275/65-20 or 285/65-20

[Red Rider]

Looking at getting some new tires and get rid of the horrible original equipment all terrain 285/60-20. Not interested in spending the money to go to an 18” which I understand seems to be the preferred wheel size for best ride and overall performance. So, I thought I would go to 65 series to put a little more sidewall into the mix.
I have a 2022 Ram 2500 4 X 4 with the Off Road package. I’m not much of an off-roader but it was the only option when I was looking for trucks. Most of my driving is either around town or pulling a 34 ft travel trailer (a tad over 8100 lbs).
So, the question is…would I be better off with the 275/65-20 which is just a little bit larger than stock and is slightly narrower or the 285/65-20 which is even larger and is wider than stock? Or should I just stay with the stock size and just get a a different tire? Not looking to get an all terrain tire and would stick with something like a Michelin Defender.
Opinions please.

 

[Brutal_HO]

Very happy with the Falken 285/65R20 I put on my 3500. Absolutely no rubbing. However, they are an AT 3 peak rated tire.

 

[gpattikjr]

I'm trying to decide between which size yoko g015 over the michelin defenders. The defenders are $425?
295/65/20, 35.4", 69 lbs and 285/65/20 ,34.8", 61 lbs. Leaning towards the 285s. $30 a tire cheaper and I wont have to worry about rubbing. 275 might look a little to skinny.

 

[Brutal_HO]

I'm trying to decide between which size yoko g015 over the michelin defenders. The defenders are $425?
295/65/20, 35.4", 69 lbs and 285/65/20 ,34.8", 61 lbs. Leaning towards the 285s. $30 a tire cheaper and I wont have to worry about rubbing. 275 might look a little to skinny.

Depending on the carcass, the 295 may rub on the radius arms at full lock on the factory wheels.

The Falkens aren't available in 295/65R20 or I probably would have gone that route at the time.

 

[G Mcpherson]

I'm running the Cooper AT3 XLT in 285-65 20. It is a AT Tire but handle nice.

 

[vscorsa]

Do you have stock suspension and are you seeing any rubbing issues?

I've just bought a new 2500 and are trying to work out whether I go standard size the night addition comes with or go slightly bigger and will be using the coopers.

Thanks

 

[G Mcpherson]

Stock Suspension. Very slight rub on the Sway Bar.

 

[farmingdalesfinest]

I changed to Cooper Rugged Treks from the stock 275/60 r 20 to 275/65r20. The rugged treks have been the best tire I have used in my life at least for the first 5500 miles so far

The funny thing is they are bigger than most 285/75’s. With an advertised height of 34.7 and 11.5” wide they Imo have the perfect stance and aggressiveness with our being over the top.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[vscorsa]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm trying to work out whether I go stock that the Night addition comes with or go up a size.

 

[Dave01]

I'm working on a similar decision, have stock 285/60-20 and wondering whether to go up to 285/65-20.

As I look over several of the tire and wheel threads, I see that most people seem to go with 18's. I know in the old days the thought was that the higher sidewalls gave a better ride and towed better, but I thought that over the past 10-15 years tires had improved to the point that there was very little functional difference, beyond off road performance. So I'm wondering, do people go with 18's more because of the look or for other reasons?

 

[tchur1]

I'm working on a similar decision, have stock 285/60-20 and wondering whether to go up to 285/65-20.

As I look over several of the tire and wheel threads, I see that most people seem to go with 18's. I know in the old days the thought was that the higher sidewalls gave a better ride and towed better, but I thought that over the past 10-15 years tires had improved to the point that there was very little functional difference, beyond off road performance. So I'm wondering, do people go with 18's more because of the look or for other reasons?

I just swapped from the stock 20s to 18s with 37s so not apples to apples but the truck absolutely rides better on the 18s then the stock setup. I swapped for performance but like the look as well.

 

[Crusty old shellback]

The Power Wagon come son 17's for a reason.

But yes, the more side wall still applies. Along with tire pressure.

Most big rim, small sidewall tires require more air pressure to carry the same load. So with the higher pressure, the tire is "stiffer". So there's less flex in it.

Will you really see a big difference in the drive on the road? Probably not. But on small bumps, imperfections, rocks, you may as the sidewall will flex before the suspension starts to move.

On our off road race truck, even though tires have grown to 40 inches over the years, everyone still runs 17" rims. A few are trying to go to 18" rims now because they need to run bigger brakes.

 

[Brutal_HO]

A point could be made that a taller sidewall provides less lateral stability when towing heavy.

 

[Dave01]

Thanks for the replies, interesting. I may swap out rims, not in love with the stock night edition ones, if so I need to decide on rim size and probably the look will end up being the biggest deciding factor given I've been towing fine and love the ride with my 20's.

The main thing is I plow and I know I won't be happy with the stock Transforce's so want to get new tires in the next 6 weeks or so. So I need to decide wheel size ... then tires ... then there are so many %$@#*& rims to choose from ... hard to decide!

 

[G Mcpherson]

These are 285-65-20.

 

[Dave01]

So you stayed with the stock wheels, does look better with the 1" larger diameter tires. Did you have the truck reprogrammed for the larger tire size?

 

[G Mcpherson]

Set it with Alpha. 2689mm.

 

[Razzman]

285/65R20 Falken Wildpeak AT3w towing 7K and stable as a rock. Nothing for this truck in fact I don't notice it most time. 15K on truck now and 11K is towing.

 

[Dave01]

I haven't looked at tire prices in a while, particularly for truck sizes. Wow.

 

[Savage99ss]

Running 285/65/20. Look for ford f250/350 Michelin take offs. You can find a great set for cheap.