2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission 255/85/16 Tires with 3.54 gears ?

[jeepcjsrule]

I am going to buy new tires saturday i really like the 255/85/16 bfg mud terrain.



Are thes tires to Tall for my 3. 54 gears? (auto trans. )



Will this size tire fit under the bed in the stock spare location?



If any one run's these size tires with 3. 54 geras i would really like to know what you think.

 

[LSMITH]

I have the 285/75/16 BFG A/T KO's. They are virtually the same hieght. The truck is a little too tall geared with them on to me. If 90% of my driving wasn't on the highway I would definately either gear down or drop the tire size down. For example, at 60 I turn about 1600 RPM in OD and about 2100 in drive. I can run 80 in drive if I want to. With the torque of the Cummins it is totally driveable, but if you do a lot of lower speed driving or around town type of driving you will want a shorter tire. Hope this helps.





EDIT: The spare 285 fits, but BARELY! It is over 50% worn and it is wedged up tight in there, it is going to be a real PITA to get down if I need it. You may also have to loosen the exhuast clamps and rotate the pipe over a little to make room for the taller spare. This is on a 99. If I am not mistaken the 94 frame is a little different, so you may not have any trouble getting a new tire up in there. On mine there is no way a new tire will fit.

 

[SlyBones]

If you do a lot of lower speed driving around town, learn to lock out the OD with that button.

 

[GFoley]

255s

jeepcjsrule,



I have just taken mine off becase I'm headed for a new 3500 4WD, no sense in letting the dealer get my goodies. I have an ad posted in the classified section if you are interested.



See the sig, I have a 4wd w/ 3. 54s and an AT. Everything fit in the wheelwell openings and I never had any contact with fender liners etc. The 255s are about an inch narrower than the 285s. My overall tire height when installed was 32. 75" mounted on a 16x8.



Speedometer and odometer were 9-10% less than actual speed/distance. It was an easy conversion factor to remember.

I added injectors, a box, and a boost fooler. I still got 20-22 corrected MPG. I do not have anything to tow right now so I cannot offer any experiences.



Let me kow if you want to see a picture of the tire/wheel combo mounted on the truck.



Glenn

 

[Cooker]

One thing to remember here is that the 12v's will grunt a little more than a 24v. That is a 12v with 3. 54's and 33" tires will drive differently (most of the time better, IMO) than a 24v with 3. 54's and 33" tires. The 24v's seem to need a little more RPM's.



IMHO, I think 33" tires on either a 12v or 24v will drive fine 99% of the time. The only time I see where it might be a problem is if someone tows max. weight (whatever you deem that to be for your vehicle ) often, especially in the mountains.



Also, not everybody's truck is BOMBed the same. So my comments are just generalizations. MY6EATSV8's truck is a 12v, auto, with 3. 54 gears and 35" tires. I severly doubt his truck feels like it is geared too tall.



Put the 255's on. If you think it is a little doggy, don't worry it just gives you an excuse to start you BOMBing a little sooner



-Ryan

 

[jeepcjsrule]

GFoley



If you cuold post a picture of the wheel and tire combo on your truck i would appreiacte it.

 

[GFoley]

Picture Attempt

Lets see if this works ... .

 

[GFoley]

The rest of the picture

 

[wyosteve]

I ran 255 BFG MT's on my 98 w/ 3. 54's and auto. Did just fine. Pulled the 4 horse gooseneck loaded across the mountains as fast as I wanted to go. No problem fitting a spare. My only comment on the tires is they tend to wear fairly fast with our heavy front ends.

 

[.44 mag]

I asked the same thing about six months ago when I put tires on my rig. I decided on the BFG mud tire in 285/75R16. This was decided because many folks responded that the 255/85 would not fit as a spare. I'm happy with my choice. I bought five tires and carry a "new" spare in the factory location ( this was imprtant to me for safety and convienience ). Visually, the tires look great on the truck and the tire shop said that it was a more "common" size.

Hope this helps!

 

[4meseb]

SPARE TIRE

I just had new Dunlop Rover 255/85/16's put on my truck. I had them put the best tire up under which had about 60% tread on it.

They said it fit but it couldn't be any bigger. Personally I like the taller tire and I get better fuel mileage with them. If you go to www.4lo.com they have some pretty cool calculators for figureing out MPH difference and gear ratio's. Just my 2 cents.

 

[TCook]

I run 305/70/16 because I like the look and feel of them. I have 3. 54s but with a 5spd. No complaints on power or clearance problems at all.

 

[Gordon Maney]

255-85 tires

I have the 255-85 tires on my 2500 truck with six speed and 3. 55 gears. I really like it and would do it again when these wear out.

 

[hank]

255/85 tires

I run 255/85 Dunlop Radial Rovers (33") on mine and there's plenty of clearance. Although when they had my truck up on jacks it looked like the fronts wouldn't clear on account of the way the front axle hangs down. At 80 mph the rpms are exactly 2000 rpm. Perfect. I'm running stock 4:10 and Gear Vendors over/underdrive. That way I get the low crawler for FWD use and a decent cruising speed out on the big slab. She averages 20 mpg at 70mph. When mounting the 33" spare between the frame rails, a firm kick to the tire seats it snugly. The wheel wells are now filled in nicely too.



Hank

 

[hank]

255/85 picture

here's a picture of Max with his new meats

 

[CMacKenzie]

I just put 305/70/16's on my truck and IMO the Truck needs to come from the factory with this size tire. The 305's diameter is 32. 78" and 12. 2" wide while the 255/85/16 Diameter is 33. 3" and 10. 0 Wide.

With the 255's your diff. ratio will change to a 3. 40. You shouldn't be able to tell a difference unless like everybody else said you are towing close to max. weight. Her's a few pics of the 305's.



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Charlie

 

[Tomscreek]

I've ben running BFG 285's now for a while and don't notice any real diff in terms of power or gearing. (6 spd. HO)

 

[vssman]

I have no problems with the 255's. I ran them in the truck when it was stock and now. The speedo is an easy fix too. I think you need the black gear. Be sure to install the vss unit in the correct orientation for the number of teeth that's on the gear.

 

[Rogue Ram]

Let me throw this out there...

Looking at the posts in this thread, many of yall are running wider tires... ... ... how about wheels???



I've been running 285 BFG mudders in the winter months, and when I go to get them switched over, the tire guys have a heart attack, saying my stock 99 wheels aren't wide enough for the 285s... . the'll put them on, but they freak over it.



What year did the wheels get wider? And anyone who is running aftermarket wheels, say 99 and older, did you find a reasonable wheel that fits same as stock without the horrendous offset?? The tire guys keep telling me no aftermarket wheel fits with the same offset as stock for the years that have the big drums on the back---GFoley, are those Welds on your rig? Whatever they are, the wheels look like factory offset... ?



Sorry to be off topic, but looks like some of you may have answers here... ... ...



Thanks,



Rogue

 

[jpearson]

I just had a set of 255/85/16"s installed on my truck which is geared 3:54 and my fuel milage went from 19mpg to 16mpg and preformance don't seem to be as good. I think the 33" tires would work better with a 3:73 or 4:10 gear which I am going to check into because I like the way the 33" tires fill the wheel wells.