Help, 275/70/18 or 285/75/18 ?

[Jeff_]

Hey guys, I know this is probably a beat to death topic so I apologize in advance.

I'm about to pull the trigger on some new tires for my Tahoe and I'd love some advice or personal experience input here.

Right now I have the factory 265/65/18 Michelins on the factory 18" wheels.

I'm wanting a beefier and taller tire for a few reasons.
1. Looks - duh
2. I spend summers in Idaho and rural dirt and gravel roads and occasionally some muddy fields.
3. I spend winters going to ski resorts

I'm going to buy some new BFG KM3's from costco and have them mounted up in the next week or so.

I have some Bilstein 5100's set to the highest setting up front to bring the truck to a perfectly level stance.

I'm unsure if I can fit a 285/75/18 tire or if 275/70/18 is as big as I can go without running into significant rubbing at full lock?

Anyone have any info they care to share or any personal experience with these tires on their Tahoe?

Pic for attention..

 

[Tiki]

With stock wheels rubbing is a large concern due to the positive offset of the wheels. I went with 275/70R18 and can say that I’m quite happy with no rubbing.

 

[hcvone]

275/65/18, worked for me for years

 

[Jeff_]

With stock wheels rubbing is a large concern due to the positive offset of the wheels. I went with 275/70R18 and can say that I’m quite happy with no rubbing. View attachment 280129

Yeah good to know. I remember you posting that pic for me before. Maybe I should just be happy with that. I think 275/70/18 still fills the wheel well nicely based on your pic.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Regarding wheel/tire combinations that will fit your truck without rubbing, no 2 trucks and their suspensions are exactly alike, due to a number of factors including accumulated wear on the suspension components and different wheel widths and offsets, so there is no guarantee that what fits with no rubbing on one truck will automatically fit with no rubbing on your truck. Other folks' experiences can guide you in one direction or another, but the final test will be when you mount the wheel/tire combination on your own truck.

To assist you in getting a good idea on whether or not specific alternate wheel/tire combinations 'may' fit your truck with no rubbing, I recommend that you use the wheel/tire comparison app at the URL listed below. You can use this app starting with your existing wheel/tire combination as a benchmark, assuming that there are currently no rubbing issues with it, and measure the actual critical fender and suspension component clearances as directed by this app. Then, you can enter alternate wheel/tire combinations, and this app will give you the projected changes in these critical fender and suspension component clearances.

https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/

I used this app for determining whether on not I could use my current alternate wheel/tire combination, and it accurately projected the changes in critical clearances. Again, the use of this app in not an absolute guarantee that an alternate wheel/tire combination will fit without rubbing, but it provides a much better assessment, or projection, than simply an educated guess on your part, or a statement from others that it worked on a truck other than yours.

 

[Jeff_]

Regarding wheel/tire combinations that will fit your truck without rubbing, no 2 trucks and their suspensions are exactly alike, due to a number of factors including accumulated wear on the suspension components and different wheel widths and offsets, so there is no guarantee that what fits with no rubbing on one truck will automatically fit with no rubbing on your truck. Other folks' experiences can guide you in one direction or another, but the final test will be when you mount the wheel/tire combination on your own truck.

To assist you in getting a good idea on whether or not specific alternate wheel/tire combinations 'may' fit your truck with no rubbing, I recommend that you use the wheel/tire comparison app at the URL listed below. You can use this app starting with your existing wheel/tire combination as a benchmark, assuming that there are currently no rubbing issues with it, and measure the actual critical fender and suspension component clearances as directed by this app. Then, you can enter alternate wheel/tire combinations, and this app will give you the projected changes in these critical fender and suspension component clearances.

https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/

I used this app for determining whether on not I could use my current alternate wheel/tire combination, and it accurately projected the changes in critical clearances. Again, the use of this app in not an absolute guarantee that an alternate wheel/tire combination will fit without rubbing, but it provides a much better assessment, or projection, than simply an educated guess on your part, or a statement from others that it worked on a truck other than yours.

Appreciate this link and your info. I’ll use it and bust out the measuring tape and get a rough idea!

 

[vcode]

275/65-18 is nearly identical to the 275/55-20 tire. 275/70-18 is an inch bigger in diameter, and the 285 almost 3 inches bigger. I have at most 1" of clearance to the wheel wells when I turn the wheel. A 275/70-18 would probably fit, but the 285's would definitely not on my 2010.

 

[Philpug]

I'm wanting a beefier and taller tire for a few reasons.
1. Looks - duh
2. I spend summers in Idaho and rural dirt and gravel roads and occasionally some muddy fields.
3. I spend winters going to ski resorts

IMHO, you have these in reverse order of importance

 

[Jeff_]

275/65-18 is nearly identical to the 275/55-20 tire. 275/70-18 is an inch bigger in diameter, and the 285 almost 3 inches bigger. I have at most 1" of clearance to the wheel wells when I turn the wheel. A 275/70-18 would probably fit, but the 285's would definitely not on my 2010.

This is great info as well. Thank you.

IMHO, you have these in reverse order of importance

Haha I think you’re right now that I’ve re-read it.


UPDATE: So I went ahead and ordered the 275/70/18’s through Costco today.
Once they come in and I get them mounted up, I’ll post pictures!
Thanks again everyone who helped with input!

 

[Jeff_]

Well, I went to Costco today because my tires came in. They declined installing them on my Tahoe because the 275/70/18 tire size is 5.1% bigger than the factory 265/65/18.
That's a joke if you ask me, but I get it, they're a large corporation blah blah liability blah blah.
I went back later and asked them if I brought in wheels, would they mount the tires I ordered, they agreed to.
So now I'll have to put the Tahoe on jackstands in my driveway and take the wheels out in another car to have them swap the tires and then put them on the Tahoe.
So that'll have to wait until my next day off...