GillRipper

Ok fellas gonna start looking for tires. I like the way the Toyo ATIIs look. I have the stock 2657017s on right now and am thinking about going to the 2857017s. COuple of questions. are the toyo ATIIs better as far as wear than the ATs? and how will switching to a 285 effect my fuel mileage? last, I read some posts about the 2857517 being better than the 2857017 but the only reason I could see was that they filled out the well better. Is that the onnly reason? I will not be towing heavy, I do mostly highway driving but will be driving on a ranch quite a bit with a lot of thorn bushes and caliche roads, so I need a durable tire with strong sidewall protection, but nothing too aggressive. Looking to make a decision asap. Thanks.

EJ

Grit Dog

The only practical gain you'll get by going to 285-70 or 285 75's will be a little ground clearance. Otherwise they just look better. I've run 33-12.50's, 285-70 and now 295-70's on mine. They are all close to the same size tire and either agressive AT or MT tread. I'd say the rpms you drop on the hiway are noticable, but still cost about 1mpg penalty. Might be less with a non agressive tread though.
Personally, get the 285's and opt for the 75's if the cost isn't much more. 265s just look like donut spares on 4wd CTD's.

DodgeChallenger

I just replaced mine with the same as the stockers. 265 BFGs. Got 63000 miles from them and still not vibrating or completely worn out. Diesel mileage is better with the narrower tread - less rolling resistance, no suspension components have been changed and no DW.

rockcrawler304

My original 265 BFG's went 75k miles. I changed to the Nitto Dura Grappler 285/70's and did not lose any mileage. If mileage is a concern stick with a non aggressive tread pattern.

I'm also now at 116k miles and all stock front end parts (except shocks) on my 4x4 and no death wobble.

Shorts

Caliche and thorns - south Texas?

285s should have come on these trucks from the beginning. 265s are for girls. Wait...

Anyway, you'll see the mpg impact in the city mileage as compared to the hwy due to rolling resistance and start stops (which Cummins hates. They like to be moving). I think the slightly lower rpm on the highway will help mpg since RPM is the name of the game there. My truck does better mpg at 18-1900 than 1900-2 on the hwy.

Anyway, hand calculate everything. Take all your notes now with the 265s now so you can compare numbers, not "I think"s or trying to remember months from now. Get your RPMs for speed readout. Use a GPS to verify any margin of error. Handcalc mpg.

Once you've done that ^^ you're set to compare to the 285swen you get them. No guessing, just straight numbers.

To reduce the impact, get a highway tread tire or AT. Stay away from aggressive tread patterns. Of course, where you drive is going to determine. Highway treads when offroad can get pretty irritating if all you do is slip and slide around.

Anthony C

If you go with 285's, at 65 on the speedo. you should be right around 70. That's what my truck does, I'm at 2,000 RPM's at 70 MPH, the speedo reads 65 MPH. I'm a 6 spd manual, automatics may be a little different on the RPM's

Anthony C

I run 285/70's The 285/75's are taller 285/70R17's are just under 33" tall. You decide what you want to run, I'm just sharing what I run, and how tall they are. I have a 6 spd NV5600 with 373's at 2,000 RPM's I'm doing 70MPH, the speedo says 65

Anthony C

I should read all of it before answering. That's a double take, sorry about that

89dieselkong

I went to 285/70r17 Nitto Terra Grapplers on mine. They ride good and have an awesome load capacity (3750lbs @ 80psi) i highly doubt your gonna notice any change in fuel mileage unless you go a more aggressive MT tire, and even then doubtful. It will change your speedo roughly 2.5 mph and drop you about 200rpm at the same speed. Personally I like the RPM that the stock tires give me for towing, but they just look so small that the next size up works. Any bigger and you're gonna start noticing it. A friend put 285/75r17 toyo MT on his truck and lost 2mpg.

KWKING

If you have a 3.73 auto I would not go for the 285/75,they are more money than the 285/70s and the 285/70s are enough rpm change,since I put my 285/70s on I am wishing I either had 4:10s or a manual trans,the slush bucket torque converter on these trucks is sad!

Don T

I have 285/75/16" Michelin on my truck; I did replace the TC with a single disk billet low stall and now have no problems towing my fiver .

NE frmhnd

I can't speak for tire size, but if puncture resistance is a major factor anything less then an MT probably isn't going to cut it.

Anthony C

I just put a new set of NITTO Terra Grapplers on my Dodge. 285/70R17's

I went with the Michelins LTX MS2 2 1/2 years ago, I had 40,000 miles on them. They still have some life left, I probably could have gotten very close to 50,000. The timing was right so I replace them, and gave my old tires to a person that needed them.

Nitto Terra Grapplers are the tire for the rain so far. They hook up much better than the Michelins did, and I'm a Michelin man! One of my son's have been on my case since I bought the Michelins. I have to say they grip the road when its wet!!! The Nittos I have are AT 10 ply E rated. I run 40 PSI in the rear, and 50 PSI in the front. The truck handles beautify. I couldn't ask for more. My tire man said that Nittos will be 10 X's better in the snow than the Michelins. Well I get to try that out this weekend! Going to northern PA this weekend to see family. The forecast is calling for SNOW!!!! Outstanding, I'll have my trailer as well with one of my 4 wheelers. If anyone is interested in how they do, just do a reply to this thread. All replies are welcome, good or bad.

Anthony

Shorts

I've used the 285/70 TGs in snow. Yeah yeah a Texas girl just said that They do pretty well in the wet slushy stuff as well as the dry fluffy stuff. Where you will see some slippage is on straight ice. Most definitely on an incline, or turning from a stop. So, beware that it can happen. Otherwise I had the same impression as you about the being a pretty grippy tire. As for rain, I have slipped the rear trying to make a left turn from a stop on a newly sprinkled road. I'm not heavy on the throttle but it was enough to lose traction until I lifted off the pedal. The back is so light that it doesn't take much.


FYI I've done a few years living in northern Japan where it avgs 10-12' snow per year. I earned my snow stripes there

kry226

I got the 4.10s for the very reason of using taller tires. On my 16 mile commute to and from work in the DC area, I get a legitimate 18-19 mpg averaging 50-65 mph with a few stops and slower speeds on post. I have gotten 17-18 on long trips averaging 70 mph. I get 11 or 12 towing our TT at 15K gross truck and trailer. Sometimes I wish I could get a taller 265, but that's impossible without upping my wheel size. The taller tires make it a little harder to level a trailer, but no regrets so far.