Upgraded to 285/65/20 KO3 tires + 2" inch leveling kit -- impressions and efficiency difference

[Glendawg619]

Hello, I purchased my lightning in may of 2024. My previous vehicle was a Jeep Gladiator diesel Rubicon, on 40 inch tires on a 5 inch coil over conversion. That truck was amazing, but was getting too small for my family. After my wife got a model 3 I was convinced that the lightning was the truck for me. It took a couple months of driving the stock setup before i was ready to upgrade the stance. I was contemplating going with raptor takeoffs, but a lot of people on the forums said that the wheel cant support the weight of the truck, and some have fitment issues with the 17's. I decided to do a OEM plus look, and try to keep as much efficiency as possible. I decided that keeping the Lariat wheels would possibly help with aero and going with lightweight 34.5 would be a middle ground. I also wanted the smallest amount of lift possible to fit the tire. After deciding on the Ko3 as the tire of choice and the size of 285/65/20, I went to discount tire and got them mounted up. Discount decided to fill the tires to 40 PSI, and that seems reasonable to me. After doing my regular work commute for about a week, I calculated that I lost about 10 percent efficiency. Monday I then inflated the tires to 50 PSI, and it seems it has given me back around 5 percent of the efficiency that i had lost. The way i calculated was getting the battery percent used during my commute, and converting it to KWH, then dividing by the actual amount of miles that the commute is. The speedometer was never corrected, so the truck thinks I'm driving a shorter distance than I actually am. When GPS says I'm going 65, the truck is at 62 as well. Overall it is a small efficiency hit for a major upgrade in the looks and capability department. I attached some after tire change photos, and a photo of the Guessometer after my drive to work this morning, keep in mind though that the mi/KWH displayed is inaccurate now, 2.0 is more like 2.12 mi/KMH

 

[Andrewbens]

That looks Great! I’m one of the few and only ones with these wheels on my Lightning with the 17” Raptor wheels I took a huge hit in range I use to get about 2.1 to work and I get about 1.8 to work now! I think staying with the Stock Wheels and going with the 34” K03 Tires is the sweet spot! I’m running 44psi in my K02s I may bump it up to 50psi like you’re doing.

 

[mr_662]

This looks great! I’ve been doing the same mental gymnastics with the Raptor takeoffs vs stock and this has convinced me stock is the best route.

With the 20” rim and the 34” tire how are you finding the ride quality and tire noise?

 

[mb0220]

What kind of lift did you need to fit those tires?

 

[Oafy44]

Looks great! I have same set up / size tires - went with nitro recons grapplers

I “think” next go around - I will possibly get some take off 22”s from the platinum and put 33’s on there. The recon sidewalls are still aggressive and i have come to like the little more room in the wheel well .

My 285/65r20 are quite heavy and the while the set up is smooth, once you go over 55 mph I see below 2.0 and going 70-75 depending on weather seeing 1.4-1.5

however - looks like eibach makes a 3” lift with a 1/2” rear so maybe I keep the 34.5’s and add the lift.

At this point I doubt an 1” lift more makes any difference

 

[Evlar77]

Looks great! I've got the RC 2" level and am looking at options on tires for the OEM 20" wheels as well while I wear out the tread on my factory tires.

So with the 285/65R20's you are 5mm taller and 10mm wider than stock. Any rubbing with that increase on the 2" level???

Also, did you have to add any spacers for offset adjustment?

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