Yeah i've got the same question. A few have said they had a loss of braking, handling and accleration. Is it really that big. By adding a programmer or box you should be able to get your acclerationi back pretty easy as for the handling, it's an 8K lbs. 4x4 truck not a porsche. And as far as braking goes, i'm sure we'll lose a little but is it really that bad?

 

TexasCTD,

Well it is a two edged sword, the longer they last the longer it is before I have to spend money on lift/tires .

As far as power loss, acceleration, braking, etc. when going from 265s to 315s goes, there is some differences. I did it when the truck was new and stock. Its been a while back, but at the time the loss of power was not that bad from my SOTP meter. Once rolling not that much acceleration loss, at most a couple hundreds pounds and little more friction, which is not much of an obstacle for even a stock Cummins .

Braking is harder on the brakes themselves with more weight and rolling mass, but also have more rubber on the ground so except for more brake system wear kind of a wash to me.

City mileage loss was probably 1-1.5mpg, certainly enough to notice.

Handling with my 315s was fine, different from stock suspension and tires, but very good for lifted(leveling kit) 4x4 with big tires. I have had lifted (4.5"-7" mostly) 4x4s of one kind or another for over 30 years. this one drove better than any of them on the street.

And now with my current mods I can compensate for some pretty big tires if needed.

 

Sounds like I can deal with it.

My last truck was a 02 chevy with 6 inchs of lift and 35s and it really sucked the power out of it but then again I was still runnin the factory 3.73s, 4.56 would have put me back towards stock. After me exhaust and superchips it wasn't to be but it really did effect the brakin.

 

The biggest effect on braking and handling will be the height of the tire as opposed to the width. Our stock 265 mm wide (10.4 inch wide) tires are about 31.5 inches tall. A 33 inch tall tire will increase your tire height by about 4.8%, which directly affects gear ratio and braking/handling. My 35 inch tires increased my tire height by 11%, which is a noticeable difference. My experience is that a 315 wide 33 inch tall tire won't really hurt your driving performance. Also as long as you have a 33 inch tall tire, going wider will only hurt your rolling resistance and your rolling mass, and it will be a slight difference.