Has anybody ran 265/75/16 tires on there dually? How close to touching were they? I'm not liking the tire selection in 235/85/16

 

I bought 6 new Michelin 265/75x16 LRE tires for my 99 F350 DRW truck in signature. I used 4 aluminum OEM wheels in the rear and mounted the tires. Clearance was about 1/2" with 65psi tire pressure. When I hitched up fifth wheel trailer in signature with 2600# pin weight the tires touched each other. Front tires were no problem, cleared completely. I ended up using 1.5" spacers and after 6k miles towing my FW had no issues whatsoever. I run 70psi in front and 65 in back, truck rides much better on 265's loaded or empty.

 

I've heard that the spacers "loosen" up. Have you had a problem with yours?? Guessing your rear studs were long enough to run all aluminum?? Or did you have to get longer studs?

 

With 1.5" spacers I'm pretty sure you would need longer studs, the original studs with factory aluminum wheels on my '04 didn't stick out of the factory lug nuts very far - certainly nowhere near 1.5".

The issue with spacers in any configuration is that you're increasing the distance between the center of the truck to the rim, which CAN lower your payload. Being on a dually it's less of an issue because more tires, but you're still pushing the tire outboard of where it is supposed to be.

Yes, spacers can let your lug nuts loosen up if you don't 100% torque them properly. You've got a LOT more stud to stretch out than you do without the spacer (remember, this spacer is literally going to be a hunk of metal between your rear rims to push the outer tire out further), which alters the torque specs somewhat - I don't feel like doing the math to figure out how much.

 

From the responses it's obvious to me that many have no idea how correct spacers are used on dual rear wheels. I use 1.5" wide aluminum spacers, installed in a manner that allows the inner dual tire to be installed first. then the spacer is placed over the studs and lug nuts attached to the factory studs. The inner lug nuts are torqued to 120# My original studs had to be shortened about 1/4" so the outer wheel could seat flush against the spacer. Then the outer wheel is installed and another set of lug nuts are installed and again torqued to 120#. I have put now about 8000 miles on the installation towing a 11k fifth wheel with 2600# pin weight and after 6000 miles I removed the outer wheels and checked the inner lug nuts for torque, all were at 120# still and none had loosened up. The out lug nuts were also checked and none of those had their torque values lessoned. After reinstalling the outer wheels and retorqueing them to 120# I was again good to go, I chose to step up to 265's for a greater weight carrying ability, softer ride and improved tire wear.with my Michelins. I figure if hauling 2600+ pounds in the box doesn't raise any issues then the spacers are ok with me. Something to keep in mind, my dually has the Dana 80 rear axle and is far stouter then any Ford SRW rear axle. These are my spacers https://www.uswheeladapters.com/shop/ford-f350-spacers/

 

On a dually I would run 255/85/16s.

 

Why would you choose a size that has few options for highway use only tires and are 1.5" taller effectively reducing the rear axle ratio. 265's are virtually the same height and 1.25" wider with an aspect ratio of 75 verses the 85 of a 235 or 255 thus giving it a narrower taller & stiffer sidewall. Bear in mind that I'm running 265's load range E because I wanted a quiet tire with great weight carrying ability. Many of the after market tires are not quiet and do not have the reputation of Michelins for wear and lasting ability when towing fifth wheel trailers.

 

I wouldn’t. It’s too hard to find size. Not normally stocked at stores. If I’m in Podunk Blatherville and pop a tire I want to at least be able to throw on a easy to find Chinesium brand tire with a easy to find size at least to get me home.
of you’re not towing anything heavy and dint care about the minimal spacing the wider 265s would be ok for a mall crawler.

 

I understand that but on a 4x4 265/75/16s or 235/85/16s look tiny, the taller 255/85/16s fill out the wheel wells better without rubbing in the back or needing to run spacers, the taller tire is no problem at all for a 7.3, don't even notice a difference.

 

Sparky, thanks for the link. Yes it is the Dana 80 axle. I run it unladen or lightly loaded 75% of the time. The other 20% about 2k & the last 5% at 3500. I'm surprised you made it 6k with them touching and no blow out. I don't think I'm that lucky.
I'm not interested in running a taller tire for looks. I'd then need to buy 7.

 

its noticeable. I went from stock 265 to 305s and I could tell that I lost take off power and it didn’t like shifting like before. Went back to 265s.

Sorry but the potential cost and inconvenience of chancing having to screw around trying to find such oddball size if a issue happens and you’re in the middle of Nowhere Town simply for looks with very few if any actual benefits not to mention the added cost of these tires which seem to hover at a average 260 so call it $300 with mounting and tax at 7 tires re looking at 2100 bucks for tires just to “look good”. Yiou know what looks good ? 2100 bucks in my pocket.
there simply isn’t any true benefit to run that tire. Yire not gaining any carry capacity, traction or longer wear. In fact since most are aggressive mid type tires your tire life will be drastically shorter.
let’s forget about the lost tire to body panel possible interference. I see a lot of people chopping fender and bunker corners to fit larger tires. The first time they go off road and stuff a tire imma wheel wheel that “enough clearance” on the street is gonna tell them they made a mistake.

 

I run 35s with 3.73 gears and it tows easily, had 285/75/16s on it before which are the same height as a 255/85/16 and it felt no different than stock. The stock size tires on a 4x4 look like they belong on a minivan, way to small, and a 255/85/16 tire wouldn't wear out any faster than a 235/85/16 with the same tread pattern. I run MT tires on all my 4X4s anyway.

 

Yup gearing makes a difference. My 99 has 3:55s wouldn’t be a issue on my 350 that has 4:10. I just have no interest in spending 2100 on tires just to fill a wheel well. I guess it doesn’t bother me to have the wheel gap. It just doesn’t matter to me. if that works for you that’s great. It’s just something to think about for people who are debating such tire size and it bring a up a few points they they may not think about or not thought through.
I had a blowout and had to get two new tires. All the guy had was a set of mud treads. I bought two for the front .that howling for 1700 miles and two weeks was enough for me not to mention horrible on road behavior. As soon as I got home I took those things off.
Not everyone wants a roaring mud tire on their cars along with ****ty on road handling and traction . Truthfully unless you spend a lot of time off road those type of tires wear faster than an AT or HT tire. And they have a harsher ride also. But if none of that that matters to you well then it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks.

 

My MT tires do great on the road and I can't even hear them.

 

Ok. Sounds good. 👌