- First Name
- Adam
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- Jun 22, 2026
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- Location
- Aurora, CO
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- 2025 Badlands, Manual, Hoss 3.0
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
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- #1
I recently swapped the stock SAS Goodyear Territory RT (315/70r17, load C) on an Everglades wheel with a Toyo Open Country AT3 (35x11.5R17 load C) on a Black Diamond Steel Wheel. Here are my observations.
1) Tire Height: Toyo is, in fact, taller by about a half-inch. I measured 34.5" for the Toyo AT3, and 34.0" for the Territory RT. They were measured on level garage floor, both inflated to 39 psi. I used a level resting at the top of the tire to deliniate the top, and measured down to the concrete floor from the level bottom. (not shown, the photo shows the level resting on both tires, clearly indicating a slope from the Toyo down to the Goodyear.) The difference in heightcould just be due to the more narrow rim (7.5" vs 8.5") pushing the Toyo into a taller format. You can see in the photo the tread of the Toyo is more hemisperical in shape. I tried defalting the Toyo to 20 psi, and it still had roughly the same shape. I think the contact patch would flatten with the full weight of the vehicle, but unweighted, there is clearly a difference in tread profile.
This height difference aligns well with the butt test, where I feel like I have jump a tiny bit higher to get in the drivers seat.
2) Tread Width: This is the part I find most interesting, and why I wanted to make this post. In debating the move from a 315 to an 11.5", I had a lot of hesitation to move to a narrower tire. Then, I would look at the tires on other vehicles, and just visually, the 11.5 seemed more proportional somehow. I could not put my finger on it. Now, after having both on my garage floor and taking measurements, I think the proportionality of the Toyo is due to tread width to section width ratio. The Toyo is 9.1/11.5 = 79%, and the Goodyear is 9.1/12.5 = 73%. The Goodyear is clearly a fatter tire, but that is not translating into any additional tread width. I measured them both at about 9.1" tread width. This gives the Goodyear much more sidewall buldge than the Toyo. The Toyo looks more like a cylinder, with a sharp 90 degree angle at the transistion between sidewall and tread. The Goodyear looks more like a donut with the tread running along the outer portion of the donut. The photo below shows the two tires placed tread-to-tread to illustrate how the tread on both tires is nearly identical in width.
3) Weight: I put them both on the bathroom scale on the level garage floor and repeated the measurement 5 times for both with no variations.
Toyo with steel rim : 89 lbs
Territory RT with Everglades Rim: 86.6 lbs
This one is not surprising looking at spec sheets, but is still a bit suprising to me becuase the Toyo is easier to manhandle on and off the spare tire mount. Maybe this is just due to the steel wheel having easier to align on the lugs to lug nut holes.. combined with the narrower section width/easier to wrap your arms around.
The reported weight of the black diamond steel wheel is 31 lbs and the Toyo website reports 63 lbs for the 35x11.5R17 load C. Those two numbers together make 94 lbs. I am not sure if the wheels or tires are actually lighter than reported.
The reported weight of the everglades wheel is assumed to be around 40 lbs based on the shipping weight of the wheels from Ford Performance. (205 lbs/5 wheels - shipping material weight). The Goodyear Territory RT in 315/70R17 load C is reported to be 54 lbs according to tirerack. Those two numbers together make 94 lbs, so again, I am not sure if one or both of these are much lighter than reported. My money would be on the everglades wheel, which may be as light as 31 lbs. Ford probably adds a lot of shipping material.
Why did I swap? Real answer, because its fun. Overly convoluted answer...
1.) I always thought the gray wheels on a gray Bronco looked sort of off. There was no contrast, just a big gray blob.
2.) I always thought there was something off about the appearance of the Territory RTs. Now I know (see donut discussion above)
3.) My local trails are littered with medium size, loose granite rocks that are begging to cause trail damage on pretty rims. I would rather have "disposable" steel rims that are easily repaired or replaced.
4.) I felt the +30 offset of the everglades wheels looked sort of off once I switched out to the KBD fender flares. There was about 3/4" of tread poke, which I didn't really like.
The photo below illustrates a lot of these reasons in one shot. This is the type of trail in my area. I did get some very minor trail damage on the edge of the rim on this day as it rolled over a similar rock. Also shown in this photo is the rear tire just seems to be sticking out past the fender for no good reason. In fairness... the Territory RT did great on this day, no punctures. I guess, I could fault them and claim they failed to protect the rim considering the minor trail damage.
Before and After Comparison: After on left, Before on right. (its backwards). Anyone who thinks the before (right) is better is entitled to their opinion and is probably right. I am happily in the minornity on this.
Driving Impressions: FWIW, I do think the Toyos drive better. The steering is lighter/more responsive and the truck stalls less easily as they seem easier to get rolling. I can take my foot off the clutch slightly faster, without giving it gas, and without stalling. That makes for a more relaxed stick shift driving experience. There is a different road noise. I would not say it is less or more, just different. The Toyos are lower pitched due to the larger tread blocks. The main noise in the cabin is wind, and neither tire can really be heard over the wind noise. (soft top fully secured and windows up).
Thanks for reading and I hope this info is helpful to anyone out there who might share my persnickety interest in tire shape.
1) Tire Height: Toyo is, in fact, taller by about a half-inch. I measured 34.5" for the Toyo AT3, and 34.0" for the Territory RT. They were measured on level garage floor, both inflated to 39 psi. I used a level resting at the top of the tire to deliniate the top, and measured down to the concrete floor from the level bottom. (not shown, the photo shows the level resting on both tires, clearly indicating a slope from the Toyo down to the Goodyear.) The difference in heightcould just be due to the more narrow rim (7.5" vs 8.5") pushing the Toyo into a taller format. You can see in the photo the tread of the Toyo is more hemisperical in shape. I tried defalting the Toyo to 20 psi, and it still had roughly the same shape. I think the contact patch would flatten with the full weight of the vehicle, but unweighted, there is clearly a difference in tread profile.
This height difference aligns well with the butt test, where I feel like I have jump a tiny bit higher to get in the drivers seat.
2) Tread Width: This is the part I find most interesting, and why I wanted to make this post. In debating the move from a 315 to an 11.5", I had a lot of hesitation to move to a narrower tire. Then, I would look at the tires on other vehicles, and just visually, the 11.5 seemed more proportional somehow. I could not put my finger on it. Now, after having both on my garage floor and taking measurements, I think the proportionality of the Toyo is due to tread width to section width ratio. The Toyo is 9.1/11.5 = 79%, and the Goodyear is 9.1/12.5 = 73%. The Goodyear is clearly a fatter tire, but that is not translating into any additional tread width. I measured them both at about 9.1" tread width. This gives the Goodyear much more sidewall buldge than the Toyo. The Toyo looks more like a cylinder, with a sharp 90 degree angle at the transistion between sidewall and tread. The Goodyear looks more like a donut with the tread running along the outer portion of the donut. The photo below shows the two tires placed tread-to-tread to illustrate how the tread on both tires is nearly identical in width.
3) Weight: I put them both on the bathroom scale on the level garage floor and repeated the measurement 5 times for both with no variations.
Toyo with steel rim : 89 lbs
Territory RT with Everglades Rim: 86.6 lbs
This one is not surprising looking at spec sheets, but is still a bit suprising to me becuase the Toyo is easier to manhandle on and off the spare tire mount. Maybe this is just due to the steel wheel having easier to align on the lugs to lug nut holes.. combined with the narrower section width/easier to wrap your arms around.
The reported weight of the black diamond steel wheel is 31 lbs and the Toyo website reports 63 lbs for the 35x11.5R17 load C. Those two numbers together make 94 lbs. I am not sure if the wheels or tires are actually lighter than reported.
The reported weight of the everglades wheel is assumed to be around 40 lbs based on the shipping weight of the wheels from Ford Performance. (205 lbs/5 wheels - shipping material weight). The Goodyear Territory RT in 315/70R17 load C is reported to be 54 lbs according to tirerack. Those two numbers together make 94 lbs, so again, I am not sure if one or both of these are much lighter than reported. My money would be on the everglades wheel, which may be as light as 31 lbs. Ford probably adds a lot of shipping material.
Why did I swap? Real answer, because its fun. Overly convoluted answer...
1.) I always thought the gray wheels on a gray Bronco looked sort of off. There was no contrast, just a big gray blob.
2.) I always thought there was something off about the appearance of the Territory RTs. Now I know (see donut discussion above)
3.) My local trails are littered with medium size, loose granite rocks that are begging to cause trail damage on pretty rims. I would rather have "disposable" steel rims that are easily repaired or replaced.
4.) I felt the +30 offset of the everglades wheels looked sort of off once I switched out to the KBD fender flares. There was about 3/4" of tread poke, which I didn't really like.
The photo below illustrates a lot of these reasons in one shot. This is the type of trail in my area. I did get some very minor trail damage on the edge of the rim on this day as it rolled over a similar rock. Also shown in this photo is the rear tire just seems to be sticking out past the fender for no good reason. In fairness... the Territory RT did great on this day, no punctures. I guess, I could fault them and claim they failed to protect the rim considering the minor trail damage.
Before and After Comparison: After on left, Before on right. (its backwards). Anyone who thinks the before (right) is better is entitled to their opinion and is probably right. I am happily in the minornity on this.
Driving Impressions: FWIW, I do think the Toyos drive better. The steering is lighter/more responsive and the truck stalls less easily as they seem easier to get rolling. I can take my foot off the clutch slightly faster, without giving it gas, and without stalling. That makes for a more relaxed stick shift driving experience. There is a different road noise. I would not say it is less or more, just different. The Toyos are lower pitched due to the larger tread blocks. The main noise in the cabin is wind, and neither tire can really be heard over the wind noise. (soft top fully secured and windows up).
Thanks for reading and I hope this info is helpful to anyone out there who might share my persnickety interest in tire shape.
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