VX-KAT--- Excellent post, with excellent pictures. This shows exactly what area of the front cladding that is trimmed when using fatter 285 series tires, and specifically the 285/60R18 (31.4" O.D.).Originally Posted by stangri
STANGRI--- Most tire shops have air-powered circular "mini-saws" and can easily cut through the plastic cladding like butter. Just take a little bit off at a time, until the desired clearance is acheived. If you're still a bit skittish about going under the knife and trimming your front cladding, then perhaps come down to a slightly narrower/smaller tire to size 275/60R18 (31" O.D.). The skinnier 275 series won't invade into the front cladding as much and will still give the VX a more pronounced wider stance than stock. You won't know if they rub until they're actually fitted on the VX; however the narrower 275 width combined with the reduced O.D. of 31" will "likely" fit bolt-on perfect without any rubbing. Each VX is slightly different from the factory-- what clears on one VX, might barely rub on another VX. You'll just have to test-fit to find out.
I also wonder if you consider my previous A/T recommendations having a too aggressive tread design to your liking or lifestyle, and leaning too much to the off-road flavor. With that in mind, I re-focused my tire search for a more "street" tire designed for a rainy wet environment with the majority of your travels on the pavement with an occassional gravel road. Here are my recommendatons in the smaller 275/60R18 (31" O.D.) size:
A. Nitto, NT404 in 275/60R18 (31" O.D./41 lbs). This tire has a great looking modern tread specifically designed for wet/rainy environments like the PNW and would really compliment the modern VX style with a more "street" type of flair. This tire is worthy of your serious consideration.
B. Falken, Ziex S/TZ04 in 275/60R18 (31" O.D./40 lbs). Another upscale tire for the street, but with slightly less water evaluation properties when compared to the more radical Nitto. Eric has these on his VX with commendable remarks (previously stated in this thread).
C. Yokohama, Geolandar A/T-S in 275/60R18 (31" O.D./39 lbs). This is the only true A/T tire made in this unique size. A great rain/snow capable tire, and for venturing off-road when the mood strikes. There are multiple members who have praised this tire on their VX.
The DiscountTire website has a really neat tire calculator that will adjust for your O.D. difference to get your new speedometer reading (most reasonable aftermarket tires will be about 5 MPH off (+/-) from OEM speedometer reading). As with all tires, please read the customer reviews where available on various websites (TireRack is a great source). For example, the Good/Year - Fortera TripleTread (all season & snowflake/mountain rated) tire wears-out like crazy due to its soft rubber compound and is extremely noisy after only very minimal miles. Many people had thought their wheel bearings needed replacement which was actually excessive tire noise from the G/Y Fortera TripleTread.
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