New Tires 245 or 265

I am upgrading from my steel rims to alloys. The new wheels are 1/2 inch wider, being 16 x 7.5. I am debating whether to go with the stock 245/75 x 16 tire or install a 265/70 x 16. I know the wider tire will look nicer and will not cause any rubbing problem, but being that I only have a reg cab 4x4 2.7 4 banger, will the extra width cause a noticeable difference in road drag or fuel economy?

 

I was running the 245 w/OEM steelies and upgraded to 265/70 Geolander A/Ts with 16" TRD FJ rims. I have the V6 Double Cab, but I didn't notice any difference. I know you're looking for 2.7's to chime in....but your alloy rims should reduce some of the weight from your steel rims. If your concerned about fuel economy I would think your tire choice is the most important part because of the weight of the different brands. 265 General Grabbers weigh 44 lbs a piece, Geolanders weigh 37 lbs. You can find the spec weights on the brands on tirerack.com

 

Look for an AT tire in a 265/75/16 size. You'll regret staying with a smaller tire if you frequent this board long enough.

 

^ wurd, I wish I would've gone with the 255/85's now.

 

305's

 

A 265 tire will fill the tire well very nicely and look great, but you will loose some MPGs b/c of the increase of weight and diameter of the tire.

If you are concerned about MPGs and mainly do hwy, stick with the 245

If you are concerned about looks and off road fairly often, go with the 265

 

x3! i had 265/70R16 rugged fails. i went to a nitto terra grappler in a 265/75R16 so glad i did. looks soo much better. even tho it’s just 1” i have the TRD off road wheels, still tho.

 

I have a 2009 access cab 4x4 with the 2.7. I upgraded to 265/75/16 Duratracs load C's and wouldn't go back to 245's. It looks and performs much better than stock. I did notice some performance loss on hills and with a loaded bed/trailer with a 4 wheeler but it wasn't much better with stock tires anyways..

 

265!!! I bought 245/75/16 7k miles ago and for the last 5 I've been wishing I had gone with 265's!!!!!

 

this is what I have but I'm running 4.88 gears. Dont get 305s unless youre planning to regear. I even ran my 265s with 4.88 and it was fine (overgeared, but fine)

This is all good info ^^^^

I'm a firm believer in regearing whenever you go up in tire size. With 265s I would recommend 4.56 gears, but the stock 4.10 gears will push them tires ok if you don't want to regear. I know a couple members running 35s with stock 4.10s on their 2.7 and claim they are ok. I couldnt imagine doing this - 35s would make these trucks gutlesss, powerless, and it would drive me absolutely crazy. Anyways, listen to Bishop above.

 

x2 on what bishop said.

Also realize that a p rated, LT, c, d or whatever rating will vary the weight a bit. With the 2.7 if you don't want to regear but do want to up sizes, lightweight helps a lot.

Also tread pattern will affect your mpg too. There are less aggressive All Terrain tires that get the job done bit can still be light weight and mild tread.

Ie, I was looking at dynapro ATM because they behave well both on and off road and are light

 

This is also good info not mentioned before that I also took into consideration. I'm an MT guy - BFG KM2 were much lighter than the competition. Toyo for example among others are very heavy tires and not necessarily better. On a similar note, AT tires will have less rolling resistant compared to MTs so they will get better MPGs

 

Also forgot to mention that my speedometer is now pretty much bang on compared to when I had stock 245's.

 

I'm still running the stock 245/75/16 Dungflops when commuting & put the 255/85/16 BFG KM2s on when off roading. When the Dungflops wear out they will be replaced with 265/75/16s.