Ray Cecil Posted August 28 Author Share Posted August 28 Well, looks like 255-85X16 is a rare size that is a lot more expensive than the more common sizes. $50+ more a tire. There are a lot more 245-75X16 and 265-75x16 options available. Probably just sticking to the 265-75x16, and getting a highway tire. I have cooper endurance on the tahoe that has been amazing for being quiet, but I cannot get those in the 16" rim size. So many options.... Well, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment to get Firestone Transforce HT2's. Ive never bought firestone before, and these have great reviews for tread wear, noise, and ride quality. Im really hoping to get this truck sounding quieter. Need to find a speedo cable for a 7.3idi with cruise. Its making noise behind the dash. Ive been slowly identifying noises and getting them took care of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 Well, looks like 255-85X16 is a rare size that is a lot more expensive than the more common sizes. $50+ more a tire. There are a lot more 245-75X16 and 265-75x16 options available. Probably just sticking to the 265-75x16, and getting a highway tire. I have cooper endurance on the tahoe that has been amazing for being quiet, but I cannot get those in the 16" rim size. So many options.... I had 255/85-16s on my '85 F-250 for one set of tires. Couldn't get that size when those wore out so I went to a more common 235/85-16. The 255s are 33" tall and 10" wide compared to 31.7" tall and 9.25" wide for the 235s. Is that difference significant? I decided not, and I.ve run 235/85-16 ever since. Well, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment to get Firestone Transforce HT2's. Ive never bought firestone before, and these have great reviews for tread wear, noise, and ride quality. Im really hoping to get this truck sounding quieter. Need to find a speedo cable for a 7.3idi with cruise. Its making noise behind the dash. Ive been slowly identifying noises and getting them took care of. I've got the Transforce HT (not sure about the "2") on my Dodge. I really don't care for those tires. I can't speak to tread wear as I don't know how many miles they had on them when I bought the truck. They are quiet and I have no complaints about the ride or handling. But the traction seems to be pretty bad on poor traction surfaces. I don't do any off-roading with this truck, but wet leaves, or wet dirt, or on snow I seem to need 4WD a lot sooner than I would've in my Ford with the Michelins. To be fair, the Dodge has a lot more torque and worse weight distribution with the Cummins diesel up front. But I won't be getting these tires again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted August 28 Author Share Posted August 28 Well, looks like 255-85X16 is a rare size that is a lot more expensive than the more common sizes. $50+ more a tire. There are a lot more 245-75X16 and 265-75x16 options available. Probably just sticking to the 265-75x16, and getting a highway tire. I have cooper endurance on the tahoe that has been amazing for being quiet, but I cannot get those in the 16" rim size. So many options.... I had 255/85-16s on my '85 F-250 for one set of tires. Couldn't get that size when those wore out so I went to a more common 235/85-16. The 255s are 33" tall and 10" wide compared to 31.7" tall and 9.25" wide for the 235s. Is that difference significant? I decided not, and I.ve run 235/85-16 ever since. Well, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment to get Firestone Transforce HT2's. Ive never bought firestone before, and these have great reviews for tread wear, noise, and ride quality. Im really hoping to get this truck sounding quieter. Need to find a speedo cable for a 7.3idi with cruise. Its making noise behind the dash. Ive been slowly identifying noises and getting them took care of. I've got the Transforce HT (not sure about the "2") on my Dodge. I really don't care for those tires. I can't speak to tread wear as I don't know how many miles they had on them when I bought the truck. They are quiet and I have no complaints about the ride or handling. But the traction seems to be pretty bad on poor traction surfaces. I don't do any off-roading with this truck, but wet leaves, or wet dirt, or on snow I seem to need 4WD a lot sooner than I would've in my Ford with the Michelins. To be fair, the Dodge has a lot more torque and worse weight distribution with the Cummins diesel up front. But I won't be getting these tires again. Bob, thanks for the input. I work from home, and never take the truck on a trail, or anything more than a gravel driveway. I did read about there advanced polymer that keeps tread life very well. To me, that means the durometer is probably fairly hard, which means less traction on anything not paved; as your experience has confirmed. I might get a second set as winter tires and just swap them if I know I'll need to get out in the bad weather. The truck stays in the garage, out of weather, and if I know it's going to rain, I try to just plan on taking the Tahoe. We will see how they do for me. If they tow well, provide a quiet ride, and smooth operation, I'll consider it a win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted August 30 Author Share Posted August 30 Well, looks like 255-85X16 is a rare size that is a lot more expensive than the more common sizes. $50+ more a tire. There are a lot more 245-75X16 and 265-75x16 options available. Probably just sticking to the 265-75x16, and getting a highway tire. I have cooper endurance on the tahoe that has been amazing for being quiet, but I cannot get those in the 16" rim size. So many options.... I had 255/85-16s on my '85 F-250 for one set of tires. Couldn't get that size when those wore out so I went to a more common 235/85-16. The 255s are 33" tall and 10" wide compared to 31.7" tall and 9.25" wide for the 235s. Is that difference significant? I decided not, and I.ve run 235/85-16 ever since. Well, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment to get Firestone Transforce HT2's. Ive never bought firestone before, and these have great reviews for tread wear, noise, and ride quality. Im really hoping to get this truck sounding quieter. Need to find a speedo cable for a 7.3idi with cruise. Its making noise behind the dash. Ive been slowly identifying noises and getting them took care of. I've got the Transforce HT (not sure about the "2") on my Dodge. I really don't care for those tires. I can't speak to tread wear as I don't know how many miles they had on them when I bought the truck. They are quiet and I have no complaints about the ride or handling. But the traction seems to be pretty bad on poor traction surfaces. I don't do any off-roading with this truck, but wet leaves, or wet dirt, or on snow I seem to need 4WD a lot sooner than I would've in my Ford with the Michelins. To be fair, the Dodge has a lot more torque and worse weight distribution with the Cummins diesel up front. But I won't be getting these tires again. So, I dropped off the truck and got tires this morning. I'm 2/3rds the way through a 3.5 hour one way road trip pulling a trailer. So, I got 265-75×16 Firestone Transforce HT2. So far I've noticed much better noise, or lack thereof, vs the Maxxis MTs. I may take the truck back up there next week and tell them to check the balance, seems unbalanced at 60-65 mph. Pretty smooth ride. I do not like the handling while towing. I probably should have gotten a slightly shorter side wall. Even with 80psi, seems a little more squirrelly while braking downhill in a corner. Lots of hills and corners around here. It's not like Skiatook OK, lol. Handling is worse than the mud terrains, which is surprising. So, thus far my I itial impressions are just so-so....might have been happier with a different tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 So, I dropped off the truck and got tires this morning. I'm 2/3rds the way through a 3.5 hour one way road trip pulling a trailer. So, I got 265-75×16 Firestone Transforce HT2. So far I've noticed much better noise, or lack thereof, vs the Maxxis MTs. I may take the truck back up there next week and tell them to check the balance, seems unbalanced at 60-65 mph. Pretty smooth ride. I do not like the handling while towing. I probably should have gotten a slightly shorter side wall. Even with 80psi, seems a little more squirrelly while braking downhill in a corner. Lots of hills and corners around here. It's not like Skiatook OK, lol. Handling is worse than the mud terrains, which is surprising. So, thus far my I itial impressions are just so-so....might have been happier with a different tire. Hills? What are those? But having the sidewall flex isn't fun. I've had that happen and it sure messes up the handling. But I'm surprised you are getting it at 80 psi. I hope your feedback after the trip is better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted August 31 Author Share Posted August 31 Hills? What are those? But having the sidewall flex isn't fun. I've had that happen and it sure messes up the handling. But I'm surprised you are getting it at 80 psi. I hope your feedback after the trip is better. It was an interesting trip. It's about 1am and finally home. I think I got used to the handling. They don't sway just going down the road. I think a little wider rim would probably fix the issue. I mean, they are oversized tires for what the factory put on there. I definitely tested how tough they were. We got 10 minutes from the Police Post, which is where I was hauling my officer friends stuff, and I hit something it the road. Truck tires held up nice, but the rear drivers side tire on the trailer didn't hold up so well. I got about 5 seconds down the road and I saw it smoking....pulled over and changed a tire on a 70mph freeway in the middle of the night. Luckily I always carry a spare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 It was an interesting trip. It's about 1am and finally home. I think I got used to the handling. They don't sway just going down the road. I think a little wider rim would probably fix the issue. I mean, they are oversized tires for what the factory put on there. I definitely tested how tough they were. We got 10 minutes from the Police Post, which is where I was hauling my officer friends stuff, and I hit something it the road. Truck tires held up nice, but the rear drivers side tire on the trailer didn't hold up so well. I got about 5 seconds down the road and I saw it smoking....pulled over and changed a tire on a 70mph freeway in the middle of the night. Luckily I always carry a spare. Man, I'm glad you caught that tire smoking! Too often one goes and takes the other. But the driver's side is so scary with the other traffic. Glad you made it home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Cecil Posted August 31 Author Share Posted August 31 Man, I'm glad you caught that tire smoking! Too often one goes and takes the other. But the driver's side is so scary with the other traffic. Glad you made it home! Yeah, I hit that thing in the road and was looking for a spot to pull off anyway. It had lost all air pressure and was just heating up. I totally forgot to throw my scissor jack in my toolbox. Luckily the factory f250 Jack was still under the hood and not frozen up. I have 3 trailer jacks on my trailer. The tongue, and two at the rear for supporting the back corners when loading the tractor. The rear jacks can lift the trailer normally, but with a flat tire, the frame of the trailer is just low enough to where I can't rotate the jack and use it. So I had to lift the axle with the flat about 2" before I could use the trailer jack. I highly recommend having 3 trailer jacks on any trailer. Makes changing tires, and loading so much easier and safer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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