265x65x17 to 265x70x17. What to expect?

I will be replacing the OEM Firestones, 265x65x17, that came on my 2020 TRD Sport in the next couple of months. I'm basically a pavement and forest service road "adventurer", no rock crawling or deep snow or mud anticipated.

I am considering going up to a 265x70x17 Michelin Defender. The truck has not been lifted. I have a Warn winch and bumper on the front with Bilstein 5100 shocks. OEM shocks on the rear. I ran two sets of Michelins for 275,000 miles on my 1994 SR5 4x4, so I'm pretty much sold on Michelins. Open to suggestions though...

Based on what I've read here and other research I've done, there don't appear to be any issues with this slight increase in diameter but I'm asking for real life experiences. Any rubbing? Increase or decrease in gas mileage? I will keep the original spare. Any potential issues with having one slightly different size tire on the ground for probably a few hundred miles at most? Any questions I'm not asking that I should??

Merry Christmas and thanks in advance for your experiences.

 

That size does not rub on a stock unweighted front end. Since you have added your "bumper" and a winch, you will have the tires rubbing.
Unless you installed heavier coils on the 5100s when you installed them.

 

Probably a small decrease in mpg. No issues with rubbing or anything else on stock wheels. If you’re going with Michelins, I don’t see a point to upsizing honestly. They aren’t a cool looking tire regardless, so no reason to take the small mpg penalty for them, IMO. Unless you just want more ground clearance or something. Handling should be about the same, steering might feel a tiny bit lighter due to the reduced scrub radius if going larger. Extremely minor difference though.

 

What’s your center of hub up to fender measurement on the front? If it’s 20 inches, around that, that’s stock measurement. If you’re close to that you’ll be fine going up one tire size.

 

I'm looking for a slightly better ground clearance.

 

Good morning!

Interested in your decision...since I have 2021 Sport and wanna go max tire size (17s) without a lift. (275/70R17 with zero offset)

Since it sounds like you have weight at the front, the recommendation to get beefier springs to go with the 5100s would be ideal.

I have Bushwacker fender flares so I am also looking for some pokey (negative offset) and adjusting the 5100s to 2 inches...leveling the front end. Leveling kits are much less expensive than lift kits so I'm leaning towards that.

Good luck with your decision.

 

On my stock 14 prerunner I went from a p265/65 to a LT265/70. I would have a slight rub on the fender liner at full lock when backing up. My average mpg went from 19s to 17s (75% hwy at 80mpg). I think my straight highway mpg went down from 20 to 19. Weirdly enough it did correct my speedometer somehow

 

Thanks...per Warn, the winch and bumper were 158 pounds. I did not weigh the OEM items that came off but somewhere around 40 pounds is probably close, so I likely added 120 pounds net. Didn't change the springs but noticed no difference in handling or performance MPG wise. The 70's will be slightly heavier but not dramatically so. I'll post here when the deed is done.

 

I personally upsized from 65 to 70 because the price was quite a bit lower - I think the 70 tire is a more common size.

 

That is one reason I could use to justify the larger size, I meant to go back and edit my comment to say that but forgot about it before I did.