I have recently purchased a 2015 Adventurer 89RB.My truck is a 2000 chevrolet 2500 crew cab.This truck is the old body style of the 90's. With the existing tires I am on the edge of exceeding the max tire rating . I was wondering if anyone knows of the max tire and or rim tire combo to boost my existing rating. My existing Goodyears are 245/75/16. Mounted on stock aluminum rims. 16x6.5. That being said I see alot of people running 265/75/16 on those same rims. Chevrolet did not allow alot of front wheel well space on this series of body style.Any thoughts. Thanks.

Check tire mfg web sites. They always list recomended rim width for each tire size. BTW likely your limiting factor is wheel load rating, as 3500 series trucks had steel wheels not aluminum.

Im not sure if the clearance is exactly the same from your truck year to mine but , I have the 2004 gmc with the same stock wheel and 245 E tires. I did what a lot of other GM owners did , swap up one size to the 265 on the stock wheel. It works fine after 30,000 miles on the 6,5" rim. The speedo is now correct instead of 2 mph off . My gas mpg seems to have remained the same . If the larger tire does use a little gas, I don't notice it .

I did have friend that had the 265's on his truck. That would give me the edge I need. Although not huge. However he had never really subjected his truck to this kind of weight for any length of time or distance. I went through just about every page of peoples photos of there truck and camper set ups, trying to see what people were using. I will say there was quite a few using the 16x6.5 aluminum wheels. Thanks.

I have a 2005 2500HD and did upgrade to 265/75/R16 E load. You will probably also need Stableloads and Timberns for your load. My camper weighs 3000lb loaded.

I have added 2500 lb helwig Helpers. It rides great. When unloaded I have a Leer high top style truck cap that I usually install to cover the dog crate and training gear I use for retriever training. I am leaning towards the 265/75/16 Good Year Silent Armor. I have that same tire in a 245 and I love them.I am brand loyal and really like the Goodyear tires. I have had very good luck with them. Thanks people.

Tire size 2000 Chevy 2500 4x4 | Good Sam Community

21 Replies

Tom_Orlowski
Explorer
Jan 09, 2015
Thank you 4thesporty. And eveyone else. 4thesporty really answered my question. Without alot of hoopla, 265/75/16 are as large a tire my truck can fit without front fender modification.That tire will give what I need for capacity plus some. Thanks all.
4thesporty
Explorer
Jan 09, 2015
Back on topic though.....

I have the same body style truck as the OP and ran 265/75/16 GY wrangler Duratracs for 4 years of towing and they performed great and cleared just fine with a small adjustment of the torsion bars.
4thesporty
Explorer
Jan 09, 2015
mkirsch wrote:
bcbouy wrote:
why is it stupid to put 35's on our trucks? a lot of us do take them off road.

It's stupid if you plan to load the truck up to the maximum and go traveling. The larger tires rob power, have a lower weight rating, and raise the center of gravity. All of it making the truck less suitable as a hauler, more difficult to drive, and less comfortable to drive.

If you're just going muddin', or stylin' and profilin', knock yourself out. Heck, I'd probably go with 37's or even 42's.

My 35s have a load rating of 3640 lbs. I could go up to 37s and get 4300 lbs if I so choose.

Link
ticki2
Explorer
Jan 09, 2015
monkey44 wrote:
deltabravo wrote:
monkey44 wrote:
My 2003 GMC 2500 4x4 X-cab came with 265's on it stock?

If you bought it with 265s on it, it was upgraded prior to you buying it. From the factory, the GMT800 body style (99-07 Classic) 2500s came with 245s as the largest tires.

Nope, bought it brand new from the GMC dealer - Framingham MA. May 2003 ... Put 214,000 miles on it over about ten years, and traded it in last Feb on my 2015, which also has stock 265 tires.

It's always possible the dealer installed the tires, with bed rails and "stuff" - but the truck had 121 miles on it, as my dealer did a trade from a dealer in Maine to get it because it has a 3:73 RE, not the normal 4:11 ... and dealer drove it down about 100 miles ...

I had a similar situation , bought an '03 a year old with 14000 miles on it , not enough to go through a set of tires . When I got it , it had 265 C's all around . Somebody did some swapping somewhere along the line . The door sticker called for 245 E , which I believe was the only tire size spec for a 2500HD . The 3500HD came with steel wheels and 265 E .
mkirsch
Nomad II
Jan 09, 2015
bcbouy wrote:
why is it stupid to put 35's on our trucks? a lot of us do take them off road.

It's stupid if you plan to load the truck up to the maximum and go traveling. The larger tires rob power, have a lower weight rating, and raise the center of gravity. All of it making the truck less suitable as a hauler, more difficult to drive, and less comfortable to drive.

If you're just going muddin', or stylin' and profilin', knock yourself out. Heck, I'd probably go with 37's or even 42's.
monkey44
Nomad II
Jan 09, 2015
deltabravo wrote:
monkey44 wrote:
My 2003 GMC 2500 4x4 X-cab came with 265's on it stock?

If you bought it with 265s on it, it was upgraded prior to you buying it. From the factory, the GMT800 body style (99-07 Classic) 2500s came with 245s as the largest tires.

Nope, bought it brand new from the GMC dealer - Framingham MA. May 2003 ... Put 214,000 miles on it over about ten years, and traded it in last Feb on my 2015, which also has stock 265 tires.

It's always possible the dealer installed the tires, with bed rails and "stuff" - but the truck had 121 miles on it, as my dealer did a trade from a dealer in Maine to get it because it has a 3:73 RE, not the normal 4:11 ... and dealer drove it down about 100 miles ...
Wheelholder
Explorer
Jan 08, 2015
I have a 2008 silverado and have 285/75-16 E's on it. I also have 7.5 inch rims. The load capacity is 3500# per tire and rim combo. They rub a tiny bit at lock on the front. Not very much and I just back off the turn a bit when I hear them rub. The rims are American Racing Daggers.

Not sure if the wheel well is the same size as yours.
billtex
Explorer II
Jan 08, 2015
bcbouy wrote:
why is it stupid to put 35's on our trucks? a lot of us do take them off road.

35's will NOT be E rated...
billtex
Explorer II
Jan 08, 2015
Our truck came w/245...we upgraded those to 265 on the OE alum rims and ran those for many miles...including x-country 2x.

When we got the new (larger) camper we upgraded again to 285's but also went to steelies from a 1 ton.

I did trim a little plastic to fit the 285's.

Bill
chevor
Explorer
Jan 08, 2015
235/85/16s will give slightly high weight rating over 245s. The fit the stock wheels well.
I prefer a wide rim with the narrowest tire possible for stability and traction.