245's or 265's?

[VicR]

I'm about 95% convinced that I'm going to get a set of Toyo M-55's to replace the michelin A/S on the 99 2WD. But I'm having trouble deciding on 245's or 265's. Here are some of the tradeoffs I've identified:



The truck gets about 10-15k miles a year. About 2/3 traveling (highway and backroads) with the 1800lb slide-in, and 1/3 around town. Wet weather traction is very important.



245's:



Speedo and Odo are correct

Spare is correct size

About $50 cheaper

Fit on stock wheels with no worry



265's:

Approx 4% diameter difference - less RPM's on the highway

About 1/2 in higher

slightly too wide for my 6 1/2 rims according to Toyo site, but everyone says its 'ok'

Spare would be slightly undersized



I had been planning on 265's, but I'm not sure its worth it. Right now I'm leaning towards staying with the stock size.



-Vic

 

[WBusa]

I think its more a matter of taste than anything else... i. e. , there's really no 'wrong' choice. Personally, I bought my '95 used with 265s on it, and when it came time to re-shoe the beast I decided to switch back to standard 245s. Why? Well:



1. I wanted the odometer and speedometer right

2. I think the main reason people switch tire sizes is to better fill up the huge wheel wells, but my eye really can't tell the difference between 245s and 265s.

3. I can't see paying the extra money for basically no real benefit.

4. The stock truck is plenty tall enough for my tastes... and the half-inch of extra clearance I gained by switching back to 245s has literally made many more parking structures available to me.

5. Bigger tires weigh more, generate more wind resistance, and tend to have higher rolling resistance, all of which adds up to poorer fuel economy. That said, the effect on MPG is only modest, but I'm on an eternal quest to improve fuel economy and every little bit helps.

 

[Smokin_Monster]

I have a 4x4 so my experience may be a bit different but I got about 1. 5-2 mpg by switching to 265s and they fit the stock wheels fine. I drove at the time over 400 miles a day so I upped them to 315s and get 3-4mpg over the 245s but my speedometer and odometer are way off! about 10,000 miles short! But Superlift makes a module that will fix that for less than $200. But I drive over 60,000 miles a year so it makes a big difference to me. just my . 02