After reading all the discussion on putting 265s on stock wheels (6.5") is there a concensus? My local Goodyear dealer advises against it because the LT265/75 needs a minimum 7" wheel. However, it seems a lot of folks here have done just that: put 265s on the stock 6.5" wheel. Is that 1/2" really something to worry about with the 265s? He suggested I go with new 7" wheels but that's not going to happen. So I'm staying stock. FWIW, I occasionally tow a 6,500 lb. travel trailer. Not exactly a major load for this truck, but a factor nonetheless. Going to stick with load range E.

245 or 265 on the stock rims, what to do?

I was told I would be fine with 265's on stock 6.5 rims. In fact, had them installed yesterday. I also pull a 7500lb. travel trailer, so was fearful of going any larger. With 265's, and aired up fully for towing, you should be fine.

P.S. After calling all over town, getting prices for installing the new tires, I got prices ranging from $11.00 per tire, all the way to $44.00 per tire, including mounting and balancing, stems, etc. Went with WalMart, the cheapest, and they did a fine job besides sliding my center cap across the floor, scratching it. He told me to order a new one and they would reinburse me.

I had my 245s on for 6 miles. (they are obsene)

I have 4 sets of D/MAX factory aluminum wheels, all with 265 on them (off road and studded) that have been used on everything from very heavy D/MAX's (lots of Mexico and Central America hard miles) to 6.5 Turbo's, to Suburban's that tow. Never had a problem. 265 is a great improvement over 245, but does little to affect fuel mileage nor running gear wear. I admit to preferring 285, (and even probably 295 on my LBZ), but the 265 gets much better fuel mileage. 285's hurt fuel mileage pretty bad.

I have Brigestone Revo's 265/75x16 on the stock chevy aloy wheels and it rides and handels better than the stock Brigestone 245's ever did .you won't have a problem .

265's would work great.

I like 265 E's...no muss, no fuss--good looks, great for towing heavy, and mileage often improves slightly if you travel 70-75 MPH a lot.

I went to 265's and now the speedometer is dead on, before it was a tad fast 2-3 mph.
Merle

Just spoke with the Goodyear dealer, they're totally balking at 265s on the stock rims. I'm looking at getting their new Silent Armors, I don't know if it's something about the Kevlar layer they're using in those tires or what, but they're seriously advising me to get the 245s.

Go somewhere else! Even Costco will put 265 on that wheel and they are sticklers on that stuff!

I have had two sets of 245's and put 265 Goodyear Silent Armor tires on and love them. I tow an 11k fifth wheel camper with 70 psi and no troubles. Would never go back to 245's. I got the 265's at Belle tire for about $155 each installed. Very quiet, even after first rotation.

265s or 285s (some even say 305s) are fine on stock wheels. I have 285s on stock wheels and pull my 12k# toy hauler everywhere without any problems. Did the same with my old truck ('99 K2500) for 5 years; 285s, stock wheels, 10k+# gooseneck cattle trailer. I have 3 d'maxes, here at work, with 265s that tow trailers to and from the ranch, no problems.

I'd find a different tire dealer or a different brand tire, if they don't want to work with you.

sounds like to me someone wants to sell some rims...huge mark up!!!!!
they know you want bigger than 245's and there playing on it. 2nd opinion time!!!!:grd:

265's on stock rims - I got em and no problem - imoa you don't need to buy new wheels. Good luck

WalMart put mine on for $11.00 a tire, including dismounting old ones (old, like 1914 miles old), and stems, balancing/mounting new ones. Every where else wanted at least $20/tire, some wanted more. I won't let WalMart do much to my trucks, but tires are ok.

Well actually, as they were nearing completion yesterday with my new Dick Cepek 265's, I happen to walk outside and watch them. To my dismay, I saw some idiot sliding my center cap across the floor with the air hose, then walked up to it and used his foot to slide it out of the way. Couldn't believe my eyes. I told the manager, who asked the guy why he kicked my center cap, and he said he did no such thing. I said "BS, I just watched you" and he said something like Oh I just moved it. Long story short, it is now all scratched up, and the manager offered to pay for a new one, when I order one. Called today and they are $73.50 EACH!! So they get to pay for my $73.50 cap for doing a $45.00 job. Idiots.

Michelin also recommends a minimum 7" rim for 265s. But a half inch? I had my installed at my local Costco they said "no problem". I've heard here that other Costcos say they won't do it, like your Goodyear dealer. It's up to you and who ever installs the tires. The 265s are not that much bigger then 245s but they do make a significant visual difference to me. They run and tow great...not ever going back.

WalMart put mine on for $11.00 a tire, including dismounting old ones (old, like 1914 miles old), and stems, balancing/mounting new ones. Every where else wanted at least $20/tire, some wanted more. I won't let WalMart do much to my trucks, but tires are ok.

Well actually, as they were nearing completion yesterday with my new Dick Cepek 265's, I happen to walk outside and watch them. To my dismay, I saw some idiot sliding my center cap across the floor with the air hose, then walked up to it and used his foot to slide it out of the way. Couldn't believe my eyes. I told the manager, who asked the guy why he kicked my center cap, and he said he did no such thing. I said "BS, I just watched you" and he said something like Oh I just moved it. Long story short, it is now all scratched up, and the manager offered to pay for a new one, when I order one. Called today and they are $73.50 EACH!! So they get to pay for my $73.50 cap for doing a $45.00 job. Idiots.

Umm...you went to Wal-Mart. What more can you expect?

I wore my stock 245 Firestones off in 7000 miles, and switched to 265's. I have had 4 sets of 265's on my stock rims and have never had a problem with them. They are much better in the corners and off the line. I have been running Bridgestone Dualer A/T revo's and absolutly love them, I pass up every other truck in the snow, ice and mud! I pull trailers for a boat shop ranging from 5k to 12k keep the rear tires at 75psi, the ride is still good but gets a little stiff when I unhook.

265's are fine. Granted, GM really blew it on the PY0 width, but the larger tires fit just right.

i run 295 on the stock rims and i have hade no problems at all i have even seen a avi witha 3 inch body lift and it had 315 on the stock rims so i see no problem with running a 265 but i would rather have some 285 the look better IMO.

What more can I expect? I can expect someone that is being paid, no matter where or by whom, to not slide my chit across the floor. They did a fine job on the mounting, balancing, etc. Half the price than anyone else, and did it the day I called, where everyone else was almost a week to wait.


As I said, I don't let them do much, but tires should be no problem. They almost got it right! lol

I fully understand people's replies who have had zero problems with 265 vs. 245 width tires. And I agree wanting to go "one size up" when replacement time comes around. (I have resisted going wider since I can be driving in snow 1/3 of the year or more, push a 9' plow and want a tire that digs through the white stuff as much as possible, as opposed to a slightly wider footprint that encourages floating over)

The obvious question that comes to mind is why do every or almost every manufacturer insist on a 7+" rim for 265mm tires? These companies don't sell rims and could potentially sell more tires if they were THE company that encouraged 265 tires on 6.5" rims (there are a lot of us out there). But they don't. Must be some logical tire engineering limitation. We are talking about companies that sell LOTS of tires. These people don't make decisions unless the engineers back them up.

I would like to hear from anyone with some precise technical reasons to back up this 245mm cut-off for 6.5" rims. We have all heard the seat-of-the-pants reasons and the tire width topics have been beaten to death. Opinions are all over the place- how about some concrete engineering data? We know about a narrow rim not allowing a wider tire to be fully in contact with the road, but again, why the cutoff at 245? They don't just make this stuff up.

Just curious,
John

I was told I would be fine with 265's on stock 6.5 rims. In fact, had them installed yesterday. I also pull a 7500lb. travel trailer, so was fearful of going any larger. With 265's, and aired up fully for towing, you should be fine.

P.S. After calling all over town, getting prices for installing the new tires, I got prices ranging from $11.00 per tire, all the way to $44.00 per tire, including mounting and balancing, stems, etc. Went with WalMart, the cheapest, and they did a fine job besides sliding my center cap across the floor, scratching it. He told me to order a new one and they would reinburse me.


:eek::rippedhan I paid $210 canadian a tire for 265'd BFGoodrench rugged trails and that was at company discount

Why does GM put 265-75 16 tires on 1/2 ton trucks with 6.5" rims?
Is it the load range?

I have Brigestone Revo's 265/75x16 on the stock chevy aloy wheels and it rides and handels better than the stock Brigestone 245's ever did .you won't have a problem .

:exactly:

for the guys that dont want to get the center caps slid across the floor at WAL-MART before you go to get your ties changes or whatever just take 5 min and take off the center caps ypur self so they dont even have to touch them.

for the guys that dont want to get the center caps slid across the floor at WAL-MART before you go to get your ties changes or whatever just take 5 min and take off the center caps ypur self so they dont even have to touch them.

DOH! Where were you two days ago? lol

Wish I'd had thought of that.

I always take my own center caps off, regardless of the shop. It's not necessarily fear of them kicking them around, but I know what a PITA it is to get them on correctly and tensioned up evenly without stripping out the plastic "pseudo-lugnuts." I just don't trust the average tire jockey to take the time to back off and restart and fully expect the $74 caps to be ruined in short order.

I fully understand people's replies who have had zero problems with 265 vs. 245 width tires. And I agree wanting to go "one size up" when replacement time comes around. (I have resisted going wider since I can be driving in snow 1/3 of the year or more, push a 9' plow and want a tire that digs through the white stuff as much as possible, as opposed to a slightly wider footprint that encourages floating over)

The obvious question that comes to mind is why do every or almost every manufacturer insist on a 7+" rim for 265mm tires? These companies don't sell rims and could potentially sell more tires if they were THE company that encouraged 265 tires on 6.5" rims (there are a lot of us out there). But they don't. Must be some logical tire engineering limitation. We are talking about companies that sell LOTS of tires. These people don't make decisions unless the engineers back them up.

I would like to hear from anyone with some precise technical reasons to back up this 245mm cut-off for 6.5" rims. We have all heard the seat-of-the-pants reasons and the tire width topics have been beaten to death. Opinions are all over the place- how about some concrete engineering data? We know about a narrow rim not allowing a wider tire to be fully in contact with the road, but again, why the cutoff at 245? They don't just make this stuff up.

Just curious,
John

I think the problem occurs at full inflation values, John. The larger tire on the narrow rim will not have a footprint problem if not fully inflated to 80 psi. When the tire is up-aired for load carrying, the load will also maintain a proper footprint. However, if the tire is over-inflated at light loading, the narrow rim will cause "crowning" and rapid center wear. That all being said, it also brings into play a bit more sidewall flexing required for the wider tire to live on the narrow rim - is that significant? Apparently not. The larger tires will not be "mount and forget" and will require some closer attention to air pressure and loading to get equal service to the recommended sizes. Sounds to me like it's a liability protection issue with the manufacturers, especially after the Firestone Firehawk debacle.

Well, yesterday I became the proud owner of 4 new LT245/75/16 Goodyear Silent Armors. They went "by the book" and wouldn't go for the 265s. I kind of owed this shop some business for all the free tire rotations they've given me on all my vehicles, and removing a screw from my trailer tire for free. So yes, in the end, I caved.

Well, don't feel too bad, Maynard. I've been on 245's for 118,000 miles (two full sets, working on my third and running a mounted set of 245 Blizzaks at the moment) and have no complaints. They may not "look cool" but they
:grd: