255-265's
 

Can anyone tell me how much more radius is a 265 versus a 255 size tire? I have a 97 F-150 with Cooper STE 265 on it and tow my boat that is around 5k and the trailer 1 k and was looking to help out my truck with a little less tire radius. Also did anyone notice a handling difference when they changed to the taller tires? One more for ya, who makes a fair priced all terrain 255 Lt tire??

Well you need to supply the other numbers

P255 70R 16 is supposedly 30.1
LT265 75 16 is supposedly 31.6"

The actual measurement when aired up will vary a little.

Go to www.tyres1.com for a tire / gears/ speedo calculator

Use math:
(tire size x tire profile) / 25.4 = height in inches of rubber
[that are on one side of wheel, so you need top & bottom]

thus multiply x 2 = total rubber height

then add the wheel height = grand total height



Example for P265-75-16:

(265 * .75) / 25.4 = 7.82" of rubber

7.82 * 2 = 15.64 total inches of rubber

add 16" wheel
15.64 + 16 = 31.65" tall tire


Example for P255-60-18:

(255 * .60) / 25.4 = 6.02" of rubber

6.02 * 2 = 12.04 total inches of rubber

add 18" wheel
12.04 + 18 = 30.04" tall tire

My truck came with 255 Goodyears when I bought it and when they wore out I changed to a 265-75-16 Pirelli Scorpion ATs. The only difference that I noticed on the new Pirellis on the road was I had better traction in the rain but I do a lot of hunting where I do go offroad and I noticed a huge difference in the way my truck handled offroad (as far as not getting stuck or tire spin). Pirelli makes a good tire and they come with 50,000 mile warranty. If you want to pay more money you could go with Goodyear AT/S or BFGoodrich Radial All terrains but they cost more and have around 40,000 mile warranty.