Milage issues: Do I downsize from 285's or re-gear?

-This is very much a ramble...just trying to figure out what makes the most sense for me to do-

I've been doing quite a bit of reading on people's experiences with 285's and mpg, along with a little reading about re-gearing. Yet, I was hoping folks could provide some input on what's the best thing to do, with respect to mileage (and I suppose power), would it be better to downsize to say 265's or regear?

I'm getting about 15 mpg, which includes quite a bit of highway driving. To take off from school here in the springs and get to Breck and back takes me damn near a whole tank (about 3/4 if I stay off 25) That's $50 to take a day trip to the mountain. Running 285's, to go 75 on the highway I'm running the RPM's at about 3,000 in 6th gear, which is painful. (Im running BGF A/T KO's: 285/70/R17)
I love my 285's for looks, but with the mileage, and the thought of more power from my S/C, I'm more than willing to sell them for smaller, lighter tires. Plus, being more truly capable off-road would be nice. After some trimming, I still have rubbing issues on rougher trails (they only have 8,000 miles on them, maybe someone could give me an idea of how much I might be able to sell them for)
Or, would re-gearing help my mileage more significantly than downsizing tires? Is it much more expensive, and thus not even worth considering? I know very little about this, and if someone could provide some basic info that would be dandy
Just trying to get some opinions and advice based on experience on what's the best thing for me to do.

 

From a simple cost/ROI perspective, don't change anything. Regearing especially, but also tire change will cost more than you'll recoup at the pump.

When the tires have breathed their last gasp, replacing them with a smaller tire will save you both tire money and gas money.

 

....or see if someone will trade smaller tires for yours.

 

I just re-read that you've got a super charger.

I'm guessing this means you like getting the truck to get-up-and-go.

Simplest thing you can do to improve gas mileage is go light on the skinny pedal.

 

That's really the only way I would downsize right now, I figure I could get some decent cash for the tires, considering they've only been on the truck since April, or of finding a person to trade.

With respect to highway driving, should I avoid going keeping the rpm's pretty high for extended periods of time?? I'd like to cruise at 85 across some of the very rural parts of the state, but doing so means running at 3,000 plus

 

I have 265's on my truck and wouldnt go any bigger just because I could feel the differnce in power and MPGs from the 245's that came on it stock. I would just go down to 265's, still looks pretty good to me.

 

Well, not gonna lie, being able to pull 70 up a pass in 6th and not have any let-up is great, the thing cranks out torque..but the mpg pays a price. ....guess I'll work on taking it easy off the line

 

You say you're pulling 3000 rpm's in 6th at 75 mph with the 285's? I have the same setup (285/70/17's, s/c) and I'm pilling 2100 rpm's at 75mph in OD. I wonder what's the difference? I'm thinking about regearing to 4.56's to give a little more low end oomph since I've added all the weight to mine- bumpers, topper, etc, but I'm hesitating because of the increase in rpm's at highway speeds. Mine doesn't seem to bad in comparison.

 

you know what the saying is..................you gotta pay to play.i know if i had the s/c my foot would be in the floor alot and this would be my thread,lol.just slow down and enjoy the veiws man.remember,55 stay alive.