Looking for experience... tire question

[6.2flatbed]

Hey folks, just picked up a cherry '94 C2500 Suburban with the 6.5. Lovin the Burb, but it needs tires.

Now the funny conundrum is that I am a tire engineer... I fully understand tire load dynamics, and that merely asking this question will anger some folks with this simple question ;) ... but.


Has anyone ran a P245 or P265 on their 2wd 6.5 Suburban, and if so how was the ride? Squirmy at all?

Only asking for ride characteristics please. ;)

Thanks in advance.

[DmaxMaverick]

I've never done that on my personal vehicles, but have a couple experiences, one personal, and the other from a family member.

Wife's uncle had a (95-ish) 2500 Suburban, relatively new and needed the first replacement of tires. The tire shop installed the wrong tires, P-metrics, instead of the LT load range E tires it was supposed to have. He said it was like driving an old Cadillac, compared to the firm ride before.

Back in the early 90's, my work vehicle was a 1989 Chevy K2500 (Sheriff's Office patrol truck). Motor pool must have got a big break on a load of tires, and replaced them all (not just mine) with C rated tires, same size, same brand (Goodyear Wrangler), just not the E rated tires. The "correct" tires were not available, and wouldn't be for some time, due to contract purchases. That was a LOOOONG 6 months. 5 or 6 sets of tires, when it should have been 2 or 3, according to previous (and later) trends. Dangerous as all heck on the winding, steep mountain roads (my "beat"). If I had to be in a "hurry", I couldn't, and it was fortunate I didn't during that time. That was nearly 20 years ago, but I doubt it would be any different today.

That said, P tires would not be a good idea on a heavy vehicle, IMO.

[6.2flatbed]

Excellent info. Thank you very much.

[Edahall]

Well, I'm running P265's on my 1990 Suburban 4x4 with the heavy Cummins up front. The reason why is because I bought a set of nice wheels that came with these tires. I figured that I would wear these tires out before installing new proper heavy duty tires. These tires definitely ride softer but handling is compromised. I have to compensate by driving around curves at a slower speed. However, most of our roads where I live in Texas are straight so it's not so much of an issue. That said, once these tires wear out, I'll be installing a set of 10 ply tires.