265/70/17? 285/70/17? 285/75/17? Thoughts?

[ZBrooks]

I suggest the Dura Grapplers for when the roads are dry. They are an excellent tire and at 30k miles, I had 10/16 left. My wife's excursion will be running them soon, as well.

 

[Loren]

Bouma,



As Tfucili points out, in order to get correct mileage calculations you must recalibrate your odometer to the new tire size.



Most drivers fail to do this and then report decreased mileage with larger tires. That is because the truck is registering fewer miles than are actually driven, but it is still using about the same amount of fuel.



When I removed the factory 16" wheels and installed 19. 5" wheels on my previous truck, I installed a speedometer/odometer calibration box at the same time. I found that the true mileage did not change significantly and the engine speed at 60 mph decreased very little, only about 4%.



Choose the tires you like, but don’t expect dramatic changes in engine speed or fuel mileage.



Good luck,

– Loren

 

[ACerf]

I am running the stock size LT265/70 17 on Hankook DyanaPro AS. Resently took short trip, about 400 miles. I averaged 16. 5 MPG which I think is good for 4:10 rear. Going I was pretty much empty running most of the way at 75-80 mph. Coming back I had a 6x12 U-haul trailer loaded and the bed loaded, going most of the way at 62 mph. I have to say that the Hankook were a good buy. It is a great tire for the money and I like them better then the Michelins that I have been using.

 

[MChrist]

Just remember, it's not the size of the wheel, it's the size of the tire. Or , more accurately, the circumference of the tire. You could have a 16" wheel with huge rubber that will have a larger outside circumference than a 20" wheel with those thin "ghetto" 30 series tires.

 

[EDankievitch]

Go for the Gold 315"s

 

[S.Morris]

"Gas motors are much more sensitive to rpm than diesels. If you are revving a gasser at 2500 rpms going down the freeway, you are probably also pulling 20 inches of vacuum at the manifold. 20 inches of vacuum takes a lot of power to produce, so you are sucking fuel to keep those rpms high. The same vehicle with highway gears will just lope along comfortably at half those rpms and half the vacuum, thus sucking less fuel. "



In a gas engine the highest vacuum reading will always give the best fuel economy. (anyone remember the big chrome vacuum guages... . ) Less vacuum means more throttle opening... . more fuel. A gas engine running at say 2800rpm , very little throttle opening and higher vacuum will hands down return better mileage than same engine running 2100 rpm lugging with much more throttle opening... This is why a lower rearend gear say 4. 10 vs 3. 42 will produce better towing mileage.



Every inch of body height over stock will cost you in the mpg dept, The lower to the ground you can get it , the better the mileage .

 

[MChrist]

Little Joe, I agree with the fact that vehicle height definitely affects mpg negatively. But regarding mpg/rpm/vacuum load/engine load... it's just too complex to throw a blanket statement over it and say that "highest vacuum will always give the best fuel economy. " There are so many variables to consider that I don't even want to get into it. Just stick with diesels and don't worry about those gassers, I say!

 

[ColoradoKing]

I replaced my 315 BFGs with 295/70/17 Nitto Dura Grapplers. I'd rate them as great tires except the wear rate and no E rating. Only got 30K miles out of them, so Discount Tire credited me with $75 per tire which I applied to Hancook Dynapro AT/Ms, also same size (295/70/17). My buddy has run them for over a year on his '99 Quad Cab and they still look new. They are E-rated over 3100 LBs, and you can get them in smaller sizes if you like.

 

[Regcabguy]

I replaced my 315 BFGs with 295/70/17 Nitto Dura Grapplers. I'd rate them as great tires except the wear rate and no E rating. Only got 30K miles out of them, so Discount Tire credited me with $75 per tire which I applied to Hancook Dynapro AT/Ms, also same size (295/70/17). My buddy has run them for over a year on his '99 Quad Cab and they still look new. They are E-rated over 3100 LBs, and you can get them in smaller sizes if you like.

LT 295-70-17 Dura Grapplers aren't listed on the website.

 

[ktb]

i just got a set of dura grapplers in 285 75 17 an like them so far. A couple of the tires balanced with no weights, impressed me. i have been running 285 70 17 in michelins AT2 was getting around 20 mpg in the winter an it went up to 22 this spring early summer just took a trip to south idaho about 1800 miles of driveing with my tent trailer for the whole trip i averaged 18. 1 mpg i thought my ol truck did, an dose very well. i calibrate the speedo to my gps using my smarty an with all my tires have found that the rolling diam. is . 5" to 1. " smaller then the addvertised diam. I don't think i will gain anything around town with the 285 75 17 but on the hwy doing 70 plus i hope i will pick up a little mpg also i have hand calculated ever tank sense i bought the truck new in dec. of 2002 not as neat as some people but it is all scribled in a note book.

 

[bheiting]

One thing to consider - if there's a weak link in our trucks, it's the front end. The larger the tire, the more wear on the barely adequate front end components. Anything you save in mileage will probably be spent on replacement parts. I've replaced my driver side front u joint at only 29k miles with the stock Michelins. OK, lots of us have replaced those and it's most likely junk bearings, but you get the point. The larger tires always look cooler, but there's a price.

 

[Superglide]

I'm running the Toyo O/C A/T's in 285/75-17. So far I have about 39,400 miles on them and I'm due for new tires in about 5,000 miles. I will probably go back to a stock size as the Toyo's are about $350 each up here. Anyone have thoughts on the Goodyear Silent Armour?

 

[Bouma]

I'm running the Toyo O/C A/T's in 285/75-17. So far I have about 39,400 miles on them and I'm due for new tires in about 5,000 miles. I will probably go back to a stock size as the Toyo's are about $350 each up here. Anyone have thoughts on the Goodyear Silent Armour?

I am running the Goodyear Silent Armour. I have 29,000 miles on them and am on the wear bars, between 3/32 and 4/32. The tires have been rotated and not over or under inflated. I would not waste your money. I was at discount tire and belle tire, they both told me that Goodyear is having problems getting much life out of this tire. I looked at Michelin because of the 60,000 mile warranty, but read the fine print, the truck needs to be a 2011 or newer and the tires needed to come installed from the factory. The 60,000 will not apply to someone putting them on as a replacement#@$%!

 

[ddivinia]

I bought my truck new and they had put 315s on it. They have been pretty good, but I did get a defective tire that really set off the death wobble.



My truck is coming up on 100K miles and almost the entire front end has been replaced: steering box, ball joints, drag link, etc.



I pull mostly with my 3500 SRW so the tires are more cool than anything. I do take it hunting but the extra size isn't a big deal.



I had to put new rears on it last year. I pretty much have to replace the rears twice for one set of fronts. So it looks like later this year or early next year I will need a complete set.



I am thinking of sticking with BFG AT but going down to 285s. 285s for less load on the front end and also they will be E range. The front end guys tell me that the D vs. E range tires can really kick off the death wobble. I personally think they are full of it and it is just a junk front end in our trucks.



The dealership had changed the speedo when I bought the truck. I guess I can have them do it again when I get new tires. I don't have a programmer - I keep looking for a used one.



Comments?



Thanks,

D.

 

[DFark]

Same here my Toyo's were Chinese and are gone after 35,000 miles. Down to the wear marks.

 

[BrianJ]

I am running the Goodyear Silent Armour. I have 29,000 miles on them and am on the wear bars, between 3/32 and 4/32. The tires have been rotated and not over or under inflated. I would not waste your money.

I had a similar experience with the Goodyear Silent Armour Pro Grades, and didn't make it 25k on mine. Only good news out of it was that they have a 50k warranty so got replacements for a little over $400 when prorated, so won't come out too bad when it's all said and done. When these ones wear I don't know if I will take the pro-rated coverage on new Silent Armour's again, or go with something else. They do have tremendous snow and ice traction when new, but very average once they were down to 1/2 or so tread life.

 

[Quilbilly brian]

I run 265's. I had 295's and was getting 15mpg. I went back to 265's and now get 19. 5 on the Hwy and 17. 8 driving locally. Big tires look cool and bad *** no doubt but at over $4 per gal I cant afford that kind of cool!!!

 

[MAshley]

So has anyone come up with a list of tires that are a good option, VS a list of dont waste your time? Maybe one in stock size and one or larger tires. Looking for a decent tire in Wet conditions that gets more then 50K miles.



I have to say the Toyo tires from Les Schwab were less then stealar for me, and actually were mostly worn out at about 40K miles

 

[TGVET]

Tires

I didn't go back and read through all the previous posts so I don't know if anyone tried Perelli Scorpion ATR's but I'm using them in 265/70R17's and they are to date the best tire I have ever used on any of my trucks. 65,000 rated and better than my studded snow tires when newer condition. They are 16/32nds when new I am now at just over 31,000 @8/32 and will be trading them in soon before SNOWMAGEDDON 2011/12. I have been doing biz with Discount now for over three years now, Switched from Les Schwabb and Toyo AT's. Toyo and L. S. sucks bad IMO, and I would never go back to either.



(Had L. S. not lied to me on the Toyo guarantee, I would have most likely stayed with them after 10+years, but they did not honor the mileage trade in by saying Toyo were 50K not 60 as I found out from Discount while on my way in to L. S. )

The thing with Discount is, they are ONLY tires and wheels no other BS like L. S. and all the work I ever had done tire and non-tire related at L. S. was forever problematic. .

 

[Prairie Dog]

When I bought my Toyo AT's last year they told me they had a 50k tread wear warratny. Maybe they changed somewhere along the line.