[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 06-Oct-00 AT 11:25 PM (EST)[/font][p]Doug- Thanks for the accolades! I think the truck drives OK with the wider tires. But I only recently bought it, so I don't know how it would be with the stock size.

You are correct regarding snow traction, but I think the improvement in handling and braking in the dry more than offsets the slight detriment to snow traction. Just my opinion, I live in Virginia and don't see much serious snow. Tire/tread design, tread depth, and tire pressure will have more influence on snow traction than a 5% change in aspect ratio...

As far as drive ratio, I did the math, and the outside diameter of the stock 235/75-15 tire is 28.88 inches whereas the 265/70-15 is 29.6 inches, a 2.5% difference. Since the perimeter of the tire is a linear funtion of diameter (perimeter = Pi X D), then we can assume the distance traveled in one revolution of the tire, and thus the gearing, are also 2.5% different. In other words, since the 265/70 is 2.5% larger diameter, your speedometer will read 2.5% slower and your effective final drive ratio will drop by 2.5%. Which is the same as changing my current 3.55 rear differential into a 3.46. Not a significant change, IMHO. Also - be aware that the variation in diameter among different brands of the same numerical size can be as much as or greater than +/- 2.5%!

Also out there is the 275/60-15 (BFG Comp T/A HR4), but that only calculates to a 27.99 inch outside diameter, which will effectively increase your drive ratio compared to stock, speeding things up a bit and hurting your mpg a little. i don't know how well they'll squeeze onto the stock rims though...