Tire / Tranmission Q.
Y2KW57 wrote several good tips for extending your trans life and #5 caught my eye.
5. Change your tires. Don't drop your trans pan... drop your tire size. You're rolling 285s... a 33" tire. If you drop to an OEM factory size 31" tire, you will restore the lower gear ratio originally engineered into the transmission's rated GVWR capacity and service life.
My first tire replacement with my new truck (2002) I wanted a slightly larger tire because it made the truck look better IMO because it filled the wheel well better.
I went up 1 size to 285's and have been running those since. My question is; Would I be better served to switch back to the 275's for trans life?
BTW I have 275K on my truck.
David
Dropping the trans out of OD when climbing hills (so it isn't hunting back and forth) and changing the fluid at recommended intervals (or sooner) have worked for me on my other high mileage vehicles.
Y2KW57 wrote several good tips for extending your trans life and #5 caught my eye.
5. Change your tires. Don't drop your trans pan... drop your tire size. You're rolling 285s... a 33" tire. If you drop to an OEM factory size 31" tire, you will restore the lower gear ratio originally engineered into the transmission's rated GVWR capacity and service life.
My first tire replacement with my new truck (2002) I wanted a slightly larger tire because it made the truck look better IMO because it filled the wheel well better.
I went up 1 size to 285's and have been running those since. My question is; Would I be better served to switch back to the 275's for trans life?
BTW I have 275K on my truck.
David

If there is ANY validity to this, and I don't think there is, you should expect one less mile of life from your trans with the larger tires.
I'd say once you get to a 37" tall tire or larger then there are some extra steps you need to take for reliability. (gears, trans coolers etc).
Keep on truckin and stay on top of regular maintenance.









