Ready for new tires on the truck, thinking Bridgestone Revos and debating between D or E range, and 245 or 265s. I don't go off road, want good wet and snow traction. I don't really want to lose fuel economy, don't care about speedo accuracy, would like to have a little better ride, and don't tow heavy, just a 4500lb boat+4people and bed full of luggage/Supplies or a load of mulch in the bed once in a while. Was thinking either 245 E or 265 D or E, with the D being for a little better ride. Has anyone noticed the D to be better than E on the 265s for ride and does it still keep the tires safely rated for the load or compromise handling? The reason for considering 245 Es is the mileage and performance (want to stay with stock tune), but not sure that the fuel economy loss people are seeing in the larger tires isn't from tread design vs highway tires and not the taller height. Any better ride on 245 Revos vs stock tires? Thoughts, Data?

265 Revos here. Best tire I've ever had. 26000 miles & still look great. I rotate every 4000 miles also. Wet road handling is great. I tow any where from 5000 to 12000 lbs on a regular basis. Ride is better than stock. No notice with fuel economy. Shopping today for 285's just to "fill" the wheel wells a little more

For some reason GM's engineers decided on 245 75 R16 tires in E range for best overall performance when tied to the rest of the mechanics of the vehicle. Granted that size tire looks a little small in the wheel well. 265's or 285's could have been used at virtually no added cost to GM since they purchase them in quantities of millions. There has to be some reason GM settled on the 245's. For that reason alone I stick with the stock size and E load rating.

For some reason GM's engineers decided on 245 75 R16 tires in E range for best overall performance when tied to the rest of the mechanics of the vehicle. Granted that size tire looks a little small in the wheel well. 265's or 285's could have been used at virtually no added cost to GM since they purchase them in quantities of millions. There has to be some reason GM settled on the 245's. For that reason alone I stick with the stock size and E load rating.

I agreee.......:exactly: I also stayed with the 245's for bed rail clearance under the 5'ver.....

265 Revos here. Best tire I've ever had. 26000 miles & still look great. I rotate every 4000 miles also. Wet road handling is great. I tow any where from 5000 to 12000 lbs on a regular basis. Ride is better than stock. No notice with fuel economy. Shopping today for 285's just to "fill" the wheel wells a little moreDid you go with E load range I assume?

Did you go with E load range I assume?
Yes

I went from the stock 245's to Michelin LTX 265 E. Right out of the shop I noticed a rougher ride on roads that don't have smooth pavement. My mileage has dropped about 1 to 1.5 mpg. The mileage is very dependant on how much stop and go city driving I do on a tank, that really drops the mileage. I have had the tires for about 10,000 miles and although they look better than 245's next time I'm back to stock size.

On another point why would tire size affect bed rail clearance? The larger tires raise the truck and the hitch height.

Well thanks for the input guys. Guess I am sticking with the Es, it's going to be highway mileage mostly on this set of tires still not sure which to get, the 265s or the 245s, sounds like split input with bias towards sticking with the 245s. Anyone else?

aka108 is definitely correct. The maximum towing capacity is based on the characteristics of the tires, suspension, etc.... if you change one of these you can affect the towing capacity. May be more or less depending on the change. That's why GM used the 6.5 wheels. It limits (or should limit) the tire size that can be used. For GM to not be so adamant about "not changing the design components" is like saying "sue me," I've got a lot of money, "sue me." There are lawyers out there that will attest to that.
Stick to what the truck came with if you use it for towing maximum on near maximum capacities. If all you use it for is a daily driver and pulling an occasional boat to the lake, the sky is the limit as for as mods to the truck go. I would like nothing better than to put a 6" lift and 35's on my truck, but the drop hitch required for the trailer would look like a sub soiler. The wife wouldn't be able to crawl in either, which may or may not be a bad thing. Have a nice day.

Thanks for the input folks, I went with the 265Es because I never tow anything heavier than my boat and don't intend to. They ride much better, and look better. Seems like I lost about 1 mpg after adjusting for the bigger size, based on limited data on a 20mile highway run tonight, but still over 20mpg so I'm happy. Not sure what the store put in them for pressure, will check tomorrow. Surprised they were as expensive as they were, even checking with tire rack adding on shipping and mounting / balance, the best I could do was my local Firestone store which was $700 plus sales tax, mounted etc with lifetime rebalance, rotation, and road hazard at any Firestone store nationwide. I was thinking people were paying more like low $600's, maybe they've gone up?

Put Firestone Transforce 265E tires on a couple weeks ago, most of my driving is highway and prob. for that reason I prob. have seen no change in gas mileage at all.

265 REVO's e load range ,they ain't cheap but they shure preform nice .