# wheels and tires



## SnowMatt13 (Jan 8, 2003)

looking to get a set of summer wheels and tires
I am currently running 265 75 16 on my stock rims
I found a set of 17" wheels I really like, my question is I'd like to keep the same height but maybe a bit wider...
Any recommended tire size?


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## RichG53 (Sep 16, 2008)

Try here...
http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html


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## RichG53 (Sep 16, 2008)

Try here...
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html


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## purplehavoc (Jan 1, 2008)

On my 05 i run a set of 285/75/16's on a set of 16x8 Ultra wheels.
Gives the truck a better looking stance,but dosen't stick way out.


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

285's are a popular upgrade. Will they fit on your truck without some minor mods, probably not. 285's will get you wider, but they also get you 1" bigger. I like the 285's and think they are worth trimming some of the plastic.


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## rb69 (Oct 5, 2007)

I have had these: http://desmoines.craigslist.org/pts/1616553466.html on my 08 and just sold a set of 20's w/ 305/50/20. Seems like if you have any rubbing on the trucks older than 07 it would be on the plastic air dam. new than that rub behind the tire @ the plastic inner fender liner


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

rb69;1014805 said:


> I have had these: http://desmoines.craigslist.org/pts/1616553466.html on my 08 and just sold a set of 20's w/ 305/50/20. Seems like if you have any rubbing on the trucks older than 07 it would be on the plastic air dam. new than that rub behind the tire @ the plastic inner fender liner


Do you have a pic of them on your truck? I would like to see them. That is a big tire for a truck with no lift.


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## rb69 (Oct 5, 2007)

here are 2 w/ the 18" & one w/ the old set of 20's w/ 305/50/20-20's are in the center picture


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

rb69;1014835 said:


> here are 2 w/ the 18" & one w/ the old set of 20's w/ 305/50/20-20's are in the center picture


Looks good. What kind of lift to you have on that truck? And why are you selling them?


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## rb69 (Oct 5, 2007)

Sorry the picture w/ the 18's are the old tires here are the BFG-NO lift T-bars just cranked up.
Looking to try something different


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

rb69;1014841 said:


> Sorry the picture w/ the 18's are the old tires here are the BFG-NO lift T-bars just cranked up.
> Looking to try something different


Your T-bars must be cranked to the max to level the truck out?


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

Go with a 305 tire, they are just a fuz wider than a 285 or 265, then get a wheel with a touch of back spacing, they will end up like this.

03 Chevy on left has 285's on it
07 GMC on right has 305's on it

Basicly the same height (33") a 305 is just a wider tire


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

Philbilly2;1014846 said:


> Go with a 305 tire, they are just a fuz wider than a 285 or 265, then get a wheel with a touch of back spacing, they will end up like this.
> 
> 03 Chevy on left has 285's on it
> 07 GMC on right has 305's on it
> ...


Might as well go for a 315 then  A 305 and a 285 are not always the same. It all depends on what number is after the 285 or 305. 285/70 and a 305/70 are not the same size. I am not sure I would go with the 305, because I always have a hard time getting the 285's to fit. I am talking about a truck with a stock suspension and with a plow.

I don't see any plow mounts on them trucks. You have to remember that a plow truck sags a bit.


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## 2COR517 (Oct 23, 2008)

Philbilly2;1014846 said:


> Go with a 305 tire, they are just a fuz wider than a 285 or 265,
> *
> A 305 is 13/16" wider than a 285, which is 13/16" wider than a 265. So a 305 is more than an inch and a half wider than a 265. That's more than a fuz in most books.*
> 
> Basicly the same height (33") a 305 is just a wider tire


That statement could get someone in trouble.

Height of the tire is determined by section width, aspect ratio, and rim size.

You COULD have a 305 that is shorter than a 265, even on the same rim diameter.


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

mossman381;1014859 said:


> Might as well go for a 315 then  A 305 and a 285 are not always the same. It all depends on what number is after the 285 or 305. 285/70 and a 305/70 are not the same size. I am not sure I would go with the 305, because I always have a hard time getting the 285's to fit. I am talking about a truck with a stock suspension and with a plow.
> 
> I don't see any plow mounts on them trucks. You have to remember that a plow truck sags a bit.


Crank the t-bars up and they will fit.

305/70 and a 285/75 are within about a millimeter of each other in height. Sorry about that, I figured that people are able to figure that out.

As for plow mounts the pictures were taken in the summer when the tow hooks go back on. The fields get muddy in the spring and fall and at times you need a little tug to get a wagon or such moving. Here, here they are with the plows

In order:
Pic #1: 285/75R17's
Pic #2: 305/70R16's - 285/75R16's - 285/75R16
Pic #3: 305/70R16's
Pic #4: 285/75R16's


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

Philbilly2;1015760 said:


> Crank the t-bars up and they will fit.
> 
> 305/70 and a 285/75 are within about a millimeter of each other in height. Sorry about that, I figured that people are able to figure that out.


A 285/75 and a 305/70 are about the same. If you actually read my post you would have seen I said a 285/70 and a 305/70 are not the same. There is almost an inch difference.

As far as fitting a 305, you must have you t-bars cranked to the max. And that black gmc looks like it has been all hacked up to fit the big tires. I wouldn't want to do that to my truck. Maybe a slight trim.


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## William B. (Jul 22, 2004)

I like the way the 305's look on the trucks.

IIRC the Chevy of Phil's has green keys and a 2" block in the back.


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

mossman381;1015810 said:


> A 285/75 and a 305/70 are about the same. If you actually read my post you would have seen I said a 285/70 and a 305/70 are not the same. There is almost an inch difference.
> 
> As far as fitting a 305, you must have you t-bars cranked to the max. And that black gmc looks like it has been all hacked up to fit the big tires. I wouldn't want to do that to my truck. Maybe a slight trim.


You are correct, I did read your post, in my first post I posted 305's vs 285's figuring that if people are looking for say a 33" tall tire, they can fill in the rest.

I am talking about tire width here. You are the one that posted two tire different sizes in both height and width not me, I posted two different width tires which is what he is looking at. If you read back to the the first post, he is talking about keeping the same height tire, just looking for a bit wider.

Let me show you how this works:

*255/85R16:*
Sidewall: 8.5"
Radius: 16.5"
Diameter: 33.1"
Circumference: 103.9"
Rev/ Mile: 610.0
Tire width: 10"

*265/80R16*
Sidewall: 8.3"
Radius: 16.3"
Diameter: 32.7"
Circumference: 102.7"
Rev/ Mile: 617.0
Tire width: 10.4"

*285/75R16*
Sidewall: 8.4"
Radius: 16.4"
Diameter: 32.8"
Circumference: 103.1"
Rev/ Mile: 614.0
Tire width: 11.2"

*305/70R16*
Sidewall: 8.4"
Radius: 16.4"
Diameter: 32.8"
Circumference: 103.1"
Rev/ Mile: 615.0
Tire width: 12"

So back to the original poster's question:

He is looking to find a wider tire than a 265/75R16. And he found a set of 17" wheels so, just so now one is going to call me out on the fractional difference on sidewall ratio's I will use 17" wheels for my example. If you need it in 16" wheels, let me know and I will do the math on those too.

*265/75R17*
Diameter: 32.7"
Tire width: 10.4"

*285/70R17*
Diameter: 32.8"
Tire width: 11.2"

*305/65R17*
Diameter: 32.6"
Tire width: 12"

As for my trucks, I run 33" tall tires in the winter. And, yes, I do cut the sh*t out of the plastic so in the summer I can run wide tires with aftermarket wheels that have a lot of backspacing. That is how I like my trucks to look. I can assure you that I do not have to cut that much to fit a little set of 285/75's on stock wheels. To each is there own.


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

William B.;1015853 said:


> I like the way the 305's look on the trucks.
> 
> IIRC the Chevy of Phil's has green keys and a 2" block in the back.


Good memory Will!

Also true, but, you can achive the same front end clearance by cranking torsion bolts, my green keys do not have any turns on the bolts, just enough to keep the bolts in there. All that a green key does is re-index the torsion bar to the postion of the cranked torsion bolts and not put the stress on the bolt.

But for the sake of the argument, I only posted the pictures of the Chevy from before the blocks and keys, I didn't want someone to be able to call me on that technicality. This is what she looked like with the blocks and keys. Nice difference hunh!


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## rb69 (Oct 5, 2007)

how does is the ride with the new keys over having the t-bars cranked up?


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

When, I put the keys I added new Bilstein 5100 series shocks on all 4 corners. The shocks are a bit longer than the stock ones.

It rides very smooth. I think that you get a better ride out of the shocks more than the keys. A lot of the reason that these trucks ride so rough when you crank the keys is because no one address the fact that the stock shocks are not long enough and will bottom out on any good sized bump (thus achiving the hard thud that most complain about with cranked t-bars).

So I guess to answer your question, I don't think any different, as you are basiclly achiving the same end result with the key being indexed the same spot, just taking the stress off of a bolt sticking as far out as you have to with cranked t-bars.


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## William B. (Jul 22, 2004)

Philbilly2;1015886 said:


> Good memory Will!
> 
> Also true, but, you can achive the same front end clearance by cranking torsion bolts, my green keys do not have any turns on the bolts, just enough to keep the bolts in there. All that a green key does is re-index the torsion bar to the postion of the cranked torsion bolts and not put the stress on the bolt.
> 
> But for the sake of the argument, I only posted the pictures of the Chevy from before the blocks and keys, I didn't want someone to be able to call me on that technicality. This is what she looked like with the blocks and keys. Nice difference hunh!


I love that pic. The truck looks so much better set up like that. Makes the truck look like a 3/4 ton should. I forget though how much height did that gain you? Also what back spacing are you running on your wheels? I'd like to get a little more height out of my truck but with me doing truck pulling some I don't want to do what this moron did.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Chevyblood1#p/u/6/i3qQk94hTMk


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

I really don't know how much I gained. Quite a bit though. That guy must have not addressed front end parts. Tie rods can be a b*tch.

I pulled all last season with only cognito braces and tie rod sleeves even with the blocks and keys. Front end stayed strong. Had to come out of the hole a little slower and drag the brake to keep the front end down, took a little bit of the in and out of the throttle with a bad case of the hopps at the Kendal County Fair, to get it mastered, but once I got to about 50 foot I could put it down.


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

Philbilly2;1015875 said:


> You are correct, I did read your post, in my first post I posted 305's vs 285's figuring that if people are looking for say a 33" tall tire, they can fill in the rest.


So you want this guy to go spend $1000 on set of 305's. And you think he is going to fit them under his stock 05 chevy truck. Are you going to buy them from him when he can't get them to fit? If you want to HELP people out, you probably shouldn't tell them something will fit when you really don't know. Or if you know they will fit by hacking or cranking your t-bars to the max, you need to tell them what you did to get them to fit. Some people don't want to hack or modify their trucks that much. And I don't know why you are talking about 265/80/16 tires. He has 265/75/16. A 305 is alot wider than a 265. A 285 is a bit wider than a 265, just like the guy originally asked for.


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## SnowMatt13 (Jan 8, 2003)

What I was looking for when I started this thread was a tire that could fit on a 17" rim that would fit in a moslty stock truck. I wanted the same height and was wondering if I could go wider......
The only thing I did so far was a leveling kit up front.
Other than that I don't want any more mods.... the truck is a good height for me as it sits....


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

SnowMatt13;1016104 said:


> What I was looking for when I started this thread was a tire that could fit on a 17" rim that would fit in a moslty stock truck. I wanted the same height and was wondering if I could go wider......
> The only thing I did so far was a leveling kit up front.
> Other than that I don't want any more mods.... the truck is a good height for me as it sits....


It depends on what back spacing and width your 17's are. You should be safe with a 285/70/17. But that is just my opinion.


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## SnowMatt13 (Jan 8, 2003)

Thanks

I am also going to talk to a local tire guy.
he's got 50+ years in the business...but i just needed some info before i went in there blind...


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

mossman381;1016030 said:


> So you want this guy to go spend $1000 on set of 305's. And you think he is going to fit them under his stock 05 chevy truck. Are you going to buy them from him when he can't get them to fit? If you want to HELP people out, you probably shouldn't tell them something will fit when you really don't know. Or if you know they will fit by hacking or cranking your t-bars to the max, you need to tell them what you did to get them to fit. Some people don't want to hack or modify their trucks that much. And I don't know why you are talking about 265/80/16 tires. He has 265/75/16. A 305 is alot wider than a 265. A 285 is a bit wider than a 265, just like the guy originally asked for.


Dude, seriously your still going?


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

Philbilly2;1016642 said:


> Dude, seriously your still going?


I like how you avoid my statement to cover up your bad advice


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

mossman381;1016929 said:


> I like how you avoid my statement to cover up your bad advice


:laughing: All I am saying is a 305/65R17 is a 10th of an inch shorter tire than the tire that he already has. He want's a wider tire, a 305 is a wider tire. You can fit a 305/70R16 on a stock Chevy. I have done it... Have you tried it???


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## mossman381 (Nov 17, 2009)

Philbilly2;1017561 said:


> :laughing: All I am saying is a 305/65R17 is a 10th of an inch shorter tire than the tire that he already has. He want's a wider tire, a 305 is a wider tire. You can fit a 305/70R16 on a stock Chevy. I have done it... Have you tried it???


Do you even read what other people post? I don't know where you got all those figures on tire size but they are all wrong. A 265/75/16 is 31.8" in diameter. A 305/65/17 is 32.7" in diameter. These are BFG's I am using as an example, but all other tires should be about the same. That doesn't look like a 1/10" difference to me. That 1" could get someone in trouble.


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

mossman381;1017585 said:


> Do you even read what other people post? I don't know where you got all those figures on tire size but they are all wrong. A 265/75/16 is 31.8" in diameter. A 305/65/17 is 32.7" in diameter. These are BFG's I am using as an example, but all other tires should be about the same. That doesn't look like a 1/10" difference to me. That 1" could get someone in trouble.


I made a mistake. Your correct, a 305/65/17 is bigger than a 265/75/16. I meant to post 305/60/17. That is 1/10th of an inch shorter than a 265/75R16. Sorry for the confusion.

I did post the correct size that I put on my Chevy and GMC trucks though.


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