Biggest Tire Possible on Stock Suspension and Setup

[Seger]

I would like to hear everyone's opinion on the best Tires for our OBS trucks with the 285/75/16? I am looking for best Tires for the money so value wise and why you think they are the best? I want tires that I can drive all on the street and then if I want go on some harsher terrain the Tires will be able to handle it. I find it completely crazy that these trucks actually came stock with 245's which to me was well undersized. The 265's should have been the stock tire size from the factory for these trucks imo.

 

[beardeddummy]

Dick cepek fun country great off road very well mannereducated on the street

 

[michael hurd]

I would like to hear everyone's opinion on the best Tires for our OBS trucks with the 285/75/16? I am looking for best Tires for the money so value wise and why you think they are the best? I want tires that I can drive all on the street and then if I want go on some harsher terrain the Tires will be able to handle it. I find it completely crazy that these trucks actually came stock with 245's which to me was well undersized. The 265's should have been the stock tire size from the factory for these trucks imo.

Sounds like you don't know what you want.

Keep in mind you may fit a 285/75/16 with stock rims, with aftermarket offset rims this will change fitment.

 

[michael hurd]

These trucks also came factory with 225/75/16.

Average height of a 245/75/16 = 30.4 inch
Average height of a 286/75/16 = 32.8 inch

1/2 difference in diameter = 1.2 inches extra ground clearance. You will lose clearance turning and in suspension compression, so you gain in one area and lose in another.

If an extra 1.2 inches of ground clearance is a make or break in the ability to negotiate 'off road' I would suggest you need more driving skill.

I have taken cars places people will not drive a 4 wheel drive into.

Judicious use of a locking rear axle, low range and application of E-brake at times will get you through most anything with a stock sized tire, combined with good judgement and wheel placement.

As mentioned, larger tires will increase the already modest engine power, and will require more braking torque to stop.

 

[michael hurd]

More food for thought.

BFG all terrain 245/75/16 = 48 pounds
BFG all terrain 285/75/16 = 59 pounds


Q. Which tire is easier for the shock to control over bumps...

A) 48 pound tire with 35 pound stock steel rim 82 lbs total unsprung weight
B) 59 pound tire with 35 pound stock steel rim 94 lbs total unsprung weight
C) 46 pound tire with 24 pound aluminum rim 70 lbs total unsprung weight

 

[michael hurd]

The control arm is a lever acting upon the torsion spring. ( which is a linear rate spring, unlike most coil springs and leaf springs )

Adding wheels that offset the wheel outboard will change the characteristics of the ride, reducing the effective control the torsion bar and the shock have over the tire and wheel package.

This will also change the load paths though the wheel bearing, by increasing load on the outer race, reducing it's life expectancy, along with reduced life of idler and pitman arms, ball joints, tie rods and suspension bushings.

 

[Supercharged111]

I did the math on my Camaro when I was playing with wheel spacers to change handling characteristics which, much to my surprise, has a significant effect though not due to weight transfer like I originally thought nor from the resultant change in wheel rate. I found somewhere on the order of 10-15# change in wheel rate (spring rate at the wheel because the spring pushes down inboard of the wheel's centerline and loses leverage) which, on a 900# spring, is pretty insignificant. We're talking about a 1/4" of spacer change per wheel, so multiply that by 4 for a full inch and then apply to whatever the spring/wheel rate is on our trucks.

 

[michael hurd]

I did the math on my Camaro when I was playing with wheel spacers to change handling characteristics which, much to my surprise, has a significant effect though not due to weight transfer like I originally thought nor from the resultant change in wheel rate. I found somewhere on the order of 10-15# change in wheel rate (spring rate at the wheel because the spring pushes down inboard of the wheel's centerline and loses leverage) which, on a 900# spring, is pretty insignificant. We're talking about a 1/4" of spacer change per wheel, so multiply that by 4 for a full inch and then apply to whatever the spring/wheel rate is on our trucks.

Also, scrub radius suffers when increasing the wheel offset.

Large amounts of negative or positive scrub radius increase steering effort. Changing the tire diameter also affects scrub radius.

Ideally, the spindle length should be as short as possible, so the tire pivots more or less about it's center. ( Milliken & Milliken ) If the scrub radius is exactly zero, it will cause squirm, so a slight positive to negative value is good.

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[Supercharged111]

I've seen 1-3" as an acceptable figure for scrub. The Camaro has less than 1/2" even with a spacer, but I suspect the truck has more especially with the aftermarket wheels adding about an inch to that. An increase in steering effort on my half ton isn't exactly a bad thing.

 

[Fedeleon11]

In my 88 k1500 I have 15x33"s and they don't rub at all( but I have custom bumper), only needed to bend the interior part of the fender a little bit, I felt the difference from 31's to 33"s in power, don't know what gearing I have, but I want to know how to change it to get again power