Time for new tires!

Lord Odin · March 9, 2007

Hello all! I'm new the forums would like to say hi.

I currently have a 2005 Silverado 4x4 Ext Cab Long Box, and I must say I love it. I use it for construction quite a bit, which means carrying tools in the bed but also means towing 3 ton bobcats, as well as loading up 1000lbs of rocksalt in the winter. So I need to really consider towing, loading the bed up, and off road traction.

I currently have Bridgestone Duravis M773 II wheels at 245/75R/16 straight from the dealership. They were ok but left me rather unsatisfied. Even when fully loaded AND towing a bobcat, I would lose traction and the tires would spin from a dead stop. They did a little better offroad but the tires just made me think that they were holding the truck back.

Well, now it's time to upgrade. Not only do I want to upgrade in performance but also looks. 245/75R/16 just looks too small for the truck. Here are the current tires I'm looking into:

BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO

Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo w/ UNI-T AQ II

Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor

I'm open to other brands as well but my main concern as of right now is what tire size to get. After doing a little research, I'm pretty partial to the 285/75R/16 but don't know how it will affect performance or if it would be safe to put on my stock wheels.

For my needs, what tire size and wheel size would you guys recommend?

mhraracing · March 9, 2007

I put the 265 Revo's 'E' on my HD and love em. I tow my race car about 5-6 times a year and the tires preform excellent. I have them on the stock rims.

You will find plenty of guys here that run the 285 on the stock rims as well - but I think you will need to do a little timming on the plastic.

The 265 look great and fit perfect on stock rims - its the way Chevy should have delivered our trucks.

Lord Odin · March 9, 2007

I put the 265 Revo's 'E' on my HD and love em. I tow my race car about 5-6 times a year and the tires preform excellent. I have them on the stock rims.

You will find plenty of guys here that run the 285 on the stock rims as well - but I think you will need to do a little timming on the plastic.

The 265 look great and fit perfect on stock rims - its the way Chevy should have delivered our trucks.

What size wheel would not require any trimming for the 285's?

dklumph · March 9, 2007

I have an '04 2500HD CC SB and just put Good Year Wranglers w/ Silent Armor (ProGrade) 265 75R16 E rated tires on my stock wheels. They've only been on the truck for about two weeks but I LOVE these tires. They look awesome and drive great. I haven't towed w/ them yet but I tow a 27' travel trailer serveral times a year so that was a big consideration when I shopped for new tires. I did get to drive in about 4" of snow/slush last week and the tires were rock solid. My stock tires sucked. lol

In my opinion the 265's look great on the truck. They fill the wells nicely unlike the stock 245's. I bought my tires through my GM dealer. Mounted/Balanced they were $190 a tire. I also had the dealer adjust T-bars to level truck a bit. They raised one side an inch and the other an inch and a half to level it left to right and pretty level front to back. Followed that with an alignment. I haven't noticed any difference in my ride and the truck looks MUCH nicer with the new tires and t-bar adjustment. I think the tires made the biggest difference.

I'll add a few pictures to this post tomorrow.

BTW, I've had BFG ATs in the past on other vehicles and loved them but never did any towing w/ them. I was torn between them and the Silent Armor Wranglers. I opted for the Wranglers because of the warranty and silent armor hype. So far I'm very pleased.

Good luck w/ your decision.

Don

way_out_there · March 9, 2007

I'd have to say, if performance trumps looks in your case, then the 265/75/16 is your best all around choice. I'm running 265's on a 2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD, with the Duramax/Ally combo, and have had no problems. I also know I have the 3:73 gears. If you have 4:10's, I'd say you could probably run the taller tires, and still get by ok, and you would fill the wheel openings up some more. But like others have said, you may need to trim something, or crank the torsion bars. It seems to vary from vehicle to vehicle.

One thing to check: even though a lot of people run the 285's on the factory rims, most of the tire manufacturers recommend running them on a wider rim. Not a rip on those that do this, just letting you know. You can see the recommendations for this size of tire on Tire Rack, if you want to research.

mhraracing · March 9, 2007

I put the 265 Revo's 'E' on my HD and love em. I tow my race car about 5-6 times a year and the tires preform excellent. I have them on the stock rims.

You will find plenty of guys here that run the 285 on the stock rims as well - but I think you will need to do a little timming on the plastic.

The 265 look great and fit perfect on stock rims - its the way Chevy should have delivered our trucks.

What size wheel would not require any trimming for the 285's?

Its not the wheel that make the requirement of trimming...its just the height of the tire - 285 is a much taller tire then the stockers.

Lord Odin · March 9, 2007

What makes the 285's so dangerous on the stock rims? Is there a risk of them popping off the wheel when off roading?

mikesbbhd · March 9, 2007

IF YOU GO WITH 285/75/16 YOU WILL HAVE TO CUT THE PLASTIC SPOILER UNDER THE BUMPER OR THEY WILL RUB WHEN YOU TURN. FOR A GOOD ALL AROUND TIRE WITH A GREAT LOOKING SIDEWALL LOOK AT THE NITTO TERRA GRAPPLER. I RUN BFG MUD TERRAINS ON MY CREWCAB AND I LOVE THEM BUT THEY ARE NOT THE BEST IN THE SNOW. I HAVE PUT NITTOS ON ALOT OF TRUCKS AND HEARD GOOD THINGS.STOCK RIMS ARE FINE UP TO 285 AFTERMARKET RIMS HAVE A DIFFERENT OFFSET AND TEND TO STICK OUT A BIT PAST YOUR FENDER FLARES.

mikesbbhd · March 9, 2007

THER IS NOTHING UNSAFE ABOUT PUTTING A 285 ON A STOCK WHEEL. I HAVE SEEN PLENTY OF GUYS RUNNING 315/75/16 ON STOCK WHEELS. HOWEVER THE TIRE MAY WEAR A LITTLE FASTER. BEFORE I COULD AFFORD NEW WHEELS I RAN MY STOCKERS WITH MY 315 AT SILVERLAKE IN THE SAND WITH 8-LBS OF AIR AND NEVER THREW A SHOE ONCE.

Bruce03Silverado · March 9, 2007

I've got 285/75/16's on the stock wheels on my 07 Classic 2500HD and I haven't had any problems at all and I didn't have to do any trimming or cranking of t-bars. I did trim a tiny bit on the front fascia air dam but that wasn't becuase they rubbed - it was because it was just a little too close for my taste. I trimmed about a 1/4" and you can't even tell. I don't do frequent towing so going with the 285 was an easy choice for me. I had 500 mi on my truck when I put the 285's on and I've got over 2k miles on it now and have had no issues or rubbing whatsoever.

I just installed a Superchips Flashpaq tune in ym truck and that corrected everything for the tire size increase as well as a nice boost in performance.

dklumph · March 9, 2007

Here are some pics of my 265 75R16E Wrangler Silent Armors

Ps. Bruce, yeah, I copied your Bull Bar and PIAA's!! When I saw a pic of your truck in another post I LOVED the BB+Lights. I just put my lights on today. PIAA 520 Fogs.

Don

Bruce03Silverado · March 9, 2007

Here are some pics of my 265 75R16E Wrangler Silent Armors

Ps. Bruce, yeah, I copied your Bull Bar and PIAA's!! When I saw a pic of your truck in another post I LOVED the BB+Lights. I just put my lights on today. PIAA 520 Fogs.

Don

NICE!! LOL - no problem on the copying - there's a few others out there who have done the same. The bull bar and PIAA's actually came off my 03 1500. I just had to buy a 2500 mounting kit for the bull bar for the new truck. My PIAA's are actually the 510 super whites but the 520's are really nice too!! It looks good!!

davefr · March 9, 2007

I've had BFG ATs and Dueller AT Revos. The Revo are much better IMHO. They do everything well.

I've also had 265s and 285s. I'd stick with 265s. One size above stock is the sweat spot.

Doug 97SS · March 10, 2007

I've had BFG ATs and Dueller AT Revos. The Revo are much better IMHO. They do everything well.

I've also had 265s and 285s. I'd stick with 265s. One size above stock is the sweat spot.

My apologies (since I have a 1500 lol) but this strikes me as funny. I had 265s stock and now have 285s. One size above stock is the sweat spot.

And I had Dueller AT Revos and I agree they are a fantastic tire. Granted they were not on my Silverado, but were/are a GREAT tire. I now have BFG AT KO's. And this tire appears to be the equal to the Revo. We will see how much life I get out of them. If I don't get the same life then I will go back to the Revo.

Lord Odin · March 10, 2007

Thanks for all the replies guys. The information has been great. I think I'm going to go with the Bridgestone Revo's in LT265/75R16 E rated tires. Does anyone have any pictures of these on their trucks? Not this particular size but just the tire model. Just curious what it would look like.

BTW, those BFG T/A's look awesome!