Its going to be a very difficult decision, tires........

[GOOSE]

After the holidays it will be time for tires and what a quandary that will be. This is gonna be worse than a woman picking out a purse. I currently have a front AAL and rear air bags which have 80psi in the pics and am running 285/75-16's on 16x9 rims.

Options: - replace with same size tire and leave everything else alone, thinking M55 Toyos.
- do a shackle reversal with SD springs and run some 315/75-16's, thinking Toyo Open Country MT's
- stuff 315's on the current setup.
-open to other ideas......

Keep in mind I tow heavy so the truck will need to keep some rake to it. I will not have a truck that's barely level empty and sagging with a trailer or weight in the bed. Truck must be able to hold 3,000lbs and be at least level. Traction bars are on the idea table as well.

I am fearful that the 315's will leave me wanting more gear, like 4:56 or 4:88's.....

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[mblaney]

I think staying stock is better if you are towing. I like the M55's too. Oversize tires, lifts, drop hitches... too much for a real work truck IMO.

Paint that ugly truck blue man!

 

[GOOSE]

Yeah but a wider rim gives added stability and the 315 has a 3800lb load rating @ 65psi compared to a 235/85-16's 3100lb rating @ 100psi. The bigger tires hold more load and ride better doing it.

 

[towcat]

after a long day of real work, the last thing I like to do is climb into a lifted truck.
265/75/16 is the largest I'd go. if I ever lose a tire in BFE, that size is common enough to be on the shelf.

 

[middaymidnight]

Whatever you go with I would steer clear of open country mud terrains. They are good on the road but suck just about anywhere else. I have mud grapplers now but after riding in several trucks with them, I will be making the switch to Goodyear duratracs when I need new tires. As for height have you thought about perhaps a 295/75? You still get a 12.5 wide tire that measures to about 33.8" in diameter

 

[GOOSE]

I haven't looked at 295's, I will have to check them out. Calvin, I have a company truck that I can use so I am contemplating larger tires for the 1st time. I did see 255/85-16's and am wondering if I'd be happy with them.

 

[The Warden]

Yeah but a wider rim gives added stability and the 315 has a 3800lb load rating @ 65psi compared to a 235/85-16's 3100lb rating @ 100psi. The bigger tires hold more load and ride better doing it.

I don't remember the exact size of the tire, but I did something similar once...I went with a tire that was a Load Range D tire but had a higher weight carrying rating than the stock size Load Range E tire and thought that that would be sufficient. Granted, I didn't go to a wider rim, but I had SERIOUS stability problems when I connected a trailer that had a heavy tongue weight. The tires held the weight, but there was enough weight on the back of the truck to get the tire sidewalls flexing...and, that was enough to get the rear of the truck wiggling from side to side, which caused a chain reaction and made the trailer start fishtailing. It was bad enough that I couldn't drive faster than about 35 mph without risking losing control of the trailer and having the whole rig flip over.

Needless to say, I replaced the tires immediately after that experience...went back to stock size Load Range E tires, and everything was happy after that!

Based on that experience, if you're towing heavy, I would strongly recommend sticking with stock tires, and ABSOLUTELY recommend keeping to Load Range E tires the extra belts and sidewall rigidity are well worth it, regardless of what the listed weight rating on the tire is.

JMHO...

 

[79jasper]

I can recommend cooper discoverer at/3's.

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[GOOSE]

I am currently running Coopers and am pretty happy with them. The picture below is what I tow and have gone from Baltimore MD to Atlantic City NJ, did 60-65 on the interstates without any problem.

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[stealth13777]

Id say the old 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', but that's just opinion. If you're happy with the way it hauls now I wouldn't change things. But again just opinion


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[lotzagoodstuff]

After the holidays it will be time for tires and what a quandary that will be. This is gonna be worse than a woman picking out a purse.

Good luck Goose: the woman's shoes analogy is perfect, only you can't have 40 sets of tires in your closet

If you really have to tow that backhoe and gargantuan trailer very often, you should probably keep what you have as it works well for you. That being said, I don't know one single red blooded male American who won't break his neck looking at a lifted truck with some big meats on it

Just yesterday I went out to my dually (which has done everything I have asked it to do so far) and thought "you'd look so much better with a D60 and a small lift under you".....

Good luck, tough decisions ahead for you

 

[Mulochico]

I am looking at tires also. I took a look on tirerack.com and, according to the spec's, the 285/75R16 has the highest load capacity (3750 lbs) of the E rated tires. I was looking at a 305/70R16 or 315/75R16 as I have 16x10 rims that I got a deal on and anything smaller say max rim width is 9" or less. Still might see if these would work as I do like the look on your truck.

 

[tanman_2006]

Running cooper at3's on my dads truck, 10k and very little wear. I just got 2 cooper st maxx tires on the rear of mine, look great and affordable cost.

 

[IDIoit]

HERES MY 87 WITH 285 70 17'S

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[dunk]

I like 35x12.5 tires on these trucks. I think it's the ideal balance between traction off road and still being able to tow and use the truck as a normal all around truck. I've never tried without a lift but I suspect there will be some rub. Perfect size with a 4" or a bit less lift though. Yeah it sucks getting your hitch setup for the added height and strong components to drop sufficiently are expensive, but once it's done it's done. 315/75R16 is 35x12.4 ... So right about what has always felt right for me on 80-'97 trucks. I've usually run BFG tires either all terrain or mud terrain and been happy with performance off road and towing up to about 7000 lbs. Bigger tires and more mud type tires than those have given me issues with handling, towing, and wet traction on the street and given little advantage off road once I got lockers.