i wouldn't be afraid of throwing a set of 265/70/17's on there. they should be the same overall size as your 235/75/17's.

for mud or snow the 235's would be nice as they would dig a little better, but for all but the harshest use, i can't immagine most people would be able to notice a difference.

as for brand, i gotta give the nod to Cooper. I've got a set of ATR's on my exploder and i have been amazed. i've driven through snow up to the bottom of the doors, backed my car trailer up a muddy hill, been 4-wheelin' in the mud/snow/rocks while hunting.

the only time i ever got stuck was trying to back my little cargo trailer into the shed in snow deeper than the frame of the truck. i woulda got it done without getting stuck had the trailer gone the direction it was supposed to (trailers dont behave while being pushed backwards with the frame floating on snow). .... now, my definition of "stuck" = "on the end of a shovel or tow rope" ... if you can rock it out, you ain't stuck Even this time all i had to do was clear the snow in front of the tires so the truck didnt have to try and climb up on the snow ... once it could move again, it walked right out, even with the trailer on.

The ATR's have been replaced by the AT3's ... so hopefully those are just as good. If you need more grip, the 265's are available in the ST's. those are a MT, studable, and can be had in a LRE. If you need more of a highway tread, the HT's offer an excellent warranty from Cooper, which is better than the others.

when i need tires again, it will be very hard for me to buy something else.
those are my thoughts.

 

I just ordered a 2012 Screw with 20's. I'm thinking about having the dealer switch the Pirelli's out for the new BFG Rugged Terrains. I love the T/A's, but am afraid the mpg's will really suffer.

 

Ran Michelin LTX on my f250 (150,000 miles)I traded in on the new 2011 F150 XLT I know they are a little costly but I got 70,000 out of first set and had could have run them another 10000 but picked up a large nail and did not want to plug them.I replaced them with the same tire and had about 30,000 on them when I traded and they thought they were new. I have run Coopers on Explorers my wife has drove and got good service out of them the Michelins you buy at Sams are not the same as the LTX they are the ones made for installtion on the line at the factory Not top of the line Michelins

 

One more vote for the Michelin LTX M/S2's. I put them on my wife Sequoia and got tons of miles out of them. I didn't even bat an eye at the cost when it came to replacing them with another set. I'll likely put a set on my F-150 4x4 when the replacements that came on the truck wear out, unless I find the need for a more aggressive on/off road tire. Then I would go with Dick Cepeks. By far I've found them to be the quietest tire on the road.