Effect of Tire and wheel size question.
I am ordering a new truck( F250) with camper pkg for an Artic Fox 811. (Will be loaded very close to factory limit or slightly over) I did a limited search but could not find much discussion on tire...
Forum Discussion
Bigfootchevy wrote:
I believe you should look at 18 inch E tires.
I also have to agreed, forget the F250 and get the F350. Same size only stronger.
I thought my 3/4 ton Chevy would work and had to go to a 1 ton (both SRW).
Paul
With Ford the F-250 and F-350 differ in a number of ways but that is not the case with GM trucks. Only difference with my 2500HD and the 3500HD was that the 2500HD was available with the extended/double cab and a standard box which is not available with the 3500HD (only regular or crew cab) and the 3500HD had an extra set of leaf packs. I spent $450 for a set of 4 leaf springs from Supersprings and increased the payload to what I wanted for the camper I planned to haul.
18" tires provide more options for aftermarket tires including ones with a higher load capacity than the factory tires. Not all rims are the same in terms of load rating and this is also important to check for a "heavy duty" pickup.
Rim size is not what is important but rather the overall diameter of the tire and that depends on the wheel size and on the profile. I switched from 245 to 285 tires and the increase in diameter was less than an inch and it affected the gearing by 4% which is nothing to worry about one way or the other.
Biggest impact on MPG will be your speed going down the highway. My truck's MPG falls by 15% with a 10 MPH increase in highway speed - i.e. driving at 75 instead of 65. With the camper in the bed the decrease is closer to 25% with higher speeds.
