245/75/16 tires to 265/75/16

Me Again wrote:

CapriRacer wrote:
When making a change such as this, you have to be very careful about wheel width.

Stock wheels for LT245/75R16's are typically 6 1/2" wide. An LT265/75R16 needs at least a 7" width.

If you use too narrow a width on a tire, the tread tends to arch and that not only causes wear issues, but the vehicle tends to wander (as reported above!) and be sensitive to cross winds.

Gee Barry, people will ignore your educated tire engineer opinion and just do it because someone else did it! Go figure!

Chris

Agree with this. Had 265's on two different rigs with 6.5" rims. horrible vs 7.5" rims and 265's. I did like latter combo better than stock 245 setup on my GM's.

Also as noted, gear ratio is effectively changed from a 4.10 to a 3.9x, 3.73 to a 3.55, 3.42 to the 3.2x range. THIS MAY effect initial take off depending upon the GR in the trans. If you have a 4 sp 4L80E/TH400, you WILL notice the taller setup. I had a TH400 in my 88. My 96 had an NV4500. 1 or low was not totally unusable, but unusable with stock 245's. With 265's, it made the overall taller, and more Low was more usable on a day in an out basis. Made the rig overall a better driving setup.

I only used LR E's twice. But generally speaking, found the LR D's to me more than ample for my useage and carrying loads. I rarely put 80 lbs in the E's. Usually only had a max of 60-65, or D range pressure only. Not sure if you will find D's today, as easy as you will C's or E rating tires. So unless towing heavy with a 5w, or carrying loads a lot, same some funds if you can find D ratings, take wife out to dinner, probably get more fun from that than the need for E rated tires.

My opinion, yours may vary!

marty