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Old Mar 10, 2007 | 03:05 PM
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tire size

Hi i am wondering what tires will get the best gas milage. I currently have 265/75/16 and would a 285or295/75/16 be better A larger tire less rpm at highway speed but mure throttle needed to get to speed. Would a 234or245/75/16 be better less throttle needed but more rpm on the highway. Thank you for the help
 
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Old Mar 10, 2007 | 04:00 PM
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Larger diameter tires may give you better milage but it depends on your gear ratios and if you tow heavy loads or not. If you have 4:10 gears bigger tires will get better milage but towing will suffer a bit. Knowing your rear gear ratio will help.

Wider tires even if they are larger in diameter will reduce your milage. IMHO
 
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Old Mar 10, 2007 | 04:29 PM
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Thank you for the reply. I have the 3.73 gear ratio
 
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Old Mar 10, 2007 | 07:11 PM
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i have a set of 285/75's and they fill out the wheel well nice. i've heard that some 295's may rub on the front. 265's is a great balance of fuel economy (less tire on the pavement) and looks.
 
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Old Mar 10, 2007 | 08:11 PM
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For best mileage, you want a narrow tire (the first number, 235, 265 etc) to be lower, and the aspect ratio (the second number, between 65 and 90 usually) to be higher. A narrow tire with a high aspect ratio is usually a tall but narrow tire, better in snow too.
 
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Old Mar 12, 2007 | 01:20 AM
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Wow thank you. so what you are saying is the narrower the tire IE the smaller the tire the better the milage.
 
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Old Mar 12, 2007 | 06:35 AM
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Originally Posted by mjlewis
i have a set of 285/75's and they fill out the wheel well nice. i've heard that some 295's may rub on the front. 265's is a great balance of fuel economy (less tire on the pavement) and looks.
I'm running BFG's (295/75/16) on factory wheels with no rubbing issues. I switched from the 265's and agree they do fill the wheel well!
 
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Old Mar 12, 2007 | 06:57 AM
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Originally Posted by scottty
Wow thank you. so what you are saying is the narrower the tire IE the smaller the tire the better the milage.
Narrow doesn't automatically mean smaller (diameter). You could have two different size tires, both the same heighth, one narrow and one wide. The narrow will likely get better mileage due to less road friction or rolling resistance. My 33/12.50/16.5 BFG m/t's (yes, different rims) are pretty much exact same heighth as the factory 265/75/16's, but a lot wider. You can tell a difference in the mileage both empty and towing,(wider is worse) but the wider also ride better, at least in my case. Hope this adds a little help.
 
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Old Mar 12, 2007 | 09:23 AM
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Thank you so much so narrower and smaller will be the best milage?
 
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Old Mar 12, 2007 | 09:58 AM
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narrower and taller, normally.
 
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Old Mar 12, 2007 | 10:04 AM
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Narrower tires will give better milage vs wider tires.

The diameter of the tire effectively increases/decreases your overall gear ratio. The overall gear ratio will effect engine speed (RPM) at a given speed over the road. Keep in mind that your speedometer and odometer becomes less accurate as the tire size deviates from the OEM tire size.

The 'sweet spot' for most of these diesels are 2000 rpm +/- a cople hundred RPM. Each one is a little different. You can figure your 'sweet spot' by keeping a log of your gallons of fuel and miles driven over a period of time with notes about load and speeds during the fuel usuage. That seems like a lot of work but over time it gets easier and more acurate.

I personally watch my boost gage. The higher it goes the more the milage goes down.
 

Last edited by Cuda_jim; Mar 12, 2007 at 10:10 AM.
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Old Mar 12, 2007 | 10:12 AM
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With 3.73's, I went from 265\75's steel tex to 315\75 BFG MT's. My hiway mileage went from 21 to 19mpg. I think a combo of diameter,knobby tread and as mentioned before, width. Then I put 4.10's and 4'' exhaust and mpg dropped to 14 hiway. Depending on your computer will also affect how your truck handle the taller tires. ie.. If it dumps more fule even though RPM's are lower.

If you go 10% bigger on tires, then I would think it would add 10% more load on motor. So, a 10K# pound trailer would feel 1K# heavier than before. (I think)
 

Last edited by tumbleweed2; Mar 12, 2007 at 10:15 AM.
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Old Mar 12, 2007 | 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted by scottty
Thank you so much so narrower and smaller will be the best milage?
Narrower, yes. Smaller, it's not that cut and dry. This, as said before, is basically an adjustment to your gear ratio. Too big or too small is just as bad. The key is your rpm's, like cuda and others have made reference to. My truck personally, 4.10's w/ 33 BFG m/t's, starts going downhill as soon as the tach passes 2000. I've read different places referring to egt/boost combos for optimum mileage but it was like 600 egt and 2 lbs of boost, which for me was barely on the gas at like 60. Just not realistic for everyday driving.
 
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