Measured tire height

[t_haynes]

Greetings...

I have a '98 K1500 Suburban. I am about to put some Cooper 235/85R/16E snow tires on a spare set of stock steel wheels. Has anyone run this tire size? Do you know the actual measured tire height on the vehicle? I know what the charts say, but the specs and the measuring tape are two different things.

Thanks... Tom

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by t_haynes

Greetings...

I have a '98 K1500 Suburban. I am about to put some Cooper 235/85R/16E snow tires on a spare set of stock steel wheels. Has anyone run this tire size? Do you know the actual measured tire height on the vehicle? I know what the charts say, but the specs and the measuring tape are two different things.

Thanks... Tom

After you get them mounted.
Take your tape and run it all the way around the middle of the thread and divide it by pie.
Make sure you replace all 4 wheels with the same size.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by t_haynes

Greetings...

I have a '98 K1500 Suburban. I am about to put some Cooper 235/85R/16E snow tires on a spare set of stock steel wheels. Has anyone run this tire size? Do you know the actual measured tire height on the vehicle? I know what the charts say, but the specs and the measuring tape are two different things.

Thanks... Tom

this size is a close match to the 265 75 r16E.

what is different is the snow tire being an 85 a narrower tire.

I am sure it will fit what is important is all tires should be the same size and of the same wear to protect the 4wd drive train from damage.

load range is about 3,ooolbs which is a very good amount for a 1500.

[t_haynes]

Once I get them installed, I will just measure the height on the vehicle. They are all mounted, but one tire had a bubble in the sidewall, so I have not installed them yet. The replacement tire comes in the next few days. All four of them are the same size.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by t_haynes

Once I get them installed, I will just measure the height on the vehicle. They are all mounted, but one tire had a bubble in the sidewall, so I have not installed them yet. The replacement tire comes in the next few days. All four of them are the same size.

if you had 265 75 r16E on there going to these sizes you will see that the revs per mile is almost the same. well I doubt that you will feel/see the difference because it is only a few revs per mile different.

what is different is these new tires are narrower by about 1.5 inches.

with a narrow tire in snow you should get good traction. wider the tire the more the tire will be lifted off the pavement so the snow traction is less.

with a 1500 vehicle you will have to reduce the air pressures with these E load tires from 80psi to maybe 50psi ..you may feel too much bounce and control issues.

with the new tires installed mark the tread with white chaulk. drive a about 40 ft then see how the chaulk got worn . with too much air for your load the center will be worn not the outer edges so reduce pressure until you see the chaulk worn to about one inch from each edge.

I get 90,ooo out of my tires. also rotate every 10-13K mi...

[t_haynes]

I have never tried the chalk thing, but that is a great suggestion. I figure I will start at 60 psi and maybe adjust it down to 50 if I am getting ride problems. To make the chalk work, you have to have 40 ft. of dry pavement...

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by t_haynes

I have never tried the chalk thing, but that is a great suggestion. I figure I will start at 60 psi and maybe adjust it down to 50 if I am getting ride problems. To make the chalk work, you have to have 40 ft. of dry pavement...

correct clean dry pavement will work best. post back what pressure you ended up with. I would guess the front will require about 5-10 psi more than rear. that would depend on the vehicles loading..

my pickup I run 7 psi lower in the rear. tires wear very evenly..

[t_haynes]

I have the tires installed on the stock wheels. The bolt pattern on the steel wheels I got was the smaller Trailblazer diameter - sigh. It is dark and chilly, but I am curious, and so went out to try to measure. They seem to be about 30.25 in tall when mounted and installed. The Multi-mile XRT III 265/75R/16C tires on there before were 30.75 in.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by t_haynes

I have the tires installed on the stock wheels. The bolt pattern on the steel wheels I got was the smaller Trailblazer diameter - sigh. It is dark and chilly, but I am curious, and so went out to try to measure. They seem to be about 30.25 in tall when mounted and installed. The Multi-mile XRT III 265/75R/16C tires on there before were 30.75 in.

trailblazer is 5 in bolt pattern 6 hole.

silverado etc is 5.5in bolt pattern 6 hole.

explain how this works . why did you install the tires on the wrong rims ? this is crazy...

[t_haynes]

I bought some wheels off Craigslist that were listed as being for a range of full-size Chevy/GMC trucks. My Suburban was one of them. The wheels matched, etc., and they looked like the steel wheel on my spare. I bought them and took them to the tire place. They mounted the snow tires, and I went in to get a wheel/tire combo swapped out.

The wheels did not work on the Suburban because the guy sold me Trailblazer wheels.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by t_haynes

I bought some wheels off Craigslist that were listed as being for a range of full-size Chevy/GMC trucks. My Suburban was one of them. The wheels matched, etc., and they looked like the steel wheel on my spare. I bought them and took them to the tire place. They mounted the snow tires, and I went in to get a wheel/tire combo swapped out.

The wheels did not work on the Suburban because the guy sold me Trailblazer wheels.

so you now have the correct wheels mounted on the vehicle. the post you made left me thinking you installed the trailbllazer wheels on the burb.

with the TIRE size being slightly different do you see any difference ?

[t_haynes]

I like the way they handle. Road feel, ride comfort, etc. are quite good for me at 60 PSI. I will try the chalk thing when weather permits.

Just glancing at them, they are noticeably more narrow but would appear to be about the same height. The eyeball micrometer can be prone to errors as I observed with the Trialblazer wheels. Speedo is off slightly, but I will adjust the thing via the Stealth2 for the new tire height and check it against the GPS.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by t_haynes

I like the way they handle. Road feel, ride comfort, etc. are quite good for me at 60 PSI. I will try the chalk thing when weather permits.

Just glancing at them, they are noticeably more narrow but would appear to be about the same height. The eyeball micrometer can be prone to errors as I observed with the Trialblazer wheels. Speedo is off slightly, but I will adjust the thing via the Stealth2 for the new tire height and check it against the GPS.

they should be 1.5 in narrower. in the next 2 weeks you may have a good chance of operating in some deep snow.

[BelieveMurphysLaw]

I have run this size. 235/85r16 are 31.7" OD 245/75r16 are 30.4" Od you can also run 215/85r16 30.3" OD which are narrow and better for the snow.