samiam4

Guys,

I do very little off road hauling- no snow for my old truck. The factory 1991 had 235R85-16 tires. This is not a common tire anymore and it's only 8 inches wide.
I was looking at the 265R75-16 tires as they are nearly identical rolling diameter but have a 10 inch tread width and suppose to still fit a 7-8 inch rim.

What tires do be find to have good grip, quite, good wet traction too... and not michellin b/c they are too expensive and I just don't need to throw away tires in 5 years with 80% of their tread remaing. Good 50-60,000 miles would be awesome.

Michael

PapeCAT

235/85R16 is NOT a rare tire size.

For street tires that last long in that size you are not going to get away on the cheap.

All tires below are in 235/85R16 size

Michelin XPS rib are #1 choice. I know you said no muchelins but the ones that crack are OEM tires, NOT the XPS RIB> Load range E 80 PSI

#2 Would be Good Year G159 Load range G 110 PSI

#3 would be Toyo M54. Won't last as long as the above two though.

#4 would be cooper road service 7.00R16 BIAS PLY

You do not want to go with wider 265/75R16 unless you like to spend more $$ on fuel (less MPG)

NO toyo H/T NO Michelin A/S

1972RedNeck

The 235/85 R16 is still one of the most, if not the most, common sizes out there.

Tater93

Dunlop makes a Radial Rover HT in an E load range. They are a really sharp looking tire. Just make sure your looking at the LT265-75x16, not the P265-75x16. This tire size will do fine on a 7-8" rim.

crossy

and the 265-75's are a bit shorter and noticeable more revs = less MPG although your speedo wll read faster so you THINK you are getting same MPG. if your truck is a 2WD they do hit now & again because of the additional width. Mine has new springs and they still hit now & again. Crossy

crossy

and the 265-75's are a bit shorter and noticeable more revs = less MPG although your speedo wll read faster so you THINK you are getting same MPG. if your truck is a 2WD they do hit now & again because of the additional width. Mine has new springs and they still hit now & again. Crossy

samiam4

Well, I did the numbers on roll diameter- virtually identical between 265/75 and 235/85.
I cannot see a big difference for fuel economy as these trucks are NOT aerodynamic- a flying brick. Traction will be improved with 25% more contact area(10 vs 8 inch width).
Probably right without new springs, tires will scrub the trim more.

I'll do some digging.. I was thinking before of the LT geolanders by Yokohama.

Anything will be an improvement over old hard, balled tires=0)

Michael

enafzige

It sounds like you have your mind made up. If you really need the traction, go with the 265s. Otherwise, I'd really reconsider going back with 235/85s. They are mostly 10 ply, and the fuel savings is real.

--Eric

PapeCAT

So you think you'll have more traction with 265 / 75 R16? I doubt.

The rear ends are so light compared to the front on these trucks you will be dissapointed with the traction of a tire with more contact patch. I know they don't "look" as good to people who think that bigger / fatter / beefy / etc tires are better.

If you do end up getting the 265/75 make sure to get some Ford Accuride 7" rims (found on E250-E450 and pre superduty F250) or FORD Alcoa aluminum rims. (harder to find but also on E350 conversion vans and F250 premium trucks around 1997)

This is not web wheeling coming from me. I have experienced dozens of sets of wheels and tires on 6 different 1st gen diesels:

1989 D250: 235/85R16 pep boy tires - bulge in sidewall close to catastrophic failure/blowout

265/75 R16 Michelin A/S on 2nd gen 7inch wheels - Low traction, sidewall developed checking. Installed wheels on proper backspace 7" aftermarket "chrome blade" steel rim. Rims bent. replaced the worst one and kept rolling.

265/75 R16 NEW Toyo Open Country H/T - replaced up in seattle during urgent need because the A/S were slipping in rain badly. H/T were only marginally better. Needed More weight / ballast in rear end to solve root cause of issue.

265/75 R16 NEW Toyo Open Country M/T mounted on NEW ford Alcoa 16x7" rims. Mud terrain wore extremely fast, and scrubbed a lot in corners.

245/70R19.5 Michelin XZT tires mounted on Rickson 19.5 forged aluminum wheels. Good traction. Great mileage at almost 34" tall and skinny (only 245mm wide) Rode VERY rough.

235/85R16 Cooper tires and STOCK wheels. Overall the best tire size. Good mileage good traction and good ride.

1993 W250 - Stock wheels and tires with the ricksons (too rough) and mostly on 235/85R16 Toyo M55. Wore down quicker than I thought they would. Somewhat noisy. VERY expensive. Answer - Stock wheels and tires get the nod for 4wd trucks as well.

1992 W350 - Stock 215/85R16 Extremely skinny and short but ride well and might change out to 235/85 later on. 31" tall. Stock size. Duals inhibit going to wider rim size. Need to swap to D80 2nd gen rear end and use chevy conversion hubs in front to get away from coined hub style to enable use of other wider greater offset rims in order to test 255/85R16.

archer39

I have about 50,000 miles on my 265/75/16 firestone transforce tires. I haul my trailer with about 5,000lbs of mowers on it every day during summer. They are in need of replacing but have served me well for 5 years.

jerseybud

PapeCAT posted some useful info and I'll second that. If you use the 265/75/16 on a OEM Dodge 16x6 rim, the tire will have a tendency to "crown" or wear mostly in the middle. This will be really obvious in the rears, and dangerous as well with less contact pattern. My 93 does this with bfg at's.
That said I have a set of 265/75/16 Cooper ast on my 92 that wore perfectly flat, but those were load range C.

235/85/16 isn't a bad choice at all- less rolling resistance and theoretically less stress on the steering box/frame with the lower contact pattern

thrashingcows

I've been running the BFG Commercial T/A's on my crew for a couple years now. Great tire IMO. Excellent straight line tread, with good wet traction, and excellent tire wear, quiet, and great for fuel economy.

I've got a little over 20K miles on my tires, and have probably burned off only 2 or 3/32nds of tread wear. They come with, I think, about 11/32nds or more tread depth when new.

Tc's 91

I've run the BFF comm ta on 3 trucks. Amazing. I traded one truck in and made the dealer take the tires and wheels off my trade in and put them on my new truck so I wouldn't have to go thru the Firestone B.S.

brcron007

Hi All, I know I haven't posted awhile on my 4X4 crew ctd conversion. But I promise I will.

I don't mean to highjack the thread but do you guys think alot of these brand recommendations translate to the 265/75/17's ? I'm upgrading my wheels on the crew to 17 inch H2 Chrome new take off's with the 3rd gen center caps. I had originally been leaning towards Michelin's or BFG's. No real towing or off roading. I'll be driving it more as a cruiser. 17 inch tire opinions ? Thanks, Ron

thrashingcows

Well the wider the tire, the more surface area on the road, which leads to more friction. SO the mileage may suffer a little bit. But if they make a 265/75/17 in the BFG COmmercial T/A I'd recommend it.