Jan-10-2015 07:54 PM
Jan-16-2015 03:44 AM
milo wrote:mudfuel07 wrote:milo wrote:
Quote... what the purpose of lifting a truck is. :h
Looks cool having to put a 4' ladder out for the wife so she can get in & out of the truck. :C
You must not like your wife!!:h For me, it means I get a little action helping her up and down--it's a nice side benefit!
Hmmmmmm... Why would I not like my wife if you have to put a ladder out to get your wife out of your truck. :h Guess for you that kinda action is better than no action at all huh......LMAO
Jan-15-2015 01:02 PM
mudfuel07 wrote:milo wrote:
Quote... what the purpose of lifting a truck is. :h
Looks cool having to put a 4' ladder out for the wife so she can get in & out of the truck. :C
You must not like your wife!!:h For me, it means I get a little action helping her up and down--it's a nice side benefit!
Jan-15-2015 11:14 AM
Jan-15-2015 10:12 AM
milo wrote:
Quote... what the purpose of lifting a truck is. :h
Looks cool having to put a 4' ladder out for the wife so she can get in & out of the truck. :C
Jan-15-2015 05:15 AM
Jan-13-2015 10:15 AM
Jan-13-2015 07:59 AM
Jan-13-2015 07:41 AM
Jan-13-2015 06:09 AM
majorgator wrote:
You referred to the tire WIDTH and referenced that as the tire HEIGHT. The second number in this method of tire sizing gives reference to the height. I never said anything about gear changes.
majorgator wrote:
The calculator you linked to is not accurate. It depends on linear data input and provides linear data outputs. As stock tire size increases, the calculator becomes less accurate, because overall diameter increases become less of a factor. If you increase the diameter of a compact car tire by 2", then you've made a huge change. But when you increase a large heavy duty tire diameter by 2", you've created an almost negligible impact. A straight-line calculator cannot deal with this.
majorgator wrote:
Don't be so quick to justify yourself that you fail to read.
Jan-13-2015 02:37 AM
BurbMan wrote:majorgator wrote:BurbMan wrote:
Also be aware that taller tires will effectively decrease your axle ratio. Formula is the old tire diameter divided by the new tire diameter times the axle ratio. For example, I have 4.10's on my truck, and when I swapped out the factory 245's for 265's, the larger diameter tires reduced my axle ratio to an effective 3.92. I noticed it right away in that the trans wanted to downshift a little sooner on hills, and that's towing 8500 lbs. I wanted a little more ground clearance and traction off road, but didn't go to 285's because I didn't want to decrease highway towing performance that much. So the 265's were a good compromise for me. If I was hiway all the time I would have stayed with the OEM 245's. If I was offroad more of the time, I would have gone with 285's.
The tire size you're referencing is the width, not the height.
FWIW, on my '07 Silverado 1500, I went from 245/70 (stock size) tires to 285/70 tires at my first tire change. The truck improved in every way. Better mileage, better handling, better ride, etc. Nothing changed regarding shifting. The speedo is off by about 3 MPH when it reads 75 MPH. Below that, its negligible.
Absolutely INCORRECT. Overall tire diameter is what affects the rear axle ratio, the width has got nothing to do with that. Do some homework, maybe start here.
Look at Michelin LTX/MS as an example. LT245/75-16 has an overall diameter of 30.5". The same tire in LT285/75-16 has an overall diameter of 32.8". So if you had 4.10 gears in your truck, your new effective axle ratio with the taller tires is 3.81. To maintain the same pulling power with the taller tires, you would need to re-gear to 4.41's...in the GM world 4.56 would be closest.
Fact is, you have reduced the pulling power of your truck with those taller tires. You won't notice it empty, and if you haven't noticed it towing, then your trailer isn't very heavy. Of course in FL your biggest hill is an interstate overpass...
Jan-12-2015 03:28 PM
discovery4us wrote:
Yes you can tow with a lifted truck. All but one of my trucks have been lifted and I have towed with everyone of them, heck my truck camper was on a lifted truck with a trailer behind it. Much of my early camping involved sand and river beds so the larger wider tire was necessary for the added float of the tire.
I have always stayed with four to six inch lifts and around a 35 X 12.50 tire and always felt safe and in control from my tent trailer to my 40' FW TH. If you don't already have in the neighborhood of 4.10:1 gears you may find a need to regear and depending on the trailer height you may need to consider flipping the trailer axles.
From my experience I wouldn't hesitate to tow with a lift and larger tires. My current chevy is a 2004 and even with a 4" lift and 35" tires I am still the same ride height as a stock Dodge 4x4:M
Jan-12-2015 03:16 PM
DirtyOil wrote:
You said it... "Blocks create a large reaction moment..." " this moment twist the leafs" ....nothing about stock vs blocks. Your post suggests that wheel hop only happens to lifted trucks using blocks, it can happen to stock as well as lifted trucks...its not a lift only issue!
Jan-12-2015 02:02 PM
Powts wrote:VintageRacer wrote:
Everyone knows the obvious drawbacks to lifted trucks, and many with 3500's actually look to lower them for towing, so I won't go there. Once you get the lift sorted the way you want it, you need to fully and completely adjust the weight distributing hitch. You may need to find a real high quality dropped hitch head, mine is adjusted to it's lowest point to fit my stock height F250 so a 4" lift on a 3500 is probably 6" or more difference to mine. As said, watch the weight ratings on the tires and wheels so you get ones that match your usage.
Other than that, it's going to handle a bit worse, brake worse, and probably ride worse so adjust your driving style. Lots of people tow with lifted trucks and do just fine, you probably will too.
Brian
Good points, thanks for this. Tires are the Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs. E ply with a load rating of 126. Should be fine with that as they're a step up in all categories from the OEM's. I'll shop around for a quality hitch head - any suggestions on what/where to buy?
Jan-12-2015 01:34 PM
majorgator wrote:BurbMan wrote:
Also be aware that taller tires will effectively decrease your axle ratio. Formula is the old tire diameter divided by the new tire diameter times the axle ratio. For example, I have 4.10's on my truck, and when I swapped out the factory 245's for 265's, the larger diameter tires reduced my axle ratio to an effective 3.92. I noticed it right away in that the trans wanted to downshift a little sooner on hills, and that's towing 8500 lbs. I wanted a little more ground clearance and traction off road, but didn't go to 285's because I didn't want to decrease highway towing performance that much. So the 265's were a good compromise for me. If I was hiway all the time I would have stayed with the OEM 245's. If I was offroad more of the time, I would have gone with 285's.
The tire size you're referencing is the width, not the height.
FWIW, on my '07 Silverado 1500, I went from 245/70 (stock size) tires to 285/70 tires at my first tire change. The truck improved in every way. Better mileage, better handling, better ride, etc. Nothing changed regarding shifting. The speedo is off by about 3 MPH when it reads 75 MPH. Below that, its negligible.