285s on Suburban

[bl78ljb]

When I purchased my Suburban it came with 275/65/16 tires on it (Pirelli Scorpions - great in the summer rotten in the snow!). One of the tires is to the wear bars (got the alignment fixed shortly after I purchased it - during the engine swap), and the others are getting there. With this size tire I have plenty of fender room, and I realize the 65 sidewall is shorter, but what is the experience with going to a 285/75/16 as I am looking for a good load rating and good all season (in Maine that is Mud season and Winter ie Snow season, oh yes and the little bit of summer is Road fixing season so off road driving on the roads especially the back roads I drive every day) and most of what I have seen are available in the 285 or 245 in the better load ratings and I don't want to go that small, some of the local places can special order the 265s but that won't work well if I need a replacement down the road. BTW my suspension is stock.

[DmaxMaverick]

The 285 is 1 cm wider than a 275, and 33" tall. Compare that what you have in there now. The 285/75/16D is rated at 3305#, compared to 3042# for the 245/75/16E, and 3415# for the 265/75/16E(31.8").

The 265 is one of the most popular sizes used on pickups these days, so I don't understand why your tire shop is telling you it is rare. You should be able to find them anywhere.

[bl78ljb]

Thanks for the reply, that is what I had thought as well. I did some more checking and don't know why I was told what I was as one of the tires they were trying to sell me isn't even avialable in a 285 according to the company website! I should have done some more digging (which I usually do) but was in a bit of a rush yesterday when looking into this.

Thanks

[twaddle]

Hi there,
The two sizes of tires that I have used on my Suburban and ex military M1008 pick up are the 235 85 16 and the 285 75 16, I've used General Grabber and also BF Goodrich for both sizes, usually All terrain, the Mud terrain wear out too quick and most of my work is on the tarmac anyway.
The only thing I will advise with the 285s is check the fender clearances with the front tyre turning (steering, that is) and if possible the suspension compressed with a jack under it, it should be ok but clearance is getting a little close.
If looks matter, the 235s look a little skinny on the Suburban but the diameter is close to the 285s and the skinny tyre may suit the snow better that the 285s depending on snow conditions and your preference.

Either of these tyre sizes should be "D" rating (the 285s) or "E" rating (the 235s) and will cope with the weight of the suburban.
Don't settle for any less than a "D" rating no matter what you get.
Regards

Jim
Biggar, Scotland
soon to be Alberta, Scotland

[bl78ljb]

Of the tires I was looking at were the Commercial Traction T/A (the one that is not made in a 285), the BFG AT as I have had great luck with those, and the Pro Comp M/T. I was planning to use the M/T studded in the winter as we get a lot of heavy wet snow and I have had great luck witha M/T plowing (my 78 Blazer has Star Commercial Traction L78s which is a similar pattern to the BFG M/Ts - don't remember how old those are for plowing), and the BFG AT or Commercial traction for other seasons. Looking up the BFG AT I can see why the tire shop recommended them in the 285 due the following specs: the LT 285/75R16/E is rated at 3750@ 80 psi. The Pro Comps are availabe in a 265 and a 285 both 75 sidewalls.

[DmaxMaverick]

BFG does have the 285 in an E rating, but I would not recommend it. They are quite a bit more spendy, much more rigid (rough riding), heavier (MPG hit) and you'll never get close the rating of the D tires on your Sub. The weight rating for E tire is @ 80 PSI, and 65 PSI for the D. I tow heavy with 285D's on my '01 2500HD, and have never had an issue with tires (that was the tire's fault). I use Bridgestone tires, almost exclusively.

[DA BIG ONE]

Have run 285/75/16 MTR's & silent armor for some time now in all conditions. MTR's eat up anything thrown at em but wear real fast on highway and noisy to boot. The SilentArmor comes in "D & E" ratings wears well under all conditions and is quiet.

[bl78ljb]

Well, I put the 285s on the Suburban, I went to a local shop I have used in the past that trial fits the tires before they will sell them to you (isn't that a nice thought - if you ruin the tire in the trial fit they soak up the cost), and obviously the rears were fine, the fronts only barely touched the inner plastic from the running boards (darn things but my wife likes them) on both sides. After I got home I took the tin snips and removed the plastic and just to be safe the metal behind the inner mounting area up to about 1/4" of the mounting screw for the running boards, and as a little extra insurance I also trimmed the air dam. No rubbing thus far, and from looking I would have to try stuffing the tires to make them rub and with the 2500 suspension I think that would take a bit of work.

[a5150nut]

If your sub is like my pickup you will hear the right front rub a little once in a while.

[DA BIG ONE]

Bushwacker has cutout fender flares allowing the burb to run 35" dia tires w/o any lift. However deep gears might be needed too...................

[stezloco]

i was also recently looking at tyres /load/speed ratings and would like to fit 285 km2's to my '95 2500 chevy pickup... i found a calculation to work out metric tyre heights ...youve got your tyres on now i read but heres the numbers anyway, it might be useful to you or somebody else...
if you run 285/75r16 tyres ...it goes like this but works with any metric sizes
285 x 75 =21375
divide by 100=213.75
multiply by 2 (2 sidewall heights) =427.50
divide by 25.4 (to conv to inches) =16.83
add wheel diameter +16 =32.8 inches tall... EASY ISNT IT.

[JTodd]

This thread appears pretty old, but I had 285s on my 96 Sub for a while. I had to crank up he torsion bars and trim a bit of the back of the front wheel fender flare, but the worked great. I loved the look. When it came time to change, I went down to 265s. I found I was getting much worse fuel mileage with the bigger tires. I do mostly city/mixed driving, and with 3.73 gears, the taller tires made me burn a lot more diesel on take off.

[trbankii]

I've got a set of 285/75R16s on my '93 K2500. No problems with fitment, although I have a snowplow frame on the front which pushes the front bumper forward. From other's comments, that is where you start to have problems.

I like the look and with 3.42 gears I recently got 22.73 mpg on a 400+ mile trip.

[bl78ljb]

Fitment with the 285s depends a lot on wheel backspacing. I changed wheels from an 16x8 with 4.25 inch backspace wheel with only minor trimming needed to a 16x8 with 4.00 inch backspace wheel that required me to crank the torsion bars a bit and required more trimming. Moving the front bumper forward would have helped quite a bit at that point. Even the guys at the tire shop were surprised by the big difference such a small change made. I have seen 285s with a 4.50 inch backspace that fit quite well, which I believe is the factory backspace.

[DmaxMaverick]

The OEM backspace is 3-7/8 to 4-1/4" (steel/aluminum, and varied over the model years), but that's with a 16x6.5" wheel. A 16x8" wheel is ideal with 4-5/8" (4.625), with 285-305 tires. 315 and/or 16x10" and up require a bit more, but then you have to watch the inside interference (control arms, fender liners, etc.). Lifting the front with the torsion bars helps, but only if you don't bottom the suspension (which puts you back where you started), especially during a sharp turn. The bumper, if it interferes, can be shimmed out with washers (usually, only 1/8-1/4" is required).

[stezloco]

Thanks to you guys picking up on an old thread, these things will probably keep coming around wont they...
on the subject of backspacing...
my chevy k2500 is sitting on standard steel rims with the 245's on and the rears are sitting on 2" billet alloy spacers...this makes the rear wheels fill out the arches to match the front more or less and is a better look as far as i'm concerned....
my question is....
can i buy different offset pairs of the same style wheel in 16x8 size for the front and rear to maintain this look? the front tyre tread is as far out as the black plastic fenders now and if i put on 16x8's/285's they will stick out too far, cant do that in the UK , its not legal. so i would need a larger backspacing to tuck the tread just under the arches (the sidewall bulge protruding is not an M.O.T fail) but 16x8's on the rear with standard 4.5 factory backspacing would add 1.5" to the width ...so maybe i need 4" backspacing for the rears to get my 2" and ???? a lot more for the fronts to tuck em under without fouling the innards...i'll have to do some measuring...unless somebodys done this??...i'm just looking to put the wheel size in proportion to the truck size, the standard wheels and tyres look so weedy.... ive cranked up the front left hand torsion bar just to check clearances and its well clear on the 265's ive tried on Dodge rims....... they look better but it still looks 'under tired' .still looking to get 285's, theyve got the greatest load rating of all the BFG'S and no other make available here match them that i can find... 1700kg at 80 psi...

[DmaxMaverick]

Centerline Extreme Duty series (anything less, and you can't use all that tire/tyre capacity) have a couple options with backspacing, but you can't get there from here. You would require a backspace of about 2.5", and I've never heard of such an animal for LT use/capacity. On a 16x8, 4-5/8 backspace will move them out as far as you can and remain functional, if you still want to use the suspension. Less backspace requires more modification. Have a look at the wheel images of my 2001 GMC, 285/75/16 Bridgestone Dueller M/T, Centerline 16x8 / 4-5/8 (with classic caps) at the "truck stuff pics" link in my sig.

I suggest continuing with spacers on the rear to keep the wheel stance you want. Mix-matched wheel sizes have never been a good idea, especially on a 4x4. If you rely on a specific backspace on the rear for a "look", it may be completely dysfunctional on the front when you need it most. Wheels/tires sticking out past the fenders is illegal in most states in the USA, too (although many people do it anyway).