus less wall height providing sharper handling on the black.

Would that be a fair assessment?

I also note that the size I'm running now (265/60 R18) is becoming more common to find.

Thoughts?
Ralph

[Tombie]

Pros:
Can be cheaper
Bit more side wall
Larger range

Cons:
On fast stages reduces steering response

You got it [emoji6]

[Ean Austral]

In the past the 17 was Amore common size with Prado and Hilux/Ranger having predominantly 17 but think in the last few years 18 have become a bit more common .

Cheers Ean

[loanrangie]

The others have nailed it, if i was getting a 2nd set of wheels i would go with 17" but keep to a similar diameter so you could use one as a 2nd spare if required.

[scarry]

I ran 17" for ages.

What Tombie said.

I recon they are also a bit more forgiving(pressures are not as critical) than the larger sizes,and seem to last longer.

[shanegtr]

A smaller rim size on the same tyre diameter as a larger rim has the potential for a longer footprint when airing down. So IMO a smaller rim is more favourable in offroad situations - if you can fit a 17" then I say god for it

[Roger63]

I have a set of 17” disco alloy wheels on my D4 fitted with 265/70/17 Kumho MT 51 tyres, I’ve kept the original 19” wheels and tyres for the daily drive. Using both sets gives me the best of both worlds, however when the 19” tyres wear out , I’ll probably stick with the 17”s. It manages country travel, towing our camper along with city commuting just fine.