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Does anyone have direct experience with towing with both tire sizes? When I bought my Excursion, it had 285's which I like the look of, but they are hankook's. They are out of round and I am going to replace them. Theoretically, the 265's should be more stable because of a smaller sidewall. I just wonder if this would actually translate to real-world towing.
Does anyone have direct experience with towing with both tire sizes? When I bought my Excursion, it had 285's which I like the look of, but they are hankook's. They are out of round and I am going to replace them. Theoretically, the 265's should be more stable because of a smaller sidewall. I just wonder if this would actually translate to real-world towing.
The first number (265 or 285) is not the sidewall size but the width of the tire. The second number is the height of the tire in proportion to the first number. A 265/75/16 is 75% as tall as it is wide.
Alot of your question would depend on the tire/brand and not the size.
Thanks, but I am aware how the tire measurements are calculated. All other things considered, the 285's are taller than the 265's. I would be going with Michelin LTX MS or AT2 E load range so I am comparing apples to apples, trying to concentrate only on the stability of a taller or shorter sidewall.
With most 265's, you will end up with a smaller diameter than the 285's which will give you effectively lower gearing. This will help with starting up and may allow running a higher gear on hills.
The shorter sidewall should give a little more stability. I noticed a difference between 245's and 265's on a prior suburban. (the 245's were better towing)
Compare here -> Tire Size Calculator. when comparing 265's to 285's - the 285's are barley 1 inch greater in diameter, but nearly 4 inches greater in circumference. This is enough to change the speedo by 3.7% (slower with the 285s)
Fordracingfan - I think you're making a good choice with the Michelin's (IMHO). I have the 265/75/16 LTX MS and they are a good tire, I've been happy with the stability, wear and level of noise (low).
Make sure you get Load Range E tires and not D - that will play a big part in the stability.
I've considered going with the 285s, mainly for the appearance. I don't know if they would provide more stability over the 265's or not - in theory, they should, but I wonder if it would be a noticeable difference.
I have towed with 265 and 285 and didn't notice any difference in stability or gearing. If you go with the Michelin LTX M/S I think you will really like them. I had a set on my F350 and took them off with just under 70k miles on them. They still had some tread left but I put some new snow tires on for last winter. I gave them to my dad, who has run them all summer and put another 28k on them, mostly towing miles. Just under 100k miles with better than 50% towing miles, I don't think you can go wrong. Stick with the 285 if you like the look better because you won't see much difference with changing to 265's.
My set of 285 Silent-Armors were less-stable than my mismatched-set of 265's in a non-towing situation.
But I wouldn't say that my 285's are unstable when towing.
I would say that if you are looking for MAXIMUM stability and nothing else is at stake, that a set of E-range 265/75-16" highway-tread tires would provide the most stable towing experience for you.
I put 285 BFG's on my stock 7" rim and I noticed a little tire role and more so when towing my 26' camper. Asked two different tire stores their opinions and both told me to step up to the eight inch rim. (which I knew thats what 285's called for). I moved up to the eight inch wheel and it made the difference. Now drives and tows great.
I ran a 265x75x16 whith the stock rim then switched to a 16x9 inch rim and 285's and found a big difference in towing an highway driving. My 05 X was much more stable on the freeway and much less drift when towing. The bigger rim helped!!!
I also tried the Silent Armor tires in the 285 size on my stock rims from my 2002 PSD Excursion and I had a VERY unstable towing experience. I tow about a 9000 lb 34ft trailer and I had a very difficult time keeping the vehicle moving in a straight line. It was all over the road. There was some wind involved, but it should not have been that unstable. I changed back to the stock size of 265 and handling was greatly improved. Even before towing, I noticed a difference with more bounce in the suspension. The larger tires definitely made a difference. The speedometer as measured to my GPS device was spot on with the 285's and is about 3-4 mph fast with the 265's and it looked better with the 285's. Those are my observations of the tire size difference.
I have not had the 285s, but my reasoning for selecting the 265s has been strictly for better grunt for towing. I'm on my sixth set. I have also gone with a 4.56 LS and anxious to see how this is going to fare climbing mountains.
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