If you’re looking for any advantage that will improve your off-road experience, you might be considering larger tyres for your tow vehicle. But do these make for a better tow?

If you’ve got the right set of tyres, your towing can be much better. You’ll use less fuel and fly across sand and highway roads. But only if the tyres are right.

Benefits of big tyres

Bigger tyres leave a bigger footprint, which is great for traction, and they will be less likely to dig down into soft terrain.

The diameter of a larger tyre also reduces the size of any obstructions by a proportionate amount so you get knocked about less e.g. imagine riding over a piece of wood with a road bike versus a mountain bike.

Larger tyres benefit from more rubber around the carcass, too. The thick rubber wraps around onto the sidewalls, providing more protection against staked tyres, and the tyre is more difficult to penetrate.

Why you shouldn’t fit larger tyres

Heavier wheels spinning with more momentum will put more load on drivetrain components like:

• CV joints
• Driveshafts
• Brakes
• Transfer cases
• Gearboxes

Acceleration times will also slow and braking distances will increase. The bigger and/or heavier the tyre, the more these will be impacted.

You also need to take into consideration the availability of spares should the worst happen. Bigger tyres are not likely to be as readily available. And the noise that these tyres make on the track are a lot louder, too.

What to look for in a large tyre

If you’re spending most of your time in the mud, a mud-tyre is your best option but for general off-roading, a mild mud tyre or aggressive all-terrain will be a better balance for off-road and on-road driving.

For general touring though, a traditional all-terrain is your best bet.

Keep an eye out for a big LT stamped into the tyre’s body, which stands for Light Truck construction. This means the tyre will have a stronger bead so it’s capable of running lower pressures, will have thicker piles inside the tyre to protect against stakes and will generally have deeper tread, too.

What else?

Most modern 4WDs run larger brakes, which require larger rims, and alloy wheels are generally thicker than steel to account for material strength so they’ll have issues with brake calliper clearance.

Larger rims with lower profile tyres also generally give more steering feedback and more direct handling without compromising off-road ability.