Guys, I found a set of tires that might work on my dually. They come in the stock 235 80r17 and 265 70 r 17 both load range E. For handling and traction i'd like to go to the 265's plus they are cheaper. Will they fit on the rear duals without a spacer given that I tow at the max. The current tires have about 1.75 inches of space when static on a full load but on bumps will the wider tires touch. 30 mm of space will be lost or 1.2 inches. I only run at 56 to 65 psi for all round comfort. (they squat a bit with the combined near 35,000 pounds but no squirm and no excess heat and the tires are wearing perfectly flat. I have almost 70,000 miles on the stock goodyear sra's with only a minor cupping problem on the fronts before the first rotation. The rear towing weight fixed that real quick.
I gotta get some new sneakers on as these tires are 35% front. 25% inside and 5% outside rear. I'm looking at cooper discoverers s/t (studdable). My experience with studables in the past was that they wear like iron. Any thoughts or experience would be appreciated. Thanks K.S.

 

I used 265/16s on a Ford I used to have, but I am not sure the 265/17s will work on the Dodges. It looks like they should, if you do it I would like to know how they are, I want to do the same.

 

I beive that your wheels are 7" wide and the 265/70R17 state NOT to mount on anything less than 7.5"

 

This is the same arguement as a 315 on a 18 wheel....

Run them. 1/2" is nothing. My best guess is they will fit (based on tire width change subtracted from tire spacing).

 

The 80 series are actually 1/4 taller so I'm back to leaning towards these although the price is yikes high $250 us equivalent. Anybody know of a cheap source for Cooper tires. K.S.

 

They will fit and the dealer can recalibrate your speedo as that tire size is the stock size on non dually Rams.
The dealer here has done this to two trucks so far and I might do it to mine too.

Years ago I had a 98 Ram with 215's from the factory, I went up to 235's and towed heavy and never had anything close to rubbing.

The new dually trucks have even more space between the tires then the older trucks.

Scotty

 

Thanks Scotty, What have you heard of the cooper tires...I know BFG's are the popular choice but 10ply 80psi is the minimum given the weight I haul. Plus they are studdable for us northern types (pulling studs for summer is a pain) unless someone has a full set of 6 take off pos dodge steel wheels that are available for free or just above that. k.s.

 

someone here has 315's on his dually with wheel spacers so the tires in the back dont rub each other. 265 should fit without a problem

 

I thought the duallies had 17x6" wheels??? Could be wrong though ....

 

Not too familiar with the Coopers. I am looking at the Michelin LTX A/S, has an agressive tread [enough for me].

I haven't had studded tires for a long time. I think a deep siped tire with lots of sipes will work for me. I read somewhere that some people will sipe their tires even more. Not sure if I want to do that. EH.

Scotty

 

Guys, I'm taking the plunge for the 235 80 r17's. The Cooper S/T's are the best looking tread design for this odd ball stock size for sure. I measured the fully loaded spacing between the tires the other night and it is less than 3/4 inch static. Those 80 aspect sidewalls flop like a sow with weight on. I figured the 265's on a narrow rim wild 70 aspect wouldn't flop as much but would still be touching in the gap and would wear this section down pretty fast. I'll let y'all know how they turn out when I get them on. Thanks K.S.

 

James,

You are right according to my 04 manual. 17" x 6" Rims on the Duallys.

The recommended minumim width of the rim on a 265/70R17 is 7". The tire diameter is 31.6".

The recommended minumim width of the rim on a 245/70R17 is 6.5". The tire diameter is 30.60".

The recommended minimum width of the rim on a 235/80R17 is 6". The tire diameter is 31.65".

With this, I think a guy could go to the 245/70R17 without a problem, however I would have concerns about going to the 265/70R17 and wearing out the center of the tire. I think if you tried to lower the tire pressure on the 265's to get an even wear, you might have the problem of the rear dually tires touching.

I priced out some 60,000 tread life warrantied Cooper H/T's, 235/80R17, out the door mounted, balanced and siped for about $175 each. I think these will be my next tires, which is going to have to be pretty soon. I don't do any offroading or mudding so these should work just fine.

Only got 30K out of the factory Goodyear's.

 

Guys, I've decided that taller is better than fatter... in a lot of things, tires included. I got over 70,000 miles on my Goodyear SR-A's by rotating the spare in and the fronts are still over 55% and not cupped. It seems the fronts will cut when the tread is full. It is best to wear the fronts to 75% then rotate them back. The only problem I had with the Goodyears were wet traction and offroad traction. The GSA's looked like a better off road tire but their wet performance and overall rating was worse (jeep owners probably- come std.). I just glad Cooper offers a full range of tires. I ended up getting the Discovery M/T which weren't even indicated in 235 80 r 17 but they have them. I'll let you know what they are like when I get back from a 4000 mile trip to Northern Canada. K.S.:

 

Will be interested to hear how the Cooper H/Ts work out. As I recall they a 520 rating for tire life, compared to 400 for the Michelin LTX A/S, so they're probably fairly hard. Besides the OEM tires other 10 ply/load range E tires that I've seen are the Toyo Open County A/T, the ones that I saw had an 80 psi max, Toyo Observe which is a studless winter tire, the Cooper S/T as someone else mentioned, and a Nokian studdable winter tire but so far I haven't seen the final specs on it. I've been looking mainly at the 265/70-17. Most of the larger tires that I've run across seemed to be load range D, 50 to 65 psi, in spite of the maximum load.

 

I hate to bring up an old subject, but has anyone on here put 265's on thier stock dually? My GSA's only have about 15% tread left, and I need new shoes for winter. I was wanting to run 37's, however with remodeling the house, Christmas, and putting a down payment on another house I will be stretched for awhile. Anyway back to the topic, there are a few E rated semi-agressive tires in the 265/70 size. Will these work W/O spacers? Anyone have pics of this set up?

Thanks