I stopped by the Firestone guy tonight, and asked about bigger tires for my 99 dually. I know most folks say the biggest you can go is 255/85, but i wanted to see what he said. He then called a friend, and his friend say as long as I keep them aired up, I can get by with a 265/85 without spacers. He said he does them all the time...Is he feeding me bull, or can I use these without worrying about rubbing? I could always through a 1/4" spacer in I guess....

Thanks!

PS- does Costco save you much on tires?

 

Any one want to ad thier 2 cents to this one? If these won't work, will Costco install the 255/85's? I figure they're probably the cheapest I have a credit card for LOL.

 

Here's my .5 Cent (that's the best I can do). A stock 235/85/16 is a 9.3" wide tire. A 265/75/16 is a 10.4" wide tire. The distance between the sidewalls of 2 rear tires (1 stock steel, 1 stock alloy, off of the vehicle, flat on the ground, inflated to 65 psi) is 1 5/8". So with the 265/75's you will have closed the gap between the tires to about 1/2" unweighted. Add the weight of the vehicle and the tires will come even closer, maybe a 1/4" at most. That leaves the tires at 1/4" apart. My gut feeling is that is way to close, but it's only a gut feeling and since I've never had my dually wheels that close, or known anyone that has, I really can't say what problems you might encounter. I run 35x10.5 tires on custom 16x7 wheels in the rear w/a 2" bolt-on spacer, so unfortunately I can't just go out and take a few measurements to give you a better idea, I would if I could.

 

Thanks Enviro- I've always loved your truck (quit blushing LOL) and I thnk I can get by with the 265's especially if I throw a 1/4" spacer in there.

 

but I think I'll have them slap them (if they will take them off for free) and see how it looks....

 

Flattery will get you everywhere Gunny!

Let me know how it turns-out, you happen to be sitting in a bit of a grey area with the 265 size and a little real world knowledge would be great (as opposed to the SWAG method I just used).

 

Enviro, since my truck is currently in the shop- do you remember how much thread is sticking out past the lug nuts on the rear tires? I see a guy on epay selling a set of 4 5/16ths shims for around $30, I figure two in between the rears and two in the front to keep the tires a bit further away from the springs?

 

If I remember correctly:
Lug Bolt= 2"
Lug Nut= 7/8"
Steel wheel hub= 1/4" thick
Alloy wheel hub= 1/2" thick

So,
3/8" thread left over with 1 Steel + 1 Alloy.
5/8" thread left over with 2 Steel.

Always check my math, I've been known to get simple arithmetic wrong (often).

 

Sweet, thanks!