Okay... pricing out the Toyo Open Country A/T's at two sizes... 265/70/R17 and 285/70/R17. I was figuring just a little more rubber contact on the ground, means better traction and less slippage.

Well, it also means BIGGER.

There's a size and construction difference between these two sizes. The 265 is definitely a light-duty truck tire, and I can see why they say they have excellent wear and low road noise. And I suppose that compared to driving on BFG All-Terrain T/A's for four years, that I really would prefer a quiter ride. But then the guy rolled out both tires, and I got to do a side-by-side comparison. (Sidenote: This guy gets the sale just for putting up with so much **** from me! "price this, price that, bring this out, bla bla...") The 285 is certainly a beefy, strong, and durable tire, and is about 1-1/2 inches bigger diameter. The tread is also FAR deeper than the 265's, and after having 2 nails and a screw in my current set of tires, I can value the need for thicker rubber. But I'm pretty sure that if I upgrade, I'm gonna kill my fuel economy, get tons of road noise, and screw up my speedometer accuracy. The BFG's in that size will be $870, where the Toyos will be $750, and the smaller Toyos will be $593.

Now then... before I make my decision... anyone here familiar with adjusting their speedometer for tire diameter changes? And does a thicker deeper tread necessarily mean more protection from punctures? Cuz I'm frequently driving around downtown Detroit and these streets and alleys have terrible debris and garbage out there. Yeah, Detroit IS a filthy hellhole, I can provide photo proof. The fuel economy.. well.... I might not be as concerned with that cuz I'm gonna open up my exhaust and add the K&N FIPK to help it breathe easier, and that'll help a bit.

So if you guys know what I'll need to do or where to go to get my speedometer ratio adjusted for the diameter increase, I'll more readily decide to upgrade.

Talk to me, Truckerz!

 

hey neighbor im from downriver. i have a 2002 screw and just went from 265 to 285's bfg's at minimal to no loss in power and the speedo is right on with my gps and the digital signs on the road saying your going this fast have been right on. again i live downriver and work on 13 mile. i take 75 the whole way to work and back and still getting 15-16 mpg with the ac going no chanege there either. plus the bfg are such a better tire . they soak up 75's holes much better than stock. hope this helped

 

oh i forgot to mention i got my bfg's at belle tire for 800 out the door 880 with life time warrenty, free mount balance flat repair and road side assistance.if you tell them you know someone who got that price they will meet or beat it.

 

I'm in the neighborhood too and I've been casually browsing tires. I work in Toledo and checked down here at a Belle Tire and the guy quoted me $600 for the 265 toyo's. Where have you been looking?

 

belle adn discount both told me 650 for toyos

 

Hi,
I went from the stock 265/70-17 Wrangler AT's to BFG 285/70-17 TA's on my 2002 FX4 Screw. They are great tires! ...but, they are much heavier than the 265's and your speedo will be off by ~3%. When the speedo says 70MPH, you'll actually be going about 67.9MPH.

The 265's are 654 revs/mi and the 285's are 634 revs/mi - more or less.

I race my truck a bit so I took the 285's off and put new Wrangler Silent Armor 265/70-17's on mainly because they're relatively light weight. 285's were slowing me down too much.

The BFG 285's do have a great ride for such a big tire. If it weren't for the power loss, I'd certainly run them. ...and they make the truck look great.

I use the SCT PRP to tune my truck so I adjust the speedo with that but I would guess about any hand held tuner can do it or take it to a shop to get it done. It's a very simple adjustment to the PCM.

Good luck!

 

I got my BFG 285's at the Discount Tire at 696 and Van Dyke. $770 out the door with warranty and free rotations. E Mail me and I can get you hooked up....

 

I went to the 285/75/16's the day I bought the truck new. I have never regretted it and I'm on my second set of tires. Started with the BFG AT's and now have **** Cepek FC II's. The DC's have 20/32" tread depth as compared to the 17/32" of the AT's. More rubber will give you a bit more protection when new, but after they're worn, everything evens out anyway. My speedo was out about 10% but I have the Superchips programmer and adjusted everything with that. Your Ford dealership can recalibrate and will charge about an hour to do the work. They can't go too big though.
It didn't make any difference in power, and it doesn't really matter what I get for mileage as I just fill it up when it's empty. If it mattered, I wouldn't own a truck.