diesel737

I posted this in the high performance forum as well. I am upgrading from my tiny little 245's and the ugly steel wheel on my 05 ST, to factory alloys and either 265 or 285 BFG AT's or the Toyo A/T.
Is the difference between the two sizes a considerable one? Anybody sorry for going 285? Thanks for your help.

1-2-3

I have 285's and will stick with them. My preference. remember, that when you increase the outside tire diameter, you are also changing the final drive ratio. If your doing any kind of pulling, a larger diameter tire will work against you.

Use this handy link to help guide you with this issue: http://izook.com/gearcalc.htm

m2fsr

go no bigger than 285 if you want to keep any pulling power and decent fuel mileage.

DBLR

I agree don't go bigger then 285/70/17

.boB

285 and 265 are the measurement of the tread width, not height or diameter.

A wider tire will grip better when the going gets tough. But, when it's not, the tire is heavier, noisier, and creates more drag and friction. I opted for a 265 tire, and have no regrets. That's enough tread to get good grip in snow and ice.

I do wish I had gone with a taller tire, though.

BIG MEX

I went from 265/70/17 to 285/75/17. Couldn't be more pleased. My RPM dropped for highway driving and haven't seen any difference while hauling. Staying at about 18 MPG normal driving.

Dodgezilla

It's hard to find a tire that is the same width but taller. I had 285s and have just gone back to 265s. The trucks look so much better with the bigger tires but I'm starting to get used to the look of the 265s again....
The reason I am going smaller is that with the steel rims I'm getting ready to put on my truck I am also using trim rings. The bigger tires kind of lap over the lip of the rim and press on the trim rings and they will keep flying off the truck. I wanted those rims so I decided to just get the stock smaller tires again. They are definitely cheaper and easier to find used...

clarson80

If you do some heavy towing you WILL notice a power difference coming from 245's to 285's. ~7% change in final drive ratio is quite a bit. I tried 285's on my old pickup and they were garbage on icy conditions too.
I'd go for the 265's.

TexasCTD

IMO, the 285/75/17s are the best all around tire size for our trucks.....having used 265s, 285/70/17s, and 35'' mud terrains. I'll stick with the 285/75/17s now.

..

nvr-enuf

Check out the 285 75 17 nitto dura's

They do not follow the logic of a 285 - what I mean by that is the Nitto dura's in that size are much skinnier than a 285 BFGs. I struggled for months with the size of the tire relative to width, I almost selected to put on dually tires (235 85s) to try to increase mpg / reduce rolling resistance but decided against, I am glad I did. The 285 75s should have came on these trucks - looks good with that size tire on a 3rd gen. I am really pleased with the nitto duras - extremely quiet, deep lug, and rating at closet to 4K per tire. Goodyear was the lowest cost installed I could find which did surprice me. I think I was just under $1k for mount balance, remove, etc.