Which Tires

[road1will]

Looking to put a slightly more aggresive tire on my tahoe. I own a farm in north Georgia as well as a farm in Pennsylvania, and i spend a decent amount of time at both. I dont use the tahoe for any real off roading, but do need to drive around the fields and out to my lake.

I think im going to step up to a 265/75/16 to get just a bit more height. I'd really like to go to a 285/75/16, but i think thats just too much tire without gearing down.

I've had several sets of BFG MTs and ATs, and think the BFG AT would be a great tire for what i'm looking for. But has anyone else here tried out one of the cheaper ATs? It seems like I can get another AT for 1/2 the price of the BFG. Anyone have any input for me?

 

[01lt_hoe]

265 = width
75 = height

so if you want to go higher, the 75 is the number you need to increase

 

[road1will]

Trust me, I know all about tire sizes Been modding trucks/cars for years.

265/75/16 IS an increase in diamater. Stock on my hoe is 265/70/16.

Also, your statement isn't entirely accurate. The second number does denote height, but in relation to width. Thats why its known as the aspect ratio.

 

[Rollin Thunder]

how much more traction would i get with AT's.

i tried MTs gut those got rough, so i put stock ones back on, and i off road in sand and mud just fine. just gotta lower the pressure.

if you see a huge increse in traction, im gunna get some new rubber for mine too. :yesnod: :yesnod:

 

[road1will]

Honestly. ATs are fine in a lot of situations. I've done the Rubicon trail in a FJ40 on BFG ATs.

ATs are good for general use on rocks/typical trail situations. Once you get into mud, ATs SUCK, they will gum up just like street tires. Also on loose dirt, ATs aren't near as good as MTs.

Basically, ATs will be better than a street tire in any situation, and an MT would be better than an AT in any situation. The only time i prefer an AT over an MT is in the sand. MTs tend to dig down too much in the sand, where as an aired down AT will just float on top of the sand.

 

[fco_gonzo]

Try the Nitto Terra Grappler. I run a set of those on my other SUV and I have no complaints.

 

[road1will]

thanks for the tip - they look pretty good and a bit cheaper than the BFGs. i'll have to read some reviews on them and see how people feel about them.

how many miles you have on yours?

 

[fco_gonzo]

I only have 1500 miles on them (my second car get driven about 1-2 miles everyday, it the wifes, drop kids off at school which is about 2 blocks away and maybe a side trip to walmart). they were recommended by a friend who had put many thousands of miles on his lifted avalanche. Also they are very well mannered on the highway, very little noise.

 

[fco_gonzo]

265 = width
75 = height

so if you want to go higher, the 75 is the number you need to increase

Trust me, I know all about tire sizes Been modding trucks/cars for years.

265/75/16 IS an increase in diamater. Stock on my hoe is 265/70/16.

Also, your statement isn't entirely accurate. The second number does denote height, but in relation to width. Thats why its known as the aspect ratio.

Just thought I chime in

265/75/16 = 31.5 x 10.75
285/75/16 = 32.6 x 11.3

about an inch gain in all directions. think of it this way the wider the tire the more contact patch and the more traction you have which equals better performance off and on road.

I think you'll be okay without a re-gear. There will be a slight drop in low end torque but after a few rides you won't even notice it. Perfect excuse to add an intake or exhaust. I went from the stock 265/65/18 (about a 31) to a 35 x12/18 and i did notice a significant drop in ponies. I've been thinking doing a gear swap to 4.10's or 4.56 sometime down the road, maybe when pay it off thats a good goal, i think.

 

[east302]

I went from 265/70/16 to 265/75/16 on a 2003 4x4 Tahoe. The stock were Firestone Destination LE and I had almost 90k miles on them. I replaced them with the larger size Firestone Destination AT.

They look a lot better and fill the wheel well a bit better. Yes, they ride a little harder than the street tires but not that big of a deal.

We had one of those GPS things on the dashboard when we took a trip last summer. I noticed the GPS said I was going about 3 mph faster than my speedometer said. Not sure which was correct or if the tires made the difference.

I did notice that I went from around 16.2 to 15.3 mpg after the tire swap.

 

[jey_]

I went from 265/70/16 to 265/75/16 on a 2003 4x4 Tahoe. The stock were Firestone Destination LE and I had almost 90k miles on them. I replaced them with the larger size Firestone Destination AT.

They look a lot better and fill the wheel well a bit better. Yes, they ride a little harder than the street tires but not that big of a deal.

We had one of those GPS things on the dashboard when we took a trip last summer. I noticed the GPS said I was going about 3 mph faster than my speedometer said. Not sure which was correct or if the tires made the difference.

I did notice that I went from around 16.2 to 15.3 mpg after the tire swap.

Looked up the specs on Tirerack:
265/75/16 Destination AT: 659 revs per mile
265/70/16 Destination LE: 681 revs per mile

I'm not sure how accurate the GPS speedometers are but your new tires are going to result in a 3% difference in your speedometer/odometer reading. Obviously the odometer difference will affect your mpg calculations too. Not huge and anything to worry about, but probably noticeable.

 

[east302]

Jey,

Thanks for passing that on, that makes sense.

So the odometer is programmed to calculate mileage based on the stock tire size's revolution per mile? I guess that's why some people have their computers flashed or updated when they swap tires out.

 

[jey_]

Exactly. Speed sensors on the vehicle measure wheel rotations, and calculate distance for the odometer/speedometer based on that. If you increase the tire diameter, you increase the distance traveled per rotation, skewing the factory calculation.

That said, most cars come out of the factory with optimistic speedometers, leaving room for error when the tire diameter gets a little bigger for wheel upgrades. 3% is not anything to fret over - but if it's easy to reprogram the computer on the Tahoe to account for it, that's good news!