285/75’s on 3500

[VolsFan]

looking to get six new tires on my truck soon. Been running the stock 235/85/16 and would like to go bigger to knock down the rpms, 4.10 gears. I used to run 285/75/16s on my old truck but it did eat hubs up, I haven’t had one failure on this truck with the hubs running stock. But at 70 mph I’m running about 2300 rpm, would like to get that down. How will the 285s work on the rear? I don’t want them to be too close. I have looked into 255/85s but can only find aggressively mud terrain tires, don’t want that, and their pricy. Thanks for any info

 

[KATOOM]

I understand you can run 285's on duals but you'll need a spacer. If you search around you'll see that 2" is normal but it depends on the tires. I would just make sure the tires you do get are E rated so they dont squish too much under a load.

 

[NIsaacs]

If your Alcoas are stock width, I wouldn't. The recommended rim width is 7.5/9".

 

[VolsFan]

Thanks, I figured I’d need a spacer for the rear, and I’ll defintely get load range E. As far as I know they are stock size rims. I’ve had 285s on the old chrome stock rims on the 99 which are 6.5” wide, they ballooned good, put them on 16x8 and much better, I agree with that. Just want to get this set of 6 right. Had BFG A/T and General Grabber A/T currently and not pleased with either. They were both load range E and 235/85/16. I’d love to find 255/85 but not crazy about $250+ a tire and aggressive tread

 

[dawizman]

A 255/85 would put you at the same diameter as the 285/75, but an inch narrower.

 

[VolsFan]

Thanks for the replies. Ended up going back with the stock size. Getting trail guide a/t installed right now, they look good. I’d love to get my rpms down on the highway, but I’ve been happy I have not had one hub failure with the stock size tires, unlike when I ran big tires on my old truck. Would love to get 3.73 gears but know that’s a lot of $.........