I have E-rated Toyo 285/70/17's. They seem to be wearing quite fast but they also handle our HEAVY slide-in truck camper great. They are rated at 3750lbs each.

I was recently educated (on this forum, by the way) that the same tire in a 285/75/17 is rated at 3970lbs each. From a load carrying standpoint, I know which tire will be very high on the short list which I'll be looking at next time.

 

I found out about the Toyo 285/75 by comparing them at the tire shop and asking a lot of questions. It is based on the MT carcass and is VERY stiff. I put a set on and wow. But finally, I got tired of the rock hard ride so I switched to the 285/70 for the next go 'round. Also a very good tire but seems to wear faster and is a bit softer in the sidewall. Still way, way better than a BGF which are like running on inner tubes by comparison. My next set will be a repeat of the Toyo 285/70.

For serious desert rocks, and off road, the 285/75 will hold up. On snowy highways they have a bit less traction than a BFG AT. To get more traction by airing them down it is really surprizing how far down you have to go! They are so stiff I ran mine at 25 and 35 PSI to get some flex and could have gone farther. It seems like an excellent towing tire for a SRW, especially if the load is high. They are very round and easy to balance. Nice size compromise too. Practical and larger than stock with no fit problems.

 

My current and previous 5ers both weigh about 11k pounds. I used my 97 2500 to tow the previous 5er and felt like it did fine. It does have the camper and tow packages. It didn't pull as good as I wanted so I bought my 04 3500 DRW. The 97 started life in CA and I believe the hp was only 180 or maybe 185 and my 04 is the HO with 305hp so it really wouldn't be a fair comparison as far as the hp difference. My 97 did lose more speed on hills than my 04 does, but, it did a good job anyway. I do feel like the dually is more stable since I have pulled the same 5er (previous one) with both trucks. I did feel some side to side movement with the 97 that I don't feel with the 04. My guess was sidewall flex but I could be wrong. My previous 5er didn't squat my 04 as much as the one I have now even though they weigh about the same. I have noticed that the axles on my current 5er, which is 3' longer, are farther back which would make sense that it would have a higher pin weight. I've been tempted to hookup the 97 to the current 5er to see how it does with the current 5er since I gave the truck to my son and still have the hitch for it but haven't taken the time. I hope an opinion based on experience using both trucks will help you even though my 5ers are lighter. I do have stock size E rated tires on both. 3.54 rear end in the 97 and 3.73 in the 04. Semper Fi and have fun camping.

 

Well, I just got back from a 2 week excursion north hauling our truck camper and I must say I was surprised at what I saw on the road. After hawking every fifth wheel out there I saw, no kidding, about 80% of them being pulled by SRW trucks. No kidding! The older trucks were mostly Fords (since they had the 1 ton SRW, I guess, earlier than Dodge did). Newer ones were all brands. All of them going 70+ mph and looking rock solid. I think for RPM reasons and stability I am going with 265/70R17 E rated tires next. That should be a better RPM combo and get me closer to 2K RPM at 70 mph, which is what I'm aiming for. Better fuel mileage empty, also. The pin weight on the fiver I'm looking at is less than 2100#. That is less than my slide-in camper weighs so I'm not too worried about handling. A new Tekonsha P3 will help out with stopping and the fiver has a brake on every hub....

 

The P3 is a good brake controller, but if you're running heavy, go with a Maxbrake or Brakesmart, more money but worth it in safety. These are truly proportional controllers. The harder you press the brake, the harder they brake as they take the braking pressure input from the hydraulic line, not from a sensor, sensing your deceleration in the controller. If you hit ice or snow, the other controllers won't work well for you. Trust me, I've been there and went through a intersection in winter because the controller did not "sense" I was slowing down. I now have a maxbrake and NO issues.

 

Im running 285/70R17 Load E BFG ATs on my 98 w/ 3.55 gears and a 5-speed. If I remember right im close to 2K rpm at 70mph...265s should be a good fit for towing. I think the 285 are just a hair too tall for the 3.55 gears, but I like the looks and dont think I would be happy w/ 4.10s

 

just remember you cant get up in the real mountains with a dually,i run airbags on my gen 2 with d tires and have towed 16000 lbs of gravel with no prob ,my 07 megacab tows the same i wouldnt wory abt it and dont let anyone talk you into a dually unless you tow on the flatlands.

 

Please explain your reply. Why can't you run a dually in the mountains? The real mountains ? Do the tires start to rub as the atomosphere thins? or do load range E tires have a problem with altitude?

 

I had a 97 5sp 3.54 when I got this 9600 gvw 5er and I didn't like the feel (it reminded me of a boat), even with the tires at the full 80 psi and the OD was only good for the flats - any rise at all and it didn't have much power. Then, direct was pretty high rpm to be using it very long and the gears are so far apart with 3.54s that I'd have to wind it up tight to upshift, going up ramps. I was close to going to 4.10s in the 97 but I really wanted a Quad cab 6sp, 4.10 so I found this 03. I didn't really want a dually but I wouldn't tow heavy again with singles, after having the duals. You might not mind that setup but I like to have plenty of reserve power without down shifting at ~65 mph (my usual towing spd) and more stability. Craig

 

sory im just sayin some of the roads are narrow thats all ,you just have to use caution ,had some problems years ago on a huntin trip,the dually had problems getin stuck in the ruts.and i run 10 ply on my megacab and am very happy with them,i also run d range 285s on my 99 and can haul pretty close to the same weight with those,your comment was pretty funny though.not tryin to bash the dually owners,theres plenty of them around here,and they deffinitely serve their purpose.SEMPER FI, SHERIFF

 

Okay its not jusy tires the 1tons also have heavyer brakes I have worked on both you can make all the power you need but being able to stop is more important I have a 1ton and have gone trough a intersection with a red light and could not even slow down. All breaks smoking (that will wake you up) even the 5th wheel brakes there is a big diference in the stability. Cross winds will wear you out in a 2500 where the 3500 will bearly notice it.At the end of the day your nerves will be shot.

 

dont be like me and tow 20k + all the time a couple times a week with a 2500 reg cab auto. done it for 6 years. just put a set of pinion bearins in every 2 years or so in the dana 70. thats all. and tear through load range e 235/85 16s every 15 - 20 thousand miles.

 

Wow, I'm so glad you told me that. I will have to go backwards and retract my trips to Alaska, Newfoundland on 12% grades, coming up the Baja with 8' wide lanes some of the time if I was lucky. Wow. Now, let's get real - - my fiver is 8'4" wide. How wide is my dually? And I have climbed some REAL mountains with it.

I had a 2500 V10 with bags and set up to haul when I bought this fiver. Empty it weighs about 14,800. Yeh, I could pull it. Yeh, if I had room it would stop. I brought it home from the dealers (about 60 miles) with white knuckles. I took one short trip for a week (90 miles one way) and swore I would never pull it again until my new truck came in. You will be hurting with that rear end ratio - - mine is 4.10. My 2500 was 3.73. No comparison.

Stay legal - - don't push the envelope - - stay safe - - life is short, don't mess with it.

Bob